I haven't updated the ol' blog lately. So, what's new?

Actually, with me, not so much. Recent activities of note include getting together with some peeps and watching the Chargers lose to the Jets. Man, what a rollercoaster of a game that was. I really, really would have liked to see the Chargers win, but barring winning the Super Bowl (which would have been a miracle), they had to lose sometime.

We played a little poker at our local cardroom, and in spite of coming out ahead overall, I think our days are numbered there. They've changed the way the house collects money, and it's a little too aggressive for my liking. In general, my poker days are numbered. It was fun while it lasted, but it just doesn't hold my interest the way it used to (and the way chess does now). So it goes. According to my spreadsheet, my winnings are at $90, so it's not a bad time to retire. I'll still play friendly games with friends, a'course!

Work is cruising along pretty well. I'm not really on any big project, but sort of help out as needed with day to day stuff, which can be satisfying, as I'm frequently "coming to the rescue" of something, which is a nice position to be in (if you can finish the job). My annual review is coming up at the end of January, which typically is good news, but always a little nerve-wracking. I hated tests in college, and this is kind of the closest thing to it I have in my professional life.

When I was gone over Christmas break, I can back to find lots of the chess players at work a little subdued. Two of the three chessboards have been removed, and there was talk that our supervisor was potentially getting more and more interested in who was playing when. I'm not too worried about it, as I have a strict "lunchtime or after business hours" policy, but others would jump off for a game whenever they felt like it. And if someone is playing, usually one or two others might watch. It started to add up. In any case, games are still being played, and it's still fun.

Diana is busy as ever. I'm not sure if I publicly announced it here, but she got a job for next semester teaching math at a new high school near where I work. It's only for the semester, but it gets her hired into the district she wants, and she's hoping to get transferred back to the school she's student teaching at now. Pretty exciting stuff! I'm very proud of all her hard work, and am glad that others are recognizing what a great teacher she'll be. It will also be nice to go back to DINK status.

Free time is mostly consumed with World of Warcraft and Netflix. WoW is an amazing game. I'm having so much fun doing my little adventures and meeting up with my boys and so on. Good, good times. In terms of the guys I play with, I'm generally in the middle, level-wise, in spite of having played significantly fewer hours than they have (you can actually see exactly how much time you've spent logged in, which is a little humbling). So I guess I'm efficient or something. Anyways, that eats up most of my time when Diana's not around, and I'm completely remorseless. :)

Netflix is a lot of fun as well. I love coming home, checking the mail, and seeing that red envelope, knowing there's some cinematic goodness inside! The coolest part is that, since we chose all the movies, I don't remember exactly what's coming, but I know it's something I want. It's like Christmas! We just watched "Monster", which was pretty disturbing but really engrossing. Other recent were "Inspector Morse" (always fun mysteries), "Bridge on the River Kwai", and "Cold Mountain". I liked BotRK, even though I found it a little muddled. At some point, it was sort of a tense psychological chess match between opposing commanders, and then it kind of turned into a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby romp through the jungle. But the ending was great. "Cold Mountain" was pretty ok, I guess. I never really bought into the love story at the beginning, so the rest of the movie was a little cumbersome to me. Anyhoo. I have "Fiddler on the Roof" to watch, I think another Inspector Morse, and am hoping for Napoleon Dynamite soon!

I just read a funny quote online. Someone on a message board basically came up with the idea of "what if real life had a God Mode" (which is a computer game term for a cheat where you can't die). How would you live your life differently, etc? After some mostly predictable, banal comments someone responded with simply "You have too much time on your hands. Contribute to society please." Cracked me up, in spite of it's arguable relevance to myself.

Speaking of cracking up, I had a moment today at work, reading a funny email, and trying to restrain myself from cracking up. Eyes watering, body shaking, hands clapped over mouth, the whole thing. Funny stuff.