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Here's a list of Windows key-codes for some special characters I sometimes use:

I watched Chuck, season 1, episode 5 and half of episode 6 this morning.

I woke up this morning around 7:15am to the sounds of heavy rain. Here's what I found in the backyard:

Here's what caused it:

James Burleigh, the sage of the FJR Forum posted a topic titled "Are motorcycles inherently dangerous?" this morning. After some supporting arguments, he boiled it down to this statement, which seems to sum it up nicely:

Motorcycles are not inherently dangerous, but they are extremely unforgiving.

I watched most of Rocket Science this morning during my donation. I'll have to finish it to have an opinion, one way or another.

My sister and I enjoy the occasional discussion/argument about grammar and punctuation. We're a little weird that way. We use Gregg's Ninth Edition as the arbiter.

Today's discussion was about the proper way to punctuate a sentence that has two parenthetical elements. I had an e-mail where I wanted to have a long clause in parentheses at the end of the sentence, but I also wanted to wrap one special word in it's own parentheses. In the past I've put the outer clause in parens, and the inner clause/word in brackets, but I couldn't find it referenced in Gregg.

My sister called me this morning, and we talked it out. She agreed with me on the brackets, but we both wondered why Gregg didn't have an entry for it. It turns out I had stopped looking a little too early.

Gregg's sections on parentheses are 224-226, and my problem isn't referenced there. However, at the end of 226, there's a list of related references, including Parenthetical elements within parenthetical elements: see ¶297.

Here's the full text of ¶297:

When a parenthetical element falls within another parenthetical element, enclose the smaller element in brackets and enclose the larger element in parentheses.

Now, being the logical programmer type, I took issue with this. I came up with an example where the smaller element was the outer one, which would mean, according to Gregg, that the block should open with a bracket. After some additional debate, my sister and I agreed that we did not agree with Gregg, at all really. Our opinion is that the outer element is enclosed in parens, and the inner element is enclosed in brackets, regardless of their length. We even got some moral outrage going at the end.

And so it goes...

I have the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG) feed on Google Reader. My sister and I enjoy the odd grammar discussion, and SPOGG has a lot of fun posts about the problems that big-name web sites and newspapers have with grammar, spelling, and editing.

Last night, I went to the Los Angeles Times web site for some updated weather info, and found an interesting typo. I sent it in to the nice woman who runs the SPOGG site, and this morning she posted it:

Why newspapers need copy editors

The story was especially relevant to Jason:

Authorities lift mandatory evacuation orders for homes in the Paradise Valley area of La Cañada Flintridge, where many people staid put.

From time to time I play a flash-based basketball game on the onlinesgames.com site. Normally I'm in the 40th percentile - around 200 out of 500 players. Just now, I made the top 5 for the first time ever. The best I've had before was 30th. Click for the full-size image.

Life got busy last night, so I didn't get to bed until about 11:45pm, with the alarm set for 6:05am. I was sleeping soundly, or so it seemed, when a boom shook the house, like a plane crashed into the roof or something. The time projected on the ceiling said it was 4:05am.

A thunderstorm cell passed right over the house. There was almost no delay between the flash and the bang, and the whole bedroom got really bright, even through the heavy shades we use on the outside of the windows. Each set had about three or four closely spaced booms, and there were five or six sets. The rain didn't start falling until the third strike, and it was heavy, but not the heaviest we've seen.

After it passed I slept until the alarm went off, way too soon...

My Dad gave me a generous Border's gift card for Christmas. I love to read, and having a gift card and a 33% off Borders Rewards coupon is like a little slice of heaven. (I didn't realize it, but I also had $5 in Border's Bucks.)

The new Robert Crais book was released today, and I had to get it — even though I'm half-way through another book, and won't be able to start the new one for a few days. I also got the first books from two series — Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold (I love her Chalion books), and Fer-de-Lance, the first Nero Wolfe book written back in 1934. I love my book series, and if past performance is any guide I should enjoy these two for years to come.

I also got a Robert's Rules of Order In Brief. Just because. The full version is massive, and unless I run for city council I think the shorter version will suit me just fine.

When I got to the registers, there were three cashiers working, and a couple of people in line ahead of me. As I was waiting, one of the customers was getting a new Borders Rewards card, and the cashier asked her for her e-mail address. The customer quietly told her, and the cashier then loudly repeated it so that everyone could hear: sexybooty@...com. Everyone smiled, except the customer...

The man in line two ahead of me got to a cashier, and asked if they had anywhere he could plant a banana so that his friend could come back in twenty years and it would be as fresh as if it was newly picked. The cashier politely apologized, and said they didn't have anywhere for him to plant his banana, and the man thanked him and left.

One of the more interesting visits to Borders in a while...

Thanks, Dad!

After a long fight, my dentist (the fantastic and highly recommended Dr. James Crabtree in Arcadia) and I decided that my #3 upper right molar could not be saved. A botched crown some years back did the damage, but what can you do?

Dr. Ardary, an excellent oral surgeon in Arcadia, extracted the tooth long ago, and late in 2008 he did a sinus augmentation to build up the bone structure in my upper jaw so that it could handle the implant.

Today, he placed the implant. In ten days the stitches come out, and in three to six months he'll do some more, relatively minor work to prepare it for the crown. Dr. Crabtree takes over then, creating a mold for the crown, then installing it. Implants are more like car repair than traditional dentistry, but I think they are much preferred over bridges.

Most years, I don't do anything special on New Year's Eve, but this year I doubled up, and it was all pretty cool.

Back in October, my company had a massive reduction in force, and both my friends Cory and Kevin were let go. Kevin had been my manager for the last ten years, and had 23 years with the company. I'd been in the same group as Cory for all of my 24 years, and Cory himself had worked there for 31 years. Yes, sometimes my company makes poor decisions.

Anyway, we'd been talking about having lunch together for a few weeks, and the stars finally aligned for December 31st. I picked the Elephant Bar in Burbank, about halfway between Kevin and Cory's homes, and we met around 12:30pm. We talked for a couple of hours, and only about 25 minutes was work related. They're both doing well enough, and are in good spirits.

Most years, Carole and I stay in on New Year's Eve, but this year we wanted something more. At lunch, Cory had mentioned that some years he and Roxi go to a late movie on New Year's Eve, and it sounded like a great idea, and Carole thought so too. When she came home after work, we decided to head out early and grab dinner too.

On the way, we drove across Huntington Drive, and got stopped at the light at Sunset. They were moving a caravan of Rose Parade Floats up from the float builders on Lower Azusa. They had a few mechanical problems on some of the floats, so we were stuck there for about 25 minutes, but we had plenty of time so we just enjoyed the sites.

We were a little surprised by how busy the restaurants were. We doubled up, and put our name in at both Wood Ranch and Cheesecake Factory - we'd eat at whichever one called us first. Wood Ranch won by a nose (and yes, I turned in the pager and canceled our spot at Cheesecake Factory...), and we shared a combo meal, with two tri-tips and a roast chicken. Carole had fries, I had mashed potatoes, and we finished with a nice chocolatey dessert.

The movie was Up In The Air. Clooney at his best, and a great story too. There were more than few people with us who needed to learn some manners, but we didn't let them ruin the movie for us.

It was the best New Year's Eve I've had in forever.

I watched Julie & Julia this afternoon.

I watched something, but I can't remember what right now.

I watched Iron Man again, but about 50 minutes in the machine started beeping, and I noticed something wasn't right with the needle. They shut me down then, but at least they got almost two units.

Here's the bruising on the following Monday. There's no pain — just a tiny bit of itching from time to time.

Using all the special mojo that her brother possesses, Carole flew with Michael to Orlando (using Michael's flight privileges), spent three nights in a Disney hotel (using Michael's cast-member privileges), and went to Epcot and the Wild Animal Park - all for about the same total cost as one meal at a really good restaurant.

I missed her, but she had a great time, and that's what it's all about. I picked her up at the airport yesterday.

Gail. Deferred. Unhappy.

Our friend Mandy celebrated her fortieth birthday last night at party thrown by her mom.

Our friend Cindy visited us for ten days, and made this great batch of green chili enchiladas. I made a batch as an appetizer for Mandy's 40th birthday party yesterday, and they got rave reviews. I got all kinds of abuse from Justin and Jeremy when they found out I was making some but they weren't going to get any...

• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts
• 3/4 pound shredded pepper jack cheese
• One 28 ounce can of La Victoria Enchilada Verde sauce
• 4 ounces of half and half (preferred) or milk.
• 12 standard or 24 mini corn tortillas

• Boil chicken breasts for 30-35 minutes, until they shred easily. Shred thoroughly.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Spray a light coating of Pam on a 13"x9" glass pan (optional, but makes serving and clean-up much easier).
• Combine the enchilada sauce and half and half in a bowl or measuring pitcher, stir thoroughly, and set aside.
• Working in batches of no more than six at a time:
  • Place a paper towel on a full-size microwaveable dinner plate, and use a squirt bottle to saturate it with water.
  • Place a stack of no more than six tortillas on the paper towel.
  • Put a second paper towel on top of the tortillas, and saturate it with water.
  • Microwave for 45-60 seconds until the tortillas are steaming and pliable.
  • For each tortilla, fill with pepper jack cheese and shredded chicken, then roll up and place seam-side down in the pan.
  • Repeat until the pan is full. You can reuse the same paper towels, but keep them well moistened.
• Pour the sauce mixture into the pan, completely covering each tortilla.
• Place more pepper jack cheese on top of the sauce.
• Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes.

• For more spice (but also more sodium), add a pack of burrito seasoning mix to the water used to cook the chicken.
• You can use slices of pepper jack instead of grated. Tear them in half, then into half again length-wise. Use one of these sections in each tortilla, and layer them on top of the sauce.
• Limit each batch of tortillas so that the last one in each batch is still warm and pliable.
• Make sure the water bottle you use for saturating the paper towels is appropriate for use with food.

PDF version of this recipe