Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

....that I talked about on Tuesday can be found by Googling on the phrase "snowball cockatoo". The first two links that show up point to YouTube. The rest of the links are news articles about the bird and the sanctuary it lives in.

No, I can't watch it at work; the firewall blocks all streaming media. And I can't watch it at home because I still use dialup. :(

BTW, I remember watching an SNL sketch many years ago about another dancing cockatoo who was bopping along to "Macho Man" by the Village People. Anyone else remember that?

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas if you celebrate it! And a Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

I also want to thank those of you who sent me cards and email messages!

Last night I bought a pan of Papa Murphy's lasagna and had some for dinner. Not bad, although I think I make a better lasagna. I just didn't feel I had the time to cook. Then I watched "It's A Wonderful Life" on TV. I've never seen the movie in its entirety. I keep missing the middle section. This was no exception, as R called me at around 9:00pm and asked if I could tape "2007: The Year in Animals" on Animal Planet for M. It featured the cockatoo on YouTube that dances to the Backstreet Boys, which M just LOVED. So I taped it when it re-ran at 11pm.

Today, I got up early and went to R's place to drop off gifts for M and spend time with the family. I'm back home now. I'm not sure how I'm going to spend the rest of the day.

NY Islanders forward Chris Simon was suspended for 30 games by the National Hockey League (NHL) for stomping on the leg of Pittsburgh Penguins' player Jarkko Ruutu with his skate.

Link to the article at foxsports.msn.com.

There's unsportsmanlike conduct, and then there's serious unsportsmanlike conduct. Simon's been suspended before. He's thankfully taken leave of the team while he gets some much-needed counseling.

But is 30 games enough? I'd have voted for 40 games, or the rest of the season. Intentionally trying to cause harm to one's opponent is definitely Not Cool, in any sport.

...because now I can't sleep. Ah well. I can catch up on email and LJ at home now instead of at work in the morning.

Yesterday, I braved the weather and did some volunteer gift wrapping at Borders with athenawindsong. My company's holiday party got postponed to Sunday night, so we ended up having dinner at the Rusty Bucket.

I hate icy roads. I've been in once ice-related accident so far, and I don't wish to repeat the experience. But I don't mind snowy roads.

Today, the roads were a little better. Made it to UU services and the morning discussion group. Then had M for a few hours. Then, after dropping M off, I went to the company holiday party. To be more accurate, it was more of a dinner than a party. I had escargot, filet mignon (which I should have ordered medium instead of medium well, I'm sorry to say), salad, cheesecake, and iced tea. I'm still feeling full.

I'm one of these people who finds snow theraputic and cheering. A winter day -- or night -- with no snow is depressing. It's too dark out without snow. But then, I grew up in an area that is known for lake-effect snow.

The folks north of where I am are still getting wind and drifting snow -- so much so that a number of schools are on a 2-hour delay for tomorrow.

To be honest, I haven't felt like doing much of anything in the past couple of weeks. Work has been challenging recently, and when I come home, all I want to do is eat, watch TV, read, or sleep.

Today I made my monthly recycle run, dropped off platic bags at Wal-Mart (they're the only place around that accepts them for recycling), dropped off hangers at Target, and donated baby toys to the Salvation Army. I'm glad I was able to get out of the house for a little while while the weather was relatively nice.

Tonight I have chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker. I made it from a frozen mix. I may have enough for several meals, which I'll stretch over the next couple of weeks.

Shou-outs: Happy birthday suscochran!

I took side streets this moening. It took about an hour to get in to work, but I'm here now.

I'm awake. And thinking about the dozen CDs I think were stolen from my car. I still have the jewel cases for them.

I'm still kicking myself for leaving them in the car, in plain sight. I could have locked them away, or taken them with me.

I suppose that's what I get for trusting the Universe.

And a part of me is saying, "Let it go. They're replaceable. After all, it's only stuff. Other people have lost more than you, and are making a go of it."

Am I the only one around here who saves old email and correspondence with people?

Why do I do it? Because I like the ability to be able to refer back to it if necessary.

How long should email be kept around? Six months? A year? Forever?

Yesterday morning, the car wouldn't start. I think I had enough battery power, but it wouldn't turn over. So I ended up calling for a tow truck to tow it to my garage. They found problems that they were able to fix. Now I have to scrape up the money to pay for the repairs so I can get the car back. In the meantime, I'm having to rely on co-workers and friends to drive me to work.

As much as I like the auto repair shop I go to (it's the dealership), I don't think I can afford to keep going to them for my service. I like that they're open until midnight on weekdays, and they have a shuttle service available. I've also trusted their work. But are they trying to sell me things I don't need or want? And can I get the same service cheaper someplace else?

Last night, since I was stuck at home, I watched Dr. Wayne Dyer's "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life" on PBS. It's his spin on the Tao Te Ching. I was fascinated enough to stay tuned for all three hours of the program. That's something I rarely do.

Yahoo! sports columnist Dan Wetzel came up with a 16-team bracket to replace the current way college football teams battle for the national championship.

Check it out.

Pros? Cons?