Today's Fortune: "Now is a good time for you to explore. Take a vacation."

Well, unlike the mountains and foothills, no snow hit the Charlotte area, but that was expected. Got a notice from TWC recently that they are raising rates again, no surprise there either. I've debated for years about ditching cable, but not a fan of satellite service either. AT&T is also not in my neighborhood, so can't get U-verse. So only viable option is to go over-the-air; granted the savings would be huge (if kept only Internet and drop cable, I can save almost one thousand dollars), but I would only get broadcast stations and would have to scour the Internet for other shows I like to watch from cable. The question is, can I do a sacrifice on television?

Looking at the calender for next year and the plan is still on for a possible Germany trip in May (dunno if I'll be back for Animazement or not). I am also considering a trip to Toronto again for Canada Day Weekend. I know I will go to Otakon and Anime Weekend Atlanta again next year, while Animazement has become iffy. I might go to Katsucon, but that would solely be if I have a place to stay while there; other conventions seem unlikely at this time.

In the immediate future, I will be going to Raleigh for New Years Day weekend, so should be fun.

Had my camera at work this past week, so was able to take several shots of the Christmas decorations and the Christmas party at the office. We also celebrated paying back the TARP money, which is great. I have loaded the pictures onto flickr now, so check them out if your ever bored.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/washuotaku/

I have also organized my flickr collections, including new collections like: United States, International, and Miscellaneous.

Today's Fortune: "Something on 4 wheels will soon be a fun investment for you!" and "Focus on your long-term goal. Good things will soon happen." Yes, my cookie had two fortunes, lucky me!

Lazy weekend for me, nothing really else to say about it.

Today was a busy day again at work, but that's typical this time of the month. Just more difficult than usual with non-legacy bank associates discovering that the system they are use too no longer exists because they are now part of a bank now; and the accounting methods and terminology are very different from what they are use too. Been trying to resolve this one issue now for over a month with no luck so far, I seem to keep beating my head against the wall... with my manager giving me a smirk.

During lunch, I went around Uptown Charlotte taking pictures of the Christmas stuff. I want all the way to the Green where I found the water filled ice rink. I also ran into two city custodians with an elf... explain that shit. Ate fast at Matt's Chicago Dogs.

More head banging on the wall between 2-5pm. Then wondered around Uptown some more taking evening/night pictures of Uptown. Don't have any the pictures upload at this time since the camera is back in the office; going to need it for Friday's Christmas Party.

On the way home I got stopped by two state trooper cars on I-77. I pulled over on exit 4 and the officer asked why I was speeding, just said I was going with traffic and it was going a bit faster than normal today. Said he pulled me over because he thought I might have been drinking since I didn't appear to be driving straight. Told him I came from work and he commented that I was probably tired, which I agreed. Told me to slow down and be safe. So yes, got lucky.

Went on to Target and then got cheap-ass pizza from Little Ceasers... because there are times when you just want some pizza, regardless of the quality. Enjoyed it while I watched some anime.

Tomorrow will be more of the same stuff again, everything is crammed together right now thanks to Christmas. At least the Bank paid back the TARP money, so that's one less issue to deal with.

Some of my co-workers went off to New York this week, which wouldn't have been so bad if I was aware they were going. Wasn't till half-way through morning I was told they were working remote this week (and after I told people they were probably just late or in a meeting I was unaware of). Sure enough, they contact me later and said "oops."

Had a bad dream last night, basically I was visiting home and Mom and sister were in the den waiting for me. Sis then tells me that the family parrot was dead and Mom presents me with a cooler which I open to my horror what looks like the parrot (appearing at one side up) floating in ice water. I then notice my sister chuckling as she eats something that appears as shredded chicken on a plate, but I speculate it's the bird. I wake up at that moment, heart pounding fast.

No real plans this week, just getting Christmas cards done and mailed-out is all. Don't know what my plans for Christmas Day or New Years is yet at this time.