As a computer guy and a programmer of sorts, I read this article and feel extremely inadequate. That's not good.

Don't Hijack My Birthday

I've been considering the politically correct assault on Christmas lately and since a couple of friends have posted about it, I figured I'd get off my butt and post my brief, less eloquent thoughts.

January 3 is my birthday. Those who know my birthday and share in my lack-luster celebration are welcomed to wish me a "Happy Birthday." Those who don't I neither want nor expect anything from them. I don't expect a present, a card, a song, a spanking, or any well-wishing. In fact, I want them to go about their day like any other normal day because the celebration does not belong to them and they are not invited (by reasons of non-association) to celebrate with me.

One thing I don't want them to do is hijack my birthday. Let's say Johnny Matthater discovers January 3 is the day of my birth and says, "Well, Matt's birthday doesn't mean anything to me and many others and I think it's really unfair to exclude so many people on this day. In order for everyone to celebrate this day in a way that's meaningful to all the people of the world let's replace 'Happy Birthday, Matt' with 'A Joyous January Third'."

In a sense, that's what people have done with Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ. Society* has taken the celebration of someone's birthday, stripped away the spiritual and redemptive implications, and replaced it with something applicable and non-offensive so everyone can participate.

My recommendation for those who are offended by a heartfelt "Merry Christmas" wish and all that encompasses Christ's birthday: find your own holiday to celebrate. Don't hijack Christmas.

* Excluding the Jews. Jews celebrate Hannukah during this season and they have every right to celebrate according to their Jewish heritage and tradition.

Things I Learned This Week

• A collection of jellyfish is called a smack
• Unless you're in the mafia or a lawyer, it doesn't pay to be a jerk
• An icy parking lot is no respecter of persons
• Chances are you have a friend who has gone through similar difficulties you're facing right now and it would do you a lot of good to talk to that friend
  

No more free housing for criminals in BG

Go to jail in Bowling Green and you pay the bill, judge says

I give props to the judicial system in my home town of Bowling Green, Ohio for making criminals, rather than the taxpayers, pay for their stay in the county jail at a rate of $60 per night.

Touching Moments in the Office

[ Matt hands Jeff a refreshing Vernor's Ginger Ale ]

Jeff: I love you, Matt. Can I give you a hug?

Matt: You don't need a hug when you have a Vernor's.

Various Stuff From This Week

I was at the theater on Monday waiting in line at the concession stand to purchase the popcorn that my son would later expel from his body when I saw this sign on the container holding the glazed pecans:

Warning: product may be habit forming

You know things are bad at work when the guy who's about to hand you your Christmas bonus says, "Do you have change for a $5?"

This blog was visited by a bot from an Internet watch dog hired to survey the Internet for illegal or suspicious activity. Perhaps it was because of this post. On a related note, I've had a handful of clicks to my site from people who have searched for how to make household bombs.

The intake and outputs of my new water heater have been slowly leaking all week so I have to tear it apart to fix it which means shutting off the water to the whole house again.

The garage door broke this morning and my CRV is trapped inside. The garage door peeps are coming on Monday morning to fix it at an estimated cost of $350. Add that to the $300+ I spent last week on the hot water heater. No wonder Dave Ramsey says to keep at least $1000 in an emergency fund. Too bad I haven't done that yet.

Amazing feats of insignificance

I dominated in yesterday afternoon's game of "name the band" in the Nerdery. The category was 80's Rock Bands I guessed about 7 out of 8 correctly including Scorpion, Sammy Hagar, Def Leppard, and Night Ranger. My shining moment was correctly guessing The Cult even though I'd never heard the song before.