I LOVE the Big Bang Theory

I'm a geek. I'm a scientist, if you call what I do science, but damn it I have a Ph.D. and my sister is engineer and the other one is a social scientist. So get off my back!

Irregardless or regardless, I love the show and this clip hints at throughly entertaining episode.



Sheldon goes to jail...watch the clip here: http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/02/24/big-bang-theory-sheldon-in-jail/

18 days later

It has been at least 18 days since the County of Arlington picked up the recycling at my apartment complex. But today, it finally happened. Thank God!!!

This means Snowaplooza 2010 v2, and v3 is finally over! Wahoo!

AND to make it even better, it is raining. Watch out snow - you are history!

The rain is washing away the snirt. What is snirt, well today, I learned a new word and it was snirt, i.e. snowy dirt.

Snirt.

More Muppet's fun

This bring me great joy

This makes me so very happy!

Feb 21 2010 01:17 PM ET

Exclusive: 'SNL' close to landing Betty White!

by Michael Ausiello

Categories: News, Saturday Night Live

When a grassroots campaign involves both Facebook and a beloved Golden Girl, the scope of its influence cannot be underestimated. To wit: Sources confirm to me exclusively that Saturday Night Live is thisclose to signing TV legend Betty White to host the show for the very first time.

But there’s a catch — and a pretty cool one at that.

White would not be hosting alone. Rather, I hear SNL is putting together a “Women of Comedy” episode that would team the former Rose Nylund with several of her younger contemporaries. Ex-SNL MVP Molly Shannon is on board, I hear, and feelers have also been put out to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. (An NBC spokesperson insists no one has been confirmed at this time.)

This tag-team approach will allow Lorne Michaels to appease White-on-SNL zealots (half a million and counting!) without making the 88-year-old shoulder the burden of all 90 minutes on her own. And hey, anything that gives Fey an opportunity to dust off her Sarah Palin impersonation — as she’s rumored to be considering — is okay with me.

Thoughts? Are you down with SNL’s multi-host approach? Do you think SNL should borrow any of Ken Tucker’s genius skit ideas for White? Is all of this way too good to be true? Sound off below!

Photo Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.com

How do I know the ecomony is improving?

I think this is a clear indicator.  The food is too damn expensive at Whole Foods, especially compared to Safeway, Meijers and HEB and the Teet (Harris Teeter)

from MeatingPlace.com

Industry News - PM

Whole Foods' 1Q profit jumps 79 percent

By Dani Friedland on 2/17/2010

Whole Foods Market said earnings during the company's first fiscal quarter increased 78.7 percent, compared with the same period a year ago. The Austin, Texas-based company said sales rose 7 percent during the 16-week quarter ended Jan. 17, to $2.6 billion. Increased purchases of organic meat were among the drivers, the company said, according to a report by the Associated Press. "Our first quarter results exceeded our own expectations on both the top and bottom line," CEO John Mackey said in a news release. "While many of our competitors have gone back and forth on their pricing strategies, we remain focused on continuing to strike the right balance between driving sales over the long term by improving our value offerings while maintaining margin." Whole Foods Market operates 289 stores throughout the country, and expects to open three more next quarter.

It's official. I live in a disaster are. I wonder if I can get a break on my rent?

Virginia declared disaster area after snowstorms

President Obama on Tuesday declared Virginia a disaster area and ordered federal aid to help the state in its recovery efforts from the Dec. 18-20 snowstorms.
The declaration allows both the commonwealth and eligible local governments, including Arlington, Fairfax and Manassas, among others to seek assistance.

Wahoo!!

We have to go to work tomorrow! And we have a 2 hour delay, which means I won't have to take any sick time for my doctor's appointment.  Happy days are here to come!

Stuck on my street right now.

A few brave souls ?

The intersection of 18th & Connecticut.  Looks sorta hostile, doesn't it?

Looks like a movie shot

"M" street with tumbleweeds blowing down it.  Actually, the tumbleweeds are big blocks of snow and ice blowing off all the buildings when winds gusts.  Quite dangerous.

No one on the streets.

From my office at 9:30 am.  There is no one out there.  It is very, very creepy.

Let the digging out begin!

My view to the world this morning.  The weather gods made it snow until 10pm last night.  I have no idea what the official totals are, but it is still windy.  Major props to the plowers out there.  Many of the roads and sidewalks are plowed (at least more than I thought would be).  Now the digging out.  I have begun to see dumptrucks full of snow heading who knows where.  It's sunny, icy, windy and cold, but the SUNNY is the key part of that statement.  I like blue skies.

Another day, another day off - Part 4

Yep, work is closed again.  AMAZING!  This storm is never going to end..EVER!

Screw it, I'm going in tomorrow.  Take that mother nature, you cruel, cruel bitch.

I didn't knock on wood

I prematurely stated the snow had stopped.  And now its snowing again and hard...like 1-3 inches hard. ^%$%^%#%$#& snow ^%$%^%#%$#& never ending!!!

Check this out

A whole new level of nuttiness here in DC

Honor system is reported at unmanned Tenleytown Safeway

Yep, Its done

Now the question become, will I have to go into work tomorrow?

I think this sums up how I feel about winter right now.

I think its done

5:20 pm

This is getting old

What I wouldn't pay for a different view?!?!

Good morning!

Welcome to my world.  This just sucks!  It looks like it is 5pm in the evening when it actually is 8am.  Make it stop.

And it begins

So here it begins.  4:30pm and the flurries have started.  I'm not sure what this next storm will bring but I'm not looking forward to it.  I trekked into the office via a doctor's appointment.  The plows and the shoveling had finally made progress.  While the sidewalks were passable, the street intersections, not so much.  In the 3 hours I was at work, the street fairies (not sure if that is the appropriate term) had gone through streets and created intersection mazes or walkways onto the street.

Now if this storm truly dumps 7-14 inches then we are back to where we were on Sunday, in a extreme weather situation of historic proportions, which means we are SCREWED.  Seriously, it could be Friday or even Tuesday before we have to go back to work. 

Fortunately, I walked to the little store the half a block up the street from my apartment and stocked up on the few things I have had cravings for.  And you know when you know you can't have something you just start jonesing for it, i.e. the itch that has to be scratched. 

So here is my pathetic list of items I bought:
2- small containers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream
1-container of Pringles; pizza flavor
1-dozen eggs; want to make banana bread and only have Egg Beaters
1-2 liter of Diet Coke
1-6 pack of bottled Bud Light

This list is reminiscent of past hurricane preparations I saw in College Station, except most of those usually had 20 times more beer, toilet paper and condoms.  Gotta love frat boys.

Another day, another day off

And this is what I and all of DC has to look forward to.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  I'M DONE WITH THIS.
 
Winter Storm Warning for Arlington/falls Church/alexandria, VA

from 12 pm EST, Tue., Feb. 9, 2010 until 7 pm EST, Wed., Feb. 10, 2010.

Issued by The National Weather Service

Baltimore/Washington, MD 3:04 pm EST, Mon., Feb. 8, 2010

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. 

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW. 

* ACCUMULATIONS... 10 TO 20 INCHES. 

* TIMING... MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. 

* TEMPERATURES... TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING AT THE ONSET TUESDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. 

* WINDS... LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS TUESDAY BECOMING NORTHWESTERLY 15 TO 25 MPH WEDNESDAY. 

Snow day

Yep, we got another one.  No work tomorrow....well at least at the office.  I brought stuff home for me to do so the plan is to do some work.  Who knows?

Bummer is that I didn't go to any of my Super Bowl parties.  Reason #1: The street I live on is still not plowed (not a surprise) and it is on a killer hill.  With the sun down, I don't feel confident I would have been able to climb the hill with all the ice that likely has formed now that temperature has dropped and the sun has gone down.  Reason #2: I'm not sure if I even made it to the party would I have been able to find a parking spot.  No plowed roads = No available parking spots.  Reason #3:  I didn't want to lose my shoveled out spot in my parking lot.  That was 2 hours of my morning and it would take at lease that long to shovel out a spot at midnight.

So with that I made some dinner and will crack a bottle of wine and watch the Super Bowl. 

Any port in a storm

The DC metro area is digging out from underneath 25-32 inches of heavy snow and we need extra arms.  So here is the solution.


Posted at 12:51 PM ET, 02/ 7/2010

Montgomery, Loudoun schools closed until Wednesday; hotels fill up as outages force out residents

12:51 p.m.: Another tool in region's snow-removal kit: inmates
Think you just spotted some D.C. Department of Corrections inmates shoveling the sidewalk outside that Metro station? Some prisoners from Alexandria clearing snow away from that fire hydrant?
Your eyes didn't deceive you. The District Department of Transportation has a memorandum of understanding with their counterparts at the Department of Corrections that allows them to tap inmates to clear snow and ice on a periodic basis. The inmates get $7.50 an hour, and DDOT picks up the tab of the guards assigned to watch them, according to that memorandum.
Alexandria has a similar program. Right now, a crew of 11 inmates is out clearing snow, said Tony Castrilli, a city spokesman. "They would normally be picking up trash or cleaning up rec centers," he said. "Just another way to help clear the streets for this historic snowstorm."
Castrilli said the inmates have to meet specific criteria to be eligible for the work program; they cannot be violent felons, he said. -- Matt Zapatosky

After from the front

at 10:30 am.  I am getting much better at shoveling around my car.  I now need a shower and food.

After

And now I'm hungry.

Before

At 8:45 am

Done and done

A picture of my apartment parking lot at 5:00 pm. It has stopped snowing.  I will wait and dig my car out tomorrow.

It's official

Snowaplooza 2010 v3 is now officially over.  The National Weather Service has canceled all snow storm warnings and blizzard warnings. Arlington, VA has reported 25 inches of snow.  It is still snowing, but really more like flurries.  I still have power and heat, so am blessed.  I haven't ventured outside today; my walk last night wore me out. 

It's still questionable if I will be able to go to my Super Bowl parties tomorrow night, let alone work on Monday.

I think I will start drinking and make me some dinner.

My view to the world via my living room

My apartment parking lot at 7:30 am.  Checkout yesterday's post to compare the before and after!

So close to home and yet...

I'm a half a mile from home.  Susan, friend and co-worker, had the brillant (3-7 beers) idea that we should walk home.  You know, we needed the exercise as we will be snowed in for days.  So we walked home...all 3 miles.  It wasn't bad near the office.  Got worse in Georgetown...accumulation and slippery.  Then the snow blew from the ground up on the Key Bridge.  Once we got over the bridge, the snow was only blowing horizontally.  Susan treated to me to Chipotle.  Thanks Susan...it was delicious!  Then we parted and I walked home.  The longest half mile EVER.  Thank goodness, I'm home.  I ready to be tucked in and wake tomorrow with 12-20 additional inches of snow outside. 

Happy blizzard to all and to all a good night.

Isn't it beautiful?!?!

A wall of Bud Light...This must be heaven!

M and 18th at 1:30pm

 Not alot of snow at 1:30 pm in DC despite the constant flurries.  Nothing was sticking, but that was to come!  I swear.

Tehehe - This is the local news station description of the storm. Yes, I live in the crippling region!

10:54 am (EST) and it just started snowing.

Will keep you posted on this situtation.

My office has been dismissed at noon and NO ONE wants to go have lunch and a beer.  Wusses!  Even the people that are within walking distance from the bar to their homes.  I believe I might just go by myself.  So there.

Insert appropriate pout.

NBC Just can't get a break!

NBC's Black History Month Lunch: Fried Chicken, Collard Greens

• Feb 4, 2010 07:16 PM ET
• by Natalie Abrams

NBC, Black History Month cafeteria menu 

NBC apologized for and removed a sign in a network cafeteria listing a special Black History Month menu that included fried chicken, collard greens and jalapeno cornbread.

The sign, posted at network headquarters in New York, was photographed and tweeted by Questlove — the drummer for Jimmy Fallon's house band, the Roots, on Late Night — with an accompanying tweet saying, "Hmm HR?"

It looks like NBC wasn't pleased with the attention brought on by Questlove's Twitpic. The drummer later followed with, "I think I need a twitter break. I done started something. and now I must put out fire."
NBC officially declined to comment, but Kevin Goldman, NBC's vice president of communications, tweeted: "The sign in the NBCU cafeteria has been removed. We apologize for anyone who was offended by it."

Before the big storm

My apartment parking lot at 7:30 am

Pretty

Breaking news from the Washington Post

Just the first step to closing the office. 

--------------------
News Alert: Federal government to operate under 

unscheduled leave Friday
01:47 PM EST Thursday, February 4, 2010
--------------------
 
The Office of Personnel Management announced 

Thursday afternoon that federal employees may 

take unscheduled leave Friday, given the 

forecast of heavy snow around the Washington 

region. This allows those workers not designated 

as "emergency employees" to take annual leave 

or leave without pay without the prior approval 

of their supervisors.

It's coming

Yep, the storm is heading this way.  It should start snowing tomorrow morning and continue all the way through Sunday morning.  Lots of speculation on how much and when will the office close.  Will we have an early dismissal tomorrow or no work at all.  How about Monday?

It is sorta sucky too because I have my office's 7th Annual Chili cookoff tomorrow and my office parties are great.  Then, I'm thinking of a happy hour at the local watering hole that will likely be closed during Snowaplooza 2010v3.  Let's not even get started on my Sunday plans.  I have plans, which is remarkable.

But no worries on the food front (though I could stand to lose 4-200 lbs.) as I went to the store last night.  I also have parked my car in a stragetic spot and have 3 rolls of toilet paper and 3 boxes of kleenex. 

Amazing how 6 inches of snow makes everything look better

Pretty snowy trees this morning!

Snowy night at 10 pm.

Is it really necessary?

Today on the CNN ticker, I saw that someone invented a talking sex robot for the price of $7000.  Really? Is this really necessary? 
1. I'm pretending I'm a guy: Dude, why does it need to talk?  I usually just want to her to keep her mouth shut...or something like that.
2. According to COPS/Craigslist/HBO, you can get sex for like $10 -100 dollars depending on the depravity you desire.
3.  AND based on the spam emails I receive there is no need to spend $7000 for a robot.

That is all for now.

It's Snowing Again!

Yep, I'm not joshing.  It's snowing again in DC.  Snowaplooza 2010.2  It will be interesting to see what will be open tomorrow or what won't be.  Regardless, I will be going to work as I can walk in.