Inspired by this, I've created another awesome flowchart...

Some of you who know me well (especially those that have lived with me) know that I'm kind of anal-retentive about wires.  I hate them.  Stray wires drive me nuts.  If you look at photos of my desk at home or work, you'll see that they always have cables tucked away in cable runners on the underside of the desk, and I use wireless keyboards and mice.

So even though  I got a really nice home theater unit that does a reasonable neat  job of keeping wires out of sight, the mess that existed behind my subwoofer (where the power strip was) constantly bothered me, since it was visible from some angles.

I have found the solution, though.  I bought a blueLounge Design CableBox.  Yeah, I know, it's pretty much just a plastic box with some slots cut in the side...  Ok fine, it's just a box with slots cut in the side.  But it helps, damnit!

Before:

20017

After:

20020

I'm not crazy!

I just got the most awesome email from Twitter.

Hi, staypuft.
Peter Venkman (PeterVenkmanPhD) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Sarah and I are leaving tomorrow night for 5 days in Canada.  Why you might ask?  Well it's our first anniversary.

Wait.  What?  First anniversary?  When did that happen?  Holy crap, I've been married for a year!  Wow.

In other news, I've finally rejoined Facebook.  Woo?

Hrm...  Is there an opposite to 'cha-ching'?  'Cha-ching' seems to suggest that I just made a lot of money.  Well...  I kind of did, indirectly.  I just paid off a large chunk of my auto loan (about 20% of the balance).  This will chop off about 12.5 months worth of payments and should save me about $1200 in interest over the course of the next five years.

Yay for saving money!

No, I didn't actually invent anything...

But I did fix the Gallery / Wordpress integration on my site, finally.  Yay!

Update: Apparently part of my Gallery page is still slightly broken, but I don't care.

Woo holiday time!  Definitely good to spend time with family and not have to go to work for a few days.  Of course it would be nicer if the weather wasn't so crappy while I'm trying to drive, but whatever.

Got some neat gifts so far...  New K&N filter for my Jetta, a Happy Mac polo, an "I Void Warranties" T-shirt, and a Logitech Harmony 880 (really freaking neat remote control).

I still can't believe 2008 is over.

Wait a second...  That last post I just made said December 22...  Where did 2008 go?

Hmmm...  Forgot to post the pictures I said I would.  I should do that.

In other news, I sold my Civic to a co-worker's sister.  Well...  The sale isn't final yet, but I have a down-payment, and we're finalizing the sale on Friday.  I need to find a sample contract that I can use.  But woo, car sold.  Definitely a weight off of my shoulders.

Need to remember to update this more.  I keep saying that.

Woooooooo new car! Ok, not "new" new, but new to me.

I am now the owner of a shiny "Graphite Blue" 2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 SE.  It has the standard 2.5 liter 20-valve inline 5-cylinder engine, 6 speed automatic transmission with Triptronic, beige leatherette interior, power windows, power mirrors, power seats (not the uber-power seats), power moonroof, 10-speaker 6-CD sound system with the satellite radio module (though I doubt I'm actually going to subscribe to it), and the all-important cold weather package, which gives me side mirror defrosters, heated washer fluid nozzles, and HEATED SEATS!  Also, as part of the deal I got from the dealership, they're installing the VW iPod interface probaby next week (they needed to order the part).

So far I'm absolutely thrilled with the car.  It rides great, looks great, is super-comfortable, has plenty of power (at least compared to my Civic), and has all sorts of neat little features that I'll probably still be discovering for several months.  Some combination of it having a taller ride or more "luxury" suspension or something gives me a different sensation of speed (specifically, I feel like I'm going slower than I actually am in the Jetta compared to the Civic), which I need to get used to.

I do need to bring the car back (I think tomorrow) to have some minor body work done.  The dealer is doing this "for free" (part of the deal), so I'll be without it for a few more days.  Also, the dealership was being a pain in the ass with the trade on my Civic, so I told them that I'd just keep it and sell it myself, so I need to do that.

Anyway, I'm happy.  Pictures to come soon.

Woo!  Leaving for Canada tonight for two days.  RPI plays UVM in Quebec Saturday.  Should be awesome.

Must try chocolate-covered bacon.

Woo. My Civic finally got back above 32 MPG on my way to work.

(First person to leave a comment that gets the reference in the title gets 5 bucks)

So I'm married now.  Wow.

We got back from Italy yesterday.  What an amazing trip.

Sunday, we flew from Albany to Chicago to Frankfurt to Venice.  Very long flight and only got about 2 hours sleep.  Got to our hotel in Venice after taking a boat from the Airport to St. Mark's at about 12:30 PM local time (now Monday).  Spent most of the day wandering around Venice.  Went on a gondola ride that was arranged for us by the hotel.

Tuesday, we accidentally slept in (never actually turned the alarm on).  Spent most of the day on Murano looking at the glass shops.

Wednesday, we got up early, went over and looked at the Grand Canal, then took a boat over to the train station so we could make our way to Rome.  While at the train station, by a stroke of absolutely amazing luck, we saw the Orient Express, which was sitting in the track next to our train.  The train ride from Venice to Rome was quite enjoyable.  We spent the first half (Venice to Florence) sharing a table in one of the first class coaches with a nice couple from California, and the other half looking at the beautiful countryside going by at 250 km/h.

Got into Rome in the mid-afternoon, and after settling into our hotel, went wandering around the city, including taking a "night walk" to various sites as described in Sarah's guidebook.

Thursday was more wandering around the city in the morning, and a very nice guided walking tour in the afternoon, led by a very nice woman who apparently holds a PhD in archeology.  We went into the Colosseum, the Forum, and a bunch of other important sites around the city.  Very interesting, and we probably ended up walking at least 3 or 4 miles.

Friday, we went to Villa Borghese for a little while, and then to the Vatican.

Yesterday we got up early (6:00 AM Rome time), got ourselves over to the airport, and made our way back home.

And now I'm back at work, half in a haze due to the jet lag...  Sarah's going to write a bunch more stuff to go up on our wedding site.  I'll post a link to it when she's done.  And I have a huge quantity of pictures to go through (I think my camera said it was over 800).  I'll have them posted tonight or tomorrow, probably.

Yesterday, Rob, Yuri, Bickford, Mike, and Crawford took me out for... well, I suppose it was my bachelor party.

We started by going to dinner at Paolo Lombardi's in Wynatskill.  I'd heard of it before, but never went.  Very good food.

After that, we went to the Times Union Center to watch Michigan embarrass Clarkson.  Michigan's goaltender was absolutely amazing, especially in the 6-on-3 at the end.  And Clarkson still sucks.

Then we went out to the Washington Tavern, which was also fun.  Overall a good night.

One week to go.