I was sitting at my desk today when I heard a familiar voice coming from a few desks away. I was busy so I didn’t look up. Then I heard that voice say “Crystal Head Vodka” and it clicked. Dan Aykroyd was the one talking.

I kept my initial reaction of OMGITSELWOODBLUESRAYSTANTZWINTHORPEANDSOMUCHMORE in check long enough to queue up, take a coworkers picture, then pose for my own after exchanging a few brief words.

My encounter was brief, but long enough to tell he’s a pretty cool guy who seems to enjoy his new life of driving around in his massive vodka-fueled semi and promoting his company, punctuated by occasional acting or writing gigs (like Ghostbusters 3!)

Random celebrity guests are certainly a perk of working for a big company, but I wasn’t prepared for one of my comedy gods to pop up a few cubes away today. Glad I stayed cool.

If you’re not familiar with Longshot magazine, it’s definitely worth a few minutes to check them out. They produce an entire magazine in 48 hours, all about a central theme. They announce the theme and accept submissions for 24 hours, then they spend the other 24 hours designing and laying out the issue.

I submitted a short essay for this issue’s theme–Debt. I hope it gets accepted, but even if it doesn’t at least I made something.

Saw this at the sushi place where I had lunch. Is it just me, or should a $30 sake be more than simply “good”?

Caught Transformers 3 with my brother tonight as a diversion from spending additional time at the O’Fallon IL Days Inn. Best part of the movie? A tie between the “needs of the many” Star Trek reference and the MI4 trailer. I take it back, neither of those was as good as the Wehrenberg Theaters intro video.

Yesterday when I shared the video, I totally meant to include this link to Wikipedia for those who wondered what the big deal was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverging_diamond_interchange

I just experienced the United States’s first double diamond interchange at the intersection of I-44 and MO-13 in Springfield. It was awesome. I made this video for other civil engineering nerds to enjoy.

After 10+ years as an Apple fanboy, I had my first need to use the genius bar this week. The keyboard on my 8 month old MacBook Air had aged prematurely and the top coating had cracked and come off the spacebar. I was prepared to leave it behind for repair if needed.
Instead, the genius (her actual name is Janet) took one look at it, reached under the counter and pulled out a replacement keyboard.
She asked if I was okay with her taking my laptop in the back to install it. I said of course, and she disappeared behind the silver door. When she returned, my MBA was as good as new.
I was in and out of the Apple Store in 15 minutes. No paperwork, no questions about my use of the laptop, no hassles at all.
In a word…awesome. Thanks Janet.