I called my mom last week, but couldn’t get through. It was the weirdest thing – instead of ringing, the phone beeped at me. Confused, I hung up and redialed THREE TIMES before I realized what I was hearing was a busy signal. Yes, my mother still lives in 1963 – she uses an answering machine instead of voicemail, her caller ID is a small box that requires a separate power supply, and she doesn’t have call waiting so I got a busy signal. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve heard a busy signal? I didn’t know they still existed.

It’s not a good week for technology in my hands. On Monday evening, Shan and I were playing Mario Kart Wii: Tourette’s Edition when the TV went all funny – it looked as though we were playing some fantastical new game that required 3D glasses. After grunting and swearing a little, Ed determined that our TV did .. something. The red and blue are misaligned, and it will cost many dollars to make it functional again. The unit still works, but it’s very hard on the eyes. We *could* fix it, but .. well, I want a new TV. I’ve wanted a fancy LCD or plasma TV for a while now but never really had an excuse beyond “gimmie gimmie”, so we just used our (until now) admittedly excellent television. Fixing the TV *would* be cheaper than buying new, but since it’s almost 10 years old and we didn’t pay much for it (long story, but we got it in exchange for our old 36” CRT unit plus some cash) .. frankly, it’s just easier (and more fun) to get a new TV altogether.

Yay!

We’ll probably list the current set on Craigslist for cheap – anyone handier than we with a frugal mind can probably fix it on the cheap. In the meantime, we get to go TV shopping. I am oddly excited for this, given that I hardly ever watch TV and what I *do* watch wouldn’t gain anything from high def crispiness. Still, it’s a new toy. I enjoy toys.

Nerds Do Thanksgiving 2.0 was on Sunday, and it was a smashing success. It turned into an impromptu photo shoot with much hilarity:

When I write the Great Canadian Novel, this will be the book jacket photo.

I am very studious.

I find my cleavage hilarious.

Please take me seriously.

As awesome as Reilly made me look, nothing in the universe could possibly compare with what he did to Ed:

Hands off people, he is MINE

So much awesome.

And ham. So much ham.

All photos courtesy of Reilly!