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Like a dolt, I left my camera on the plane while passing through Atlanta. On the other hand, I managed to successfully carry the bag of Cheerios all the way to Seattle!

This has turned into a fiasco - I've contacted Delta lost and found and they claim that something which roughly matches the description of my camera is in the lost and found in Atlanta. They also have sent the lost and found a note with my phone number as well as providing me with the number for lost and found. I've not heard from the lost and found department nor been unable to contact them, despite trying all week. I've looked for back doors, alternate numbers, anything so that I can speak to the individual who can tell me whether they have my camera - and how to get it back!

I've resorted to asking one of my co-workers, who lives in Atlanta, to drop by the lost and found. Whether he'll actually have time to make a real effort of this is to be determined, but I sure hope so. I can deal with the loss of the money - I'm not happy about it, but I accept that as a lesson learned. However, I really want the pictures! There are some great shots of our family and Jerry's first trip to the Atlantic Ocean.

Speaking of Jerry, he clearly says 'mama' now!

I read the 2000 edition from the library, but there is a 2007 edition available. The book provides an overview of ISOs, NQOs, ESPP, and ATM (along with a few other topics.) There is enough here to cause any interested individual to feel a strong need to call a competent tax accountant.

I will be giving my dad's accountant, Jeffery Bowles, a call very soon.

A quick rant about AMT - what a mess. From here, "Because the AMT was not indexed for inflation, its reach has expanded annually, delivering a significant tax increase this spring to an estimated 4 million households. The AMT would have spread even more rapidly after President Bush's tax cuts reduced taxpayers' normal bills, but Congress enacted yearly "patches" to restrain its growth. The most recent patch expired in December, and unless Congress acts, the tax is projected to strike more than 23 million households next spring, many of them earning as little as $50,000 a year."

The recent movie inspired me to read Fleming's original Bond classic. Unfortunately, I was a bit tainted as I had already watched the movie. The book was reasonable, but I didn't particularly care for the French that was used often to describe the places and for fancy quips between characters.

The movie stay relatively true to the book but there were some subtle yet significant twists. It was also slightly modernized to reflect the current world political situation as one would expect. The wikipedia list of differences is here.

It is worth noting that I'm far too tainted in general from watching all of the Bond flicks to linkely be able to enjoy any of Ian's books. Unless he wrote some that weren't made into movies, I will likely end up anticipating the story and not reading for enjoyment.

We just received our new camera (DSC-W55) to replace our old one that I lost.

I like it - the small and compact nature makes it very easy to carry around and whip out for a timely picture. The previous camera had much better optical zoom, which I will miss - but most of the pictures are of Jerry and they tend to be from close up.

Without further adieu, here are the new pictures of Jerry!

said Eriko as we were drifting to sleep... I might want to have one sooner than I thought. Not now, but maybe in a year...

Her original timeline was 4 years. The doctor (for Jerry's 1-year checkup) said the "ideal" time had been rumored to be 3 years. Predictions?

I doubled-down in reading this book; once again, if you can get past the fact that the main characters are all 16-year old super-geniuses (some whom have become Emperor of China, Caliph of Islam, or Goddess of India) then the descriptions of countries warring against each other is believable, maybe. There is a real transformation of the Peter Wiggin character - which has to be done to keep the flavor of the series. Card is rumored to be writing a sequel to this and the Ender series. Despite my lackluster rating, I am in to deep to not continue reading.