It’s worth a nickel

Today I got a letter from the Census Bureau. It’s really important… the envelope had messages about “official business,” and “penalties” for improper use.

It told me that I’d be getting my census form next week, and asked me to please fill it out and send it back.

Seriously? Why not just send me the form and ask me to fill it out? Why double your printing and mailing costs by reminding me to fill something out that I haven’t even received?

(Click the picture to read the whole mess of crazy, if you’re so inclined.)

I really do feel like the holidays snuck up on me this year. Before I knew it, it was Thanksgiving… yay!

And then the next day, as I was making turkey soup, I realized I hadn’t even thought about Christmas cards yet, and I broke into a cold sweat. Normally, I’m the kind of guy who has them written out, addressed, stamped, and sitting in a box on my desk while I enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. The formality of waiting until December 1st to mail them is just so that people don’t make fun of me for the November postmark, you know?

Well, fast forward to my Christmas gift shopping. In the interests of full disclosure, I think gift shopping is a real pain in the you-know-where. My list is mercifully short, so I really can’t complain too much, and I do as much as humanly possible online (thank you, Amazon).

There are certain things, though (clothing, for example), that I really prefer to buy in the stores. I want to feel the fabrics, look at the sizes, and generally experience them before I plunk down my hard earned cash for them. And, since I had a lot of vacation time left this December, I’ve managed to do that in-person shopping without going nuts. (2 PM on Mondays is a great time to be at the mall if you don’t like crowds.)

It should have been so easy. I went into Baby Gap (hey, I’m a new uncle). I found what I wanted. I went up to the register.

And they had no boxes.

Great, so the Gap is cheaping out this Christmas. They “ran out” of boxes, which really means they’re cutting costs, and you can just run down to Target and buy your own. I mean, I did that, because I really liked the things I bought… but I am disappointed in the lack of holiday spirit.

Hey Gap: you owe me $6.88 for the boxes and tissue paper you should have given me for free.

I’m looking for a new domain name.

Actually, I’ve been looking for a while.

Not that there’s anything wrong with swiatocha-wyble.com, but it is a little long. (And this would be another domain name, in addition to swiatocha-wyble.com rather than replacing it.)

And I want something that I don’t have to spell out for people.

But everything is taken!

Any suggestions?

I even found this great site called domai.nr, which helps you find non-traditional domain names, but most of them require you to have some physical presence in the country you’re registering.

And really, I want a .com.

Sigh.