New Feature: The Ledger

All the year end list making got me thinking. Originally, I was going to try and summarize the year that was, with a complicated and arcane points system to see how the year wound up for me. I spent about half an hour crawling around in a spreadsheet on this, and decided that A. it was just too onerous a task to undertake, and B. seeing all the red numbers/negatives pile up was just too damned depressing, even for me.

So, for the sake of sanity and pithiness, I will be implementing a new feature here at TNRLM called "The Ledger." It will be a simple plus/minus of the week that was. So, without further ado...

Plus

• Huge bottle of crown from coworkers.
• The guy at Autozone who helped me install a new car battery. Doesn't sound like such a big deal? Drop the battery under the hood and hook up a couple of cables? Not so fast my friend. My battery happens to be in the rear cargo area. Under a panel. Under the full size spare tire. Under a series of supporting braces that each have a different size bolt. Did I mention that it was pouring rain? And we did this in an uncovered parking lot? And that he didn't charge "extra" for it? So instead of paying $400+ for the battery and installation at the Nazi dealership, I got out for $120 + a $20 tip I gave the soaking wet dude who helped.
• A whole channel devoted to Led Zep on XM Radio. Can't find anything on the other 200 channels? All the sportstalk taking a commercial break at the same time? There's always "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" or "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" just a button away.
• DirecTV and TiVo. Yep, I've had it for a couple of weeks now, but the importance just can't be understated. I know that if I've set up a season pass, it will be recorded.
• Angel: After The Fall. Just like "Buffy Season 8," this canonical comic book continuation of Angel (S6) is intriguing, well written and well plotted.
• The DVD set of the series Profit that I bought last night. Created by David Greenwalt (of X-Files, Buffy, Miracles and Angel fame) and John McNamara (Eyes, Brisco County Jr.), this is truly a "brilliant, but canceled" show from the 90s. It only lasted 8 episodes, but was about a sociopathic corporate climber perfectly played by current Heroes star Adrian Pasdar. It was ahead of its time (kind of a great grandfather to Mad Men, too, in a way) and Fox and their affiliates (surprise) didn't "get" it despite rave critical notices. Now, it would easily find a comfy home on HBO, Showtime or FX and get the Emmys it deserves. In addition to the nuanced and terrific Pasdar, Profit featured a stellar supporting cast: Lisa Darr as Profit's executive assistant, Keith Szarabajka as the CEO of the multinational conglomerate, Lisa Zane as the investigator suspicious of Proft, Lisa Blount (fantastic and so hateable as Debra Winger's slutty friend in An Officer and a Gentlemen -- where's she been?) as Profit's stepmom and "friend," Jack Gwaltney as the CEO's drunken younger brother, Allison Hossack (Sam's mom on Reaper) as the younger brother's wife. I saw the original 4 eps that aired originally, but have yet to see the 4 that didn't make it to the screen back then, so I'm really looking forward to making my way through the set and listening to all the commentaries.
• The Baltimore Sun FINALLY managed to deliver a Friday paper. I've been subscribed to the Fri - Sun edition for 4 months, and they haven't made it here with a Friday paper until yesterday, despite my calls to customer service every single Friday afternoon.
• Winning my Fantasy Football Super Bowl Championship.

Minus

• The Holidays. They just suck.
• Taking a salad to work, then losing the fork that I brought to eat it with. You know, I actually had this thought process: I should just buy a cheap set of forks to use when I bring my lunch. That way, if I throw it away by mistake or lose it, it won't affect my perfectly matched set of 16 that I don't even know that they make anymore. Nahhh. When's the last time I actually lost something? Fuck. Now I'm one fork down. And don't think I won't obsess about this every time I open the cutlery drawer. I already do over a butterknife a mindless trollop lost a couple of years ago.
• The fact that my XM radio was hooked up to the power in my car incorrectly, and drained my battery (which admittedly, was long in the tooth anyway), causing me to have to join AAA on X-mas Eve in order to get my car jump started in order to make a run to the grocery store or order yet another pizza. (On the "plus" side, Best Buy did fix the hook up last night, and while I was waiting, I discovered the Profit DVDs).
• The WGA strike. Of course, I'm totally on the writer's side in this, but I'm hoarding the last bit of scripted TV on TiVo like Sheryl Crow hoards toilet paper squares.