I hope everyone out there had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We did. Although it was a good day, I’ve been somewhat distracted. I think I may have conjunctivitis ("pink eye") or at the very least a stye in my eyelid. It’s hugely annoying because it has felt like I have something like an eyelash or sand in my eye for three days. The good news is that it’s somewhat better today. The bad news is that I’m still looking mighty unattractive. Eww.
In vastly more nerdy news, this week I finally upgraded my Windows XP machine to Service Pack 2. For ages, I’d opted not to do the huge 75MB download, but I got the upgrade on CD, so I’m finally oh-so-very current. I’ve had only a few little weird issues, but the big update did install and it didn’t kill my system. So the anti-Microsquish doom and gloomers were wrong on this one, at least in my case.
In mildly nerdy news, here’s another reason to avoid rude people with cell phones. According to an e-mail I got from the Better Business Bureau, people are now using cell phones for identity theft. Those cute little cameras built into cell phones are good enough to capture your name, credit card number, and expiration date. That person crowding you in line may actually not just be creepy, he may be stealing your personal information.
The BBB recommends being careful when you’re filling out personal information and if you see someone with a camera phone, tell them to "back off" (this suggestion appeals to my innate yearning to tell off jerks with cell phones, but if you are uncomfortable about it, they suggest asking the checker to talk to the offending person). Also be sure to take all your receipts with you when you leave the store.
I guess the bottom line is that we all need to pay attention to what’s going on around us. If you’re going to be doing a lot of holiday shopping, be careful out there.