What I'm happy for this Christmas

Home brewed coffee. Not many thing better than grinding up the beans and making it right there in the kitchen. Instant coffee might have been cool for astronauts but it was a huge step back. I can't really think of anything 'instant' that is worth eating.

The free 5 guys meal M and I stumbled into. We were out last weekend? It was lunchtime, we saw a 5 guys, decided that's what we wanted. It was a new location. When we got to the door, we were asked for invitations. I guess the employees were supposed to invite friends and family. We were neither and almost walked away. The guy at the door let us in anyway. We ordered and were told it was free. What's better than unexpected 5 guys? Free 5 guys. Then the drink dispenser was like one of those ideas that the guy who spent 7 years getting his undergrad randomly spouts out at unexpected times. An unlimited beverage combination machine with more flavors than I have ever seen. We shall be returning, even if we have to pay.

Having a kid in May. It gave M and me the whole summer and fall to get used to the parenting thing. I don't know what people do who have kids in January.

DVR. I now watch football games in 45 minutes and don't chew up my entire day. So long as I stay away from sports news, I get away with this. M doesn't even mind tagging along. Bonus mention for the 30 second skip ahead feature. Recorded TV shows no longer require gunslinger reflexes to avoid rewinding when the show resumes. Even though I rail against cable TV, this is actually a decent feature.

Frozen breakfast sandwiches. Had to lower my standards here a bit. When we were in Delaware for a wedding the hotel had a wide variety of microwavable breakfast sandwiches. I hesitated but jumped in anayway. They were excellent. Breakfast sandwiches are easily one of the best parts of the grand and noble first meal of the day. The enjoyment I experienced inspired me to seek these out at the store. I don't eat them every day, but when I get a chance, I do not deny myself a nice microwaved sausage egg and cheese biscuit.

Ron Swanson. Too bad he's not real.

Discovering that we can run the house fan 24x7 and not need to crank the heat/AC to keep the house comfortable. Thank you nameless contractor who tried to charge me $7g for a few balloons and a netbook to make my house more comfortable.

And now a few things that I could stand less of:

Certain 'seasonal' songs. Go away already.
Rick Perry. Going away soon.
TV with laugh track. Should be gone by now.
All things vampire. Oddly not gone yet.
People who think Ayn Rand is awesome. I doubt you finished an entire book and basing your life on a single book, any book, is not giving your life enough credit.
Thinking that things were better 'back in the day'. They weren't. Those days are gone and not coming back.
Perfume/Cologne magazine inserts. I make every one I see gone.
Ryan Reynolds. Almost gone.
International Bad Guys. Ghadaffi, Bin Laden and now Kim Jong Il all gone. It was a good year. Still time for Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Cheney. You know Cheney doesn't have a pulse, right? Look it up. He probably falls into the vampire category as well.
SOPA. Hopefully gone soon. Contact your people in Washington. The olds are trying to take away the internet.
Bonus Rooms. If you can't afford your house, rent out your bonus room. Then go away.

Intruder alert

This bandit was in my house. He took all my money, sleep and free time. I was glad to give it.

Carrot explosion