Mood:  not sure

A mixed up week, to be sure.

Monday and Tuesday in Tucson, looking in on Mom as she continues to recover from her foot surgery of last month. She's in good spirits, but still in a wheelchair for getting around. I was able to take her to a number of medical appointments, as well as taking her out and around the neighborhood for some fresh air. We also took a drive up Mt. Lemmon for a great afternoon on Monday. Mom hadn't been up their since before my father died in 2004, and hadn't seen the reconstruction that has taken place after the devestating alpine fires of 2003. The homes up in Summerhaven seem to be all brand new since the fire, and the roads were completely redone by mid-2005. Mom had a great time going up, and it was pretty easy getting her in and out of the car and chair.

I flew back to Boston on Tuesday, hitting the office on Wednesday AM. What did I come back to? A new boss and new job responsibilities as part of another corporate re-org. No one's leaving, just a reshuffling. So, I now have my 23rd boss in less than nine years, along with a number of open questions as to what exactly I'll be doing.

Thankfully, to take my mind off my job situation, my debit card was declined at Costco. "What the F?!?!," I asked. "I *know* there's enough dough in the account." Sure enough, there was, and is; however, upon calling my bank, I was told that my debit card had been canceled because VISA reported that one of their merchants had a security breach, which compromised a number of debit cards. There was no fradulent activity on my card, thankfully. And, I don't mind the card being canceled under these circumstances, but the fact that VISA won't/doesn't have to tell the bank which merchant had the breach does upset me. If I'm spending money and providing sensitive information someplace, and that establishment isn't keeping things safe, I think I have the right to know. When the breach happened at TJX it was national news. When the Boston Globe accidentally wrapped its papers with sheets of user credit card numbers, it published a front page notice. So, where's the disclosure of information here? Maybe the Globe should get an alert about this.

On the lighter side, however, here are some things to take my mind off of the above. Thanks to Mike and Nick for sending, or providing me with impetus to track down a few of the videos - ah, fine memories. So, without further adieu, here you go:

Bill Watterson, of Calvin and Hobbes fame,  reviews the new biography of Peanuts creator, Charles Schulz. I doubt I'll read the book, but the review provides some great insight of one cartoonist by another. Watterson's known as being highly reclusive, he did, however, respond to one inquiry we sent him in my days at Kitchen Sink Press - and he did a book intro, and a bit of a grouch. It'll be interesting to read a bio on him at some point.

Speaking of Peanuts, Nick sent this link: Peanuts if done by Charles Bukowski. Great stuff. Perhaps something like this was rolling around in Schulz's brain when he was working on the strip?

Also on the Peanuts theme, check out Blue Peanuts - a good mash-up video of Peanuts cartoons and dialog from Blue Velvet.  You might need to log-in, as there's some office inappropriate language. OK, maybe in your office, not mine.

I've got that original on a VHS from back in the early '90s. On that same tape came two other mash-up gems:

The Archies performing "God Save The Queen," by the Sex Pistols.  Yeah, tough to get a better match-up of packaged bands ;-) I love the end bit of Betty talking up Sid Vicious.

Apocalypse Pooh - wherein our favorite bear with not-so-much-brain and his pals find themselves in a very different spot than the 100 Acre Wood. Oh, bother.

Finally, this came from Mike - a fun mirror prank from a German Candid Camera-style show. You don't need to understand German to get the gag, but it'd add a bit. (I don't, and I still enjoyed it.)

OK, time to wrap up this entry, and get ready for bed while the Sox take a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th.