the corner office

Not that I ever have, but now I know. If you type with two spaces between sentences you're doing it wrong. (via).

That article has over 1200 comments at the moment. I guess people feel very strongly about two spaces.

... is that as you get closer to the end of the tin, pickings become ever slimmer and your positive disposition towards the product becomes increasingly less so, such that by the end you're cursing the bastards for putting so many Strawberry Ughs and Orange Blehs into the mix in the first place.

And finally this, which brightened my train ride home immensely:

If you're going to be sacked, you may as well do it this way. An employee form by Domino's Pizza is making its way around the internet.

It reads: XX "came to work intoxicated on unknown substance possibly of hallucinogenic nature. Referred to customers as bovine and porcine'. After a customer complained he told her to go straddle a narwhal, you chlorinated gene pool'. Was removed from customer service to pizza-cutting area, where he wrote messages to customers concerning the nature of pi'. He became frustrated when he could only recite pi' to the 46th digit. When told to go home, he smeared lava cake mix over his face and yelled I'm Rick James, bitch'. He was not rostered for any shift today."

The "action to be taken" is, unsurprisingly, "termination".

KPMG offering bursaries. Which is exactly how I was able to go to university, 20 years ago. And had a job when I came out.

Mr Tant says this will be a "major new departure" for the accountancy firm, which he thinks could "establish a new trend of the private sector helping to meet the costs of tertiary education".

Wow.

Today was the first bike ride of 2011. I've only ridden a handful of times this winter... just too damned cold. But I bought the final bits of winter clothing over Christmas, and today I got to try them out. Buff for the neck and lower face, ear-covering beanie for the noggin, and big bulky overshoes to keep my tootsies dry and warm. Pickings are slim when you have size 13 feet, and I'm reduced to wearing an overpriced pair of what look like a cross between Ugg boots and crime scene slippers.

Still, I was warm enough and now I have no excuses. Given how much fitness I've lost and how tender the pressure points are feeling, I'd say 'yay' but that would be a lie.

I linked to something similar before. The top 1% of UK earners are projected to pay 26% of all income tax this year.

You can hate bankers and bosses (and footballers and movie stars) all you like but if they weren't around there'd be plenty more tax to be paid by the rest of us.

"What's in your hand, Leo?"

"Money"

"Aaaah," (spying the 10p coin), "and how much money have you got there?"

"One money"

VAT rise and transport increases. Taxes suck but what can you do? Transport costs are another thing entirely. Makes me so cross I feel like going out and investing in SouthEastern (and then going to shareholders' meetings and ranting. And collecting all those loverly dividends).

But seriously though. There was an article recently saying that the state subsidises half of all rail travel. So instead of being angry about my share of my monthly transport bill going up, I'll just say thanks to any and all UK taxpayers reading this for helping me out with the other half. I'm not sure why I deserve your generosity, but you're very kind!

Pedantry aside, 2010 came and went, very quickly for me. It was a good year, all told. I cycle-commuted lots, and shed a few pounds. I cut my hair and got respectable. I had a great job, then got another great job. There was lots of snow in Jan/Feb and Nov/Dec. These made 2010 a good year, as years go.

On the down side, I studied and studied and studied, and studied and studied, and studied and studied and studied. Part of me enjoys it; it's been satisfying when I haven't been feeling utterly thick and out of my depth, but it's also started getting a Bit Much. In fact, I've had about enough of it. The perpetual state of working or feeling guilty about not working is a place I've been before and I don't like being there now. I bit off a bit more than I've been able to chew, and I'll be glad when it's over.

And for 2011? Exams soon, bah. If those go well then I've got 2 subjects left for 2011 and they'll be less stressful. Studies aside, no great plans. Slow down a little, relax more, get on top of the admin, keep cycling, floss more. The usual.

It works like this...

• End of Year 1 AD - ooh, a year since Jesus was born (hypothetically).

• End of Year 2 AD - ooh, 2 years since Jesus was born.

• End of Year 9 AD - ooh, 9 years since Jesus was born.

• End of Year 10 AD - ooh, 10 years since Jesus was born. End of the the first decade! Yay!

• End of Year 2010 AD - end of the 201st decade. Anybody? Anybody?

Now we can quibble about the days that got dropped from the calendar yadda yadda, but from a sheer I-can-count-to-2000 correctness point of view, I'm bound to mark what is (no matter how much less fun it is to see a 0 turning into a 1 than than seeing a 9 into a 0), the passing of another decade.

I'll save the my-how-the-year's-flown-by stuff for another post.