Well, Thursday is my 35th birthday. A realtor sent me a birthday card with the following:

Here’s a look back at October 1970

First successful hijacking of a Soviet airliner reported. Gary Gabelich sets land speed by averaging 622.407 mph. American Norman Borlaug receives Nobel Prize for improved wheat and rice. Apollo 13 lands safely in the Pacific after near-catastrophic journey to moon.

I am the proud owner of two Ficus trees. I won them in a contest at work this summer. Ever enter a contest because you love a challenge? Yeah, me too. I had them outside on my back porch. The weather is turning cold so I brought them in a few weeks ago. Since they’ve been inside, they’ve been losing leaves. I’m told that Ficus trees are temperamental about being moved. But do they also lose leaves this time of year? I’ve been watering them regularly. I wonder if they will make it through the winter.

We had rain today. On the way home from work I ran into a freshly opened pothole. It flattened my front right tire. Let me tell you putting on a spare tire in the rain is not fun. One of Illinois’ finest pulled up behind me. It was nice to have the flashing police lights let people know to slow down and pay attention. I told the officer that I hit a pothole. He told me that the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) already knew about it and told him that they couldn’t repair the pothole in the rain. Crazy!

Man, what a workout changing a tire on the side of the road is! Somebody should make an exercise video called Tire-cize! Lift that tire! Tighten those lugnuts! Feel the burn!

I had fun tonight messing around with an anagram generator. Here are my favorite anagrams for ‘Tom Conder’:

DOC MENTOR
COD MENTOR
DOCTOR MEN
CMON DOTER
COM RODENT
ROTC DEMON
MODERN COT
CRT MOONED
CORD MONET
MR NOT CODE
MODERN OCT

Why do I always find out about this stuff too late? I missed an opportunity to Send My Name to a Comet!. How cool is that?

Today is my birthday. Funny, I don’t feel older. It is also my brother’s birthday. Yes, we’re twins. With that goatee and wicked grin (entry) I call Kevin my evil twin.

Kev told me he bought the dragon book for $2 at a library book sale. The dragon book is the definitive work on compiler design. It is often used as a textbook in computer science classes. Good find, Kev!

I came across this riddle today:

There are three words in the English language that end in -gry. One is hungry and another is angry. What is the third word? Everyone uses this word every day; everyone knows what it means and what it stands for. If you’ve listened closely, I’ve already told you what the word is.

Think you know? Check out Merriam-Webster’s answer.