Spending Money

Hey all,pretty productive day for me so far. A few duplications in Christmas gifts I received allowed me to build up some HMV store credit, which I got around to spending. In exchange for one DVD box set, plus a shiny 2 euro coin, I was able to get 'V For Vendetta', 'Wedding Crashers', 'Bad Boys' (which is one of the most rewatchable action movies I can think of) and 'The Photo Album' by Death Cab. All while downing one of the best cups of coffee I've had in months. This almost makes up for last night - I left work at twenty to eight, and set off on what is normally a ninety minute commute home. Thanks to a missed tram and a broken down train, I didn't get in the door until quarter to eleven. This meant a very, very late dinner and a pissed off cat (who doesn't appreciate very, very late dinners). Still, because we go to print on Mondays (hence the late hour), I get to come in late on Tuesday mornings, allowing me to wander record and book stores with cups of coffee for an hour or two. All in all, I like my job - though I did realise today that two of the people in the office make my 'Top Ten Most Insincere People I've Ever Met' list.There is one downside to all this - if I want to do something on a Monday evening, I have to take a full day off. This didn't bother me until I realised that a) my birthday is on a Monday this year and b) The Arcade Fire are playing here on that same Monday. Do I take the day off, considering that I don't have a lot of holidays left this year (holiday year is April to March) and I'm supposed to go to France in the next month or two to visit friends, or do I call in sick (bearing in mind that I'll feel really, really guilty) or do I just not go (which is most likely, considering that I think Arcade Fire, however much I do like them, are a teeny bit over-rated)?I have a feeling that the discrepancy between the date my credit card has enough room for tickets and the date they go on sale is going to make the decision for me.I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing (or at least reading about) today's speech by Steve Jobs at MacWorld. I'm actually pretty excited to see what's going to be announced. Considering that 18 months ago I was a dedicated PC guy who thought iPods were pretty frivolous (I'm now a devotee, and considering switching to Mac this year - I already use one for work), I think you can say that I'm a victory, however small, for the Apple Corporation. Translation - between Starbucks and Apple, I'm a corporate bee-yotch. And guiltily proud of it.