Burns and leaks, channel shopping, Hogfather, real cash for virtual jobs, laser swords

What a week! As you'll recall from the last post, I have a horrible sunburn on my head and face, I came home from vacation to a flooded basement, and now this morning my water heater started on fire. (Oh, and we're in the middle of a blizzard too!) I'm buzzing with anticipation to see if the next thing will be localized earthquake or possibly a Godzilla attack. (I exaggerate the water heater a bit. The electrical box did shoot flames and smoke, but didn't sustain a fire. But hey, it's funnier to think of a flaming tank of water.)
Some things to see:

• Did Cheney authorize the classified info leaks?
• FCC considering a la carte pay TV now, even though against it in the past. I have to admit, I thought this sounded like a good idea, but with deeper thought, I'm not so sure.
• Hooray for fans of Discworld! "Hogfather" being adapted as a TV special. And hopefully, it will make its way here to the US eventually.
• Tired of that boring "real" job? Maybe you can make more money with a career in a virtual world.
  
• A note from my vacation: we ate at a place on Sanibel called Lazy Flamingo. If you're in the area looking for a bite to eat, they've got pretty good grouper sandwiches and salads.
• We are finally getting closer to achieving a true lightsaber!