Actually, no, it's not. For anyone interested, you can browse over to the following link to check out the new website in advance of it's actual deployment: peyser goes here! Of course, it looks like the old site, does it not? Have no fear, there are some .php pages being built behind that crafty dns name, so if you can guess their names you can see what I've been slaving over the past two weeks.

This brief break will hopefully serve to remind Brad that he owes me a review of Meze and to remind Helena that she owes me a review of the latest Harry Potter movie. If either of you are reading this, get to work! Otherwise steps will have to be taken. Luckily, I have plans after work so I won't have to return to the 'werkz. Why lucky, you ask? Well, a few days ago as the temperature and humidity both climbed into the seventis (at night, no less) I shut our heating system off. Now that it's gotten much colder, no one has noticed the chill in the air, but I'm sure after today the house will be positively bone-chilling. We're saving money, I keep telling myself, even after I spent ten dollars on lunch today. I've got to find a method to stop hemorrhaging money or I'll be bankrupt before the holiday season. I'm sure I'll find a way somehow to stay both liquid and on top of my savings. As long as I don't raid my roth.

Clear blue skies, cold breezy temps and plenty of sun have combined to make this a great day. I'm stuck inside, but at least I can look through another office window to see the glorious outdoors. Makes me remember my former glory days at the usda locked in a subbasement with no indication ever about what lay beyond the cubicle walls. I also just found out that I can withdraw money from my Roth IRA without any penalty, as long as I'm withdrawing contributions, not earnings. Considering it hasn't earned any money whatsoever, that means I could just steal money from my retirement at any moment. I always thought that the money was locked away and unattainable unless I either purchased a home or reached the age of sixty. Now, though, if I'm in the hole for rent one month...better not think about it. Unlike the rest of my savings, I can't check my IRA level online, so I don't even know how much I could withdraw. Which, I guess, is a good thing. Out of sight, out of mind. By the time I'm that old, I hope I'll be making much more anyway. Damn, I'm in a good mood. Better keep coding...

First off, I'd like to come out strongly against the proposals of the Gilmore commission the transcript of which will be available here shortly after the hearing finishes. In a nutshell, the man who turned the most fiscally responsible states (with incredibly low taxes) into a budget morass courtesy his beloved car-tax repeal, is heading a commission which is going to recommend that a domestic intelligence agency be created here, to mirror Britain's MI5 service. Why should the UK have a domestic agency and not us? How about a little thing called the Bill of Rights? This is a travesty...the CIA and NSA are forbidden from spying on American citizens...for good reason. Much like the ancient Romans, citizenship is a right that confers certain privileges, such as being innocent until proven guilty. The British system offers no such rights.

On a humourous note: it appears that we might not have to invade Iraq, as long as we wait for them to die of cancer from cigarettes illegally funneled to them courtesy our friends at RJ Reynolds. Gotta love the sheer "we're pure evil" aspect to the whole deal. They really put the greed in the "greed is good" mantra.

I finally managed to throw up this review of Spices on the site. Yes, I went there on Sunday. Yes, it's a little late. I've been super-busy working on the new peyser.com website that has to be finished sometime tomorrow, at least from a functional perspective. I also added a few more uses for goats to the list, so there!

In the outside world, I guess it's good that I'm not working at the USDA after this morning's incident. Nothing stinks worse than milling about in the cold weather. For hours. Unless it's the prospect of the government being slowly run aground by the Republicans. Who would've ever thought that I'd partially find solace in Alan Greenspan's words? Oh wait, I'm supposed to really be jumping for joy over William Webster resigning. As if they'll replace him with someone like Levitt. I wish.

Spices Asian Restaurant & Sushi Bar is one of those rare restaurants where you enter with high expectations and leave pleasantly surprised that it managed to beat the spread. After seeing this post review I was expecting some solid food choices, and I wasn't let down. Although I stuck with sushi over their Thai offerings, I did catch sight of several dishes as they passed me which were mouth-watering.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I came with two other people (one a guest from New York City) on a Sunday evening thanks to a friend's advice. As I'd already frequented several other sushi places in the district including Kawasaki, I had a good context for judging Spices, which is located across the street from the Uptown theater in the Cleveland Park strip. Every sushi place is different, and Spices appears on the surface to be a regular Thai restaurant which happens to serve sushi, rather than the other way arond. A spacious interior was a welcome respite from previous crowded locales like Uni or Cafe Asia. Unfortunately, going on the middle night of a three-day weekend ensured that the restaurant itself was quite crowded. Nevertheless, we were able to walk right in, pick up a seating tag for three, and be ushered to the sushi bar within minutes. Had we wished to wait for a table, I'm sure the delay would've been lengthy, yet we managed to leapfrog past several larger groups at the door, which felt good.

Once at the bar, we quickly ascertained that we had no need for their Thai offerings, instead choosing to markup our sushi card with style. After having chosen an arrangement of sashimi, sushi and rolls, we handed the card to the friendly chefs working hard behind the bar. It's always a special treat to see your food prepared right in front of you, and this time was no exception. Oddly, throughout this point we had yet to see any sort of server, so our decision to go with the sushi was probably best anyway. The lack of a server prevented us from consuming any beverages other than water, which worked out well since I actually wasn't in the mood for anything else. If we'd wanted some saki, etc. it would have been awkward though. Our water glasses, however, were refilled early and often.

The sushi was prepared quite quickly, and although the sashimi took a minute longer, both were ready by the time all were hungry. Each dish was prepared well, with enough style for sushi-snobbery and enough taste for the roughest palate. We had chosen to go with items composed from tuna, yellow-tail, squid and many others. The spicy/crunchy tuna rolls were the first to be snatched up, and they were a special treat. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone who likes a little spice in their sushi. The other more vanilla offerings were all done well in accordance with standard sushi practice. The sashimi, unlike at Cafe Asia or Uni, came with a small bowl of sesame-covered rice, thus negating my favorite pet peeve of sushi places, namely: they often serve sashimi without any rice whatsoever.

After the meal we were allowed to sit at the bar indefinitely, receiving refills of our water every few minutes. This was a welcome change from the cramped places that pressure you to move out in order to move the next group in. It did prove slightly strange when we wished to receive our bill, though, because only one of the chefs spoke english. After displaying the universal check symbol, they argued for a few seconds and then summoned a manager who managed to take care of us. The prices were attractive as well, which was a nice change of pace from Kawasaki's large fees. Overall, Spices was a great place to go with friends, if you can handle yourself well at a sushi bar without needing any handholding. It may appear to be an ordinary restaurant from the outside, yet everything from the wait to the water was done flawlessly, a feat almost impossible at any eating establishment. If you're in the mood for sushi and can stand the always crazy Cleveland Park parking scene (we ended up parking a couple blocks away in a residential neighborhood) it's definitely worth your money. And the next time a friend comes in from out of town, it'll serve to impress. Just remember that if you're able to order 60 pieces of sushi, you'll be treated to a giant wooden ship containing several rolled divisions. It's the sort of challenge that, having learned of its existence, I'm going to have to tackle upon my next visit.

Okay, so I didn't crank out the review last night that I said I would. I had forgotten my bug-fix from earlier which solved the issue of multiple people editing the database at the same time. (Well, it's not advanced versioning, but there was an earlier flaw which meant that if two people tried to create an article that they'd overwrite each other. Easily fixed through a simple sql statement change.) Since I discovered the problem was fixed this morning (I must have fixed it months ago) I'll throw together a review during my lunch break.

The good news is that Brad finally got his act together and added his two cents to the existing advice columns. So now I can finally ask people what they thought. Better late than never, right? And there's one final advice piece I need to churn out. Too much work...too little time. I just remembered another review that I need to do. Argh! If only I managed to divorce myself from the pop-cultural zeitgeist for a few days....

Before the two reviews go up, I still have some advice questions that are being answered. One hasn't even been posted yet, and Brad has yet to weigh in on any of them, but here they are: this medical question followed by this relationship question and finalized by this goat question. Because Brad hasn't answered any of them, I haven't e-mailed the participants back yet, but I am pleased that they're up. Another advice question and a couple of reviews are forthcoming.

update 11 pm: I'm fixing my cell-phone but right afterwards I should be able to do a review. We'll see...

Again, I'd like to encourage users to submit with a false name...it makes replying much easier. Nevertheless, from the "very unstable" department:

Dear Dredwerkz:

My friend says that cows are the most useful animals. I say that goats are.

How many uses for goats are there?

Uses for Goats

Edward/Helena/Brad Combined Force

1. Goat Milk
2. Goat Cheese
3. Goat Wool
4. Goat Transportation
5. Goat Tossing
6. Goat Tekken (aka Buzkashi)
7. Goat Door Knocker
8. Goat Vests
9. Goat Pet
10. ScareGoat
11. Lucky Goat Feet
12. Mounted Goat Horns
13. Goat Getting
14. Goat Meat
15. Goat Petting Zoo
16. Lawnmower Goats
17. WatchGoat (for security!)

Just a quick note: the dredwerkz is alive and well. I have at least two reviews to write, as well as some binary object stuff to deal with. I'll try and get to it all this evening, assuming I don't have as much fun as I've had the past three days. Nothing says fun like a special guest from the big apple, combined with my final triumph over my illness. I'd say I'm back to 95%.