*Took advantage of the decent weather on my day off to try and get the garage somewhat sorted out in anticipation of moving some of my studio work back out there and kicking the wife's car back out into the driveway. Managed to get rid of a few things, get some of the rest reorganized, and get some general cleanup done (including the dried out toad I found underneath one of my carving logs). But, the sure way to tell that you've managed to really stir things up is when you blow your nose later and all that comes out are chunks of black goo. Just lovely.
*For those of you who have spent time in office or manufacturing settings, you may have been exposed to the concept of the PDCA cycle. As presented, the stages of that cycle when used for implementing a new procedure are Plan, Do, Check, and Act. I had the thought today that it is more realistically represented from the side of the employees by the statement 'Please Don't Change Anything'.
*It's a very simple concept. Feed you brain more, and feed your body less. You'll be amazed at the results.
*Once again, I showed up at my supposedly scheduled court date only to be told it had been continued. AGAIN. That means another subpoena will be coming my way sometime in the near future. This has done very little to boost my confidence in the way the legal system operates, but just as a side note, it did reaffirm the fact that I could never work in an office/cubicle farm setting.
*No more vacation for me. At least that's what I've been told. Aside from the time I already have scheduled off, I can't take any more vacation time this year. I will have to cash out my PTO overage when the time comes around in October, or just lose it. I am not happy about this. You spend ten years working, not really taking much, if any time off, you don't take sick days, and when your PTO builds up to a good level where you can actually start taking a decent amount of time off, you get told you can't. My time off is causing difficulties in scheduling. I put in my requests for all of 2010 in October 2009. That means at the least I asked for time off in January 2 months in advance, and for December 14 months in advance. I didn't ask for any weekends on that would cause me to miss a scheduled weekend. I aimed my large blocks of off time to be the opposite of when most people want to be off. I'm not sure how much further over I can bend to be accommodating of the work schedule. I am just not happy about being told that.
*Don't rent "Up in the Air" if you are addicted to the typical smarmy happy ending of most romantic comedies you will most likely be highly disappointed. I think I would put this one along the lines of "Shopgirl" and "Lost in Translation" if I had to categorize it. It's up and it's down, it's light and it's dark. It's changing perspectives and clashing ideas. It's just like real life. This film also wins my prize for all-time best use of a necktie ever.
*Came up with what I thought was a pretty good idea for some signage at Julie's shop, and I think I can pull it together for about $100. Now, I just need to get that donation tiki done and out of the way so I can get working on those signs. And I'm also still waiting to hear what she thought of the artwork I had shown her for the inside of the shop.
*On the turntable: The Police (Ghost in the Machine), Prince (1999), and the Ohio Players (Gold).
*Spring is arriving, and along with that comes tree trimming season. I would usually be out in my SUV cruising around looking for more logs. But, after my little garage cleaning spree, I have discovered that I probably have enough stock wood to keep me busy for the next couple of years. If I work full-time. I have also discovered a couple of logs that have some type of wood boring beetle living in them. So much for using those. That would also seem to be a sound warning that I need to get busy and work down my levels of stock before I go about acquiring more.
*How could you not want to watch a movie about roller derby? "Whip It" is that movie. The big claim of this movie is that it is the first movie directed by Drew Barrymore. She did a good job for her first time out. The whole story is a bit formulaic and predictable, but I really enjoyed the whole thing, despite how old it made me feel. The most fantastical part of the whole movie was the pre-sex scene in the clearest, most well-lit indoor swimming pool I have ever seen in my life. Never before have I seen 2 supposed teen-agers with such incredible breath control. The repeated appearance of a Stryper T-shirt kept me giggling, too.
*"The Men Who Stare At Goats" was a movie that had been on my 'interested in' list for a while. Finally got around to watching it the other day, and I wasn't as amused by it as I thought I would be. Mostly because the skeptic in me went through the entire movie with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Not to say that the movie wasn't amusing overall, but I couldn't get past the notion that it was based on a true story. Mostly because it involves the government investing time and money in things I would hope the government would know aren't worth investing time and money in.
*It struck me today of how similar Disney is to Harley-Davidson. Both have a long and impressive track record in their respective fields, and both of them have mass marketed themselves to the point of being both omnipresent and ridiculous.
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