Thursday, November 23, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Devil's advocacy bedamned!
Its a leisurely Sunday morning, somewhat overcast, and here I sit.
Slacker is here, too - or at least he was - in his spot behind the computer, and in the other room M is soundly slumbering, her sleep mask askance.
(Okay, I don't really know if its "askance" but I couldn't pass up the assonant opportunity)
(Yes, I am a dork)
Moving right along...
The past week on the homefront was relatively uneventful (no thefts, vandalism, etc. - I did do some violence to myself, impaling my shin on the corner of a low concrete wall and filling my pant leg with blood, but owing to a recently growing pattern of self-abuse, this is hardly noteworthy. I am happy to report that my black eye and the puncture wound in my left arm [both from seperate events] are now completely healed. No, I'm not kidding).
Beyond the homefront: M ended the last quarter, swimmingly*, while I assisted in the successful completion of our inventory at HUGE Supply.
*Soap Box Moment - one possible exception to "swimmingly" might be M's Marketing Class - for which SCNM seems to have thrown out all humanistic and individualistic considerations in lieu of cutle little rhymes, jingles or any other bright flashey things that could possibly ensnare the minds of the slobbering masses. Example:
Don't like your life?
Filled up with strife?
Considering the knife?
Change it with...
(big smile!)
Dr. Smith!
(pronounced "Smythe")
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Maybe they could even do cooperative advertising with someone like Nike or McDonald's - really get the message out there!
Blah, blah, blah.
So I thought I might have to count little widgets all weekend but inventory went better than planned and we actually finished ahead of schedule. Oh, sure, we had the obligatory computer systems crash at 4:15 pm on Thursday, fifteen minutes before we were supposed to start counting -and- it was down for most of Friday, but they were able to circumvent this little problem and we were able to avoid working the weekend. Yea!
Now, having expected to work the weekend, getting that time back feels like a little gift.
Of course the devil's advocate in makes me wonder if I'm not a fool for being thankful - thankful for what was already mine - especially since it was bequeathed by the faceless grey monolith that is my employer.
On the other hand, when I got my stolen truck back I couldn't help but feel grateful.
The stringy-haired, crack-headed thieves I'd imagined were morphed into mere agents-of-fortune once the truck was returned, and I even came to feel a strange sense of connection with them after finding an old black-and-white baby picture they'd left in the glove compartment.
In a way, I am grateful to those guys. I have a newfound appreciation for that little purple pickup - with its cracked windshield and 180,000 miles - and a few other things as well.
In fact, right now, the sun is setting, Lou Reed is "beginning to see the light" and I am feeling pretty goddamn mellow.
So, yeah, I could bitch about work and the faceless corporate entity that reigns o'er all, but... f*ck it.
Let's just save that for another time.
Slacker is here, too - or at least he was - in his spot behind the computer, and in the other room M is soundly slumbering, her sleep mask askance.
(Okay, I don't really know if its "askance" but I couldn't pass up the assonant opportunity)
(Yes, I am a dork)
Moving right along...
The past week on the homefront was relatively uneventful (no thefts, vandalism, etc. - I did do some violence to myself, impaling my shin on the corner of a low concrete wall and filling my pant leg with blood, but owing to a recently growing pattern of self-abuse, this is hardly noteworthy. I am happy to report that my black eye and the puncture wound in my left arm [both from seperate events] are now completely healed. No, I'm not kidding).
Beyond the homefront: M ended the last quarter, swimmingly*, while I assisted in the successful completion of our inventory at HUGE Supply.
*Soap Box Moment - one possible exception to "swimmingly" might be M's Marketing Class - for which SCNM seems to have thrown out all humanistic and individualistic considerations in lieu of cutle little rhymes, jingles or any other bright flashey things that could possibly ensnare the minds of the slobbering masses. Example:
Don't like your life?
Filled up with strife?
Considering the knife?
Change it with...
(big smile!)
Dr. Smith!
(pronounced "Smythe")
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Maybe they could even do cooperative advertising with someone like Nike or McDonald's - really get the message out there!
Blah, blah, blah.
So I thought I might have to count little widgets all weekend but inventory went better than planned and we actually finished ahead of schedule. Oh, sure, we had the obligatory computer systems crash at 4:15 pm on Thursday, fifteen minutes before we were supposed to start counting -and- it was down for most of Friday, but they were able to circumvent this little problem and we were able to avoid working the weekend. Yea!
Now, having expected to work the weekend, getting that time back feels like a little gift.
Of course the devil's advocate in makes me wonder if I'm not a fool for being thankful - thankful for what was already mine - especially since it was bequeathed by the faceless grey monolith that is my employer.
On the other hand, when I got my stolen truck back I couldn't help but feel grateful.
The stringy-haired, crack-headed thieves I'd imagined were morphed into mere agents-of-fortune once the truck was returned, and I even came to feel a strange sense of connection with them after finding an old black-and-white baby picture they'd left in the glove compartment.
In a way, I am grateful to those guys. I have a newfound appreciation for that little purple pickup - with its cracked windshield and 180,000 miles - and a few other things as well.
In fact, right now, the sun is setting, Lou Reed is "beginning to see the light" and I am feeling pretty goddamn mellow.
So, yeah, I could bitch about work and the faceless corporate entity that reigns o'er all, but... f*ck it.
Let's just save that for another time.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Money like Water thru a Sieve
After discovering my truck stolen I made several calls, including the police, insurance, work, and so on. Then I went online to look for a rental car.
I finally found a deal - one week for $150 - made the reservation then lost it when the computer crashed.* Finally, I was able to call National and verify.
Once there, the woman quoted me an additional $175 for insurance, which I refused, citing my own insurance. No problem.
Then I called my insurance to confirm I could get full coverage. Problem:
"We can't offer you full coverage because the vehicle upon which your policy is based is no longer in your possession. We can offer liability, but cannot expand your policy without first examining your car, which, of course is currently not possible."
Uh-huh.
Now at this point, my finances were at a particularly low ebb:
Okay, I'm kidding about that last part but with all of the aforementioned -plus- my standard bills (not to mention the need to come up with a down payment) it was definitely the month of money like water thru a sieve.
The moral of the story is that I rented the car without full coverage.
Then, for the several days, each and every little noise: the dog next door, a person walking down the street, even the wind in the trees - all alerted me to the possibility of an intruder, and I would stalk thru the house at all hours, peering out windows and compulsively eyeing the rental car like Smeagol and his precious ring.
Then, the next stage of sleep deprivation hit, and (for me at least) things started getting... kinda wonky.
You know the bit from "Fight Club" where Ed Norton talks about insomnia, sleep deprivation, and maybe even sanity?
And then the little accidents started happening.
footnote #1: M has a Mac, which sometimes has issues with Microsoft based forms.
I finally found a deal - one week for $150 - made the reservation then lost it when the computer crashed.* Finally, I was able to call National and verify.
Once there, the woman quoted me an additional $175 for insurance, which I refused, citing my own insurance. No problem.
Then I called my insurance to confirm I could get full coverage. Problem:
"We can't offer you full coverage because the vehicle upon which your policy is based is no longer in your possession. We can offer liability, but cannot expand your policy without first examining your car, which, of course is currently not possible."
Uh-huh.
Now at this point, my finances were at a particularly low ebb:
1. I'd flown into Aspen for the Memorial Day Weekend. (The one thing I'd actually planned on).
2. The following weekend, in a somewhat spur-of-the-moment act, M and I moved in together, and I had to come up with my part of the deposit money, utilities, etc.
3. In the same month, I had to take half a paycheck because our company had been bought out and Home Depot was "restructuring" our pay. (In other words, withholding the money for an additional two weeks to take advantage of the float and make more money themselves. Blah blah blah.)
The good news about the switch, they told us, was that we could borrow our own money out of the following paycheck if we really needed to. Also, they gave us a whole month advance notice.
4. I got a speeding ticket.
5. A big mean kid beat me up and took my lunch money.
Okay, I'm kidding about that last part but with all of the aforementioned -plus- my standard bills (not to mention the need to come up with a down payment) it was definitely the month of money like water thru a sieve.
The moral of the story is that I rented the car without full coverage.
Then, for the several days, each and every little noise: the dog next door, a person walking down the street, even the wind in the trees - all alerted me to the possibility of an intruder, and I would stalk thru the house at all hours, peering out windows and compulsively eyeing the rental car like Smeagol and his precious ring.
In fact now that I'm writing this, I think I'll just take a quick peak outside to make sure everything's cool. Be right back.Pretty soon, M was getting no sleep either (I can't imagine why) and we were both going slightly crazy, though pretending not to.
Okay, its still there. (Gollum!)
Now where was I?
Then, the next stage of sleep deprivation hit, and (for me at least) things started getting... kinda wonky.
You know the bit from "Fight Club" where Ed Norton talks about insomnia, sleep deprivation, and maybe even sanity?
"Was I awake or was I dreaming?" and "Everything is like a copy of a copy of a copy."Things started getting sort of... fuzzy like that.
And then the little accidents started happening.
footnote #1: M has a Mac, which sometimes has issues with Microsoft based forms.
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