Gridlock
Sorry for posting fewer updates than normal, but, as previously noted, I've been ill. Other than a very residual and very infrequent cough, I appear to be over it. Telecommuting is a bit rough mainly because I don't have dedicated space for it. However, it is rather nice to be able to sleep in a little bit and have the pleasure of the cats' company while working from home.
Wednesday, I had an inescapable meeting and our messaging system was being tempramental, so I was forced to go into the office. It wasn't too bad, but it was very fatiguing even though I was mostly recovered from Con*Crud. My trip home was decidedly unpleasant. I had to stop for fuel, and the cheapest place is also on one of our busiest roads. Wednesday was the worst I have ever seen it. I was one car length away from my turn to get into the gas station, but had to wait through THREE full cycles of the traffic signal before traffic moved enough for me to be able to make the turn. I had hopes of getting over to the Woodcraft store (some parts had come in for me), but I abandoned the notion when I watched traffic move two car lengths while I filled my tank.
While watching the gridlock, I calculated a clever escape route. All it required was getting onto the feeder road, crossing the Target parking lot, and hoping that the near-immobilized eastbound traffic would allow me enough of a gap to turn left and head west. I was very lucky and was able to clear the traffic in short order. Ah, the advantages of NOT living in the yup-scale neighborhoods of the east side of town....
Star Trek : The Panorama
In a fit of nostalgia (prompted by the Shanter/Nimoy panel at Dragon*Con), I had Sherman set the Way-Back Machine™ to 30 years ago so I could watch Star Trek: The Motion Picture last night. I remembered that it was a rehash of one of the original episodes, but had forgotten it was all full of long panoramic shots, pretentious music, and awkward crew dynamics. No, it isn't a bad movie, just a little tedious now that we have had 30 years of evolution in the special effects and character development skills of the franchise. And there was a LOT of stuff that dated it as a late 70's film. Thank goodness it wasn't done in the early 70's or it would have had a distopian ending like The Omega Man or Death Race 2000.
Movies II, III, and IV more than make up for the original movie, though, even if it all was an extended plot device to encourage us to save the whales. 8^)
Play Dead Fu
ealdthryth reports that Ignatius was lounging on the bed when AElf' performed a drive-by pummeling. Usually, Ignatius rolls over on his back so he can defend with all four feet and nip back at AElfgifu. After AElf' dashed away, our 16-pound brindled bowling ball with fur and legs stayed on his back and fell asleep with all four paws in the air. ealdthryth had a hard time not laughing too loud....
Silly boy!
Catching Up on Reading
I haven't quite caught up with my reading, but I'm getting close. I know I have missed listing a couple of titles in my book log because I wasn't diligent about keeping track, but the current count is somewhere over 60 books at this point. The most recent title is Affinity Bridge. Zombies, airships, occult science, clockwork automatons, Queen Victoria, and a Holmesian-flavoured mystery. What more could one ask of light steampunk reading? I spotted it while browsing in Silos & Chivalry and thought it looked interesting. I haven't been disappointed.
Pondering
All my colleagues have moved on to a new company, and I here I am still in the same place I have been for the last few years. The internal job ads are now showing that my old job at the research facility is up for grabs again. It would be attractive to me if it weren't for the fact it is an employment cul-de-sac, my phone would be ringing nearly incessantly, and the person on the other end of the phone would usually be angry or in dire straits (not to be confused with the goombas that wrote and sung Money For Nothin').
Wednesday, I had an inescapable meeting and our messaging system was being tempramental, so I was forced to go into the office. It wasn't too bad, but it was very fatiguing even though I was mostly recovered from Con*Crud. My trip home was decidedly unpleasant. I had to stop for fuel, and the cheapest place is also on one of our busiest roads. Wednesday was the worst I have ever seen it. I was one car length away from my turn to get into the gas station, but had to wait through THREE full cycles of the traffic signal before traffic moved enough for me to be able to make the turn. I had hopes of getting over to the Woodcraft store (some parts had come in for me), but I abandoned the notion when I watched traffic move two car lengths while I filled my tank.
While watching the gridlock, I calculated a clever escape route. All it required was getting onto the feeder road, crossing the Target parking lot, and hoping that the near-immobilized eastbound traffic would allow me enough of a gap to turn left and head west. I was very lucky and was able to clear the traffic in short order. Ah, the advantages of NOT living in the yup-scale neighborhoods of the east side of town....
Star Trek : The Panorama
In a fit of nostalgia (prompted by the Shanter/Nimoy panel at Dragon*Con), I had Sherman set the Way-Back Machine™ to 30 years ago so I could watch Star Trek: The Motion Picture last night. I remembered that it was a rehash of one of the original episodes, but had forgotten it was all full of long panoramic shots, pretentious music, and awkward crew dynamics. No, it isn't a bad movie, just a little tedious now that we have had 30 years of evolution in the special effects and character development skills of the franchise. And there was a LOT of stuff that dated it as a late 70's film. Thank goodness it wasn't done in the early 70's or it would have had a distopian ending like The Omega Man or Death Race 2000.
Movies II, III, and IV more than make up for the original movie, though, even if it all was an extended plot device to encourage us to save the whales. 8^)
Play Dead Fu
ealdthryth reports that Ignatius was lounging on the bed when AElf' performed a drive-by pummeling. Usually, Ignatius rolls over on his back so he can defend with all four feet and nip back at AElfgifu. After AElf' dashed away, our 16-pound brindled bowling ball with fur and legs stayed on his back and fell asleep with all four paws in the air. ealdthryth had a hard time not laughing too loud....
Silly boy!
Catching Up on Reading
I haven't quite caught up with my reading, but I'm getting close. I know I have missed listing a couple of titles in my book log because I wasn't diligent about keeping track, but the current count is somewhere over 60 books at this point. The most recent title is Affinity Bridge. Zombies, airships, occult science, clockwork automatons, Queen Victoria, and a Holmesian-flavoured mystery. What more could one ask of light steampunk reading? I spotted it while browsing in Silos & Chivalry and thought it looked interesting. I haven't been disappointed.
Pondering
All my colleagues have moved on to a new company, and I here I am still in the same place I have been for the last few years. The internal job ads are now showing that my old job at the research facility is up for grabs again. It would be attractive to me if it weren't for the fact it is an employment cul-de-sac, my phone would be ringing nearly incessantly, and the person on the other end of the phone would usually be angry or in dire straits (not to be confused with the goombas that wrote and sung Money For Nothin').