follow me on Twitter

    Friday, July 06, 2007

    You Tube Fun: Derek and the Dominos Edition

    From one of the best albums of all time, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, from one of the best supergroups of all time.

    Bell Bottom Blues



    Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?



    and, of course, Layla



    Special Derek and the Dominos related bonus song:

    Wednesday, July 04, 2007

    So Where Were We?

    Oh yeah. I lost my job.

    Last Wednesday I got reorganized out of my position. I'm getting a very nice severance package - almost 15 weeks - plus full benefits during that time. It came as a shock - I was told at 2:00 pm that I had to be out by the end of the day. I was repeatedly reassured that it had nothing to do with job performance, that my job functions were being absorbed elsewhere. Still, though, it would be more understandable if it were performance-related. I mean, I gave 15 years of what, in the balance, can only be called very high-quality service to the company, and I get dumped without warning with a two hour window to get out? That's a shock. I wasn't even given a chance to try to find another position, even though I was assured that I was welcome to apply to get back into the company. On the other hand, who would want to return to a company that punted them that unceremoniously?

    So, I find myself at a crossroads. No, not this crossroads.



    Or this one



    Or even this one



    But a crossroads in my life as to what to do next. Fifteen weeks of severance means I'm not in a rush to find something, though if I could, it would mean double income for awhile. And that's always nice. And I haven't had a vacation in forever, so I've been taking it easy the past few days. But the hunt for the next phase of my life needs to begin in earnest soon. Yes, I'm waiting for my real life to begin.



    I'm not ruling out anything, including moving to try to put our family back together in what would probably be our last chance of making things work. So if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to pass them on. In the meantime, as you can tell if you read the post below, I'm making nice headway on my "to be read" pile.

    Coming Soon in the next installment of "So Where Were We?": Dweeze goes to the doctor and finds out he has high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and a troublesome blood sugar level.

    Brief Editorial Comment

    Hmm. Posts are being written yet not appearing. In that case, I'll take this opportunity to tell the Bush Administration:

    YOU GO TO HELL! YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE!

    Potterpalooza!

    I have a confession to make. I've never read any of the Harry Potter books. At least, I never had, prior to last Sunday.

    Sure, I owned them all. I had a nice box set of the first five books and a trade paperback of the sixth, but other than an aborted attempt to read the first one with Drew a couple of years ago, nothing. I had told myself I would wait until the final book was about to be released, then read them.

    So I waited. Finally, getting a touch nervous about the fact that the last book is due in a few weeks and I might not get them all read by then, I figured I better get started. I picked up the first one Sunday and haven't looked back since.

    It's Wednesday, four days later, and I'm a couple hundred pages into the fourth book. I shouldn't just have everything read by the time the final book comes out, I might have everything read before the next movie comes out.

    By the way, I haven't seen any of the movies, either. At this point, I don't know what my course of action will be in regards to those, whether I should wait til all seven movies are released and then watch them all, or get through with all the books and then watch the movies. Tough call, that.

    It's funny. Part of me is pissed at myself for not reading these before. They're quite good, quite quick reads. On the other hand, reading them all back to back shows more clearly, I think, how skilled Rowling is at putting all of the chess pieces on the board, not just in the book in which a particular action takes place but in the series as a whole. It shows more starkly how minor items in one book come into their own in a later volume. I can't put them down, and look forward to making it through Half-Blood Prince and then getting the final piece of the puzzle.

    A very hearty four paws up.

    True Tales of the Drive-through

    Overheard at the Arby's drive-through today:

    Employee: What kind of shake sir?

    Customer: Uhm. Uhm. Do you mean flavor?

    Employee: Yes sir. What flavor of shake.

    Customer: Oh. Uhm. Uhm.

    Employee: We have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and right now banana.

    Customer: Uhm. Uhm. What were they again?

    Employee: They're listed on the menu board right beside you sir.

    Customer: Uhm. Okay. Uhm. Just give me the first one.

    Employee: Chocolate sir?

    Customer: Sure.

    This has been another edition of True Tales of the Drive-through!