I can't believe I let this go a week without updating anything. This coming weekend should prove to be very exciting. Some time ago, when I was still at the World's Largest Retailer, I decided that when I finally got out there, I wanted to blow a Saturday doing nothing but watching movies. Then, I settled on watching Star Wars. Which one, you ask? All of them.
Starting at 7am tomorrow, I'm going to kick on Episode I and watch all of the movies back to back until about 11:45pm, when Return of the Jedi should be over. Around 2pm, we're going to take a short break for a birthday celebration, and then kick right back into the films around 2:45. Should be very nice to be able to kick and just watch all of these movies.
Of course, we're throwing in the canonical cartoon network mini-series, The Clone Wars, as well, since it bridges between II and III and provides a nice little transition. We are not, however, going to watch The Christmas Special. You know, that TV movie from 1978 that only played once, but starred all the originals from Episode IV (before it was Episode IV)? Yeah, Lucas disowned it, so I prefer to view that one without an audience. Yes, I have it.
I just wanted to put something on here since I keep forgetting. It seems that once I left the WLR, I don't write as much. Maybe all that free time on the weekend is going to my head...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Another Dark Cloud
My birthday is coming up, but when it comes to parties, I have some of the worst luck. I've already touched on my tendency to get sacked at a time that amounts to right before my birthday, but fortunately, the party side has been really good in recent years. When I was younger, I could never get anyone to come to my birthday parties because people tended to go on vacation immediately after school got out...which fell right on my birthday. My parents' church does church camp, which also tends to fall right around my birthday, and they've missed it because they've left for it before.
This year? Oh, I figured having it early combined with it being an all day, come when you like, Star Wars movie marathon lasting from 7am to nearly midnight would help some of the complications people have with showing up (at all). No, this year, a new kink gets thrown into the mix. Like any bloke who needs money, I like lapping up as much overtime as I can muster, and Optimus Prime is much the same way. Occasionally, my workplace will schedule a weekend work day to catch up on tickets. Guess when they decided to schedule a mandatory workday...
Yup... right on my marathon day. Now, we've both been forgiven that day for having a prior commitment, but you know, I kinda coulda used the $150 it would have been worth to come in that day. It would have been nice. I know he would feel the same way, so rather than a total day of freedom, we are freed for the day, with the idea hanging over us that if only I hadn't scheduled my day of fun, we would have worked. It's one freakin' crappy feeling.
I wish that just one year everything would go so perfectly in every regard that I could enjoy the day 100%. Even this year, my parents' church adjusted their church camp schedule and The Engineer is leaving town on the 31st for church camp. I thought for sure I had that missed, but instead, they did it earlier. Seriously, what do I have to do?
It's an annual frustration, and maybe this is why some people give up on parties after awhile. It's not even a matter of being important enough for people to show up. I'm a perennial victim of unlucky scheduling. It's not The Engineer's fault that the camp schedule is early...or really anytime they schedule it. It's not anyone's fault but my own I get sacked. And no one at work asked if anyone had conflicts with the 31st, but assumed most could make it.
I'll get over it, sure, but I'll always remember that fate threatened my party for one more year. Maybe next year will be better.
This year? Oh, I figured having it early combined with it being an all day, come when you like, Star Wars movie marathon lasting from 7am to nearly midnight would help some of the complications people have with showing up (at all). No, this year, a new kink gets thrown into the mix. Like any bloke who needs money, I like lapping up as much overtime as I can muster, and Optimus Prime is much the same way. Occasionally, my workplace will schedule a weekend work day to catch up on tickets. Guess when they decided to schedule a mandatory workday...
Yup... right on my marathon day. Now, we've both been forgiven that day for having a prior commitment, but you know, I kinda coulda used the $150 it would have been worth to come in that day. It would have been nice. I know he would feel the same way, so rather than a total day of freedom, we are freed for the day, with the idea hanging over us that if only I hadn't scheduled my day of fun, we would have worked. It's one freakin' crappy feeling.
I wish that just one year everything would go so perfectly in every regard that I could enjoy the day 100%. Even this year, my parents' church adjusted their church camp schedule and The Engineer is leaving town on the 31st for church camp. I thought for sure I had that missed, but instead, they did it earlier. Seriously, what do I have to do?
It's an annual frustration, and maybe this is why some people give up on parties after awhile. It's not even a matter of being important enough for people to show up. I'm a perennial victim of unlucky scheduling. It's not The Engineer's fault that the camp schedule is early...or really anytime they schedule it. It's not anyone's fault but my own I get sacked. And no one at work asked if anyone had conflicts with the 31st, but assumed most could make it.
I'll get over it, sure, but I'll always remember that fate threatened my party for one more year. Maybe next year will be better.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Finale to the World's Largest Retailer
And it's over. No fanfares. No celebrations. Nothing special. 6:00 rolled around on Monday morning, and I left. That was that.
I was allowed to complete my final two weeks at the world's largest retailer and stock the shelves like I'd been doing for nearly a year. I filled out a sort of exit interview paper showing why I was leaving, and I got a lengthy story about the manager trading in his truck, but that was about much ceremony as there was. I turned in my discount then, and my badge and knife on the way out after I'd clocked out.
My final night went much as all the other nights had gone before except that I knew it was coming to an end. I got hugs and handshakes throughout the night, and was repeatedly told how valuable I was and that I would be missed. One guy kept telling people I was leaving, and that I was the hardest worker there.
One of the women got me and the family a chocolate truffle cake. She walked up to me at one point and said, "Do you like chocolate?" I said yes. She asked, "Does your family like chocolate?" I said yes. I knew what she was up to, but she didn't say any more at that point and walked off. Shortly thereafter, she tracked me down and said she'd gotten me this cake and wanted to give it to me on my aisle instead of in front of "those greedy people" in the break room. I stashed it quickly.
It was overall kind of nice to be in control of when I was leaving a job as opposed to being fired (which is what commonly happens to me). This is one of only two jobs that I left voluntarily instead of being sacked. The other was my term with a security company as a dispatcher (which was an interesting experience as well, though my departure wasn't as warmly met as with the WLR).
As I left for the last time, the air was a bit sweeter and the world a little bit freer. I felt almost reborn knowing that I would only be doing one job instead of two and have my weekends free again to spend with the Queen and Princesses. My first free weekend, as intended, is Memorial Day weekend so I'll have three days off in a row for the first time since Labor Day last year, which I took off from the WLR without pay to head to Missouri where the Queen's family likes to camp and fish.
The Princesses are super excited, though, about having me available on the weekends, and the Queen equally so about not having to sleep alone for three nights out of the week. I plan on more movie times with them, working more with Rock Girl on her guitar, practicing my guitar more, playing more on the Wii, finally playing some of those games that the Queen's father got for me, watching a few more movies, and just being able to rest for a few hours here and there as opposed to having to sleep to regain my strength. It will be very, very nice.
In addition to playing, this will also give me the chance to finally work on the house. When you move into a new house, you spend a year getting adjusted to everything and making sure all the important stuff works. In your second year, you can finally start getting it all put together just the way you want it, but for my second year, I lost my job and started working an ungodly amount to make sure we can keep said house. So all that post-move-in stuff hasn't been done yet, and I'm anxious to get started on it finally. It'll be nice to get it all together.
So that's life as it is at the moment. My crew enjoyed the finale of Dancing with the Stars last night. They've been glued to it all season. I tried to watch Stealth at the same time, but discovered I got a bad disc. Oh well. Not that I'd heard anything good about it anyway. I watch my Alfred Hitchcock Presents instead, I guess.
I was allowed to complete my final two weeks at the world's largest retailer and stock the shelves like I'd been doing for nearly a year. I filled out a sort of exit interview paper showing why I was leaving, and I got a lengthy story about the manager trading in his truck, but that was about much ceremony as there was. I turned in my discount then, and my badge and knife on the way out after I'd clocked out.
My final night went much as all the other nights had gone before except that I knew it was coming to an end. I got hugs and handshakes throughout the night, and was repeatedly told how valuable I was and that I would be missed. One guy kept telling people I was leaving, and that I was the hardest worker there.
One of the women got me and the family a chocolate truffle cake. She walked up to me at one point and said, "Do you like chocolate?" I said yes. She asked, "Does your family like chocolate?" I said yes. I knew what she was up to, but she didn't say any more at that point and walked off. Shortly thereafter, she tracked me down and said she'd gotten me this cake and wanted to give it to me on my aisle instead of in front of "those greedy people" in the break room. I stashed it quickly.
It was overall kind of nice to be in control of when I was leaving a job as opposed to being fired (which is what commonly happens to me). This is one of only two jobs that I left voluntarily instead of being sacked. The other was my term with a security company as a dispatcher (which was an interesting experience as well, though my departure wasn't as warmly met as with the WLR).
As I left for the last time, the air was a bit sweeter and the world a little bit freer. I felt almost reborn knowing that I would only be doing one job instead of two and have my weekends free again to spend with the Queen and Princesses. My first free weekend, as intended, is Memorial Day weekend so I'll have three days off in a row for the first time since Labor Day last year, which I took off from the WLR without pay to head to Missouri where the Queen's family likes to camp and fish.
The Princesses are super excited, though, about having me available on the weekends, and the Queen equally so about not having to sleep alone for three nights out of the week. I plan on more movie times with them, working more with Rock Girl on her guitar, practicing my guitar more, playing more on the Wii, finally playing some of those games that the Queen's father got for me, watching a few more movies, and just being able to rest for a few hours here and there as opposed to having to sleep to regain my strength. It will be very, very nice.
In addition to playing, this will also give me the chance to finally work on the house. When you move into a new house, you spend a year getting adjusted to everything and making sure all the important stuff works. In your second year, you can finally start getting it all put together just the way you want it, but for my second year, I lost my job and started working an ungodly amount to make sure we can keep said house. So all that post-move-in stuff hasn't been done yet, and I'm anxious to get started on it finally. It'll be nice to get it all together.
So that's life as it is at the moment. My crew enjoyed the finale of Dancing with the Stars last night. They've been glued to it all season. I tried to watch Stealth at the same time, but discovered I got a bad disc. Oh well. Not that I'd heard anything good about it anyway. I watch my Alfred Hitchcock Presents instead, I guess.
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