Currently Reading: The Big Red One by Samuel Fuller
It's one of those universal thing, like death and taxes. Every year books are turned into movies. Most of them are smaller books or genre-specific like crime or romance, but once or twice a year you have a HUGE blockbuster type movie based on a HUGE blockbuster type book. In the past years we've had the whole Tolkien Lord of the Rings series and the still on-going Harry Potter series, which will be the topic of complaints all across America tonight.
Actually, the complaining is already starting. Despite a whopping 89% favorable rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, what stands out in most reviews are the complaints. I even saw one article over on Fox that does nothing BUT complain. No, wait, they refer to it as "listing differences from the book." Yes, they list those differences but in only one case to they list a change in a positive light.
Mostly what I'm seeing falls into one of two categories. The first group is complaining that the new director is a little too much like the FIRST director and he's taking the series back to a more literal translation. The guy who did the third episode was much more stylistic in his approach and wasn't that just WONDERFUL . . . so they say. To be honest, I never had a problem with either method. Being literal worked great for the first two movies, which were based on much shorter books. Starting with book 3 though, the amount of text being translated to the screen grows dramatically! Naturally you can't be literal when the source material is so huge. Things have to be cut, combined, reworked to fit the time frame of a movie. And let us not forget, there were quite a few complaints about the third movie for just that reason, too many cuts.
Of course, cuts is the second category. Everyone has their favorite characters and scenes from the books and they expect to see them in the movies. They work themselves into a frenzy if their chosen one isn't featured prominently. Take this new movie. According to one "complaint," Victor Klum and Fleur (I'm not even going to look up her last name) hardly speak even though in the book they're both given HUGE back stories. Ok, yeah, so? It's something I remember talking about with movie 3. When you have that much basic plot to work with, you HAVE to cut down the little stuff along the way and when you get right down to it, Harry's fellow competitors in the Triwizard Tournament really are just there for the plot. Hell Fleur eventually ends up marrying one of the Weasleys and she's STILL not that major of a character.
One of the things that makes J. K. Rowling's work so great is her attention to detail. All those layers add up to a very rich literary environment. It makes for a good read. But it also makes converting it the work to film pretty tough. Some of the details can be worked in as background or scenery but when it comes to each character that crosses the paths of the protagonist, that's quite a bit more difficult.
Cut the director some slack. The movie will be great, we'll all enjoy it and we'll have a wonderful time. If you prefer the books, then stick with the books and stop trying to ruin it for the rest of us.
.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Recovery Update; Weather Report; Oscar Outlook
Currently Reading: The Big Red One by Samuel Fuller
This didn't quite work out the way I thought it was going to. When the doctor said nothing strenuous for 4 weeks, and all the paperwork said nothing strenuous for 4 weeks, I was thinking nothing strenuous for 4 weeks. Alas, it was not to be. Last night I walked the dogs :-)
Ok that might have been a bit dramatic, but I did walk the dogs. In all fairness they were much better behaved than usual though and we didn't run into any of the neighborhood dogs. No pulling, no running, and when I said STOP they stopped. I think maybe they're just being easy on me knowing that I'm not yet back up to full speed. You watch, come Demember they'll be dragging me around all over the place :-)
Speaking of December, it looks like fall is finally here . . . again. I'm not going to cement that prediction though. We've had this happen a few times already where it's cool or cold for a whole two days and then a week later we're in shorts. Hell we were just in shorts yesterday for that matter. Then last night the electric blanket is on. This morning CC turns on the heater and I wore a coat while walking the dogs.
This sort of weather pattern is something that bugged me in Texas too. I'm not that picky about the weather really but you know, it would be very nice if there was some sort of consistancy to it. When it's supposed to be cold, be cold and STAY that way. There's just something freaky and wrong with having shorts and sweaters both mixed together in the same wash. :-)
Brace yourselves, it's going to be another one of those sucky Oscar years. You can already feel it can't you? We're in mid-November now and the holiday movies are starting to come out. That means bigger, more entertaining movies but not usually the stuff of Oscars. Only movie that comes to mind that might be in the Oscar race is Memoirs of a Geisha.
If this trend keeps up, it's going to be another one of those Oscar nights where I watch something else instead. I didn't watch the last one. Hadn't seen many of the movies that were nominated and the ones I HAD seen, well, they were just BAD. Come on, Sideways? The only way that movie is good is if you've put away a few bottles before the opening credits.
I was thinking about this the other day while I was browsing movie reviews. There just haven't been many good movies put out this year even if you aren't thinking Oscars. So what that means is that there will be this HUGE rush the last week of December and all sorts of little artsy-fartsy movies will come out and the folks in Oscar-land will just GUSH over the latest indy flick about gay cowboys eating pudding and . . . no wait, actually there already IS a gay cowboys eating pudding movie. Damn, betcha that's the one that wins best picture.
Maybe I'll skip the Oscars again this year. Unless Geisha manages to sweep everything, I suspect it's going to be a hair-pullng, frustrating night (which is why I don't watch the Emmy awards anymore).
Ok, here's the deal with the gay cowboys eating pudding. It comes from an episode of South Park, second season. The city is hosting an independant film festival because Robert Redford and company have managed to totally trash Sundance and they need a new little city to mess up. The kids are given an assignment to see and report on an independant film during the festival. At one point, Cartman says that everyone knows all independant films are about gay cowboys eating pudding. Later, Stay and Wendy are in the theater watching one of the movies and, sure enough, it's about gay cowboys eating pudding. You can imagine the jokes flying around earlier this year when Ang Lee released a film at Sundance that actually WAS about gay cowboys. Whether or not they ate pudding has not been reported :-)
.
This didn't quite work out the way I thought it was going to. When the doctor said nothing strenuous for 4 weeks, and all the paperwork said nothing strenuous for 4 weeks, I was thinking nothing strenuous for 4 weeks. Alas, it was not to be. Last night I walked the dogs :-)
Ok that might have been a bit dramatic, but I did walk the dogs. In all fairness they were much better behaved than usual though and we didn't run into any of the neighborhood dogs. No pulling, no running, and when I said STOP they stopped. I think maybe they're just being easy on me knowing that I'm not yet back up to full speed. You watch, come Demember they'll be dragging me around all over the place :-)
-----
Speaking of December, it looks like fall is finally here . . . again. I'm not going to cement that prediction though. We've had this happen a few times already where it's cool or cold for a whole two days and then a week later we're in shorts. Hell we were just in shorts yesterday for that matter. Then last night the electric blanket is on. This morning CC turns on the heater and I wore a coat while walking the dogs.
This sort of weather pattern is something that bugged me in Texas too. I'm not that picky about the weather really but you know, it would be very nice if there was some sort of consistancy to it. When it's supposed to be cold, be cold and STAY that way. There's just something freaky and wrong with having shorts and sweaters both mixed together in the same wash. :-)
-----
Brace yourselves, it's going to be another one of those sucky Oscar years. You can already feel it can't you? We're in mid-November now and the holiday movies are starting to come out. That means bigger, more entertaining movies but not usually the stuff of Oscars. Only movie that comes to mind that might be in the Oscar race is Memoirs of a Geisha.
If this trend keeps up, it's going to be another one of those Oscar nights where I watch something else instead. I didn't watch the last one. Hadn't seen many of the movies that were nominated and the ones I HAD seen, well, they were just BAD. Come on, Sideways? The only way that movie is good is if you've put away a few bottles before the opening credits.
I was thinking about this the other day while I was browsing movie reviews. There just haven't been many good movies put out this year even if you aren't thinking Oscars. So what that means is that there will be this HUGE rush the last week of December and all sorts of little artsy-fartsy movies will come out and the folks in Oscar-land will just GUSH over the latest indy flick about gay cowboys eating pudding and . . . no wait, actually there already IS a gay cowboys eating pudding movie. Damn, betcha that's the one that wins best picture.
Maybe I'll skip the Oscars again this year. Unless Geisha manages to sweep everything, I suspect it's going to be a hair-pullng, frustrating night (which is why I don't watch the Emmy awards anymore).
-----
Ok, here's the deal with the gay cowboys eating pudding. It comes from an episode of South Park, second season. The city is hosting an independant film festival because Robert Redford and company have managed to totally trash Sundance and they need a new little city to mess up. The kids are given an assignment to see and report on an independant film during the festival. At one point, Cartman says that everyone knows all independant films are about gay cowboys eating pudding. Later, Stay and Wendy are in the theater watching one of the movies and, sure enough, it's about gay cowboys eating pudding. You can imagine the jokes flying around earlier this year when Ang Lee released a film at Sundance that actually WAS about gay cowboys. Whether or not they ate pudding has not been reported :-)
.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Weekend Update; Low Battery; Mr. Bear Goes Shopping . . . And Gets A Bill
Currently Reading: The Big Red One by Samuel Fuller
Better take a bathroom break and grab a drink. This looks to be one of those really LONG blog entries.
We had a pretty great weekend. Started it off Saturday by just doing some goofing off. CC and I pretty much took things easy Saturday morning though we did have one minor problem. Poor Jack ate something he shouldn't have and made a big mess of the carpets. We spent quite a bit of time cleaning up the results, so much so that we actually had to go out later and pick up some MORE cleaning supplies.
As I was kneeling down there, cleaning up dog vomit, my mind got to thinking about all sorts of things. One of them was how much CC really has made my recovery from surgery SO much easier. I'm serious, that woman is made of gold and I STILL have no idea what I did to deserve someone that fantastic. But I digress. Anyway, I was thinking it would be nice to get her something, just to say thank you for all the hard work she put in taking care of me AND working at the office.
After she finished up some office work she was doing at home, I told her we're going out. Where? Well that was going to be her choice really because our quest was to get her a new sweater. One thing she'd said a few times was that she'd like to replace some of her older sweaters where the elastic is getting weak and also some of her jeans that are starting to wear out. Jeans can wait. She doesn't wear them as often, but it's getting to be sweater season.
Off to the store we went, first stopping at Target. They had some nice sweaters available and CC settled on a very pretty red one. That'll be perfect for Christmas parties that we'll go to in a few weeks. We also went over to the Christmas decorations department and had a look there to get some ideas for our first tree. She wants to go with a red and gold theme so we were looking at ornaments, ribbons, that sort of thing. We picked up 4 stockings for us because I KNOW we'll never find them later. Mine has an S, her's has a C, then we also got a K and a J for the dogs. They're quite nice and they'll look great hanging from the fireplace.
After that we had coffee at Starbucks (well, chai latte for me) and just relaxed a bit.
Sunday was even more fun! CC's boss was having a "sip and see" for her new baby. Basically folks went over to have drinks and look at the baby and chat. CC had a champagne cocktail, I had a little wine, we both had some GREAT snacks and a good time. Her boss was asking me about the surgery, which was very nice of her. In fact, quite a few people asked about it.
The funniest part came when Andre, the baby's father, was holding him. The baby started getting a little fussy so what does Andre do? Hands him off to someone else. He jokes, "see that? That's my parenting skills kicking in there. When the baby needs something I hand him off." He was kidding of course . . . I think. He's just one of those guys who knows full well that with newborns, they always respond better to a woman's touch.
After that we went to the movies and saw The Legend of Zorro. Forget what you heard about the movie in the reviews. Zorro was pretty damn entertaining. No, it wasn't high art or anything like that but then, who goes to see an Antonio Bandaras action-comedy expecting Oscar material? Apparently film critics, that's who.
It's a pretty simples story. Bad guys in secret organization trying to take over the world. New super weapon. Zorro saves the day. Lots of people are trying to read political messages in the whole thing but to be honest, if that was their goal the failed pretty bad. Yes, you could read things into it if you wanted to but really it was just like any other Saturday afternoon adventure movie, like from the old days. It was fun. There were some good jokes, lots of sword fighting and such, and the plot wasn't totally improbable.
One thing I was sort of expecting to see what the appearance of someone from The Wild, Wild West; either version, movie or TV. The movie had all the right elements. Evil bad guys, fancy hideouts, super weapons. Would have been funny to have West pop in there and maybe untie Zorro or shoot one of the bad guys like he was secretly following all the action from the background. Ah well, it was still fun.
After the movie, Japanese food. Right across the parking lot from the theater is a Japanese place. I hadn't been there yet but CC had sushi there earlier in the week. I must say, they had some great food. I had kamekazi rolls, which is ell, crab and salmon sushi, plus chicken katsu which came with miso soup. Good stuff there. We'll be going back there for sure, probably after seeing Memoirs of a Geisha. I'm sure it'll put us in the mood for Japanese food.
The battery in the truck has been groaning lately. It hasn't stranded anyone yet but I think that's mostly because it's over-sized for my truck. See, when I first got the truck 10 years ago, for whatever reason, the battery that was in it was bad. I think the dealer said it had some bad cells in it that weren't recharging. Since this happened within the first month I had the truck, they replaced it for free. To sort of make up for any inconvenience it caused, they put in the biggest damn battery that would fit in the battery bracket. I checked later, it's the same size batery they put in full size SUV-type trucks. I mean, the thing was HUGE.
Because it was so huge, the battery, even without being able to retain a full charge, STILL had enough to crank the engine. The only problem was that we kept losing our clock and radio settings. Yes, I know, it's also a sign that the thing is going to run out completely eventually and needed replaced.
Took it over to Sears and had them do the full check on it. Always like to make sure the other parts are working, even though I was pretty sure they were. Lots of corrosion on the battery cables and the posts so they tried that first but that wasn't enough. The battery wasn't holding enough charge and had to be replaced. So out comes the old Motorcraft battery and in goes a new Diehard! What can I say, I like the Diehard batteries. Never had one let me down.
Well you know, if I'm at Sears that means I'm at the mall and if I'm at the mall that means I'm getting exercise doing some walking . . . and shopping :-) I didn't shop TOO much though. We're on a budget you know so I'm trying very hard to curb my spending and when I DO spend, I try to get bargains. Today I picked up a very nice jacket, half-off. Sears had all their coats on sale.
I checked the other stores of course to look for deals but I quickly learned that there are only a few places that actually sell coats in my size and Sears was the only one who had them on sale.
I also tried to find a flower pot. This turned out to be a bigger adventure than I thought. See, most places, when Christmas season starts, pack up their garden supplies and that's where they put Christmas stuff. Ok, fair enough, I can understand that. But DAMN did they have to pack up even indoor flower pots and soil? I have these really great plants that CC's office sent me but they're in pots that are too small. I wanted to get bigger ones but I guess that's going to have to wait until after Christmas. They should be fine but it was still pretty frustrating.
Got the bill today. Which bill? Why the hospital bill of course :-) Actually this isn't the one we pay. I suppose we COULD pay it but we aren't because it's been filed with insurance so I have no idea how many of these items are going to be paid and at what percentages. Right now we let the hospital and Blue Cross figure out who's paying what then we'll pay the rest.
Want to know what the grand total was? This is without insurance of course, just straight numbers.
$11,286.70
Yes, you read that right. 11k just to have them hack out my gall bladder. No wait, actually hacking out the bladder only cost 4200. The rest goes to lab tests, drugs, room stay, recovery room, stuff like that. I should point out, this doesn't actually include the DOCTOR fee. He bills separately.
Crazy what they charge these days. Makes you wonder how folks without insurance manage these things. I'm looking over the list and I can tell you, the prices are WAY too damn high. I have no doubt that these are the going rate of course, but still, how did it ever get to the point where lab work alone costs damn near 1000 dollars?
No, I'm not going to advocate any sort of government plan to control costs. Every time those morons up in DC mess with something the price DOUBLES. Still, there has to be some sort of middle ground. Not likely that I'LL figure it out, but maybe someone will one day.
Lastly, just a friendly reminder that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Yes, that's right, Thanksgiving is next Thursday the 24th so everybody start making room in that tummy for all that food. And make room in the refridgerator for all those leftovers :-)
.
Better take a bathroom break and grab a drink. This looks to be one of those really LONG blog entries.
We had a pretty great weekend. Started it off Saturday by just doing some goofing off. CC and I pretty much took things easy Saturday morning though we did have one minor problem. Poor Jack ate something he shouldn't have and made a big mess of the carpets. We spent quite a bit of time cleaning up the results, so much so that we actually had to go out later and pick up some MORE cleaning supplies.
As I was kneeling down there, cleaning up dog vomit, my mind got to thinking about all sorts of things. One of them was how much CC really has made my recovery from surgery SO much easier. I'm serious, that woman is made of gold and I STILL have no idea what I did to deserve someone that fantastic. But I digress. Anyway, I was thinking it would be nice to get her something, just to say thank you for all the hard work she put in taking care of me AND working at the office.
After she finished up some office work she was doing at home, I told her we're going out. Where? Well that was going to be her choice really because our quest was to get her a new sweater. One thing she'd said a few times was that she'd like to replace some of her older sweaters where the elastic is getting weak and also some of her jeans that are starting to wear out. Jeans can wait. She doesn't wear them as often, but it's getting to be sweater season.
Off to the store we went, first stopping at Target. They had some nice sweaters available and CC settled on a very pretty red one. That'll be perfect for Christmas parties that we'll go to in a few weeks. We also went over to the Christmas decorations department and had a look there to get some ideas for our first tree. She wants to go with a red and gold theme so we were looking at ornaments, ribbons, that sort of thing. We picked up 4 stockings for us because I KNOW we'll never find them later. Mine has an S, her's has a C, then we also got a K and a J for the dogs. They're quite nice and they'll look great hanging from the fireplace.
After that we had coffee at Starbucks (well, chai latte for me) and just relaxed a bit.
Sunday was even more fun! CC's boss was having a "sip and see" for her new baby. Basically folks went over to have drinks and look at the baby and chat. CC had a champagne cocktail, I had a little wine, we both had some GREAT snacks and a good time. Her boss was asking me about the surgery, which was very nice of her. In fact, quite a few people asked about it.
The funniest part came when Andre, the baby's father, was holding him. The baby started getting a little fussy so what does Andre do? Hands him off to someone else. He jokes, "see that? That's my parenting skills kicking in there. When the baby needs something I hand him off." He was kidding of course . . . I think. He's just one of those guys who knows full well that with newborns, they always respond better to a woman's touch.
After that we went to the movies and saw The Legend of Zorro. Forget what you heard about the movie in the reviews. Zorro was pretty damn entertaining. No, it wasn't high art or anything like that but then, who goes to see an Antonio Bandaras action-comedy expecting Oscar material? Apparently film critics, that's who.
It's a pretty simples story. Bad guys in secret organization trying to take over the world. New super weapon. Zorro saves the day. Lots of people are trying to read political messages in the whole thing but to be honest, if that was their goal the failed pretty bad. Yes, you could read things into it if you wanted to but really it was just like any other Saturday afternoon adventure movie, like from the old days. It was fun. There were some good jokes, lots of sword fighting and such, and the plot wasn't totally improbable.
One thing I was sort of expecting to see what the appearance of someone from The Wild, Wild West; either version, movie or TV. The movie had all the right elements. Evil bad guys, fancy hideouts, super weapons. Would have been funny to have West pop in there and maybe untie Zorro or shoot one of the bad guys like he was secretly following all the action from the background. Ah well, it was still fun.
After the movie, Japanese food. Right across the parking lot from the theater is a Japanese place. I hadn't been there yet but CC had sushi there earlier in the week. I must say, they had some great food. I had kamekazi rolls, which is ell, crab and salmon sushi, plus chicken katsu which came with miso soup. Good stuff there. We'll be going back there for sure, probably after seeing Memoirs of a Geisha. I'm sure it'll put us in the mood for Japanese food.
-----
The battery in the truck has been groaning lately. It hasn't stranded anyone yet but I think that's mostly because it's over-sized for my truck. See, when I first got the truck 10 years ago, for whatever reason, the battery that was in it was bad. I think the dealer said it had some bad cells in it that weren't recharging. Since this happened within the first month I had the truck, they replaced it for free. To sort of make up for any inconvenience it caused, they put in the biggest damn battery that would fit in the battery bracket. I checked later, it's the same size batery they put in full size SUV-type trucks. I mean, the thing was HUGE.
Because it was so huge, the battery, even without being able to retain a full charge, STILL had enough to crank the engine. The only problem was that we kept losing our clock and radio settings. Yes, I know, it's also a sign that the thing is going to run out completely eventually and needed replaced.
Took it over to Sears and had them do the full check on it. Always like to make sure the other parts are working, even though I was pretty sure they were. Lots of corrosion on the battery cables and the posts so they tried that first but that wasn't enough. The battery wasn't holding enough charge and had to be replaced. So out comes the old Motorcraft battery and in goes a new Diehard! What can I say, I like the Diehard batteries. Never had one let me down.
-----
Well you know, if I'm at Sears that means I'm at the mall and if I'm at the mall that means I'm getting exercise doing some walking . . . and shopping :-) I didn't shop TOO much though. We're on a budget you know so I'm trying very hard to curb my spending and when I DO spend, I try to get bargains. Today I picked up a very nice jacket, half-off. Sears had all their coats on sale.
I checked the other stores of course to look for deals but I quickly learned that there are only a few places that actually sell coats in my size and Sears was the only one who had them on sale.
I also tried to find a flower pot. This turned out to be a bigger adventure than I thought. See, most places, when Christmas season starts, pack up their garden supplies and that's where they put Christmas stuff. Ok, fair enough, I can understand that. But DAMN did they have to pack up even indoor flower pots and soil? I have these really great plants that CC's office sent me but they're in pots that are too small. I wanted to get bigger ones but I guess that's going to have to wait until after Christmas. They should be fine but it was still pretty frustrating.
-----
Got the bill today. Which bill? Why the hospital bill of course :-) Actually this isn't the one we pay. I suppose we COULD pay it but we aren't because it's been filed with insurance so I have no idea how many of these items are going to be paid and at what percentages. Right now we let the hospital and Blue Cross figure out who's paying what then we'll pay the rest.
Want to know what the grand total was? This is without insurance of course, just straight numbers.
$11,286.70
Yes, you read that right. 11k just to have them hack out my gall bladder. No wait, actually hacking out the bladder only cost 4200. The rest goes to lab tests, drugs, room stay, recovery room, stuff like that. I should point out, this doesn't actually include the DOCTOR fee. He bills separately.
Crazy what they charge these days. Makes you wonder how folks without insurance manage these things. I'm looking over the list and I can tell you, the prices are WAY too damn high. I have no doubt that these are the going rate of course, but still, how did it ever get to the point where lab work alone costs damn near 1000 dollars?
No, I'm not going to advocate any sort of government plan to control costs. Every time those morons up in DC mess with something the price DOUBLES. Still, there has to be some sort of middle ground. Not likely that I'LL figure it out, but maybe someone will one day.
-----
Lastly, just a friendly reminder that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Yes, that's right, Thanksgiving is next Thursday the 24th so everybody start making room in that tummy for all that food. And make room in the refridgerator for all those leftovers :-)
.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Sleeping Odd Hours; Born to be Wild
Currently Reading: The Big Red One by Samuel Fuller
I have been sleeping some really odd hours ever since I got back from the hospital. On a normal day I'm falling asleep around midnight. Sleep 8 hours or so and then I'm back up again. Sometimes I sleep a little more depending on what I did that day but still, asleep around midnight is pretty standard.
When I was in the hospital, I had to suffer through the same thing everyone else does: a nurse that comes in every 2 hours to check on you. Don't get me wrong, for the most part that's a GOOD thing. Hell there were even times when I slept right through the visit. But you know, 4 am comes around and they're supposed to take your temperature. No way to do that without waking you up.
In addition to the nursing stuff, I also had a ready supply of pain killers. That'll really put a drag in your day. I remember when I came out of surgery, when the pain was pretty much at it's worse that first day, I lost track of time in a big way. I would fall asleep and I'd SWEAR I'd been out for a while. Then I'd look at the clock and only 20 minutes had gone by. Very strange indeed.
Last two days here at the house I haven't been able to fall asleep before 3 am. First time it wasn't a big deal. I woke up pretty much my normal time, 5 to 6 hours later though not 8. LAST night though, I slept my full 8 and it sort of freaked me out this morning. I woke up, rolled over and looked at the clock. 11:22! YOW!
A few hours later, having had breakfast and done some of the morning stuff, I was dragging a little so I decided to lay down on the sofa . . . and SLEPT for an hour and a half!
I just KNOW I'm going to be up all night again tonight. Ah well, it'll correct itself sooner or later :-)
CC and I went grocery shopping tonight. I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous so my job was managing the list. I also took advantage of my "condition" and used one of those little motorized carts they have at Walmart. You've seen them. They're there for people in wheel chairs or who have injuries or something like that. Mostly they get used by old people and folks who are too fat and/or out of shape to manage walking around Walmart for an hour.
In my case, last week's surgery makes me unable to be as active as I used to, for now of course. I can't walk as far without running out of steam plus walking a lot makes my side sore. I'm supposed to be taking it easy, remember?
So there I was, puttering around Walmart in the little cart. That was actually pretty cool. I was over that the pharmacy and the guy that works there, the lab tech assistant guy, he's always goofing off. You get a line over there at the pick-up window and it's a sure bet he's at the other end of the pharmacy pretending to tidy up his counter area, also pretending he can't see the line of people waiting. Didn't have to wait THIS time though. Those little carts have a horn . . . and it's annoying :-) That's right, I just held down that horn until he came over (which was pretty damn quick for a change). Yes, that's me, wild child :-)
.
I have been sleeping some really odd hours ever since I got back from the hospital. On a normal day I'm falling asleep around midnight. Sleep 8 hours or so and then I'm back up again. Sometimes I sleep a little more depending on what I did that day but still, asleep around midnight is pretty standard.
When I was in the hospital, I had to suffer through the same thing everyone else does: a nurse that comes in every 2 hours to check on you. Don't get me wrong, for the most part that's a GOOD thing. Hell there were even times when I slept right through the visit. But you know, 4 am comes around and they're supposed to take your temperature. No way to do that without waking you up.
In addition to the nursing stuff, I also had a ready supply of pain killers. That'll really put a drag in your day. I remember when I came out of surgery, when the pain was pretty much at it's worse that first day, I lost track of time in a big way. I would fall asleep and I'd SWEAR I'd been out for a while. Then I'd look at the clock and only 20 minutes had gone by. Very strange indeed.
Last two days here at the house I haven't been able to fall asleep before 3 am. First time it wasn't a big deal. I woke up pretty much my normal time, 5 to 6 hours later though not 8. LAST night though, I slept my full 8 and it sort of freaked me out this morning. I woke up, rolled over and looked at the clock. 11:22! YOW!
A few hours later, having had breakfast and done some of the morning stuff, I was dragging a little so I decided to lay down on the sofa . . . and SLEPT for an hour and a half!
I just KNOW I'm going to be up all night again tonight. Ah well, it'll correct itself sooner or later :-)
-----
CC and I went grocery shopping tonight. I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous so my job was managing the list. I also took advantage of my "condition" and used one of those little motorized carts they have at Walmart. You've seen them. They're there for people in wheel chairs or who have injuries or something like that. Mostly they get used by old people and folks who are too fat and/or out of shape to manage walking around Walmart for an hour.
In my case, last week's surgery makes me unable to be as active as I used to, for now of course. I can't walk as far without running out of steam plus walking a lot makes my side sore. I'm supposed to be taking it easy, remember?
So there I was, puttering around Walmart in the little cart. That was actually pretty cool. I was over that the pharmacy and the guy that works there, the lab tech assistant guy, he's always goofing off. You get a line over there at the pick-up window and it's a sure bet he's at the other end of the pharmacy pretending to tidy up his counter area, also pretending he can't see the line of people waiting. Didn't have to wait THIS time though. Those little carts have a horn . . . and it's annoying :-) That's right, I just held down that horn until he came over (which was pretty damn quick for a change). Yes, that's me, wild child :-)
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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Cecillization; Productivity Update
Currently Reading: The Big Red One by Samuel Fuller
When CC first started working at her present company, one of the things she did was re-format the training manuals. Keep in mind, there was nothing really wrong with the first set. They simply weren't pretty. Left with time alone and boring books, CC went to work adding fancy bullets to lists, headers and footers to all the pages, and clip art to make some concepts easier to understand. Needless to say she impressed the hell out of everyone.
When she was in Manilla, she continued that tradition. I remember we jokingly started calling the process Cecillization. That's what happens when CC takes old, boring documents and makes then readable and pretty. The same is also done to presentations and proposals as well leading one fellow employee to remark once, "I'm always nervous when I have to give a presentation with you. Yours always look so much better."
One more recent case, in one of the lessons, there was a set list of objectives. Nothing dramatic, just a list of things you should be able to do. CC found it a little dry and boring so, just because she could, she turned the whole thing into a flow chart. The boss found it so useful she didn't even recognize it as the same, boring list they'd been using before.
So why do I bring this up today? Because of an event my wife told me about last night. Years back, CC started sponsoring a child. You've seen the commercials I'm sure. You send in a small donation. That donation is joined with lots of others and together that money is spent helping out pool folks in third world countries.
Since moving here, she's been a bit lax in sending in donations so the organization she donates to send her an e-mail and attached a Word document form that she could fill out to make her donation. Nothing big there right? Happens all the time right? Trust me, it never happens like THIS . . .
She Cecillized the form. Yes, it's true, she was so annoyed with the condition of the form they'd sent that she took some time out and re-did the entire thing, including modifying the graphic they'd put in (which apparently was in backwards). Just imagine the look on the poor clerk's face when the e-mail arrives with a completely Cecillized form! I know my wife. I know her work. That new version is spectacular.
What we're both curious about now is whether they'll use her version or their old version. They'd be a fool to turn down free Cecillization but at the same time, the person who made the original form might think she's being a bit of a smart ass. We'll keep you posted if we hear more on that one :-)
I have been somewhat productive today. I'm much more mobile than I have been, which is good. Still a little sore in the abdomen, which is understandable. But what's great is that I'm ONLY sore. At the worst, it feels like maybe I did a few too many sit-ups yesterday. Abdomen is a bit tight. I've got a limited range of motion. Otherwise, it feels ok and that's a hell of a long way from where I was last week :-)
Wow, one week ago at this time I was sitting in the hallway at the hospital throwing up all over myself. Amazing how much things can change in 7 days :-)
.
When CC first started working at her present company, one of the things she did was re-format the training manuals. Keep in mind, there was nothing really wrong with the first set. They simply weren't pretty. Left with time alone and boring books, CC went to work adding fancy bullets to lists, headers and footers to all the pages, and clip art to make some concepts easier to understand. Needless to say she impressed the hell out of everyone.
When she was in Manilla, she continued that tradition. I remember we jokingly started calling the process Cecillization. That's what happens when CC takes old, boring documents and makes then readable and pretty. The same is also done to presentations and proposals as well leading one fellow employee to remark once, "I'm always nervous when I have to give a presentation with you. Yours always look so much better."
One more recent case, in one of the lessons, there was a set list of objectives. Nothing dramatic, just a list of things you should be able to do. CC found it a little dry and boring so, just because she could, she turned the whole thing into a flow chart. The boss found it so useful she didn't even recognize it as the same, boring list they'd been using before.
So why do I bring this up today? Because of an event my wife told me about last night. Years back, CC started sponsoring a child. You've seen the commercials I'm sure. You send in a small donation. That donation is joined with lots of others and together that money is spent helping out pool folks in third world countries.
Since moving here, she's been a bit lax in sending in donations so the organization she donates to send her an e-mail and attached a Word document form that she could fill out to make her donation. Nothing big there right? Happens all the time right? Trust me, it never happens like THIS . . .
She Cecillized the form. Yes, it's true, she was so annoyed with the condition of the form they'd sent that she took some time out and re-did the entire thing, including modifying the graphic they'd put in (which apparently was in backwards). Just imagine the look on the poor clerk's face when the e-mail arrives with a completely Cecillized form! I know my wife. I know her work. That new version is spectacular.
What we're both curious about now is whether they'll use her version or their old version. They'd be a fool to turn down free Cecillization but at the same time, the person who made the original form might think she's being a bit of a smart ass. We'll keep you posted if we hear more on that one :-)
-----
I have been somewhat productive today. I'm much more mobile than I have been, which is good. Still a little sore in the abdomen, which is understandable. But what's great is that I'm ONLY sore. At the worst, it feels like maybe I did a few too many sit-ups yesterday. Abdomen is a bit tight. I've got a limited range of motion. Otherwise, it feels ok and that's a hell of a long way from where I was last week :-)
Wow, one week ago at this time I was sitting in the hallway at the hospital throwing up all over myself. Amazing how much things can change in 7 days :-)
.
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