Monday, January 31, 2011

Welcome to the Last Day of January

January has always been a long month, at least for me. The cold is on. The snow gets deep. And the cabin fever seems to hit hard. Especially hard lately. On the upside, I've made good progress on the basement effort, done quite a bit of reading, and have the majority of heavy details pinned down for CSIII to be built later this year.

In an effort to combat the winter blues, I decided to take a breather on Friday. Ben joined me and we took care of a little thrifting on 18th street where I unloaded an excess LD player, then back to the parents to go through the archives of the computer museum. With a couple hours of sunlight left, it was time for the real deal. We headed lodge-way to make good on our traditional PL toast of getting something done with the '59's engine block. Off the stand, carted out, and loaded into the Blazer. From there, a machine shop in Dewar, IA. I should have an update later this week.

Saturday we renewed our memberships at the rec and did our best to avoid getting carried out on stretchers. The afternoon movie: Little Big Man (thoroughly enjoyed it). A trip to Lava Lounge was also in order for later that night but things went south quickly when I ordered a PBR and it arrived in a can. Returned home and gave a new LD a spin, a brief look into the private life of Albert Einstein. Brief it was. 60 minutes in all.

Sunday I putzed about. More sorting and culling downstairs. Laundry, ironing, the usual preparations for the week. Quite a bit of ebaying and when I finally was ready for bed, got the motivation to start on 3D geometry and layout for the new building (a version modeled to dimensions taken from the actual cementwork). Just what I needed (to avoid sleep).

Additional movies this week: A Single Man and The A-Team. Both hit their respective bullseyes.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Saturday Night at the Movies

It's been a long week. A cold week to boot. The paycheck will be nice but day after day ofunknown quit times, working holidays, and weekend(s) has really messed up my internal clock. Frankly, I've entered a bit of a zombie zone. Get up, go to work, come home, waste time and go to bed. Pretty indifferent about it, actually. So Saturday night was a welcome change- rented a couple movies while out shopping. First up was Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps. That film had all the punch of a wet dish cloth. Michael Douglas puts in an addictive performance when he turns on his charm, and yes, there are a few minor twists and turns but overall, pretty predictable. Good for a Sunday cable movie.

Next up, The Social Network. A much better film, and Justin Timberlake sells the sleazy, partying, pseudo-con extremely well. I must admit, I pretty much dismissed FB for several years, back when it was fresh and my sister (and everyone she knew at college) were engaged in it. Dismissed in much the same way I felt about cell phones. You see, I'm not that social of a person. In fact, to say I was a traditionalist is like saying the sun is hot. But these days it doesn't take a genius to see how great a tool FB is. Privacy aside (please, if you're reading this you're on the net, you gave up privacy years ago), there is no better method today to bring friends together collectively. Instantly. Flexibly. And with minimal time and expense. It is, in fact, the modern replacement for the Saturday night card party when local friends would get together and chat and share and discuss. Today, of course, we're global. I have friends with similar interests in Iceland, Belgium, Australia, and all over the US. Anyone of us routinely posts pictures of the latest challenge, the new acquisition, a common-interest news story on the web, what exotic dish someone is making tonight, etc. Soon, one finds new acquaintances with friends of friends. A phone call or an email is a medium. But FB is a tool, and really I think, just the tip of the iceberg. How far one extends their toes into the water is up to them.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

You Are Not LeBoeuf!

Wednesday. In the middle of an odd non-week. It all started 7 days ago when announcements were made about our production schedule, leaving Thursday as a layoff day for the workers, and myself in charge for Friday. That's when things really got odd. In the end, we were not going to run the following week (of course, salary folk must show), so I took Tuesday off after a semi-leisurely Monday. Plans changed and now we are running. Plus Sunday and Holiday. But Tuesday was a welcome break.

Monday, business as usual. Put in 8 hours. Filed paperwork at the Sheriff's office. Visited Scheels to inspect a few sidearms. Had a couple brews at the PL. Or should I say, paid-in-full for a couple brews at the PL. Picked up dinner, picked up Cara at the 'rents and we took in a viewing of Runaway Train.

Tuesday…had the day off to take care of a few things. Namely…moving. I started on draining water lines and scrubbing faucets and fixtures for the close of the season while Cara packed misc things to take in. I cut the heat, got out the hose to drain the water heater and pressure tank, cut a copper line I knew would cause trouble, and then went for the RV anti-freeze. At least I thought I had some. Next stop: Waverly. By the end of the day we had the place 95% winterized, power cut, made a stop at the humane society, unpacked in town, took in a screening of True Grit, and gave The Pizza Ranch a try. All-in-all, a grand time.

I realize this reads like a laundry list but time is shorter and patience shorter. It's about that time for a good reflection on life and the new year provides some inspiration for that. Now to pencil it in.