Really, I'm still alive

Every few days I think to myself, I should really write something on my blog. Then I think the following:

1) I've just spent 8-10 hrs on a computer at work. I hate computers.

2) I have nothing interesting to say. Worse yet, I don't think I have anything funny to say.

Then, of course, I don't write anything. I was checking out a couple of other blogs this afternoon and realized that I haven't updated since the end of flippin' February. Damn. Sorry. Chances are, there really isn't anyone still reading since I seem to have vanished from the face of the planet.

It's hard to feel inspired when all your energy has been drained at work. Ever since the 3rd assistant quit (that would be the passive agressive door blocker), I think I put in about 4-6 hours of over time a week. We have been crazy busy. Every school seems to be making HVAC releated changes this summer. This means everyone wants everything all at the same time. Disney and her engineer have actually not been hit too hard the last few months. She would have one job bidding the same week that I had 4. Or like one particularly crappy week in March, 7. She just got hit this past week, which made me feel slightly better.

I don't know that she's improved since door blocker left. She bid a job back in December that just recently got awarded to one of my engineer's contractors. This means that I have to do the submittals for the contractor (reports that specify how the equipment is made and how it performs under the scheduled conditions provided by the engineer that designed the system). While I was working on this set of submittals, I was reviewing what was selected and comparing it to what was requested. I discovered several errors.

I'm not saying I'm perfect by any stretch. I recently bid a really big job that had multiple alternate system options and I accidentally put gas heat on a system that should have been electric heat. Not my proudest moment, but at least the damn things had heat on them. When my boss pointed it out, I felt really bad that I had missed something that seemed pretty obvious. I think I apologized about 4 times.

Back to the other project. The units that Disney selected were cooling only. This was a bit of a problem, because both the schedule and the specifications of the job called out for electric heat in all the units. They also called out for a few other options that were left off. I showed the discrepancies to my boss first. Then, I went to the engineer that bid the job (and who I used to work for when I was shared by both the engineers). I asked him if there was something weird about the job. Had anything changed last minute that he would remember?

I showed him what I had found and he just shook his head. He said he didn't know why the units were picked the way they were. He said I should talk to Disney.

I tried to be as nice and non-judgemental as possible. The job bid right before Christmas, so I know almost no one was thinking about work at that time. I asked Disney if she remembered the job at all. I asked if she recalled any changes. I explained that I couldn't figure out why there was no heat on the units when they specifically asked for it.

Here is what I got back for responses.

"I don't remember."

"I'm not sure."

"I would have put any notes in the file."

That was it. Nothing like, "oops, I'm an idiot...I can't believe I missed that." Or, "how much did the price change?" Or, "That was my mistake, sorry."

She acted like I'd just told her we had run out of kleenex in the bathroom. Actually, she probably would have responded more emotionally if I had told her that. She's a bit of a germ freak.

I went back to my boss and said that I had talked to Disney. He asked what was up. I told him the truth. "I think she f##ked up. I think she didn't pay any attention to what she was doing and because everyone was in a hurry to get out of here a few days before our Christmas break that her boss didn't catch the mistake."

The really bad part is the cost of the mistake. If it were a difference of a couple hundred dollars, we could probably go back and ask the contractor for those dollars. But, it actually ended up raising the dollar amount by almost $5,000!

There is no way we can go to someone and say, gosh,we're sorry. We realize that you probably got this job because we were super cheap (having not actually provided everything for you), but we need a crap load more money.

The only way we were able to sell the corrected equipment at the original price was to get special permission to do so from the corporate gods. This special deal means that neither of the engineers will make any commission off of this job. And, considering they are 100% commission, that doesn't help them out at all.

I don't know if Disney's engineer had any sort of talk with her about this mistake or not. All I do know is she didn't seem to care either way what happened. It's all very disheartening.

On a completely unrelated note, I taped the big wedding and watched it last night. I opted to take in the BBCAmerica broadcast. I loved seeing Simon Schama talking about how in the early days, royal weddings often took place at night, in small chapels given they were more about the acquisition of power and land. You would want to make sure no one killed the bride or groom just as the big merger was happening I suppose.

I also loved how the British commentators never seemed to make a verbal blunder. They had a beautifully formed comment for virtually everything. There were no "hey guys" or the like when they were talking. And, the crowd interviews were quite different than what you would have seen here in the States. Most of the time, the crowd would quite so that you could hear the response given by the person being interviewed. There was no random shouting from in the back. No one seemed to be pushing into the camera shot, while texting their friends to let them know they were on television.

I thought the dress was beautiful. I want to know what Harry said to William after he peaked back to see Kate walking down the aisle. I can't imagine the anticipation one would feel waiting for that moment when you could turn and see what everyone else has already been witness to. I loved the acapella song the choir sang. I enjoyed seeing a couple of looks between the couple during the ceremony that seemed to say "I can't believe this is all for us." There was one fun eyebrow raise by William at one point. The carriage ride was sweet. The moment where they went through that narrow archway and for a brief few seconds they didn't have to wave...when they came out the other end, you could see they were holding hands.

All in all, a very nice moment for the British. Even if the prime minister's wife didn't wear a hat.

Big Golden Guy goes to...

It's time once again for the Oscars which means it's time for me to reveal just how limited my social life is by letting you know what I think on the subject.

Best Picture: My pick: The Social Network What will win: The King's Speech.
Don't get me wrong on this one. I really enjoyed The King's Speech, as well as Inception which would be my other #2. But, when I walked out of the theater after The Social Network I felt exhilarated and exhausted at the same time. I was tingly and numb all at once. My pick is very much a gut reaction.

Best Director: My pick: David Fincher (I would tie him with Danny Boyle for 127 Hours, but he wasn't nominated) Who will win: I think Fincher has a decent chance, but Tom Hooper looks like the fave for King's Speech.

Best Actor: My pick: Colin Firth (but Jesse Eisenberg is a very close 2nd and I would have picked him if Colin wasn't an option) Who gets it: Colin Firth. The man rocked the house and he deserves it...he deserved it last year too...

Best Actress: My pick: Natalie Portman Who will win: Natalie Portman She did an amazing job as the ballerina who disintegrates before your eyes. I didn't get a chance to see Rabbit Hole (here for only one week damn it) or Blue Valentine (never got here, also damn it) so I'm not sure if my choice would be different.

Best Supporting Actor: My pick: tie between Christian Bale and Geoffrey Rush Who'll get it: Christian Bale Bale gets the nod for once again diving so completely into a different persona, while Rush gets a high five for really complimenting (and supporting) the lead character with his performance. John Hawkes gets a personal shout out for his work in Winter's Bone. He's one of those guys that you know him when you see him. If his part had been larger, I might have gone with him for my choice.

Best Supporting Actress: My pick: Helena Bonham Carter or Melissa Leo Who will win: Hailee Steinfeld I think the girl from True Grit has a serious chance at getting this, but Melissa Leo may swoop in for it (I love her). True Grit was the only picture up for Best Picture that I never got around to seeing...which is really lame since I kept saying I was going to go to it.

Original Screenplay: My pick: The King's Speech Who will win: The King's Speech It was smart, funny and touching...hard to beat that.

Adapted Screenplay: My pick: The Social Network Who will win: The Social Network Aaron Sorkin was able to draw out the human element in what could have been a really cold story. Instead, he showed us the irony of just how alone the creator of one of the largest socializing tools can be. Tragedy at its contemporary best for me.

I won't bore you by going into the other categories. Partly because I didn't get a chance to see any of the documentary nominees, let alone the foreign films. I will say I am rooting for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to win the Original Score award and Inception to win Cinematography (though it was almost a crime that 127 Hours wasn't selected for that one).

We'll see how I do with my guesses.

Now, back to the Ohio State game...

Lotus Flower

Normally I don't post while at work, but I just got an email from NPR that had the new Radiohead video with it. So, in honor of my obsession with really skinny guys who dance like they are having a seizure...



Well, maybe not a seizure. More like a cross between sex and krunking. Love it...makes me smile.

Oscar post coming this weekend. I know you are holding your breath for that; don't lie.

Momentarily Stuck

Depending on where you are in the country, you got a bunch of snow on Tues. As you can see from the pictures if you were in the front yard at my place, you got 15 inches of snow. The back was a mere 12 inches. It took me 45 min. to clear off the steps (and to find the bottom step) and dig out the car. I lucked out that one of my neighbors helped me or I would have been there much longer.

Knowing it was going to get bad by noon-ish on Tues., I planned ahead and took my work laptop home. I actually did work most of my 8 hour shift. I took an extra break to clear off the landing mid-blizzard. Tuesday evening I experienced my first Thunder Snow, which sounds a little like an episode of Thundercats that takes place in the Arctic. That or it's a sorta cool, sorta cheesy spy code name. Agent Thunder Snow at your service.

Wednesday the office was closed so I didn't have to do anything work related, which was good since I'd done everything I'd brought home the day before. Disney sent out an email last night yammering on about how she might not be in to work today because she'd heard that Rt. 8 was totally covered in drifts...blah, blah, blah. Apparently she didn't know about the 2 other ways to get to town. She eventually figured it out, but didn't get in until 11 am because she had to take her kid to a doctor's appointment...still left at 4:30 though. She's such a dedicated worker.

Speaking of, the other nutty assistant...the one who blocked her door with the table, no longer works with us. She has been gone on maternity leave since the beginning of Nov. A few weeks ago, she sent her supervisor a message via Facebook (!) to say she hadn't decided yet if she was coming back. He asked her to let me know sooner rather than later. Later seemed to be the plan because she finally got back to him last week. And, once again she used Facebook to tell him she was quitting. If you ever wondered about her level of professionalism, I think that move should clue you in pretty good. She called Disney, who promptly got a hold of some crazy chick she knows and had a resume in hand before our boss had even announced that the job was vacant.

So far, our newly freed former employee has yet to return her company laptop, her key to the building, and she hasn't picked up her personal items. I want to move the desk away from the door. Ideally, I'd like to have some sort of ceremony, not unlike what happened when the Berlin wall came down. Do you think the Hoff is available?

Enough of that, let's talk about people cutting off their own appendages...

I went to see 127 Hours last Saturday and it was fabulous! If you don't already know, the film is based on the story of Aron Rolston, the climber/canyon guy/adventurer who got stuck and had to cut off his own arm to free himself. I have long been a fan of Danny Boyle's films. He seems to always have a clear vision of what he wants to do as a story teller. The cinematography is excellent. I'm not a big fan of the southwestern vista, but everything looks beautiful here. The music is great, as usual. James Franco reminded me of why I liked him so much in Freaks and Geeks. He does a great job moving between Aron's different emotional states and never veers into melodrama. For being trapped in a tight space, the film moves thanks to Aron's flashbacks and imagination.

There is the right amount of tension flowing through out; impressive considering most people know how the story ends. A lot has been made of the scene when Aron cuts off his arm. It is graphic, but is edited in such a way that you don't feel like you've just stepped into a schlocky horror movie. In fact, it's almost a surprise when he makes the decision to do what he is going to do. I was actually leaning forward as he progressed, waiting anxiously for him to finish. The look on Franco's face is priceless and I felt relieved and (maybe not too strangely) exhilarated when he stumbles away and sees his forearm still pinned by the rock.

It took forever before it got to my neck of the woods, so if you aren't able to catch it before Oscar night, I strongly recommend renting it when it comes out in early March. It is worth seeing it on the big screen though.

Time to wrap up. Archer is on in 30 min.! Stay safe out there.