Most of the time....Especially last Friday.
Even though it had been a hard week of 10 am Student Matinees on top of regular work at the theatre, and I was in the theatre on Friday from 8:30 am to Midnight, it was all worth it because I was backstage for the Alison Brown concert. DAMN! That woman can play the banjo! She and her quartet put on a great show and I got paid to listen to it. Who could have a better job than me?
Well, it gets better when I'm backstage for a ballet with live music. Beautiful dancers, beautiful choreography and kick-ass music. What more can a girl want?
24 September 2006
04 September 2006
WalMart on Labor Day
It's like Disneyworld gone bad.
I did, however, watch a little boy pick out a toy that he was able to buy with his own allowance money. He couldn't have been more than 5 and he jumped up and down laughing and clapping about his new toy bow and arrow set. I looked at his mom and said, "I wish I could get that excited over something that only cost $4." But I guess I could get excited over things that cost $4. Ice cream in the dipped waffle cone. A good cup of cappuchino. Refills on the regular coffee. A mug from the Goodwill store that shows a friend thought of me while away.
But there is one thing that bugs me:
I saw yet another one of those cling things that people are putting in the windows of their trucks and SUVs. You know the ones, they have a cross or a rose with the words, "In Memory of Little Jimmy--1986-2006." I don't understand this new custom. It's as if the person bought a new vehicle and dedicated it to the memory of the dearly departed. It's akin to crosses on the Christmas tree. I understand wanting to show your faith and reminding yourself (and others) that the Holidays are about celebrating Christ. But is a torture device an appropriate way to celebrate a birth? In the same way, I think people would like to express their grief over the death of (usually) a young life. But is it appropriate to advertise it on your truck? I don't know. I think that it's just another way to capitalize on people's grief.
Maybe we should bring back the tradition of wearing black for a year following the death of a family member.
I did, however, watch a little boy pick out a toy that he was able to buy with his own allowance money. He couldn't have been more than 5 and he jumped up and down laughing and clapping about his new toy bow and arrow set. I looked at his mom and said, "I wish I could get that excited over something that only cost $4." But I guess I could get excited over things that cost $4. Ice cream in the dipped waffle cone. A good cup of cappuchino. Refills on the regular coffee. A mug from the Goodwill store that shows a friend thought of me while away.
But there is one thing that bugs me:
I saw yet another one of those cling things that people are putting in the windows of their trucks and SUVs. You know the ones, they have a cross or a rose with the words, "In Memory of Little Jimmy--1986-2006." I don't understand this new custom. It's as if the person bought a new vehicle and dedicated it to the memory of the dearly departed. It's akin to crosses on the Christmas tree. I understand wanting to show your faith and reminding yourself (and others) that the Holidays are about celebrating Christ. But is a torture device an appropriate way to celebrate a birth? In the same way, I think people would like to express their grief over the death of (usually) a young life. But is it appropriate to advertise it on your truck? I don't know. I think that it's just another way to capitalize on people's grief.
Maybe we should bring back the tradition of wearing black for a year following the death of a family member.
02 September 2006
Good News!!!!
I found out today that one of my nieces is due in March!!!! Yay! I'm going to be a great-aunt again!
Stubbornness or Patience?
This is a very long story. I will try to make it short without leaving out pertinent information.
I ordered Dish Network on August 21st. The first day that they can install it is on Saturday August 26th. I get a call on August 23 asking if they can install it that day. Yes you can but I have to leave to go to work at 5:00.
The tech comes out and does his best to install the stuff in the time allotted. That's okay, you can come out on Saturday, the day I originally scheduled the appointment and finish.
Saturday comes and it's 3:00pm. No Tech, no call, no nothing. I call Dish Network to find out what's going on. They say that I don't have an appointment. I'm not happy, but I make another appointment for the next Saturday--Today
So now it's Saturday and I call to make sure that the appointment still stands. It does.
The Tech arrives around 3:00pm takes a look around and, after getting on top of the roof to take a look at the dish and the next think I know, he's packing up. He's not able to complete the install because it was a different company that was here last week and he can't take on the responsibility of finishing something that another company started.
He advised me to call Dish, get them on the case of getting my install completed and to get the phone number of the original install company and call them and tell them to get here ASAP and make sure a Field Supervisor comes to complete the job.
I do what he says--Call Dish Network and tell them what's going on. They were great about it and gave me the number of the company.
I called the company fully expecting that there would be a message saying that they were closed. No, they are open from 8 to 7 seven days a week. Yay! I might be able to take care of this! But no, I was on hold for, literally, 50 minutes. After the first half-hour I called on my cell phone, too. So I was on hold for a total of 100 minutes---Stubborn or Patient?
To finish off the story--at least as far as it goes today--I called Dish and asked them to try the company and make me another appt. to get them out here to complete the job. So I have another appointment for next week and 2 free months of service---once I get the service.
I ordered Dish Network on August 21st. The first day that they can install it is on Saturday August 26th. I get a call on August 23 asking if they can install it that day. Yes you can but I have to leave to go to work at 5:00.
The tech comes out and does his best to install the stuff in the time allotted. That's okay, you can come out on Saturday, the day I originally scheduled the appointment and finish.
Saturday comes and it's 3:00pm. No Tech, no call, no nothing. I call Dish Network to find out what's going on. They say that I don't have an appointment. I'm not happy, but I make another appointment for the next Saturday--Today
So now it's Saturday and I call to make sure that the appointment still stands. It does.
The Tech arrives around 3:00pm takes a look around and, after getting on top of the roof to take a look at the dish and the next think I know, he's packing up. He's not able to complete the install because it was a different company that was here last week and he can't take on the responsibility of finishing something that another company started.
He advised me to call Dish, get them on the case of getting my install completed and to get the phone number of the original install company and call them and tell them to get here ASAP and make sure a Field Supervisor comes to complete the job.
I do what he says--Call Dish Network and tell them what's going on. They were great about it and gave me the number of the company.
I called the company fully expecting that there would be a message saying that they were closed. No, they are open from 8 to 7 seven days a week. Yay! I might be able to take care of this! But no, I was on hold for, literally, 50 minutes. After the first half-hour I called on my cell phone, too. So I was on hold for a total of 100 minutes---Stubborn or Patient?
To finish off the story--at least as far as it goes today--I called Dish and asked them to try the company and make me another appt. to get them out here to complete the job. So I have another appointment for next week and 2 free months of service---once I get the service.
01 September 2006
Bad Acting, Bad Writing and Poor Communication Practices
I have had more time off the past few months than I care for. I have filled that time with doing stuff around my house, working on my resume and watching TV. I had developed a routine for myself that included watching TV while I ate my lunch. Since I don’t have cable, my daytime television viewing is limited…VERY LIMITED. So, I decided to choose, albeit with not much thought, to watch a little of the soap opera, Days of Our Lives. I chose Days because it came on while I ate my lunch and it was a soap I used to follow when I was a teenager.
In the early ‘80s, (when I was a teen) the drama of the stories were so exciting (my grandma got me hooked on General Hospital when I was a toddler) and the people were SO Glamorous!!!! I wanted to look like them and be like them, which is further proof that teenagers don’t know squat! Now it’s over 20 years later and I find myself hooked again. Only this time it’s for different reasons.
This show makes me laugh!
I was watching the other day while I was weaving a seat for my dining room chair—yes, I really was weaving a seat—and messed up 3 rows because I was laughing so much. The first thing that I thought was funny was that all the characters were familiar to me and either they or their children were going through the same traumas that they had 20 years ago.
Here are some of the traumas:
-Infidelity
-Who’s the real father of the baby?
-I married a man I didn’t love so that my sister could have the man I love and she really loves my husband
-I thought he was dead and now he’s back, but I’m married to his arch-nemesis but carrying my "dead" husband's baby
-The DNA of my baby shows that a man I never slept with (I think) is the father
-There’s a stalker on the loose and he (or she) is targeting my entire family because we are more important than presidents or governors, kings or queens
In the early ‘80s, (when I was a teen) the drama of the stories were so exciting (my grandma got me hooked on General Hospital when I was a toddler) and the people were SO Glamorous!!!! I wanted to look like them and be like them, which is further proof that teenagers don’t know squat! Now it’s over 20 years later and I find myself hooked again. Only this time it’s for different reasons.
This show makes me laugh!
I was watching the other day while I was weaving a seat for my dining room chair—yes, I really was weaving a seat—and messed up 3 rows because I was laughing so much. The first thing that I thought was funny was that all the characters were familiar to me and either they or their children were going through the same traumas that they had 20 years ago.
Here are some of the traumas:
-Infidelity
-Who’s the real father of the baby?
-I married a man I didn’t love so that my sister could have the man I love and she really loves my husband
-I thought he was dead and now he’s back, but I’m married to his arch-nemesis but carrying my "dead" husband's baby
-The DNA of my baby shows that a man I never slept with (I think) is the father
-There’s a stalker on the loose and he (or she) is targeting my entire family because we are more important than presidents or governors, kings or queens
One question: Most of the people on this show are doctors. You would think that at least a few of the women on the show would learn how to use contraceptives!
Then there is the bad acting. Now I’m not saying that these ladies and gentlemen are bad actors, but, for the most part they are put into situations where the acting can’t help but be bad. I actually saw a Soap Opera Eyebrow Raise the other day. The poor actor walked into a room and someone asked him what he was doing there and then there was a tight shot on his face, the eyebrow raise ( I may have heard a vibraphone in the background) and then cut to commercial.
Last but not least, the poor communication skills. It seems that all these people do is talk, talk, talk, but they never say anything to each other. All the drama hinges on misunderstandings and conniving and manipulating…Hell, any good British Farce gives you the same thing in less time and you get a legitimate laugh out of the experience.
What I found most astounding was the fact that I while was watching some of these conversations take place, i.e.: “I can’t tell him I love him and only married his brother because I don’t deserve to be happy even though I know he loves me too.” I was yelling at the television: “Your mother’s a psychiatrist for the gods' sake! Do you think you might have sought some counseling before marrying the wrong man…AGAIN??!!!”
Now who needs the counseling?
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