Rantings of a Lunatic

Cue Ice Cube. To start off, I was apprehensive and a little nervous about today when I got up. This mostly stems from the fact that I had been “invited” to the management meeting this morning at work by the General Manager yesterday. And as he “invited” me, he made the passing comment to “dress nice”. Now, I must admit he added that he was just joking, and that yesterday I was dressed a little more casually than I normally do, but I was in need of doing the laundry. It has probably been a little while since I have worn a button down shirt, I think I have been wearing polos more than anything recently, and I wear jeans almost always. So this morning I got up and took a shower, etc. and proceeded to dress nicely. I put on my pinstripe suit with a dark striped shirt and a tie. I never wear a tie to work. Well, I say that, and today was actually my one year anniversary at work, and I think it was the second time I have worn a tie to work. The previous time I did it just to shake people up. And I headed in to work early, and was in my office with the coffee made right at 8. The management meeting started at 9, so I had plenty of time to make sure that putty was installed on the laptop I would bring with me, and I even had time to head down to the news room to help out Jackie, the new morning web content producer before the meeting. It was right as I was headed down there that the GM came into the building, and he saw me in my suit, and didn’t say anything, but in the slight nod, I knew that he had taken note. When I got down to the news room, I was greeted by the instantaneous question about my potential job interview that I must have been going to based on my attire. Of course I brushed this aside, because it had no factual truth. I helped Jackie with her question, which she knew the answer to but she is still a little green so she doesn’t quite trust herself yet. It will come, I think there is a strong chance that in two weeks she will be right at home there. Then I headed into the meeting. I was the first one there, and as the attendees converged, everyone was a little stunned, and that was when our GM made his comment to which I replied “I was told to dress nice.” He noted it with satisfaction. When my supervisor arrived, in his stylish manner, he caught a glimpse of me and the first words out of his mouth were “smart ass.” Its true, there was a bit of smart assedness in my attire, but at the same time I was following orders. The meeting went well, and I was dismissed early, partly for my sake, and partly for their’s I imagine. I had another meeting that started off with apprehension on my part, and moved to relief later in the day. At lunch I went to Conan’s Pizza, and had a slice and salad, which put me in a good mood I am sure. And I actually was a little deadish around five o’clock, but it passed and I finished the 5 and 6pm news shows and took off from work around 7:15. Not too shabby for a work day recently. My supervisor said he would cover the 10p tonight, and that we should plan on me working from home on Friday, though I am not sure if I will. I would probably get a lot accomplished, but at the same time, with the interns and Jackie being new I feel that it would be helpful if I am around. On average, I would guess that forty percent of my day right now is spent making sure that other people are capable of doing their work, whether it be hardware, software or process related.
Moving on, when I left work I had Eighty-D come on the CD player, which reminded me of Bill, and the time he brought his band from Milwaukee to Austin to play at the Red Eye Fly, and they crashed in my one bedroom apartment. Not to be confused with 80*D, who are totally different. Anyway, I called Kelly and asked what she was planning on doing for dinner, and she said she wasn’t sure, maybe it would be a vegetarian/side night. I obviously shot that idea down. So on the way home I stopped by the HEB, and decided that I wanted to grill up a piece of fish. I was initially thinking salmon, so I first went to check on getting some cedar planks, because I had seen them there before, and that was piquing my interest. After that I went to the fish department, and as I was looking at the selection something else caught my eye. They had salmon, a couple types if I remember right, but it was the steelhead trout that caught my eye. It was roughly the same price, and it just looked awesome. So I got a fillet, it weighed out to 1.04 pounds, which I figured would be fine. After that I grabbed a couple of other things that would get us through the week, notably some ground beef and some tortellinis. We can do some real grocery shopping on Sunday when we are back from my parent’s house. And then I came upon the wine selection. I was looking at the wines, and I am not an expert, so I was looking at what was there, when I saw that the 2005 Ravenswood Chardonnays were on discount. I don’t really know what goes with fish or trout, so I did what I always do when I am standing in the wine aisle, and called my personal sommelier. Robert asked what I was going to make, and how I was going to prepare it, and he said a white, to which I suggested the chardonnay, and he said it would be good. Gave me a tip on the pasta, and though I went with a fettuccine instead of the shape he had mentioned it all pared up very well. I wasn’t exactly sure if the fish was done and had to have Kelly look at it to let me know, partly because she is a little more particular about what she eats than I am. When I took my first bite it was glorious. I was so impressed with my decision that the only thing keeping me from eating the other third of the fillet is that it will be there for me tomorrow. I am not sure how it will hold up to reheating, but as long as it is half as good I will enjoy it. I ended up not eating the green beans I made along with it, because they were dill green beans, and to be honest they flavor was so overwhelming that they were just unappetizing next to the rest of it. They smelled great, but with the fish, the buttered Parmesan noodles and the chardonnay being light they were just out of the question.
Its now 10:20, and I don’t have a worry or care in the world. If I were to equate myself to the life state of anything, I would have to equate myself to a Portuguese man of war right now. I have always seen the man of war as a simple creature, with what I assume are its lack of higher thought, and lack of true control over its direction. I am currently in that same moment, though I know it won’t last, I really have nothing I have to do for about eight and a half hours, and it feels great. I told Travis earlier today that I just needed to veg out for a while, and thats what I think I am going to do. I could play WoW, or I could play Eve, which I haven’t really had a chance to in a while, or I could look for a motorcycle on craigslist, but I don’t think I am going to. I might stumble aimlessly through the web, or watch some Ice Road Truckers or Dangerous Catch, but I don’t really feel motivated to. I think when I stop typing I am going to float on the currents of time like a Portuguese man of war until my tentacles drag me back into the consciousness of reality and the necessity of the beast that pays my bills for me. I had posted that I would post about Batman, and I will, but for today all I can say is go see it in the Imax. I felt some of the shots were out of focus, but I enjoyed it. I am not a Heath Ledger fan, nor am I a hater, I just have no strong feelings one way or the other, but I thought he was brilliant as the Joker. No spoilers here, but if there are any in the post over the next couple of days I will alert ahead of time. I also have a post or two brewing about our current economic situation (at a global and national level, not a personal one), but that will have to wait until I have had a chance to do a little more research. I don’t mind ranting, but as long as I am going to rant, I would rather have my facts in order.