And Monday strikes hard

Sure, Mondays can suck for many reasons. Usually it is just because the shift back to the 9 to 5 grind is an unpleasant change from a weekend of sleeping-in late.

Today it sucks for other reasons.

Got into work, and was greeted with the high-pitched squeal of my external hard drive. Seems it was like that when my boss got in a hour before, and not wanting to mess-with it (I am more familiar with tech support stuff) she left it, and had to listen to it until I got there. I tried turning it off, and on, but got the same squealing scrapping sound. Decided I could live without it for the day (it is mostly back-up of stuff that lives elsewhere) and have IT look at it tomorrow (she is only in on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Was reminded half-way through the day that it also holds my local copy of my MP3 collection, and therefor was without music. (Sure, I could have used my iPod, but I had left it in my car and who has time to run out to the car during a crisis like this!)

Shortly after that, I found out that some posters we sent out last week were the wrong format for the meeting. D'oh! Sure, the blame goes to the Project Manager who forgot to give me a briefing form (and she did take responsibility for forgetting) but the whole team looks real bad and the big boss was really pissed. Seeing as my department (and a big part - me) created the briefing forms to prevent this kind of thing, it looks bad that I did not call the PM on not getting me the forms in the first place. Well, since the meeting goes for another couple of days, there was time to try to save face a little with the client by making a mad rush to reformat the layout to the correct specs, and have them hand delivered by someone in another office (good thing we have offices near Philly!).

Talk about a stressful day! The only good thing about the poster snafu was that something similar was then corrected on some posters my boss was working on. My poor boss was none to happy as it is her 1 year anniversary, and was worried she might need to stay late. Fortunately she has left the building and is on the way home to her hubby right now.

Now for me to leave for more enjoyable environs. I am not sure how much energy I will have for the Plough, but abditus and I will be there, if only for a little while.

The Terminal

This weekend brought to you by the word Terminal and the number 11

How come? you say?

Friday, abditus and I took BART (I got on in Oakland and we met-up at Embarcadero) to SFO (which went rather smoothly, I must say) and got there plenty early for our flight. With this time we decided to get some drinks. Since had already passed the security check-point, our options were limited. The bar was busy, but we were able to get some drinks and hang out for a little bit. Our search for food resulted in very few options, and ended us back at the bar, where we got a couple of hot-dogs to tide us over. Since the flight was only an hour to Palm Springs, we could only expect peanuts and a beverage as our in-flight comestibles. Realizing it was close to the stated boarding time, we headed over to the gate. There was a line, but it turned out to be for the previous flight. Our flight had been delayed (no reason declared, but since the previous flight at that gate was delayed, my theory involves dominos). So, we wait. Good thing we both have big books (thanks for the loan of the brick book, hon) and fully charged iPods. After getting a ride from his parents, we finally got to our destination at 11 PM.

Saturday, we went to see the movie The Terminal which I recommend. It seemed like a good movie to see with abditus’s parents, who usually do not share the same taste in movies with us. I am happy to report that I was right, and we all enjoyed the story. Not only is it inspired by (but not based on) a true story, the entire set (an international terminal) which was all created for the film was impressive and was very convincing. Oh, and Tom Hanks does a great job with this role.

Sunday, after a father’s day brunch, we leave the parent’s house around 3 and head to the airport. Check-in goes well, and after a typical wait, we are all seated on the plane, listening to the pilot get the “cabin is secured” message that is the harbinger of imminent take-off. Then the pilot tells us that there is a faulty indicator that needs to be checked-out, and to hold tight for a bit. Holding.... OK, they have figured out the problem, and fixed it, but they now have to give the plane a complete inspection to make sure everything is fine. At that time we are asked to de-plane and wait in the boarding area for a while. It is a couple of hours before they decide they are ready to board the plane again. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at SFO over an hour later. The BART ride proves to go as smoothly as it did on the way to the airport (MUNI on the other hand...!), but since abditus still needs to pick-up his motorcycle, he ends up taking (the infrequent) MUNI to work. Since it was late and I had luggage, I did’t want to walk home, so I head over to the nearby grocery store to wait and see if I can find anything for dinner (one packet of peanuts just is not enough). After riding home, abditus came and picked me up in the car and after deciding on a pre-roasted chicken, we headed home. All told, by the time we made it home, hungry and exhausted, it was almost 11 PM. Sadly, abditus calculated that had we drove from his parents house, leaving at the same time, we would have made it home an hour earlier, having stopped for dinner along the way.