Eleven

 Well, how about that? It's my 11th blogaversary.

According to Blogger, my first post was 11 years ago today, and in that interval I've done just over 2,200 posts. However, in the past couple of years, my output has slowed down considerably due to various time constraints. I don't think I'll ever get back to posting every weekday; life just consumes more of my time these days, and the days go by faster than ever (a side effect of growing older). But I still have things I want to write about, so you're not rid of me (yet).

I get a couple of emails a month from people who have found their way here because of a post I did three and a half years ago about the ramp we had built for our dog, who want to know where they can get one built for their dog, how much it cost, if I will build one for them, etc. (Somehow one of my photos ended up on Pinterest and some people reference that, but in order to contact me directly they have to find my email address.) I always respond to these inquiries, because I want to help other dog owners if I can, so that's another incentive to keep the blog active, even if I'm not posting a lot.

Also, I started posting on Instagram about a month ago. I've been meaning to add a link over on the right, but I haven't gotten to it (surprise!). For now, you can find my contributions here; in the app, search for someassembly_required.

One more thing: if the title made you think this was going to be about Netflix's Stranger Things, sorry. But hey, season two is only four weeks away, and if somehow you didn't catch season one, it's only eight episodes and a lot of fun, especially if you're a fan of the work of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, or any of the other '80s sci-fi/horror/supernatural stuff to which it owes a great deal.

Anyway, the blogging will continue, albeit more sporadically. Now, I gotta get back to work...

Cube Logic

I've found myself frequently thinking about posting, but obviously I don't do much here these days. My workload is lighter than it was last year, though I am wasting spending too much a significant amount of time commuting again.

So what's different? Since I am back at the same employer as before I was laid off (and back then I was posting something almost every weekday), I've been considering what's different this time. I would say the way this job is structured, I'm doing a little more than when I worked there before, but not a great deal more.

I think I know what it is: I was more physically isolated from my coworkers. For a good part of the time I worked there I was in an area where almost on one came into my cube, or if they did I would have heard them approaching. Even after I moved to another part of the office, there wasn't much foot traffic in my area, and even if someone did pass by, our cubicles had higher walls.

Now I work in an open area in a cube that's completely open on one side and has lower walls on the other three. Someone sits directly ahead of me and someone else sits directly behind me. Until yesterday someone sat directly across the aisle from me, and the person who sits in front of her and the person who sits in front of me both pass my desk numerous times a day. I have a larger monitor, and it's much more exposed to others.

How much a person can see of my screen depends on what angle they are looking from, but I still feel a lot more self-conscious about what I'm doing at any time during the day. People probably look at my screen less frequently than I might think they are; I don't pay much attention to what's on my coworkers' screens when I'm moving around the office. But still, it does feel like we're under greater scrutiny, or at least that it's possible to be, and this affects my online activity.

I could take advantage of my lunch hour to work on posts, and I'm going to see if I can do more of this. But now that summer is fading, I feel more inclined to go outside during lunch, to get some air and move around. I'm more aware of my health than I used to be, and I know that getting in some activity, even just walking, is beneficial, and it's also nice just to get away from the desk for a while.

But that still leaves the dilemma of when to post. I also go to bed earlier these days, and I spend time before bed getting my clothes ready for the next day. This is mainly so I don't have to get up quite as early. I used to prefer ironing my clothes in the morning, because it allows for last-minute changes of mind about outfit choices, but I've found that being able to get dressed quickly is also an advantage. With the unpredictability of the T, almost anything can ruin a commute, and it's better to leave earlier, both for a margin of error and because traffic and crowding aren't quite as bad.

So I get up a little later and I leave the house a little earlier, but it turns out that having a more compressed morning routine helps keep me focused, making it more likely that I'll hit my target time for being ready to leave. My weekdays are more structured in general, but I still don't have as much free time as I used to. I can probably still find time to write, but it means I'll have to exercise greater discipline.

Dark Days

Hello out there. I know it's been a while since I've surfaced. Things have been pretty busy around here, leaving me almost no time for thinking, let alone blogging. Between my two jobs, I am regularly working more than 50 hours a week, which includes some late-evening and weekend hours. Sure, it's nice to have a steady income, but it's also stressful.

It's almost Christmas, but to be honest I'd kind of barely noticed. Of course I am in the process of getting gifts for my family, but that happens largely from the chair right here in front of my computer screen, so I have not been out in stores all that much. I used to be more enthusiastic about holiday shopping when I was younger, but age does change us, whether we want to admit it or not.

We're in the midst of the shortest days of the year, when it's dark by around 4:30. This confuses the dog, who thinks that the darkness means it's time for her evening meal. She has a bed in the room where I work, so she comes in from the other room and parks herself there, keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't forget about feeding her.

We go for a walk after she's had her dinner, and I do enjoy seeing the houses in our neighborhood lit up for the holiday season. It takes some of the edge off the early sunsets, and cheers me up a bit. If I remember correctly, by the end of January the sunset happens around 5, so it won't be long before the days start getting longer again.

Anyway, there are more important things to be concerned about. Our country is about to be plunged into an experience the likes of which we have never seen. I suppose the most optimistic way to view the incoming administration is as a gigantic four-year (minimum) experiment in which all 325 million of us (or whatever the US population is these days) are the mice that are being experimented on.

The Mrs. and I have plenty of reason to be apprehensive about what's going to happen in 2017 and beyond. All of us do, whether or not we realize it. To be honest, I am somewhat less worried about what the government might do than I am about the kind of behavior that some Americans think it's okay to exhibit, as though the change in leadership has given them some sort of permission to bring to the surface their worst impulses toward their fellow citizens. This is a far bigger threat to our country's future than whoever happens to be occupying the White House, or any other elected office, or even the seats on the Supreme Court.

But we also have other things on our minds. We have to keep doing our thing, and I think it's crucial to try to maintain some sense of optimism in the face of the ignorance and blatant bigotry that's out there. I made some charitable contributions this month, simply because solicitations arrived in the mail from organizations deserving of support. We are at a point where we can think about planning a real vacation, something we have not been able to do in several years.

I hope all of you have a holiday season filled with friends, family, and happiness. And if I can close with a bit of advice for the coming year: look inward, look outward, pay attention.

Unexcused Absence

Hello there.

I know it's been awfully quiet around here lately. Life has just been hectic, as it is for many people. For a long time I had the luxury of a job that wasn't all that demanding, which allowed me time during the day to compose ramblings here. Then I was unemployed for a significant chunk of time. Now my work days are busy from start to finish, and I do some extra work at night and on weekends. It's hard enough to motivate myself to do that, so swinging by here often gets pushed aside.

We also just got back from a long weekend away, something we have not been able to do for a while. I may be able to whip up something about that in the next day or so. It was really nice to take a break from everyday life and go do stuff, see friends and family, and have some great meals.

I just want to tell you that I'm not giving up or going away, but maybe temper your expectations about the frequency of postings here. Life goes on...

Checking In

Still here, still really busy. I'm also working slightly off hours, so I'm frequently not finished until 7:30 or 8 pm, leaving precious little time to relax and even less time to think about blog posts.

I have car show photos gong back several months, but I haven't had time to pull them together into a post. I had an idea for something else I wanted to write about crawl through my brain a couple of times, but of course right now, when I have a few minutes, I can't get it back. (I knew I should have made a written note about it.)

But I do have a long holiday weekend to enjoy like many other people, so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy yourselves.

Status: Busy

Hi. Yeah, I know. Work is keeping me very busy. Like, really, really busy. I honestly can't say when I will get time to make a meaningful contribution here. But I'm not going to put the blog on hiatus; I'm just saying, it may be quiet around here for a bit.

Nine

It almost got by me... but it didn't. I started this thing nine years ago today. I had no idea how long it would last, but eventually I found my groove.

The past several months have been hectic, and challenging in unexpected ways: I've gone back to work and had to get used to commuting again, there was an adjustment to not having unlimited free time, and the dog has needed a lot of additional care and attention in her advanced age. I've thought about maybe hitting the pause button for a while, but I feel like sticking to it with less frequency is more like what I want to be doing, and should be doing. And I like having this bit of webspace to express myself.

So, cheers to everyone who visits. Now I'm off to try to get some sleep...

Checking In

Wait, what day is it? Sunday? Yikes. Well, I don't really know what to say about that... there were errands Friday night, and yesterday was largely occupied by stuff related to elderly dog care, then we zipped out last night for a quick meal at Border Cafe. And I guess I've been trying to spend less time at the computer on weekends (with varying levels of success).

To some degree, I also let inspiration guide me. That is, I try to have specific ideas before I start to write posts. If nothing bubbles up for a couple of days, I get a little worried about my brain, like maybe I'm losing my ability to observe and report. Maybe the well is running dry?

How about this? I can tell you that I'm reading a very enjoyable book about television called The Revolution Was Televised. It's written by Alan Sepinwall, the TV critic for HitFix whose opinions I have come to respect greatly. (Alan is the reason I decided to check out unREAL on Lifetime this summer, and I am so glad I did. He was also the inspiration for my attempts to write weekly thoughts about Mad Men episodes.)

The book is about the current golden age of TV we are living in, and the most significant shows of the past 15 to 20 years that led the way. (It's a few years old, and I understand that a new edition of the book is coming out this fall, with additional material on the ends of Breaking Bad and Mad Men, so maybe it's worth waiting until then to check it out.)

Something Slipped My Mind

Seems I forgot to finish something... I had forgotten how important weekends are when you work all week. We were busy most of yesterday getting ready for and then attending an event, and today I just turned off my brain. I will get to part 3 soon (tomorrow I hope), and there will also be a new Car Stuff soon, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.

Where Have I Been?

Oh, hi there. It's been a while. Like I said, I wasn't sure what things would be like. Almost every evening this week I have come home from work with the intention of posting something, but every night I got sidetracked, and before I knew it, it was time for bed (and that's earlier, since I need to get up earlier to get ready).

In the "old days" I was salaried, and no one really monitored my daily work activities. As long as I met my deadlines I could afford to take 20 minutes out of my workday to write a post. As a temp I'm paid by the hour, and my work area is part of an open space that I share with three other people. Whether they care what I'm doing or not, it wouldn't look good for me to be meandering from my main task, which has intermediate deadlines.

With a holiday weekend upon us, I'm not working tomorrow (Friday), and while I have some other things I'm going to try to get done, I should also be able to do a couple of make-up posts.

Change in Status

So about a month ago I got attached to a long-term temp project. The catch was there was no definite start date. It's a very large corporation, and corporations move slowly. It still hasn't started yet, and it's looking like it won't get going until after the holiday weekend, at the earliest.

Meanwhile, in addition to the short-term projects I have worked on, just last week I unexpectedly got offered a three-month onsite assignment, starting today. The other one was going to be working at home, which was feeling more my speed these days. The agency arranged so that I could do this assignment, then rejoin the other one when this one ends.

We had to scramble to find someone who could come and walk the dog, but fortunately that worked out. Then I had to deal with the abrupt adjustment of going back to work on five days' notice, and figuring out my daily commute, and figuring out what to wear, and everything else that goes along with working a regular job. That is a work in progress.

Posting may be... I don't know. Erratic? Nonexistent? We'll see.

Status Report

Sorry for the relative silence this week. In addition to the short-term work thing I did, I've been working on trying to do some cleaning, organizing, and general de-cluttering of our living space, so I've been spending less time in front of the computer or the TV.

I also got, without much advance notice, a three-month, onsite temp assignment that starts this coming Monday. That means posting is probably going to be less frequent, but I'll be doing my best to keep up and maintain at least a nominal presence during the week.

Bits (A Non-Post Post)

I had a bunch of ideas for posts I wanted to do over the next week or so, but it's late and right now I can't remember what they were, except for ones that involve photos I haven't taken yet. Those will have to wait until next week.

We're going to see the Avengers movie tomorrow night, so I'll probably have at least a couple of thoughts about it.

Next week the TV networks try to get advertisers interested in their new fall shows, and announce their schedules for next season. From the limited information that's already been released, one trend I noticed is another batch of medical shows, something that rarely interests me.

There will be a TWiA sighting this weekend, and it will happen Saturday, I promise.

Another Milestone

According to Blogger this is my 2,000th post. I don't usually pay much attention to the post count, but about a month ago I happened to notice it was getting close to this mark (which I guess is better than having it pass unnoticed).

The 1,000th post was about three and a half years ago. Since then life has chosen to unmoor me from my reasonably satisfying employment situation without providing a suitable replacement. There have been times I felt like giving up trying to find a new job, but I'm not going to do that, because I need to work and also because I need to win out over being dumped on by life.

Blogwise things are going all right. Over the past few months my visitor stats are up, and I was toying with the idea of implementing Google's ad program, but with the number of visitors I get in a typical week, I don't think it would yield a useful amount of income. I've also been thinking about some other types of features I might do, and some of those will be popping up, either on a trial basis or semi-regularly, in the weeks and months ahead.

When I started this thing back in '06 I did not have a clearly defined sense of what I wanted it to be, and that has turned out to be beneficial. Figuring it out as I went along was much better for me in terms of challenging myself to write frequently and regularly. Thank you to everyone who visits. Stick around, there's more to come...

Eight

Well look at that, I almost missed my own blogaversary. It's hard to believe that I started this thing eight years ago today, and with only a vague idea of what I wanted to do with it.

Over the past couple of years I've found new avenues of interest to write about, and I'd do even more if I had more time. But bloggin' don't pay the bills, and even if I had ads on here, the revenue would be miniscule.

Regardless, I have more to say, so I'll be sticking around for a while. Thanks for visiting. As a former boss used to say, onward...

Too Quiet

Oh hi. So yeah, things were a little quiet and sparse around here the past few days. Life happens, you know? I'll be back later with TWiA.

Excuses

My brain is still in holiday-weekend mode.
We had a bit of serious weather around here this evening (no damage or anything).
I'm immersed in a good book.

All of which are alternate ways of saying: there will be a new Car Stuff entry, but I won't get to it until tomorrow.

Catching Up

I know there was no TWiA last weekend. We were busier than usual and I hadn't gathered much decent material for it during the week, plus Comcast did their "watch all the HBO stuff you want free online this week only" thing again. I decided to watch the first two seasons of Veep, which is an outstanding show and I'm really glad I did, but it took up a lot of time that I might otherwise have been spending online looking for interesting stuff for TWiA.

Then on Sunday we went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which was excellent, really just as good as The Avengers. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that plenty of significant stuff happens that will directly impact next year's Avengers sequel and the rest of the Marvel universe. And Guardians of the Galaxy, which is part of that universe and comes out in August, looks just ridiculous in the best possible way.

Programming Notes

If anyone is wondering, I took the weekend off from TWiA. Look for it again next weekend. Also, posts may be a bit irregular this week, as I have some some other things going on that will require a chunk of my attention.

Follow-Ups

Please allow me the indulgence of addenda to some of my recent posts:

Comedy Central's @Midnight completed its four-week trial run this week, and the network was so pleased with the show's performance that they have ordered a full year of the show. New episodes will begin airing on January 6th.

We didn't have to wait long for our street to be paved. The crews started today around 7 am, and their work was complete by about 11:30. Traffic was driving on it a couple of hours later; asphalt cools more quickly when it's not as warm outside.

When Netflix says a movie or TV show is available to stream "until" a certain date, what they really mean is "until the beginning of" that day, and not "until the end of" that day. And I suspect the demarcation point is when the clock reaches midnight Pacific time, since that's the time zone their company is based in. I say this because I was still watching the 1979-80 season of Saturday Night Live last night until after midnight Eastern time, but as of this morning I could no longer watch it. I didn't quite make it; I had about four episodes left.