Ummm...yes...well

Just a little comment about how dumb I can be:

I saw on MSNBC.com today a news link about a puppy-napping caught on video and ignored it because I've seen dogs sleeping before.

...wait a minute.

We are (nearly) the champions!!

Tuesday was a very rough day for one of my friends here. His name happens to be Bill, so to avoid confusion I put him in phone as Chameleon, since that was his character name from back in the day when he worked as a pro wrestler. Anyway after a horrible 24 hours where his car broke down and his step father, who lives in New York, went into the hospital, we decided to just go over to BJ's bar to relax with some of our fellow Gatekeepers and KA alumni for a drink and a game or two of pool.
Now we did not intend to stay long. His girl Liberty needed a ride in the morning to work, and as his car their car was down, I offered to pony up. So what happens when we arrive, Pool tourney!!
OK fine, no big, it would be fun. Now you might think that, since it was a doubles 8-ball tournement, ol' Chameleon and I would have teamed up, but he very smartly decided to join up with Callum, who not only is our beloved production manager (BIG boss) from Manchester, but also the only one there with his own cue.
Jarrod ended up joining me for the tourney, this is the same Jarrod who has only played once or twice in his life and quite possible flunked geometry. So we start up against... Callum and Chameleon! Now I played one of the best games I have ever played, but Bill is no slouch and there is a good reason Callum has his own cue. Callum took the 8-ball in with none left on the table. Too bad. Then another match against Kenny and Leo, ending the same.
Mow at this point I was looking forward to being finished and having a drink, as it was a double elimination tourney and we lost twice, but no, the first match was before the start time so it didn't count. Sigh.
We went in against Karen, one of my supervisors and her friend. I was tired and not playing very well, though Jarrod knocked a couple in, and as Karen went to sink the 8-ball we were 4 balls behind.
Scratch!!!
Ok fine bring on Joey and Erik, two Cirque technicians who look loke they grew up in pool halls. Joey broke and sunk 6 balls before any one else moved. Jarrod put a couple in that game too, but I couldn't sink a ball to save my life. The problem was they kept getting bad lays and couldn't go anymore either, so the game just went on. And then out of nowhere, I ran the table.
Jarrod and I were actually getting upset, we just wanted to sit back and relax. It was after 2am and I wanted to go, but we pressed on. We ended up against Karen and her pal again, as they had only one loss. This time we were very half-assed. But we took them out again after a half an hour. Aarrrggghhhhh!
Now Josh tells us we've made it to the final round. What?!?!?! We've been sucking all night, but here we are facing... Callum and Chameleon.... again. To make it funnier they were undefeated, so we would have to beat them twice to win, whereas we lose once and it's over. Great, then we can go. And man o man did they run that table, it was vicious. 6 balls, 1 minute. Chameleon lined up to drop that ten in and.... knocked the 8 in instead.
Racked again we began the final game, and Jarrod and I began to think "Hey, we might actually win." In fact Jarrod had hit his stride and put in two balls on his first up. I followed up and brought in two more. Of course Callum would have none of this and ran it, preping for a victory... and missed. I had my chance. I put in another, lined up for an easy cut... and missed. So Bill and Jarrod took their turns, neither doing anything, but Callum would have his day and sank that ball.
So I lost, and it was now 3:30 in the morning it was 30 minutes to home and I had to be up in 4 hours.

Moral of the story: I gotta buy a cue.

Begin Phase II

I've met with Jack, who is head of wardrobe for Zumanity. It was an informal meeting, but Jack is of such a personality that it felt very formal. He spoke for quite a long time about me, the job, the future, etc. I feel confident that I was able to impress him. He's going to set up a second, formal, meeting in a couple of weeks.

Bittersweet week

In what has been one of the most trying weeks I've had since becoming a Gatekeeper, A light has finally emerged at the end of the tunnel. On Tuesday we met with a union rep to go over benifits, pension, and why we should join. It turned into a referendum on every little problem anyone has had, being fueled by a lot of what I can only describe as lying. Since then tensions of been very high.
But it may not be my problem for much longer.
I've put in for a job over in the wardrobe dept. of Zumanity, which is the cirque show just across the street. I've spoken briefly with their head of wardrobe and have an interview set up for later on this week. I feel very optomistic about getting it. The pay is about the same as here, about half a dollar better, but it's in the company and might be the door I need to advance up the ladder. I'll post after the interview to tell you how it went.