One of the strange extra curricular benefits/activities of my job is the schmooze dinner. This is where the cable network traipses into town and throws a thing for the marketing department (of which I've temporarily am still a a part of). With Adelphia swirling round the proverbial drain pipe, they are coming at a high rate of speed these days to protect their turf and make sure that Time Warner doesn't drop em like a bad habit. Too bad, we peons can't do anything about it (hint, hint NFL Network)

The reason I mention it is that the Turner Network people are coming into town tomorrow and we are being taken to EB Greens. If you are into steak, it's a great restaurant, but this is the second time I've been able to eat there on someone else's dime and it makes me laugh. From the piano player with the painted on hair to the parade of beef on a cart as you order. That reminds me of the section of the Hitchiker's Guide when the heroes get to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe when the entree emerges from the kitchen and invites the customers to literally eat it

Things I think about while the people with heavier titles are engaging in a round of "who's is bigger."

Sigh, I should have been a bartender, right now it's more sincere.

Weather over the past few days have been hell on breathing. I wish it would make up its mind. I'm looking forward to some sun soon. Could use a little color (a sly user pic joke).

Walked out of an office building on Exchange street and was nearly hit by this moron who was very busy in his beemer except watching the road. I figured as a relatively easy to notice (at 6'3) pedestrian, he would have noticed that his car was going through a red light while he worked the phone, ipod and laptop. He did take notice of the grumpy irishman (that would be me) who pounded on his hood to ensure he noticed he nearly plowed a few of us over.
Getting busted for being a moron left him properly chastised. I started laughing becuase the woman crossing the other side of the street yellled at him to hang up and drive.

Just another manic monday.

A weekend may have restored my sanity......

I had a thing at Pearl Street tonight that ESPN was sponsoring. It was a lot of fun to go out and laugh, especially under the auspices of work. A few drinks, snacks and swag were good for the soul.

Had a brief moment of unparallelled parental coolness. My daughter accidentally added me to her my space list and sent a bulletin out bitchin about her mom and me. In a sign that I think I have my head on straight, I didn't bitch her out or raise my voice. Trusting my gut, I told her "Siobhan, you may want to delete me from your friend list." I kept it
matter of fact and said nothing else. She disappeared to my computer and reemerge with eyes reeling of guilt. To my eternal wisdom, I said nothing else.

Speaking of my space, I cleaned my own up and upon some indirect good advice of a fellow epeep, I recinded a bunch of ill-advised friend requests to peeps until I actually meet a few in person. Made me look too damn needy. Can't be having that. Next mass epeep outing, I'm in.

My charming lad of a son decided that we needed to go see "Over the Hedge" yesterday. He got two regal passes for his birthday, so he was taking me. I figured the least I could do was to chip in with popcorn. It was a big dopey hoot. I had a blast. Nothing like a few fart and cheese snot jokes in the company of other afficianados to restore one's sense of silly.

I do have to admit one thing. I am enough of damaged goods loser to have a yahoo personals site, and the responses tend to go from promising to ewww ( and I'm sure I'm somebody's ewwww, I have no delusions at my age). I'm not very active on it. I do consider it the height of my wisdom that I snuck my email address pasted the vaunted yahoo censors. This was my attempt to make sure that people are reading my well chosen verbage. I got a response today from the woman I was asking out a few journals ago, who basically gave me a non-response. I'm not sure what to make of that one.

Food for thought, that, but despite grey skies and cold today, it's getting better. Gonna go get some rest to fight the demons again.

Night peeps. Be well and warm.

My brother and his wife have been going through the newborn adoption process for sometime and their tenacity bore fruit. The birth mom did her part and a new baby is headed home with two nervous new parents. New Baby and petrified parents are doing fine.

The new dad forgot the chocolate cigars from Sweet Tooth on his dashboard in his haste, so he now has a chocolate square.

Nice way to end a forgettable week.

I did have something nice and unexpected happen this morning. My daughter called me between classes today.

"Dad, you have to be at the Sabres games next week?"

Yeah, I cleverly reply.

"Do you think one of those could be a Take your daughter to work kind of thing?"

Wow, made my day, maybe it is darkest before......

Sorry for yesterday's rants peeps, the bastards have been getting to me and I was walking around feeling like the air was getting sucked out of every room I walked through, resulting in that devastatingly handsome current user pic.

I apologize....it's gonna be alright (curtis mayfield just told me so)

Night

I thought the patronizing insulting events of being undervalued and the crappy dinner at the Chophouse (courtesy Music Choice) could be soothed by an stroll through Elmwoo by night. The answer was no.

I didn't see a familar face which too sucked and was a good thing. I think if I started talking about the insanity of it all, I would have just lost it.

They're trying to find work, I try to console myself. It doesn't work, because they need to do better. I'm good at what I do and have worked so it's not arrogance to say that my group is better with me. What I do is fairly trivial in the grand scheme of things, but to get basically get offered a rotating registers is flat out fucking insulting.

I clicked on a pile of epeeps my spaces and I apologize. I guess I was looking for sympathetic cyber shoulders to lean on. There is a lot of disingenuous bullshit floating around the cable company and I guess I was trying to reach out to real people.

I've never been in this situation before. I get universal praise for my work (the full page ad in the news last sunday was me) from all the stuff shirts, but it doesn't seem to matter.

If this reads like venting, I guess that's because it is.

Bounced a check, my car cd player broke and had my intelligence insulted.

It's been a full, fucking day.

Off to go apply a tourniquet to my self-esteem

Later

My current bosses hauled me into an office today, wishing to know where my head was at. I'm still not sure. I suppose I should be grateful for their trying, but they want me to think about being a roving office person in order to stay on the Adelphia pay roll when Time Warner comes to town.

I think after the all the extended day leaving me no more rewarded, doing all the commericals, doing all the ads and sundry other print crap, plus all the other stupid ass marketing crap, they want to make me a glorified counter person.

They were spinning it as seeing another side of the operations. I spin as I'm in marketing too.

Anybody hiring?

Well, not really, but it's a maybe. My lovely firm is partnering with ESPN for a party Sunday night at Pearl Street. So, I have to work, but at least drink is involved. It's for Sunday night baseball. C'mon down peeps. You can get cable swag and I'm working on getting the important stuff (beer) (and food) discounted

Updates to follow

Always thought it ended this way

It's been one of those weeks. I've had 3 12+ hour days. Tuesday was no big deal, a business dinner that ended early enough I could still enjoy the night. Wednesday I found myself on Arena duty for the Sabres game, which in and of itself was fine, but I had to be ready for a Thursday road trip to Syracuse for a conference. The bus for that was leaving at 6am. That meant getting up at an hour that only be seen after a binge.

Of course, the Wednesday night hockey crowd wouldn't leave my crappy little Adelphia area until the 3rd period of the game was 2/3's gone. I'm shutting off lights, computers and 38 out 39 tvs. You'd think these things would suggest.

Stagger home at 10pm, back up at 4am yesterday, right to syracuse and sit through a conference in a room that was roughly heated to about 200 degrees and devoid of air, only to hope back on the bus with its excessive air conditioning. We got back into Buffalo at 6. I still had last night's Sabres game to work. I'm running through the already admitted crowd and turning stuff on, breaking down barriers and hoping the fatigue doesn't show (by this point, my knees are calling me names for the events of the past 20 hours).

Nothing like running on fumes, when you get your first epeep sighting. I had the pleasure of running into (e:vincent). I hope I wasn't babbling in an overcaffienated, unslept, oversugarfied (is that even a word)state. By the second period of the game, I felt like the Sabres were playing, like my knees were turning to water. The day was filled with crap catered food. I knew it was wrong when I peaked with an ice cream cone. The rain felt good. I had a "wait out the traffic" beer at cobblestone and the cool rain was reviving.

My boss said I could come in late, by daughter needed a ride to school this morning, so that slightly rumpled soul at Spot at 7AM was me, trying to wolf down a mike before it got me. It is possible to feel hung over when you haven't drunken much. I figured that was the only way to tell my taste buds I still cared.

Getting older sucks.....good thing I still got my looks......shaddup!

is such a study in Disingenuousness. I'm starting to associate the big ticket restaurants around town by the cable network that takes us there. I believe the thinking is that the if the network schmoozes the cable affiliate, the cable affiliate cranks out more support for the network offerings. It is usually 15 minutes about work and actual business talk spread over 3 hours of bullshit and over-Carnegie-izing.

You hear the phrase May Sweeps. For us, it means these occasions double. Tonight, it was Oxygen's turn. They took my department to Oliver's. We were seated and I couldn't help but think of the estrip post talking about steaks and restaurants, So I had one. It was alright, but not quite as good as Fiamma's when OLN took us there which was close to Chophouse quality as purchased by ESPN.

I work in a strange industry. The Western Door restaurant was produced by Discovery. TNT took us to Daffodil's. It's an empty shell of a social life. You see interesting places with people who are desperately trying to impress. No matter how hard they try, there is little I can do. They really have to wow my boss and her idiot of a boss (this schmuck is screwing with how you can see the sabres game on thursday). The networks with little to offer get to take them and us to Chef's since the
big cheeses can't be bothered to get into their cars.

The same screne gets repeated with false sincerity. Dinner, some tchotckeys, and hollow promises. I'm not complaining because I get to places I could never afford. I saw a former colleague at Spot Tonight who laughed at the travails. It cracks me up a little to see the same "dance" played out on basically an every other week basis.

I work in a strange industry.