Tis' a strange day.

I got to leave work early and promptly went to the pool and sank. Water was about 80 degrees. It was good and refreshing and I'm seriously considering going back. Any takers?

Work was a little weird. It's unusual to start the week as one company and become a completely different firm over night. Despite the often journaled weirdness, I work with some really cool folks That made it easier to do stupid things like hang banners and inflate balloons at 7AM.
The Time Warner balloons left my hands blue, like I strangled a smurf. It reminded me of when I worked at the Village Green Bookstore and nobody liked Sundays because we had to assemble the Sunday Times. That always made you feel like you were sorting coal. Never wear white while reading the times.

I caught myself on channel 4's news in one of the Time Warner crowd shots and I'm pretty sure I was melting. They fed us and we got the official tchotchkeys. I now have a TW chip clip for my trouble. It's a lot smaller than my Adelphia chip clip (I work in a silly industry). My chips will be trying to take over the pretzels.

Thursday, my boss said see ya Monday like she does each time she takes off for the weekend. I guess it's good that this is just a job instead of who I am. No more one day contract possibilities ((e:jason)). Only difference is that she isn't my boss beginning Monday. It is truly surreal to empty your desk in one room and take all your worldly goods 20 feet down the hall into another room. I was working with 3 incredibly cool people to hang with. Collectively, we have a variety of different skills, ages and attitudes, but it worked. Despite the hullabaloo of the takeover, we did some seriously good shit. My now former department has a vast array of neat stuff to giveway, largely due to well me.

I had to leave em for reasons passing understanding to take a different gig or be umemployed. It's felt like a non-event to everybody but me. I'm not sure what to expect out of any of this. Hell, it's not even clear what I doing for a living come Monday. Due to corporate H.R. being the hot bed of people who will talk even with they have nothing to say, it's not real clear if I have health care on Tuesday, if I can log into the new "time" coding system, or if I have a new company email address yet. I've struggled with trying to be classy about all of it. It felt very strange to mop up, clean off my former work space, and get dumped in an area with people who are intrigued at my presence as well as thinking I got demoted. Wish they weren't on to something. Next person who tells me I have to roll with the changes is going to get the shit kicked out of em. I miss my playmates already. I know they are down the hall, but as the department shrinks each is having to deliver more, especially with the new owners picking the unqualified son of a "friend." I guess it's corporate lonely. My new department speaks up when they want dirt on something else. Working with my ipod again, that's fun to look forward too.

I did my best to set up shop in my "new" confines, saying to myself that at least it will be finished soon. We've been talking about this for months so in a way, it's great to finally get it over with.

New desk looks okay, computer is a piece of shit, but at least I got a comfy chair. That's something.

Made it to the Square first time all summer today -- Openers were awful, but Robert Randolph cooked. Rain kept the food and drinks lines short and to the point.

Started cleaning out my desk today for my next assignment. It's a little depressing. It feels a little weird to be sort of irrelevant all the sudden in the job you really liked while at the same time getting the hairy eyeball from the old krones in the room I'm moving too. One jabba like bundle of joy told me I had to bring her presents everyday. I asked in a voice loud enough for all to hear "Do I look like your peewhupped husband?" Even the witches next to her cracked up. I don't like copping attitude in a new spot right away but my new surroundings have my stationed pretty close to a gripe fest -- so I had to show that I wasn't there to be a punching bag. Mission accomplished on that count.

Not real satisfying. I took the high road with the young pup who's replacing me in my department and cracked a few jokes. I wrote in an earlier journal about he had no idea about the circumstances that he's walking into. The incoming higherarchy is setting him up for a fall. He's entry level qualified, but it's not entry level work.

Back to the square, post a few drinks at the buckin buffalo, I suprise myself. There were a number of folks, but I started to feel old so I headed home via spot which was peepless around 9:30. I'm waiting for a grande mocha shake when my daughter (the eldest) and a buddy come in. She comes over on the way to the bathroom and we checked weekend plans briefly and with cat like speed to inspire dads everywhere, I make sure she has money, receive my beverage and am out the door.

I see the Sabres are going to wear their old jerseys for 15 games in addition to 26 as the raging hairpieces. Larry Quinn is a wimp. He should realize that it isn't just the blue and gold that old time hockey fans are after, it was the complete package. If the new logo was taken from their current red jerseys and recolored blue and gold, nobody would have said boo.

But alas, the world would be so better off if people would just listen to me once in awhile.

"it's getting better all the time. (Can't get much worse)." I may just be shaking the (e:strip) funk

The winds might be shifting, gentle readers. I finally got my official job offer from the new cable guys today. It is a tremendous monkey off my back, knowing all the health care issues and whatnot won't get interrupted. It triggers the screening process so I had to pee in the official new company cups, but I was so relieved to get that offer with I almost didn't to drive to the lab.

Our current GM stopped me briefly to say "we've got big plans for you" which is intriguing because she doesn't say something unless something is truly up so my mental gears were rolling before she finished walking away. My current boss said that the GM wants me to be the marketing coordinator (my current title) for the GM's about to be formed department. It gave me a lot to mull as my work friends and I parked ourselves at a back picnic table to watch the Adelphia trucks get repainted with the new logos.

I'm getting a bit of a bonus in August for our work the first half of this year so I'm bucks up for my vacation week. Can't really go anyplace during the time, but it will be nice to have some temporary breathing space.

I relayed all this to the ex-wife who was supportive, and she also pointed to a mutual friend of ours who apparently asked her about me. It's been a day of interesting surprises.

I thought I was headed for the dumper when I had to help the H.R. department pack employee welcome kits -- cable tchotchkeys -- but as the day transpired there seems to be a little more light shining.

Robert Randolph is at the square tomorrow night. Might be time for me to celebrate a slowing shifting of events by stepping out.

Anybody up for it?

Been checking where I can use a Free Jet Blue ticket to. I'm juggling through a number of factors. The one criteria is I'm looking for something new. Done New York and Chicago so I'm trying to broaden my horizons.

I'm thinking of a lazy weekend in either
Miami or
San Diego.

Or a more wanderlust kind of thing
Vegas
Boston
San Francisco

Fun to think about.
Pros and/or Cons??

There used to be a commercial from IBM that showed some poor slob riding a tidal wave of paper. I'm starting to relate.

I signed a letter to keep me on the payroll back in June and the upshot was that you get a kit to register for everything under the new employers. Here we are, eight days before the new employers take the keys and I'm still empty handed. I bitched to the boss who I'm reluctantly leaving. I bitched to my new supervisor and her boss. It's getting to be very cyclical. Since nothing showed in the weekend mail other than the usual collection of final notices, magazines, etc, I went to H.R. to bemoan what's going on (little tip for you just out of school folks, H.R. runs or ruins the world), so an all points bulletin is out for my file of stuff.

We have to get new I.D. Badges taken and it turned into a clusterfuck in impressive timing. Old boss says see new boss. New boss so far says nothing.

Did I mention that nobody's said what I'm doing come next Monday?

I can't even decipher what is going on via 401K stuff. The treehouse I built for my kids came with less complicated instructions.

Do I look tired? I sure feel it. Good thing vaca is only a few more weeks away. That will just be a time for my son and I to hang out. I'm more looking forward to what may happen in September. My dad is offering me a open Jet Blue ticket and I'm looking for something new. I've done the NY schtick enough and I think I want to explore someplace new for a few days.

Any ideas? Anybody want to come along?

Grabbed my youngins' last night and did the parental thing. Dropped the eldest off at a play at McKinley and took the other two for a quick bite at Subway. We scooted back to the apartment so my daughter could use the pc to rip a couple of cds to her mp3 player. By that time, the eldest was ready. So we collected her and began a scheme.

I thought it was time to start educating my children and cost cutting at the movies. My middle child pointed out that if we bring our own beverage, that's more money for popcorn.

At the market arcade, where popcorn rocks and crowds are thin, you have to appreciate that logic. So, a quick trip to Willie Farms for juice and proper arrangement of said juice in the purse of my eldest. We hit the theater for "Monster House." It was actually pretty good and added to the fun. Kids had a good time hanging for a "late" show and we all had a case of the giggles walking back to the car at 10:30 at night.

"Omigawd, we're having fun with Dad!?!"

who'd a thunk it. Such things are possible.

Here's the new cable toys coming to your cable box for free in August

A&E
Adult Swim
Anime
AOL Music
BBC America
Cartoon Network
CNN
Comedy Central
Court TV
Driver TV
Exercise TV
G4
Great American Country
Golf
Movie Trailers On Demand
National Geographic
NBC Universal Free Movies
PBS Sprout
Speed Channel
Sportskool
Sundance Free Movies
TBS
TNT
Turner Classic Free Movies

I'm actually looking for to the AOL Music. You get the good tunes without all the requisite AOL propaganda.

I've been logging a lot of travel time on our roadways this week so far for work. Yesterday was a couple of laps to Niagara Falls Offices for stuff. It was largely uneventful, but I'm know a fan of Boston Coolers thanks to a ice cream stand far up the boulevard.

Today was a few laps to Lancaster. Returning to my own office on the first trip, I was sailing along the 90 and a truck was merging without giving a fuck as to what was already on the road. He was going to do HIS speed and screw whatever got in his way. Unfortunately, that was me as I got forced into a thankfully empty lane. Appropriate angry old man fist shakes later, I kept going. He had the nerve to be gesturing at me like I was supposed to do something on his behalf. Well, I did help him out, by not laughing directly at him as the NY trooper following us pulled his ass over.

Score one for me