right on bro!

Apparently I saw Vince Vaughn today in the parking lot of Noshi Sushi. I wouldn’t really know who he was though.

So, it’s been a real long week, y’all. The short version is: I am still employed where I work. I watched two of my good friends get worked on Monday, and another co-worker whom I liked get worked last Wednesday. It really sucked. Those of us that are left are picking up the pieces, trying to handle the shit that’s coming in and figure out our next moves. It’s good in a way, because I’m finally actually doing work instead of idly surfing the net all day, which was driving me crazy. The last two days straight flew by.

I’m a week and a half away from my annual July 4 trip home to Long Island to see my folks. Most of the time we spend fishing for fluke and striped bass in the Moriches Bay. Supposedly the stripers are coming in hot so far this year. Can’t hardly wait.

I’m going to be pretty jammed for the next week or so. It’s like the entire planet took a long nap through April and May, and everyone woke up in June and wants to get stuff done. Cross your fingers and hope it goes well.

urrrrrrrrrrgh.

Just when I thought my night was over last night, the Bank girls called me a little after midnight. I met them at the Dresden for a couple of drinks, and then we went to Fred 62. It was nice and chill. Oh yeah, Brian and Montez were there too.

Today I auditioned for a new band. Since I heard their first demo, they struck me as the kind of band I always wanted to play in. The jam went really well. We’re supposed to reconvene in the next couple of weeks. So, I guess I’m now playing in a band again. And the Les Paul Studio I bought a few months ago sounds good with these guys, so I get to get some use out of that now, too. Pretty cool.

New item: You know that cat that always appears in my moblog? Well, she has her own camera now. You can check to see if she’s in her box or not.

Even calmer before the storm…

Today I went to a Halo tournament at my cousin’s house in Reseda. It was super fun. It’s different from 81st Street games in that a) there’s generally no drinking and b) they like to play a lot of Slayer. I managed to win one game and come in second a few times, and I ate a few burgers & hot dogs, so it was a good day overall.

Last night: Red Lion, Bigfoot Lodge, and the Rustic. Haven’t been to any of those joints in awhile, so it was good to see them again. The popcorn at the Rustic is the best popcorn in L.A. without going to a movie theater.

Calm before the storm…

Wow. Matt just called me from Australia. I had no idea there were telephones in Australia. It was good to hear from him. Thanks, dog.

So the city has been tree trimming all along the block of the street across from my apartment. Signs went up on Sunday that say in giant letters, “NO PARKING FROM 6:30 A.M. to 4 P.M.” It’s kind of weird that it takes four days to trim a block of trees.

Anyway, this morning as I’m blending away, I get a knock on my door. It’s the landlord. “You have a car across the street? They’re towing.” I look out the window and there are at least 15-20 cars parked on the block. They’re all getting towed. That’s an incredibly solid working.

“Can’t you read the sign? No seducing in the cafeteria! Now you will pay!”

Speaking of incredibly solid working…

Well, it looks like I know where I stand as far as being employed. I had my first meeting with the new senior VP of my department at work today. Actually, I (as the “product owner”) wasn’t even on the original meeting request - I was added at the last minute. So, the meeting was senior VP, me, the business owner, and some people from the tech team. Senior VP ignored me the entire time - like, he would literally turn away and look at his Blackberry whenever I opened my mouth. Then he dissed the work I did over the past 3 months, and scheduled a bunch of work where I don’t have to do anything. The writing’s on the wall…

I’m not really bothered that I’m probably going to get worked. The only thing I’m annoyed with is that he never got my side of the story about what’s been going on for the past 3 months. Senior VP hasn’t said one word to me since he arrived. Based on my five years of developing award-winning Web products, I honestly have to say that what I’ve done so far this year is pretty remarkable, considering what I had to go through and the people I had to deal with. But, that’s totally cool. I’m totally ready to visit Matt in Australia find a new job. Just hook me up with some severance, let me collect unemployment for awhile, and I’ll be chillin’. Let’s just hurry up and get it over with, ‘cos I got other things to do…

Oh, speaking of the office - I was watching Beverly Hills Cop on AMC this weekend, and I realized that the scene where Axel Foley gets thrown through the window (and then arrested for it), was shot next door to where I work now. Neat.

It’s only 1:30pm and I’ve already done All Kinds of Shit. Got an oil change for my car, cleaned my apartment, made lunch, ate lunch, did laundry.

Finished the new CSI Miami book last night. Not exactly high literature, but solid entertainment nevertheless. They need to crank these books out like once a month. I’d buy every single one.

As a general rule, I don’t really get too excited about new products anymore. Maybe it’s because I am a cheap bastard, but I am also tired of buying shit, being excited about it for maybe a day or two, and then being like, “eh.” My purchase of True Crime: Streets of L.A. was a perfect example of that. I got really excited about jamming around LA, then after I played the game for a day or two, I was like, “eh.”

So the blender is working out pretty well. I think I consumed more fruits and vegetables in the last week than I have all last month. What comes out of the blender is generally tasty, too, besides a failed carrot/celery/ginger combo, which was good anyway except I have to figure out how to make it not so pulpy.

A friend of a friend got a new cat. It has eyebrows. WTF? I’ve never seen anything like that before.

I had my picture taken at work today as part of the new “Who the Fuck Are You and What Exactly Do You Do Here?” program from the HR department. Well, it’s not really called that. But, apparently the “owners” of the top projects at work all got photographed, and our mug shots are going to be plastered on the company intranet and in the lunchroom.

The thing is, hardly any of the executives at my company have made any attempt to get to know me over the past year or so they’ve been in power. Or even say “hello” as we pass each other in the hallway, for that matter. Shit, I have problems even getting ten minutes to consult with the head of my department.

So now, after I spent three months on a project where no executive said a word to me, it’s become important. And they think that posting my picture up in the lunchroom is going to make things better? And they expect me to drop the resentment I have for them and suddenly become crew? I guess so, if I want to stay employed at their company, that is. Welcome to the New World of Work, homeboy. If you don’t like it, there are a thousand motherfuckers out there who would gladly take your place.

Thursday is one step closer to Friday which is one step closer to the weekend…