Longest Work Day

The First Blog Reader is Once Again Dominating Central Park

Yesterday was about as long a work day as I can remember, even back to my military days. It wasn’t chronological time but the emotions of having to take over for a respected and almost beloved boss. When I was in the Army I always wanted to follow the most incompetent guy possible into a new assignment. That is certainly not the case here and the suddenness of the departure had more than a few heads spinning. I called a general staff meeting for the entire management team to break the news that the excellent boss was leaving and I was being promoted into his position.

Happier Times - With Excellent Boss and Son at First Friday

There was a significant amount of shock but I’ve got to credit the team that I was able to quickly move into the needed actions for next week’s move to the new facility. I think it’s good to have such a massive task descending on us at this time because we have to focus on that as opposed to bruised feelings. I was drained by the end of the day even though I left at the usual time.

Rehabbed Couch potato Position #1

I had to get home because the missing piece of the Man Cave couch was being delivered following its rehab stint. It has served as Couch Potato Position #1 for more than a decade and the wear and tear (literally) had reduced it to eyesore status. The same guy who repaired Buddy’s depredations on my wife’s couches also works with leather so he’s had it for the past couple weeks. So the Man Cave is now fully operational again although I kept sliding down the brand new leather all night while breaking it in. Buddy was a little upset he was no longer allowed to occupy the lower half.

My Son and His Grandfather Earlier This Year

I had several FaceTime calls with Panama where my wife was going through the funeral of her father and the aftermath. The entire family from both sides showed up in force to honor Don Neco and I could tell how pleased my wife was at the turnout. I’ve written before how close and fun her family is to be around and yesterday, despite the occasion, was no exception. I really wanted to be down there despite the alligators nipping at my butt all day at work.

Helping with Diaper Distribution

As I am wont to do I’ve salved some of the loneliness at home by escaping to the movies. I’ve seen no less than three over the past few days. Monday was supposed to be my annual leaf peeping journey with my wife. Each year we use the day to travel up into the mountains of Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire to see the sights and enjoy each other’s company. That of course went away this year due to events down south.

I saw Bridget Jones’ Baby on Monday. I really liked the first two movies in this series with an American actress portraying, successfully, this thoroughly British character. Zellwegger still has it although they allowed Bridget to grow up a little more in this latest endeavor. It was akin to a gathering of old friends; all the loose ends from the first two movies were neatly (and finally?) tied up. The center of the plots have always revolved around her relationship with Colin Firth’s character which is front and center here as well. It was an interesting look at the conflict of millennials and GenX’ers as well with Bridget stumbling through her usual unintended awkwardness. If this is it, it was a nice send off.

Deepwater Horizon is a very interesting movie. It involves the true life story of the heinous BP oil  spill in the gulf and certainly pulls no punches when it comes to BP. It, of course, has the 20-20 clarity of hindsight to view but the short cuts BP used and hoped to get away with are painfully exposed. This movie is more about the heroism of the entire crew fighting desperately to save lives and control the disaster. Director Peter Berg has carved out a nice little niche with bringing true life events to the screen and highlighting the extraordinary actions of those involved. I found my jaw actually dropping at the action scenes as the well blew up. Extraordinary film.

The Girl on the Train played out like a Lifetime (Evil Men) Channel. I never read the popular book this was based on and that helped keep the suspense level high. The story involves the interconnected lives of three women and the “evil man” is kept well disguised until a fairly flat reveal. The three lead actresses are fantastic especially Emily Blunt who pays an absolute train wreck (pun fully intended) trying to figure out what happened. I’ve ridden the MetroNorth railway dozens of times and we never get the up close views this story is based on but that’s a small piece of the disbelief you’re asked to give up in this movie. It’s one of those instances where a book can get away with something that makes no sense on the screen.

I also finished my latest Jack Noble novel, Nobel Betrayal, which ha Jack up to his usual hijinks with death and destruction following him and his friends. This time he was in England supposedly to help out an old friend but is soon pulled into a convoluted assassination/terrorist plot while simultaneously discovering he has a ten year old daughter he never knew about. There’s the usual over use of coincidence in the plotting but Noble is a compelling character. I enjoyed the read.