Death (and Leaving) is the Thing

NOTE: Spoilers for season finales involved.

So, I'm watching the series finales of many of my favorite shows. And I start seeing the same themes repeated:

1. CSI - Warwick is shot in the head at the end of the show.
2. CSI: Miami - New medical examiner gets all of three lines and then is shot in the head. The episode ends with Horatio Caine being shot and possibly killed. And Ryan seems to be involved (or maybe even the shooter). Just a few episodes earlier the original medical examiner leaves.
   
3. NCIS - Jenny Shepard is killed in a fire fight in a diner and Gibbs' team is separate and sent all throughout the military and he is handed three new files for his new team.
4. Bones - The big mystery of who Gormagon is is totally wasted on a horribly written episode that sees Zack turn out to be the Apprentice and some no-name guy who is easily taken out being the Master. Zack is sent to a mental hospital.
5. House - Amber is killed and House and Wilson's friendship may be over in another horribly written show (well, the first half was awful and the second half was better -- and what happened to the strong characterization? Everyone, but especially 13, seemed to be acting totally out of the character set in previous episodes).
6. Numb3rs - Megan leaves and Charlie loses his clearance and the ability to work on most FBI projects.
7. Criminal Minds - Each member of the current team gets into an identical SUV and then we cut to an SUV blowing up. The cliffhanger is that we don't know which team member(s) was killed.
8. Smallville - This soap opera has the apparent death or dismissal of most of its main characters (Kara is in phantom zone, Brainiac was apparently killed, Lana "went away" (yay, finally), Chloe is arrested as a terrorist, and Lex and Clark have the entire fortress of solitude fall on their heads). I guess they will change the name to "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen"?

Out of the majority of shows I watch, nearly all of them ended with mysterious deaths and/or dismissals of people. Come on, TV executives and writers, be more creative! One of the things I like the most about the new shows Life and Burn Notice is that both had opportunities to take the safe route and both avoided that each time. I just hope the writing is as good when they return. But most shows seem to always take the safe, easy route.

The most disappointing was Bones. This show is primarily about the characters, how they interact, and their chemistry. This season finale blew all that out of the water by having nearly every character except Booth acting in strange ways that were atypical for the character's development over the last three seasons. And to wrap up the entire Gormagon storyline in about 15 minutes at the end of one show and have it be Zack and some unknown guy? Dumb. Hopefully they were just either a) clearing the ongoing storyline so they could move on to better things or b) this entire thing is a red-herring and the very good writers will explain this totally stupid episode in a way that makes sense and will explain this aberrant episode away.

The best of these shows was the two-hour NCIS finale. This one involved all of the characters staying within character, had emotional depth, and made sense with the ongoing issues presented throughout the season. I fully expect the fact that the three main supporting characters were re-assigned and Gibbs has new "probies" to work with will be ameliorated next season.

Niche Market Movies

Speed Racer Follow Up

In a recent post on the movie Speed Racer I mentioned how poorly I thought the movie would do. Little did I realize how vastly overstated this very, very poor review and statement about how quickly the movie would be gone from the theaters would be!

Speed Racer managed to only bring in a little over $18.5 million on its opening weekend, and has tallied less than $1 million per day over the weekdays (for a comparison, Iron Man has been averaging between $3 and $5 million per day on the weekdays since release). In its second weekend, SR managed a little above a tepid $7.5 million. It currently stands at a paltry $24.3 million after two weekends and one week.

The production budget is claimed to be around $120 million for this movie, but estimates are as high as $250 million. The marketing money is estimated at between $50 and $100 million, so we're looking at this movie maybe having cost up to $350 million to make and release. They haven't even made 10% of that amount, if true.

I knew it was niche, I just didn't know quite how niche it was.

Sex and the City

Now here comes another niche-market movie. This one has three things going for it:

• Counter programming toward women in this male-dominated movie season.
• A set market of women to cater to.
• Women tend to be the drivers of the biggest successes in movie history.

However, I have a strange feeling this one won't do well either. Or, at least, won't be the huge success that movie bosses want. And Les Moonves will be able to say he won't make any movie starring women again.

Here's why I think this:

• While the idea of counter programming is a great one, you have to counter with a program that men want to see to. Women are a great key to making a movie a huge hit and making lots of money, but it has to be something that they can realistically drag their boyfriends and husbands to. This movie is tracking over 80% negative by males. Plus, when counter-programming, you have to post your movie against movies that skew only male. This one will be going against Iron Man, which has already proved that women like it; Indiana Jones, which has a very strong, universal appeal; is coming out after two already failed counter-programming movies (Made of Honor and What Happens in Vegas) didn't grab the same audience this movie is shooting for; and a few previously released and about to be released kids movies, to which it is typically the "mom's job" to take children, sucking at the movie budget of the family.
• The set market of those who liked the TV show of Sex and the City is incredibly small. It may be smaller than the niche market that likes Speed Racer (which has a base audience that is at least 30-years in the making), but certainly is not the basis for much more than a strong opening, and then a drop of 60% or more in week two. Sex in the City was on HBO, had good but not great numbers when compared against standard network hits, and continues to do mediocre on cable TV in reruns.
• While women tend to be the drivers of the movie business, it is typically men who make the decisions on what is seen. They make this decision based on the women with whom they are going to the movies, so it has to be something she wants to see and/or that he is willing to go see with her. Titanic, for example, was huge because women wanted to see it repeatedly and men enjoyed the effects and the action and the sinking of the boat. Spider-Man 1 and 2 became huge hits because men liked the character and the action/fights, while women could relate to Mary Jane and her unrequited love. Sex and the City was a show that few men watched and the numbers are tracking horribly for the movie when it comes to males.
• A lot of women don't like this show or these characters. My wife, for example, doesn't care for the show and hates Sarah Jessica Parker. Quite a few other women in my life either don't like the show, don't like the characters, or don't like the actresses in Sex and the City. So few of these women are going to go, cutting directly into the core audience the movie is shooting for.
  

So, I see it this way:

1. Sex and the City will open decently, at number 2 behind Indy's second weekend (I'm guessing Indy will make between $40-50 million second weekend), and probably in the mid-$30s from all the fans of the original show.
2. It will quickly drop down the list as the following weekend Kung-Fu Panda opens and the children will want to see that and Indy will still be going strong after only two weeks in release (this one being the third weekend), so Sex will likely make about $10-12 million the second weekend.
3. The weekend after that one sees The Incredible Hulk open and all the males will swarm in that direction, so I'd guess by that time Sex will be taking in scraps, around $5-7 million.
4. All told, I would estimate this movie will pull in around $50-$55 million domestic.

That may be good enough for a modest "hit" depending on how much the production and marketing campaigns cost. And this guesstimate does not include the foreign gross, which may be about the same amount or slightly less than the domestic, making this close to a $100 million movie. But I don't think this product will play well outside of English speaking, liberated countries (might do okay in Britain and Australia, and maybe France, but not in Japan, China, Spain, South America, etc.).

Edit/Note: After writing this I went to RottenTomatoes.com and checked. There are only four reviews for the movie so far and three of them are negative and one a luke-warm positive. If this movie doesn't get very positive reviews, my estimates will be high in this post.

Now, the race is on to see how inaccurate John is on this movie estimate.

Favorite "Bad" Movies

We all have soft spots for movies that are otherwise not considered "good," "valuable," or that are critically or commercially panned. For some reason, something about the movie speaks to us, or it reminds us of a certain point in our lives, or for some other reason we just make a connection to it.

Some of my favorite bad movies are:

• Brewster's Millions: Fairly standard story of a man who offers his offspring a small sum of money in his will-- or a much, much larger sum if it he can spend all of the original amount in X number of days. The twist here is that the old rich white guy is giving the money to Richard Pryor. Pryor had better movies, but I just get a kick out of this one. I love some of the decisions Brewster makes in how he spends the money and the earnestness with which everyone plays their role. John Candy is very good in a smaller role here, as well.
• The Replacements: I'm not a huge fan of Keanu Reeves or most sports films. Both of them tend to be trite and simple. However, I simply like this film. It is a fictionalized retelling of the strike season in the NFL, with Reeves being a never-was college QB who proves capable of taking a bunch of rapscallions to the playoffs and turning them into a team.
• The Saint: Movie version of the TV show of a Bond-like super thief who uses disguises and subterfuge to get what he wants. This one stars Val Kilmer in a role I thought he was perfect for; engaging, used his talents as an actor, and showed very good chemistry with Elizabeth Shue. I think this one would have done much better had it been released at a different time.
• Groundhog Day: I'm not a fan of Bill Murray or Andy McDowell, but both hit just the right notes in this movie about a guy who lives the same day over and over.
  

These are just a few of my favorite "bad" movies. I have many others that I like and watch nearly any time they are on TV but which didn't have good box office or receive critical praise.

What are some of your favorite "bad" movies?

Another One

This dream took place in my old house in 29 Palms and involved the world using undead zombies (as opposed to voodoo-style, living zombies) as menial workers, ala the end of Shaun of the Dead or Fido. For some reason, I discovered some sort of carrier wave signal coming in across the radio waves, which were imparting some free will and intelligence to the zombies. However, and how cliche, no one would listen.

Of course, until it was too late.

The signal imparted a need to break free and attack their captors to the zombies, and we went from overcoming and enslaving slow, shambling zombies to fighting large packs of intelligent zombies that worked together. People were not used to this, so the initial onslaught caught many humans unaware and they were ripped apart.

I had to run around, hide, and occasionally fight for my life. Running and hiding were difficult because the zombies were smart and were hunting the humans using the same reasoning skills as the human beings were.

I was rudely pulled out of the dream when the stupid moving people arrived this morning, bright and early, to start moving one of my upstairs neighbors. I had just been found in my current hiding place by a female zombie whom I knew, vaguely, and was fighting for my life, beating her over the head with a stout stick that I found nearby.

Weird Dream

I have very vivid, involved dreams.

The one last night was about me working for a large corporation. My products were no longer being used and one particular woman was eliminating a lot of positions, mine included. On my last day there I hooked up with a man who was working on a way to burst and send Morse Code for a special scientific project. I wound up helping him out, he liked me, so he hooked me onto his project.

When I got to work the next day, I had to go through orientation again, just in the building he worked in (which was across the quad from the building I had worked in). The woman (seemed to be played by Brooke Shields, only she could really act) and her assistant worked there and she was not happy to see me there. However, I had a legit job so there wasn't much she could -- for the moment.

This is where it got weird. While helping the scientist out (who looked a bit like William Hurt), his burst sending system started acting weird. While we troubleshooted the problem, people started winding up missing. Then they would return acting differently. I saw one of them and it was a techno-organic replica of the original person. I warned the scientist and he started organizing a resistance to these creatures. He asked me to help out with the resistance and go get the building's security. I found a couple who were on their way up and convinced them to help me. They told me all the other guards were either dead or turned. For defense we had specially designed lances that were the equivalent of arc welders that burned at around 4500 degrees Kelvin on the tip (this temperature was specifically stated to me by one of the guards right before he was disemboweled by a tech-org thing and we all had to fight it off and kill it) -- to which I said the ultra-heroic "well, that aught to melt through those soulless bastard's hides."

Then began the cat and mouse game of trying to determine who were techno-organic beasts and who weren't, killing those who were, and getting up from the ground floor back to the highest levels of the building where the scientist was trying to work on some things he felt would turn the tide and shut them down.

At one point I ran into the woman and her assistant (who was played by Brent Spiner), and I managed to, very graphically and in a lot of detail and slow-mo work, shove my hand and arc-welder rod/torch up into his chest cavity and ram the burning tip into his brain. This was very Manga/Anime inspired, with tons of cords, wires, plates, and writhing, moving parts inside. He was able to detach and transform his lower jaw for some reason I didn't immediately identify. While I did this, the woman got away. I woke up as I stood in the large atrium on one of the upper floors as I was deciding whether to go after the woman or continue on to find the scientist and hope he survived and had figured out what was going on.

I woke up a little out of breath and a bit tired. All that running up and down the staircases and through hallways of this large building tuckered me out. I feel almost like I need a nap to recover from my night's rest.

Origins

I have done some new research into my father's family. I recently rediscovered some of the information provided to me by an aunt (or a second, or third, cousin or some such) who had looked into it.

• It appears the "Z" was, in fact, intended to be there. The way my great grandfather signed his name has it in every case. There have been some rumors/stories that it was possible the Z was a mistake, added due to my great grandfather's flowery way of signing. Doesn't appear to be true from the copy of the wedding license and naturalization papers I have.
• The accent appears to be over the E. It is an acute accent.
• My family has a patent. My great grandfather patented an Acetylene Torch Generator to help his work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. I have a copy of the patent.
• There is a story that my great grandfather bought his and his family's freedom from the near indentured-servitude of the coal mines. The info I have says he contracted Black Lung disease and retired to Michigan on disability.
• It appears the family comes from Aosta Valley in what is currently Italy. Here is a link to a Google Maps page of that valley:
  
  View Larger Map
• More on the Aosta Valley.

We don't know much of anything about the family before my great grandfather came over at the turn of the 20th century. We know that my great grandfather had a brother who went back to the Aosta Valley shortly after the family came here. We have first names on my great grandfather's mother and his mother's mother, but nothing more than that. It is like we don't exist prior to his coming to America!

I need to contact my Uncle Martin on my mother's side and see if I can get a copy of his notes on the other half of my family lineage. He's done extensive work on that and has it going back for hundreds of years, I've been told.

I Hate This

It is now 4 am and I'm still awake. Decided to leave the bedroom and give up trying to fall asleep. No particular thing or reason; I just fall asleep for a few seconds to a few minutes and the -- bam! -- I wake up and that's that for a long while. The problem is that I'm so tired and my brain is fuzzy that it makes doing anything difficult, so it is not like this can be turned into productive time.

So, here I am, blogging. Can't tell you the number of errors I've made and corrected so far (that fuzzy brain again). Hopefully this will be at least a little coherent when others read it or when I read it again.

I imagine I'll fall asleep sometime morning-ish. Usually happens when I least expect it. Of course, when this happens during a work day, I have to persevere and work through it, which is hard. And gets harder with each passing year. I'm 37 now; staying up all night is not really on the agenda like it was in my 20s or Teens. Don't have the worthwhile reasons or the stamina of youth on my side. Matter of fact, there were multiple times in college where I was awake for upwards of 72 hours straight before crashing and I didn't think much of it. I was one of the most coherent and functional ultra-tired people you would run across during those stints. But these days I need my sleep. Still only really need between 6 and 8 hours of sleep, with 7 seeming to be about optimal for me most nights.

My head feels about 10 lbs heavier and my eyes are droopy and feel gritty. I'm exhausted. Why can't I fall asleep?

Speed Racer

I am making this prediction: In America, Speed Racer will open fairly well, with about $60, maybe $70, million in its opening weekend. It will then fall by about 60% to about $24 million in its second weekend. By the third weekend, it will be under $10 million and effectively gone from the summer. I will be surprised if the movie winds up breaking $120 million total. I totally doubt the movie will score higher than a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes and will likely come in well below that figure (60% is considered "fresh" there).

Note: I am talking about America/North America only here. I understand that Speed Racer has a decent audience in Asian countries and in South America. It may be more successful overseas in general than here.

I make this statement for a few reasons:

1. Speed Racer is much more of a niche movie than even comic book adaptations are. I know a lot of cartoon/comic book lovers who are not fans of Speed Racer, and very few fans of Speed Racer outside of this niche. I don't see it having broad action appeal like other movies may have.
   
2. It is primarily CGI. And this CGI is garish, bright, and "cartoony," which the public has pretty much snubbed its nose at every time it has been released.
3. It is made by the Wachowski Brothers, who are not good writers or producers. (Their best work, The Matrix, is still being fought in court against plagiarism.)
   
4. People like "live action" action scenes more than CGI action scenes, given a choice between the two.
5. People are already complaining online of headaches and worse while watching previews and advance screenings. People don't like their movies to give them headaches.
   

Something like Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Indiana Jones has bigger name recognition, likely better writing and production, and broader, general appeal to summer audiences. We'll see if I'm right.

Stuff

I live in a very small apartment. It is listed as 512 square feet, but a lot of that is unusable for storage or placement of things (there is a bar, for example, that separates the kitchen from the living area and makes putting any furniture or storage items in that area virtually impossible. Some of that 512 square feet is taken up with a washer/dryer cubbyhole and having a very large sliding glass door on one wall of the living area makes using that wall virtually impossible for furniture and storage.

Yet, now that I am packing up to move, I am finding I have a lot of stuff. I have packed 8 boxes of books so far, and likely need one, possibly two, more. and these aren't small boxes. I have one 18"H x 18"W x 16"L, four 12"x12"x12", one 12"x12"x16", and two others of odd sizes. That is just books. My DVDs should compact down into a few boxes, but I do have over 200 of those. Of course, the single biggest quantity of things that I have are the around 50 of the smaller comic book boxes filled with comics. Each of those is approximately 12"x8.5"x17". The lids on those, as any comic collector knows, makes them even longer, higher, and wider, as the lids are made to be thick (to support stacking).

Add onto this the size for my 27" TV, the other electronics, CDs (two smaller boxes), VHS (two boxes+), my La-Z-Boy recliner (the one piece of furniture that comes with me), all the kitchen stuff I plan to bring, board games and other knickknacks that I may want to bring, and my clothes, and it adds up really fast. I'm actually a little surprised at how well it all fits in my apartment as it is!

Time to go get some more boxes and bags....

The Lights Went Down in Irvine...

I was just starting a nice session of City of Heroes, had a friend join my team, and then the power went out. I thought I had blown a fuse, but when I looked outside, the entire parking lot and the other buildings were all just as dark. This was at 9:30pm. Had I been the least bit tired, I might have gone to bed. Instead, I found my flashlights and candles, grabbed a book, and started reading.

At about 10:15pm the lights started flickering and sputtering, but wouldn't stay on for long. I hurriedly switched off a bunch of things, which I hadn't thought to do earlier, and then waited. About 5 minutes later the lights went back on and stayed on. I waited a few more minutes before blowing out the candles. I got my PC running again, but alas my friend had logged off (probably irritated with me joining a group and then immediately logging out!).

Not sure what caused it, or if it was a standard blackout that we get all the time here during the summer happening a little early.

Cooking Question

Now, I'm fairly certain I've never done this, so this is truly just a hypothetical question. I don't want anyone casting aspersions my way thinking I'm asking about something I've done. ;-)

First, the set up:

Let's say you have four chicken breasts that are on the far side of safe to prepare and need to be cooked now. Let's say you grill or broil them, but you don't use enough heat or time and the four breasts are undercooked. Since they were so late in the "use by" date, let's further say that two of the four are far enough gone and undercooked enough that you would get food poisoning eating them.

Second, the situation:

You finish cooking the four breasts, eat one of them for your dinner, and you luck out that you don't get sick (this breast is not spoiled, but it is undercooked). That gives you a false sense of security that you did a good enough job cooking the chicken that you wrap up the remainder and put it in the fridge. Since you didn't have problems from the first one, you have no idea the others are time-bombs waiting to go off.

Third, the question:

Next day you grab one of the undercooked and turned breasts and put it into the microwave to reheat. My question-- if you cook it long enough and get it hot enough on the reheat will that make the breast "safe" to eat? It is my understanding that the majority of food poisoning occurs because of bacteria and other things that can be killed in hot enough temperatures. Hence the reason why you are supposed to cook to minimum internal temperatures. So, wouldn't the microwave reach those temperatures, kill or destroy the bacteria and other issues, and bring the undercooked food up to a safe-to-eat level? Or is meat "bad" always once it goes "bad?"

Conclusion:

My feeling is that this circumstance would mitigate the situation and the meat would be okay. I am only basing this conclusion on my limited understand of how food poisoning works and what is required to destroy the organisms that cause food poisoning. However, maybe there is more to food poisoning than I am aware. Maybe the end result is somehow different than the starting factors, so the second cooking would not mitigate the effects of the spoiled food. Maybe the organisms work harder after being heated and the refrigerated meat gets so much worse over the next 24 hours or so that no amount of microwaving or other reheating can kill or impede the spoilage.

What is your informed opinion?

Life Changes

Last week was an experience, going from losing my job, to finding out that my cat has pretty bad diabetes, not receiving and having to ask after my severance, and then getting my confirmation and approval of permanent residence in Canada on Friday. Saturday was a nice day spent with my wife and mother in downtown Los Angeles for my birthday. Sunday my wife started her trek home, which was sad. But boy was it wonderful having her here for such a topsy-turvy and emotional week.

Thank you to everyone for their kind comments, words of encouragement, and prayers during this time.

I am still a little upset with how my company handled the severance issues and dissemination of information to those of us who were laid off. This is only our lives you hold in your hand, so of course delaying it not once, not twice, but thrice without telling us hardly anything is not okay. Get it straight and get it right. However, the severance is decent, so I cannot complain about that. It should be enough to tide me over until I can move and pay for a lot of the moving expenses.

Monday and Tuesday were interesting, as I worked partial days helping to get Renee up to speed with what I did, checking and writing procedures, cleaning up over 7 years of accumulated paperwork and stuff, and asking questions of HR as the severance information which was supposed to arrive last week continued to be delayed. First I was told it was shipping Monday for arrival at my home on Tuesday. On Tuesday I was assured it was finally going out for receipt on Wednesday-- the day we are being let go.

Today I was pretty much done. I did some last-minute tasks that my former boss requested and then headed down for my "exit interview" with HR at 10 am. Took all of about 2 minutes to complete, so I was done and gone. Nothing like getting to work at 9 am, working for an hour, and going home. And I was pleasantly surprised to find my FedEx package waiting for me when I arrived home. Finally!

Many of those leaving the company sent out group emails with their well-wishes and sadness about leaving, plus their contact info. I did not. Not that I don't like or respect those with whom I used to work, but rather because those whom I wish to stay in contact with already know how I feel, what my contact information is, and that I will contact them. I'll probably get flack for that, but that just isn't me.

I am actually very relaxed now. I had been thinking of leaving the company anyway, and only was stopped by the desire to work until I could move to Canada. Without that pressure, this comes at a good time and allows me to focus on getting to Canada as quickly as I can. And that is important, as the monthly rent, additional $1500 to break my lease, and daily expenses, on top of any moving expenses, will add up quickly. And, of course, in the back of everything are my health care needs.

I am playing today to finish out the day. I've played some CoH, watched some saved TV, and will likely watch a movie shortly. Tomorrow I will start the slow process of evaluating, deciding, and packing. My goal, I think, is to try to be ready to leave by the end of May or early in June.

More Good News (Not!)

The week keeps getting better. Took Calypso into the vet yesterday because she was vomiting and had peed twice on the bed within a week-- which is very unusual behavior for her. Yes, I know I've written before about her peeing habits, but she has never peed on the bed during those indiscretions. She sleeps there as well as me, knows that it is wrong, and felt so ashamed that she ran and "hid" in her hidey-hole under the bookcase.

So this was something different, especially when you consider the vomiting. Add in the rampant drinking of water, the $300 test yesterday, and it turned out to be feline diabetes.

Caly is 10 years old this month. With my birthday (37), she has been with me for about 27% of my life to-date. That's a significant amount of time. She's been with me through some significant changes and events in my life, she's been my confidante and companion while others have come and gone, and she's been a sounding board through good times and bad.

However, she's just a cat, too. Her quality of life is already affected by this. She's an older cat at 10; considered a senior. How much more life does she have and what quality will that life be even with insulin. It may be that the best choice is to put her down.

Other things that are weighing on this news are:

• The move to Canada. Is it best for both the animal and the human beings to try to move a sick cat across the country? Will she need to be quarantined and, if so, how will she handle that with the diabetes?
• How quickly will her current problems accelerate without medications? Will she be "okay" for a few months before things turn bad? A few years? How much better will she be or will her quality of life be, at 10, even with the insulin?
• The expense of the remaining tests and the ongoing costs of the insulin on top of the previous tests, especially now that I'm out of work and expenses are likely to be tight going forward.
• The damage she's done to-date to the apartment.

Selfishly, I have to admit that this comes at a bad time. With some recent health concerns, the job situation, and the still-unresolved immigration situation, this is the last thing I needed on my mind. However, again, totally selfishly, not having a pet at this time or in the coming months may be easier.

So, I'm torn. I don't want to make a bad or wrong decision, or one that is too selfish toward my own desires. On the other hand, someone has to be an advocate for Caly and her quality of life. Is her listlessness, vomiting, and urinating problems at such a degree that she needs someone to consider her needs? Is she in pain?

I've got some hard thinking to do.

Glass Half Full or Empty?

Well, I got "the script" from Renee today. I knew something was up at work with the number of mid-level managers who were present much earlier than usual, and the fact that Tom (one of the higher managers of our business unit) was going from office to office with papers in his hand. I hoped he wouldn't stop at Renee's office, but when he did, I was expecting the inevitable call in and scripted "you're fired" message. The new company will not be extending an offer of employment to me upon the close of the purchase deal.

I'm a little sad, a very small touch bitter, but mostly just disappointed in this. I will get a severance package from the previous company and I am getting three days this week off on them (paid leave) to help me "adjust" to this decision. Then, by April 30, I need to transition my work to her, including training her on the more technical things I do, and then it is adios.

It was a good run. I was hired on January 8, 2001. I was something of a star in my department because I got through the training much faster than expected, was participating as a quality member well before they expected. However, in recent months, my private life has intruded on things more; I've used more sick days, I've been distracted by my (2nd) wedding and the immigration process, and the company has continually halted new work on two of the main product lines I worked on, so I couldn't shine by doing those document sets and prove my value.

The glass is half empty because my life is currently in a lot of turmoil personally and I didn't need professional turmoil on top of that. Added to that is the fact I may have to look for a job for an undisclosed period of time in that I have no idea when the Canadian government will give me (hopefully) approval to move to Canada. It will be hard to interview even for short-term contract work knowing that I may not be able to complete it if the companies don't allow me to work from "home."

The glass is half full because we are somewhat hopeful that the immigration may come through sometime very soon. If it does, I can transition from working to packing to moving to looking for a job in Canada fairly seamlessly. If need be, I can pack up everything and live low-cost with mom for a few months. I have my sister and father who can potentially be helpful. And, of course, my wife is here this week to discuss this issue with me and to help make plans and think through strategies. Maybe this will work out for the best in the long run.


As I've said before, I do not define myself by my job. It is, after all, just a job. However, it is still sad to be let go after giving over 7 years of good service. But, with the help of my friends and family, I will turn this into something positive and worthwhile in the long run. Just need to figure things out in the meantime.

Strength In Unity

My wife flies in tomorrow afternoon for a week's stay in SoCal. While excited as always for her visit, it happens to come at a great time. As you know from previous posts, I find out no later than next Tuesday if I will be offered a position with the new company. If I am not, I look forward to working out the rest of the month for my current employer and then getting a severance package from them. If I do, then it is all-systems go for the new job.

Under this stressful time, it will be nice to have my wife her for support, encouragement, and to talk with about the various permutations. Also, I will have paperwork to fill out either way that I can bring home and discuss with her in person.

It will be, in many ways, one of the first times we'll be together for a "momentous" happening in our lives that we can discuss in person and make decisions about together. It gets frustrating sometimes to have nearly all of these conversations by phone, email, or IM. However, I cannot knock those means of communication as they have helped us to establish very open and honest lines of communication that we have every plan of continuing once we are together full-time.

***

I like to plan very small "adventures" for my birthday. Sometimes it is simply going to a restaurant I haven't been to before, or a walk on the beach, or a movie with friends. Sometimes it is out to mom's for a treat. A couple of years it has been going to visit the otters at the Long Beach Aquarium (I love otters). This year, with M here, I was looking for something fun to do with the family. It looks like we will be going to Los Angeles. The only question is whether we go on Friday (a day early) to just LA to see some sights or if we go on Saturday and attending the LA Times Festival of Books as well as see the sights. Either way we plan on having mom drive down here first and then head up to LA for some fun. Hopefully we can get to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, maybe the Tar Pits (which I keep meaning to go see, but haven't yet), or some of the downtown museums. It will be a fun day.

Facebook

I joined Facebook to be closer to my Canadian friends, who switched en masse from blogging to using that tool. I found the site initially very intimidating, as it is not set up in a way that makes sense to my mind, the features and especially the toggles and switches, were hard to find and not very well labeled. But I struggled through so I could be more connected.

And then the applications started bombarding me. Every little quirky thing that someone sent me required the installation of a new application in order to see it, read it, or respond to it. Every one of these apps then had a page that involved sending the results to everyone on my Facebook account unless I could find the (often) small or well-hidden Cancel or Skip button. Even using that, I was finding that a bunch of my stuff still was sent to people in my Facebook list, which frustrated me.

The last straw for me was the recent addition of the "People you might know" feature. This feature looks at my Facebook list and those who are listed as my friends' lists, compares them, and suggests people off of their lists to me that I might know. This is all well and good, I guess, except that I have turned on all of the options I can that do not send my information out to just anyone. Now I find that my info is going out there, spreading farther than I intended or wanted. I didn't mind that those who wanted to could search for me, even with the options I had set, but I didn't want just anyone being able to get a hold of me willy-nilly-- I have "friends" in my past whom I would rather not be contacted by. If, however, those people are friends of people I am friends with, they get my info for free and there is nothing I can do about it.

I contacted Facebook Support on this directly and asked them to point me in the direction of the Off switch. Support responded with the following:

This feature highlights new users who you are likely to know based on their network, work/education information, friends, etc. Since this feature is automatic, it occasionally identifies people that you do not know or do not want to be friends with. Unfortunately, you cannot turn off this feature at this time. I apologize for any inconvenience. Let me know if you have any further questions.

This comes after a recent incident wherein Facebook installed features that similarly sent a bunch of data out that members did not want and it got a bunch of protests over. And an incident wherein Facebook installed some features that allowed businesses to track members purchasing habits and posted them online. And another that gave out identities-- do you see a trend? Facebook has a habit and history of putting in place features and applications that give away its members' identities for free to anyone who wants to join Facebook. It isn't until or unless the members complain that it does something about it or adds a toggle or switch.

So, shortly after receiving that email from Facebook Support, I Deactivated my account. I replied to both the email and the request for a reason why I was deactivating with a succinct and specific reason why: until such time as Facebook amends its policies as a company and offers these features as optional and respects my desire for some amount of privacy within the confines of the application it is enabling, I cannot be a member. In my mind it is that simple.

What a Difference a Day Makes

When we had our all-hands meeting explaining the purchase of our division by a new company, one of our leaders apparently misspoke and said that the new company was very interested in all of the people in our division and we would all have jobs at the new company. A week or so later we got an email from the former company's head of HR wherein he made the statement that some people may not be offered positions with the new company. This immediately took the feeling of lightness and relief that had finally permeated the offices after weeks of not knowing what was going on and turned it on its ear.

Yesterday we had an all-hands with the leads of the new company. They gave a presentation, an overview of the company, and answered a lot of our HR questions. One person asked the inevitable question: "Will we all be offered positions?" The same lead of our division stood and said frankly that, while most would, some would not. They were working on a final roster during this week and everyone should know before the next meeting on Tuesday when people are offered jobs with the new company and must provide proof of job eligibility and fill out the new paperwork for W-2s, etc.

So, of course, today the mood is absolutely bleak at work. No one is talking, the cloud is back, and people are ducking around. People are talking more about the what-ifs and what-fors than work-related issues. People are, frankly, scared.

My boss and I have a slightly different perspective. We don't wrap ourselves up in our job as much as most people; we define ourselves by internal drives and external motivations that are not job-related. She has a huge bank of vacation time that the company would have to pay her if they let her go, the equivalent of a number of months worth of pay, plus has the severance package to look forward. I am not as set financially, but my plans are all about moving to Canada and a decision on that should be made soon, so being fired may give me the opportunity to head that way even sooner. We both like our jobs, and like the people we work with, but because it does not define us, we can look past the current issues and see positives from both remaining and being let go.

This week is going to be a real winner now. People are walking on egg shells and worrying over everything. Until the emails, phone calls, or HR visits start, people will not get much done. All the positives from the previous meeting have been undone for the vast majority of workers as they are all now afraid for their jobs. There is at least one person at work who is not sleeping hardly at all.

There has to be a better way to do these things.

News and Notes

Taxes
I managed to get my taxes done and I put them in the mail today. Decided to go for claiming an exemption for my wife, as the JK Lasser book and the nice guy on the IRS phone line both agreed that it totally applied in these circumstances. However, that means that I had to send my taxes to a different address in Texas to be processed for her ITIN first, and then they process the tax forms for the refund. Pretty significant difference in my refund, so worth a shot. When you add in the $600 bonus refund amount this year, will get a tidy sum back-- just in time, hopefully, to help with the costs of moving.

Immigration
My file has moved to the Los Angeles consulate from the one in Buffalo, NY. The letter stating this claimed it was for "final processing" and to determine and perform an interview, if required. I would guess that we are close to having approval on this puppy!

Work
Not only was my division sold to another company, but the company we are moving to has just announced a merger this week with a Chicago-based company that does the same thing. So in the space of a couple of weeks, Mitchell International has, in essence, eliminated two big competitors by merging/buying them, as well as greatly increasing the distribution and clients of the company as a whole. Looks like it has just jumped from a $250 million/year company to a $450 million/year company. Both my existing company and the new are now stating that they think everything will be finalized on May 1, so the clock is ticking. This new merger news shouldn't affect that time frame. We have our first official all-hands with reps from the new company on Monday and Tuesday, April 21-22, wherein we basically reapply for our existing jobs, fill out new W-2s, etc. in order to get into Mitchell's HR processes. Everything must be completed/turned in no later than April 24.

Health
Had a bit of a health scare before going to Canada the last time, as my liver numbers were through the roof. However, my most recent test results were back within the normal range, so we (my doctor and I) are happy and proceeding cautiously forward right now. However, I have stopped taking my Enbrel for the time being until I can visit with my RA doctor. The last three times I've taken the Enbrel it solved my pain/swelling issues, but I was very sick for at least a week and upward of two weeks afterward. It is not worth it; the point of the Enbrel is supposed to make me more active and able to do more, but if I'm sick in bed instead, I'm not really gaining anything except pain relief. So I'm sore as heck right now and cracking like nobody's business, but I'm feeling healthier. Sucks to choose between health and pain, but what can you do?

Clothes
I can't figure it out, but I seem to be missing about 10 pair of underwear. I can't find them anywhere in my apartment, so far. It's the damnedest thing. Will do a more thorough look-see tomorrow and finish the last of the laundry to see if I can't find them.

Weight
I've managed to get myself down to an average of 172 lbs and seem to be staying there for the last two weeks or so. I'm going to push for 168 if I can hold around 172 for the next week or so. Not saying I'm any healthier, just lighter. ;-)

Visit
M is visiting the week of April 19 through 27. Very much looking forward to that, even though that will be a bit of a stressful week with the Mitchell meetings happening then.

The Death of the Movie Theater

I was reading this article about theater attendance declining. I was amused by it, as people have been prognosticating the death of the movie theater since the first Betamax and VHS machines were released in the 70s, and again when the internet finally took off in the 90s. And, while attendance has declined nearly every year, millions of people still flock to theaters every weekend to see films shown "as they were meant to be seen."

Here is my reaction to this article, and others like it:

One thing that home-viewing cannot replace is the audience experience. While more and more it seems there are rude people, children there not paying attention, etc., few thing are as exciting as that shared experience of everyone gasping together at the villain's actions, everyone laughing at the same joke, everyone cheering for the hero at the same time. Those times are priceless. And, I think, that is primarily what people go to the theaters for these days-- the shared movie watching experience.

Where I am in Southern California, ticket prices for matinees are around $8.50 and for the other times around $10 (some small .50 variations depending on where you go, but all in this area are around those costs). I can go to opening day on most of the big movies and have no issue getting in, because people are not willing to pay those costs, plus concessions, for the theater experience anymore. However, a $1 theater opened up a few miles away, and that theater has lines around the block for nearly every show! People still want the group-movie going/watching experience, it seems, they just aren't willing to pay $10 a person for it.

For example, my wife and I went to see Michael Clayton a week before the Oscars. The first day we showed up about 20 minutes before the film and the line was from the ticket counter to the end of the building. The next day we showed up for a late morning/early afternoon show, got there almost 40 minutes early, and got in... but there was literally not one empty seat in the place.

This is a converted old-style theater that had been run-down and unused for years. It has no stadium seating, the seats are small, uncomfortable, and have no head rests. The arms don't raise and there are no cup holders. The theaters are small. And yet they consistently pack the place for every weekend show!

This proves to me that people want the theater experience, but we have simply hit a price-point where it is not cost-effective to go to your average over-priced theater any more.

The More Things Stay the Same, the More Things Change

I'm still employed. The company for which I work decided to restructure and divest itself of components that did not fit with its new direction. My division was the main one divested. It decided to eliminate approximately 200 jobs and $100 million a year today. By divesting itself of this division, the company is saving approximately $65 million a year in costs and gets a little more than half-way to its goal of 200 people. They are restructuring out the other people, gaining about $30 million, and then are closing some facilities and doing some odds and ends clean up to achieve the remaining $10 million per year.

The (now) former company was a decent one, but we never quite fit into its needs. We've been actively on the block for at least 18 months now. The company that is purchasing this division is privately owned, directly in the same industry as we are, and has wanted to acquire us for a long time because we are one of their direct competitors and, frankly, do what they want to do better than they do. It appears that they find we run lean (maybe even too-lean) and they have no plans for any layoffs from our division. Matter of fact, one of the reason they bought us is because they are actively seeking to grow and this was a quick way to add a viable, successful program, take out a rival in the industry, and increase their head count and intellectual property. While many other companies are letting people go, this company has over 50 current job openings and may allow us finally to hire some staff that we desperately need.

For the next month or so we will remain as part of, and employees of, the former company while the powers that be resolve and sign everything. After that, we will be employees of the new company.

It seems from what we have been told and what I have read about the new company that this will be a much better fit for our talents. The fact that we are joining a private company is also extremely advantageous, too. Public companies are not run by their management-- they are at the whim of the stockholders whose only goal is return on investment. That forces management to constantly make decisions that may not be in the best interest of their product or people or even their industry in order to maximize profits on the stocks. A private company, on the other hand, can take time to see how the industry is moving, keep lower-profit or unprofitable divisions around as it makes changes to facilitate the division's long-term success, and are not at the whim of "the Street" when making decisions for the company.

I find much value in my time spent in the former company, however. I got to work on many different products, learned a lot, and expanded my horizons. It was also personally gratifying that they allowed me some special favors like working from Canada two weeks out of every quarter and to work from home when not feeling as well as I could. I hope that some of these arrangements might continue with the new company, but expect they won't. With luck, I won't be with this new company too long before I see approval on the immigration paperwork and plan the big move to Canada. Then again, maybe this new company will have a different policy on employees working from Canada that I can take advantage of, too.