Losing track, losing track...

[moominmuppet]

I'm feeling rather scattered at the moment, and like there are too many important things I might miss or lose track of. Much of this is mail-related. I get such piles of junk mail from progressive organizations, and our mailperson is so lackadaisical about getting items into the right box, that it stresses me out when I have important things coming by mail that might get missed.

At the moment, I'm wondering where the Kevin Smith tickets are (coming in the mail from Ticketmaster, I'd expect them to be here already), where the $600 check from Payflex is, where the email about the missing $150 Payflex check is (one went missing, and they were supposed to send me an email form to print out, sign, and fax back to them). At least I know where the George Carlin tickets are now, and I finally sorted out the book issue from that vendor on Amazon. Still no luck on the library books -- called two of the four libraries that originally owned the missing books, and neither found them on the shelves, but both said they had big backlogs, so I'm going to let it sit for a little while and then check back again. In the meantime I'm working my way through the rest of the library books I needed to finish, so I can return those, pay off my other fines, and address the whole issue fresh. I have a whole pile of unread books sitting at home that actually belong to me, and have been getting put off in favor of library books, so a brief hiatus certainly won't be the end of the world.

I also need to reschedule my appointment for the final step of my crowns, since I'm low on PTO and had to cancel the appt on the 22nd, and I have to get everything ready for my trip to AL this weekend (leaving Thursday night).

Additionally, I got my new DVR/cable box on Sunday. By Sunday night I'd determined the Movies On Demand wasn't functioning. Their helpdesk couldn't resolve it by phone, so they wanted to schedule yet another appointment. I said I'd fiddle with it some more, and call back if that was necessary, since the next time I have available isn't until Sunday the 28th. I managed to fix it. Go, me! Unfortunately, by the next day it was apparent they'd given me a forty hour box, not an eighty hour box like the one I had. This is especially irritating since my conversation with the cable guy went something like this:

"This is an 80-hour box, right?"
"Uh, yeah"
"OK, good. The reason I ask is that I had to have a box replaced in the past, and they accidentally gave me a 40-hour box, and then we had to swap it again. Since I use the DVR a lot, that's my highest priority. If it's definitely 80-hour, we're all good, I don't care one way or the other about the HD features."
"Yeah, this is definitely 80 hour. We don't use the old boxes anymore."

*snort* 13.5 hours of programming is taking up 33% of my space. Math, anyone? So, I've got an appointment on Sunday the 28th after all, dammit.

I'm feeling rather unlucky recently.

This weekend didn't suck, though. It was unfortunately chilly and rainy, but I got to escort with Casey, which made the time pass quickly, and I went to see Children of Men with her and Ezra. It was interesting and engrossing, and lead to good conversation, which is ideal for a movie with friends, imo.
I thought they did an excellent job of creating the mood, and creating a believable dystopia, but I could've used more actual world-building on the plot side -- more about what's happened around the world, at least some sort of movie pseudoscience to explain something about what happened, and why one new child would make all the difference -- as it was, the movie felt a bit under-rounded. It felt like it was about halfway to a great movie, and lost track somewhere.

musicalchaos was home for the weekend to pack up another load, so I helped a bit with that, and then our friend Izzy did the world's most amazing packing job in the back of his truck. From what Matt says, despite it being pouring rain, and it being an open-bed pickup, all his items (including the futon) survived the hour drive without water-damage. Go, Izzy! I've done some prelimary sweeping and such since then, but nothing major yet. Still figuring out what I'm going to do with things.

Also, I really need to figure out a time to get to the store, so I at least have some basics in the house. Yesterday was a 7am-8pm day at work, though, and today I'm working 11:30am-8pm (and slept in recovering from yesterday). Tomorrow's the same schedule -- if I'm motivated I could probably make it to the grocery store in the morning before work, but it'll be sort of stressful. Thursday I'm working regular 7am-3:30pm hours, then going straight to the airport. Food's not a big concern, since I eat at our cafeteria most meals during the week, but I desperately need more dog chewies, q-tips, and light bulbs, as well as some other household basics. I suspect I'm likely to go back to ordering much of my household stuff online -- it's so much easier to deal with, and there's less hassle about whether I can actually find what I'm looking for. I just need to think ahead more often.

Currently reading Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crimes series (the first two books, which are all that're out so far, I think). It took me longer to get into them than it did to get into the Thursday Next series (the main character isn't so likeable for a while into the first book), and I'm still not as deeply enamored, but I am enjoying them.

Comments

[xhollydayx.livejournal.com]

I saw Children of Men and would love to discuss further! Have you read the book? (if not, in the book, they don't really explain what happened or why no one has had a kid. I get the general idea that one child would restore hope. If one person had a kid, couldn't another be born? From the science side, the government would want the child & mother to study them. Then the government would probably raise the child in a protective bubble as to not have another "baby Diego" incident). I thought that the camera angles and general cinematography added a lot to the film. Also, in the book, Theo has more of a relationship w/ the government cousin and there is more back story between him and his ex wife (who is not Julian). Further, Theo's baby dies a different way.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

*nod* I haven't read the book, but I'd heard that it wasn't particularly better-explained there (which likely would've driven me nuts, too). This reminds me of one of my ongoing frustrations about horror stories, too -- I'm a "why" person; I like SF because it tends to play with the "whys", as much as I also enjoy the creation of mood and the world-building. Horror doesn't tend to hold my attention because it doesn't tend to address that much, if at all. In fact, in a number of subgenres, it seems absolutely antithetical to the "ooOOOooh, creeeeepy" vibe they're going for. For me, it's just frustrating and irritating, instead of successfully creepy. It's like literary blueballs, and tends to distract me from the story itself (and the subgenres of horror that I do like tend to be those that tend to play with the whys at least some -- mostly monster stuff).

I think this was a movie that was mostly about creating a mood, and exploring that mood (which is also what a lot of horror does). There were hints in newspaper clippings and the like, but they felt more like additional mood elements that anything that was going to lead to a larger understanding of the actual situation. I agree that it was very well-filmed, and very well-done (although the abruptness of the ending, predictably, also frustrated me), but that what it wanted to do, and what I most enjoy in movies/books/etc, are just at cross-purposes.

[syrinx-77.livejournal.com]

They still haven't found the books? I'll give them that they may be a little backlogged because of Christmas, New Years and MLK day, but it's been a month. Urgh! I don't remember how CPL's system works: do they mark the books missing, and not penalize you? It's a little different than the County, I know...