Or Icepocalypse?

That’s the view from my floor at work today.

I’d rather be home enjoying this view:

That is Starbuck under my desk reveling in the warmth from the kitty heating pad.

Today my office is closed because of weather. Yay, free vacation day! I don’t know the last time I had a snow day. Iowa never canceled classes because of the hospital (they couldn’t let the professors not work and still make the doctors/nurses) and my high school would just have us start two hours late rather than give up that whole day. Remember the big ice storm in like 1993? or 1991? The entire state of Iowa was basically shut down, but I went to school. And my school required every single student to be bused there. Good times.

Though it would’ve been better if I hadn’t learned this by driving into the parking lot and finding no one else there. No one but some random guy from Illinois looking to talk to someone about an issue he had with something. The hell? It was obvious that no one was at the company. If he had called the main number (which surely he would’ve found when he found the address to our headquarters??), he would’ve known we were closed. He wanted my name and phone number so he could talk to me about the issue tomorrow. I was nice to the guy (as we were standing in the wind and the sleet), but that’s not my dept. We have an entire dept of people who can answer the questions/concerns this guy had. I gave him the main phone number and told him where he could find the info he wanted on our website. He seemed happy to have talked to a real person and I went home.

I watched the TV scrolls this morning, never thinking ACT would be listed, and it wasn’t. Apparently I had to call in or check the TV channel websites to learn this information. I just didn’t think they’d close work. Its very wet out now, not icy yet, though I get that it could become icy. Oh well. Free day off. Though I did nearly just stay and do stuff since I was already there. But the cafeteria wouldn’t have been open, and I hadn’t brought my lunch…

My head hurts. Too much thinking. Let’s see if can empty any of it out here.

Work is still all-consuming. I don’t mind it that much really because I’m learning new things and finally getting to do things I’ve wanted to do for years. It just sucks that I’ve got to cram what looks like about a year’s worth of work into about two months. My to-do list, reduced to only the really essential things, is still more than a page of notebook paper long. I have another list entitled Things for My Clone To Do hanging on my wall where I write down all the tasks that seem like pipe-dreams at the moment. The scary thing is that a lot of those tasks don’t look all that frivolous and really should be gotten to soon.

Pretty much all I do these days is come to work, then go home and watch TV because I don’t think about anything outside the TV show when I watch whatever it is. I haven’t even been reading much in the last few weeks because every time I sit down to read my mind wanders away into SELECT and if...else statements. Its sad. I actually think about code in the shower and while I’m driving. I’ve really crossed a geek line somewhere along the road. I was doing so good with my reading too, but I’ve had two books I’ve been working on for several weeks now.

I have seen a couple of movies in the theater as of late. Saw The Bourne Ultimatum twice. Loved it. Though if hand-held camera work bothers you at all, I’d steer clear. Apparently some people get nauseous. But it didn’t bother me. I think I’m too caught up in trying to figure out how they film the crazy action sequences without killing everyone involved. Possibly my favorite movie of the summer, though this summer did actually didn’t disappoint. I saw The Invasion with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig last weekend. It got bad reviews and didn’t do well at the box-office, but I just saw it to see Daniel Craig. He’s my current movie boyfriend. The movie was fine. It wasn’t amazing, but it definitely doesn’t suck. I was creeped out sufficiently for my matinée movie price.

As for TV, the summer shows I’ve been following are Top Chef, The 4400, Eureka, and Damages. I really really love Top Chef! (Go CJ!) How have I not been watching this show the last two years? Its so engaging to watch all the chefs battle it out, and they’re all pretty civil and professional, which is nice. Just enough drama thrown into make it a Bravo show. The 4400 and Eureka both fill my need for sci-fi and smart geekiness. Neither are top-level shows, but they’re lovely summer diversions. We need breaks from the intensity of Lost and 24 sometimes. Damages is providing more than enough intensity to make up for the other shows. Its kind of like Law & Order meets Alias. Glenn Close is deliciously sinister. Not sure how much of a future it will have beyond this summer season, but I’m engaged enough to finish this first season. I’ve also started watching No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain: travel, food, and sarcasm? Where has this show been all my life?

Oh oh oh! How could I forget Feasting on Asphalt with Alton Brown?! This is probably the summer show I love the most. I was recounting parts of episodes to my mom last weekend. Alton (of ‘Good Eats’ and Food Network fame) travels with his crew on motorcycles looking for classic American road food, like diners, food stands, fish fries, etc. Last year they went east to west kind of along Route 66. This time out they’re going up the Mississippi river, starting, of course, in New Orleans.

[and I completely lost my train of thought as our office's very own Milton is currently singing loudly in his cube: Doo Doo DOOOO! Doo Doo DOOOOO! He's so very strange. ]

So yeah. TV. Lots of TV. I’ve also gotten completely sucked into House this summer. I’ll have watched the whole series (seasons 1-3) by next week. I love TV on DVD.

That’s better. My head doesn’t hurt nearly as much. Apparently it was just bursting with some random ramblings that needed to get out. I need to get home and do some basic cleaning in my apartment. Things are being neglected. And I’ve finally given up hope that my cat might actually vacuum something while I was gone. Lazy cat.