50 cents of joy

Last night I went on a "hot date" with my wife. We always tell our kids were going on a hot date. :)

We went to the movies. It was fun and entertaining. We especially enjoyed overhearing the tween conversations behind us in the theatre. It was both terrifying and hilarious. 

Movies are expensive. Popcorn is ridiculously expensive. However if your going to buy the LARGE bag for $7 you might as we'll buy the extra LARGE for $7,50. It's a good value because you get a free refill for just 50 cents more. 

We couldn't even finish the bag :(

I know someone who folds up the bag and saves it for the next time they go to the theaters. While I think this is a good idea it strikes me as very impractical. How often do you really go to the movies? Are you gonna put that thing in your glove box all folded up? For a month or so? Weird and kinda gross. 

So last night as we were walking out we ran into some old friends that we haven't seen in years. I gave them the bag and they got to enjoy a free extra LARGE popcorn. 

You should have seen the smiles on their faces at the prospect of free popcorn! 

I was able to spread an awesome amount of joy for just 50 cents! So next time you find yourself deciding between the large and the extra large, consider the potential joy you can spread after the movie and splurge a little :)

The BIG Picture

Its been a rough week...

How often have I heard this statement? - Tons of times

How often have I said it? - Tons of times

Who do I hear it from? - Tons of people

So apparently lots and lots of people have been having a rough week.

Why is this?

Well for me, my week felt really rough because I put in a lot of hours working for "The Man"
On top of the hours I had a confrontation with "The Man"
This is where it gets complicated because I actually feel like I have three bosses. For the sake of keeping it simple "The Man" in this instance is my direct boss.

By the way I loathe my boss. I do everything I can to avoid him. If I walk into the bathroom and he is in there I will try to leave before he sees me and come back later. When I leave work I always have to wait for the elevator, and this is dangerous because he might pass by and see me. So I take the stairs down a level and catch the elevator there. Sneaky and lame. I know.

So this week I had the pleasure of meeting with him one on one for two whole hours. It was excruciating! I don't want to go into all the details. Lets just say that upon leaving the meeting I updated my resume and activated it on several job sites.

So was it a rough week? I suppose this is probably normal for a lot of people. Change the names, the titles the jobs the duties around and its the same.

My wife could probably say the same thing. For instance she walked into her home office one morning and found this.

The shelves jumped off the wall during the night literally! - the real scary part here is that we somehow slept through the noise. 

The point is, she had not one but two major projects handed to her without any prior notice. She had to reschedule and find more time to accommodate this. So she could easily whine and complain about how "The Man" whoever that is in this instance, gave her a bunch of extra work and ruined all her plans. I didn't hear her complain though. All I heard about was how she was able to get rid of a bunch of garbage, and is looking forward to the second project of scanning millions of pictures and moving to a paperless lifestyle to get rid of the clutter. Oh and I owe her some new shelves properly anchored into the studs this time. 

So maybe I need to back down off of my ledge. My resume is updated and that's always good. Maybe there is a better job out there. But chances are that better job will have a similar boss with totally unrealistic expectations that pushes all my buttons for fun and enjoyment. Its not quite time to Drop the mic and walk off the stage people. Its Friday and its a three day weekend. Tuesday will be rough for all of us. 

Have a great weekend everyone, and don't forget to look at the big picture.

Hello World?

Hello world...

"Hello world" is the first thing that is taught in every programming class ever, or at least the ones I have ever taken. Which is not that many because I hate programming. Whenever I see the phrase I think about all those classes and the loathing I had for them while I was in them. I also think about what it means, like a shout out to the world. So here I am giving a shout out to the world on my blog read by nobody but me. So its more like a shout out into a cupped pair of hands, or an underwater gurgle, or maybe a muffled cry.

The point is, that this blog is for reals.

My intention is to keep it real anyway.

To tackle hard questions, and big thoughts.

To invite discussion or not.

So Welcome!