Monday, February 23, 2009

Went to see Ron White

He did two shows at the Clemens Center last night. We had back row orchestra seats, but could see perfectly well and of course the sound was great. Ron White presented almost all new material, so we got our money's worth, indeed.

By the way, I want to mention that the tickets were my Christmas present from Husband RJ, but my partner in crime last night was Gale, one of the last people standing at the Elmira Star Gazette office.
She's probably the one who will take down the flag.

At one point he mentioned our lovely theater which had recently been renovated and is now all sparkly and new. The
Clemens Center is an old vaudeville venue with an incredible explansion and is completely updated on the outside.

Even with the (supposedly) red-necked crowd, everyone was decently dressed and well behaved.

In fact, as we were leaving, the fellow who sat in front of us, turned to me and remarked, "Did you know he was so vulgar?" I mentioned that he usually is on Comedy Central, too, but the man insisted that he was never so raunchy. We finally agreed that the worst of it is usually bleeped out for cable.

This was not cable at the Clemens Center.

And last night was a two-fer!!!!

One of my favorite up and coming comics from Comedy Central was his warm-up act:
there was Alex Reymundo, in all his sexy, Latin-lover-turned-country-redneck glory! I was beside myself with elation and purred myself to sleep last night.

We even got AR's autograph, and spoke very briefly with him. I'll tell you what I told him.

I would have paid to see him alone.

One very happy Little Fish,

pb
Little Pond

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bring on the Midlife Crisis.

In the thick of the changes at work. The production department is being dissolved/absorbed by the Central. At this point they know who is leaving and who is moving on to the new site.

I think they knew long before they initiated the changes. It is all eerily familiar to one who has weathered downsizing and consolidation many times in past lives.

The bottom line: our corporation prefers to leave us out of the loop on the bottom line. It will be a good three weeks before anything is announced.

For me there are three possibilities: a job in production that would be a lateral move; a position in advertising that would be a step up; or eschewing the one hour commute each way that the first two would entail, accepting a severance package.

It was never discussed, but I wonder if I am well enough to put in the 10 hours commute and work that accepting a position would require. In the past, after long work days, I have been known to fall asleep at the wheel. That hasn't been a major problem in a town with so many traffic lights over a short area; the trip to the central is between 45 and 61 miles, depending upon the exact site, over Interstate 86.

It is something to consider.

On the other hand, the position in advertising is a long-overdue acknowledgement of my efforts in the past several years to bring quality control to our printed advertising. Not any real compensation, mind you, just a paycheck, and very rarely, a thank you.

If I had a third hand, I would also point out that the production position would have many pleasures, not the least of which would be working once again in periodicals, with whatever is the current standard for their associate editors, publishing coordinators, etc.

I would still be just a grunt, but possibly a happy one.

In the meantime, I am falling back on alcohol to ease the pain from grinding my teeth in my sleep.

pb
Little Pond

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The wheels are cranking.

We are still here, and quite possibly, still with Gannett. I absolutely know that several of my coworkers are moving on to the Binghamton site. Maybe me, too.

Right about now it's all a wash, anyway. It's a long way to Binghamton.

Meantime, I am still the RiverHag and Ellie is still the RiverDog, and the weather is gorgeous.

The heck is this about? Likely a water trough for horses.

But what's with the pvc pipe coming out of it? Just plain weird.


Take that, Fate!

pb

Little Pond

Friday, February 06, 2009

Not even driving the bus.

Last night Gannett eliminated our jobs in Production at two sites. We were then invited to apply for three positions that will replace them in Binghamton and Johnson City.

For me, a seven minute trip would turn into 60. For others, it's worse.

Tears and fears all around me. We knew that was coming, but it still surprises more than we expected.

We weren't even driving the bus, just riding the train to the end of the line.

pb
Little Pond