How Do You Spell Chunnukkahh?

I am one of six people (out of roughly 40 in my department) working today, with no managerial supervision whatsoever. This does not mean I am not being productive; on the contrary, this month of December has been uber-productive because I have been uber-busy at work, with uber-amounts of hours put in at the office. It has been tremendously fun in that not-so-very way. However, I will take a few minutes and do the blog thing.

These past few days definitely had a different holiday feel to them. Perhaps it has to do with Mike getting himself all engaged and now splitting holiday time between Wisconsin and Ohio. Or maybe it was because the political instigator this year was Jenny and not any of the usual suspects (more on this later). Then again, it could be that I'm not adjusting adequately to everyone around me having little kids. Either which way, it felt like a different kind of Christmas. In no particular order, here are a few snippets:

- One of the best holiday traditions on Molly's side is gossiping about the relatives after the Christmas Eve shindig has ended. This continued.

- Four years ago one of Molly's uncles proclaimed how his faith in the American people had been restored with the re-election of Dubya. It was met with a bit of dissent but the liberal Simmerman siblings are always vastly outnumbered at these gatherings. We don't do the whole 'what are we thankful for' go-around anymore but some of us participate in a white elephant type gift exchange. This year Jenny decided to throw in Obama's The Audacity of Hope which elicited an appropriate amount of disgust (go Jenny!). Unfortunately, that led someone to decree that Obama is for killing babies and I don't take kindly to those who purport that being pro-choice is being pro-abortion. So not the same thing. Conversations escalated, albeit briefly.

- Some of Molly's relatives are oblivious to common courtesy. Example #1: changing your kid's diapers in the middle of the living room floor while people are eating. Thanks, means a lot. Example #2: I stopped eating snack foods once I saw a child pick his nose, grab some chips, eat some of them, then put the rest back in the bowl. Freaking. Gross.

- I've noticed that somehow my side of the family has started treating their pets like children (e.g. Christmas presents for pets, Christmas cards picturing pets). I feel like this should disturb me. And I think it does.

- Politics was a theme at Christmas this year. My cousin Jeff and I exchanged high-level overviews of our (very different) opinions at my family's Christmas. This was nice for two reasons: first, we don't get to see each other nearly as much as we used to growing up, and two, he's someone you can actually have a civilized conversation about politics with. I'm sure it helps that the election is over and done with, but there are just certain types of people you can't carry a conversation with because things get too heated too quickly--thankfully this was not that kind of situation.

- Some people say very different things about the same topic depending on who they are trying to impress. I think I know one of these people and I do not consider it very becoming of said person.

- MoPo and I went and saw Frost/Nixon yesterday afternoon and I liked it very much. During the middle of the movie I whispered to MoPo how I wasn't all that thrilled that Nixon was being painted as a very one-dimensional villain (I like it when movies operate more in shades of gray) but, somehow, I ended up feeling bad for him when Frost got what he wanted out of him. Anyway, if you like dialogue-intense movies I'd highly recommend seeing this one.

Ok, back to work I go.

-KP

Killstorms

I'm not sure that the last two winters have been any worse than normal but, from my experiences, they have been two of most 'reactionary' winters I can remember.

I should preface this by saying that I don't freak out easily when driving. Quite frankly, I'm not about to let something as uncontrollable as weather dictate anything I have going on. To illustrate: a few years ago I can remember Molly, Matthew, and I driving up to Madison from Waukesha during some pretty bad snowfall... it took us 2.5 hours to make that hour long drive but there was fun to be had once we reached our destination (so screw you, snow!).

Now that I have a job I'm constantly humored by the degree to which my coworkers freak out at the prospect of a little snow. Granted, Chicagoland traffic adds an additional dimension to winter driving but you'd think the world could end at the mere possibility of two or more inches of snowfall.

One thing (among many) that peeved me off last week was that one of my coworkers decided to work from home because it was supposed to snow... which didn't even happen until around 3pm. Never mind the fact that working from home is severely frowned upon by our Senior VP. Unless the roads are actually hazardous--and truly 'hazardous', not just an individual definition of 'hazardous' suited for one's own convenience--I feel that you should be where you're supposed to be and just deal with it.

Chalk snow freak-out's under Things KP Just Doesn't Get.

-KP

Randomnicity (12.05.08 Edition)

1. This week has gone by at light speed for me. I'm getting more and more projects to do at work, which is a good sign in regards to job security but means there are just not enough hours in the day to get them all done. Although 'job security' is a laughable term when the company laid off even more people this week. It's absolutely ridiculous. I think my department is done as far as job cuts go but one can't feel safe in today's economy.

2. Some of you know that I've become a bit of a comic book geek in recent times. I never was into comics as a kid but I started buying the Buffy: Season Eight comic a few years ago because Buffy is one of my all-time favorite shows. However, that has slowly morphed into me buying more and more comics. I do a decent job curbing the impulse to by the trade paperbacks since I re-discovered interlibrary loan, but I'm spending $10-12 a week on the monthlies in the comic book store and I still want to buy more. It's getting a bit ridiculous and I have to start practicing some self-control.

3. I was a big fan of survey methodology and questionnaire design in grad school so I positively geeked out when I got selected to be a part of the American Community Survey. Way to go, random selection!

4. I've stopped watching Heroes. It's actually been about a month now. It is so horrid that I just couldn't do it any longer. And it takes a lot for me to stop watching a show.

5. The Packer game last weekend was really fun but, for the life of me, I just cannot understand why they can't win close games. That's like--what?--four games they've lost by six points or less? C'mon!

6. This was the first year Molly and I played fantasy football (thanks, Frank!) and we both somehow managed to make it into the playoffs. MoPo even clinched a first-round bye. Things could get ugly, however, if I manage to win this weekend because that would mean we face each other next week. And MoPo isn't friendly when she's competitive.

7. I made a new BFF in my apartment building. After work one night I walked up to the third floor to grab some stuff out of our storage unit when a guy around my age stopped to introduce himself. He was a bit disheveled looking, talked a lot, but was rather friendly in that really awkward sort of way. Then, about three minutes into the conversation he paused and asked if I wanted to smoke with him (and I'm not talking cigarettes). Very bizarre dude.

8. Last episode of Boston Legal next week. I hate how the writers always write characters off the show without explaining it but, man, listening to Spader and Shatner is a hoot. It's too bad it's going off the air.

That's all for now. Check ya later.

-KP

"The only show on TV with starring roles over 50 is Bo--. Well, I can't say the rest... it'll break the wall."
-Carl Sack, Boston Legal