Almost Time

The expression "when it rains, it pours" might be another irritating cliche, but it seems to describe my life perfectly.

We survived the installation of new carpet in our office with relative aplomb; considering that every piece of furniture, aside from a few huge -- and full -- filing cabinets had to be emptied and the contents thereof boxed up and placed in a corner or window ledge, we handled the move -- two days of prep and another three days post-install -- very well. Granted, we were in over the weekend and we did plenty of sweating and tiresome, difficult work. Plugging everything back in, reconnecting the wires, cables, and connectors, getting our network back up and working -- these are not very exciting tasks, but it was a change to get dirty from head to toe while crawling under, over and around desks for sockets, wires and the random items that, quite literally, fall between the cracks.

On top of that, life -- ie work -- goes on. So it's a challenge being able to juggle our office preparation with actual office work -- especially if a client calls wanting a status update and half of my folders are in a box in a corner of our equipment/network room. Tapdancing around everything, even explaining the office is in a bit of disarray due to the new carpeting, isn't a viable excuse, so every time the phone rings, the clock starts ticking and the pressure exponentially rises. Nothing new, actually.

Meanwhile, on top of all that, another conundrum befitting Socrates crossed my desk. Clients of mine, who are frummy -- aka more observant than mere orthodox jews -- called me early this morning to follow up on one of their matters. There's a bit of time pressure -- as per usual -- with their request as they will not be available over the next couple days due to it being Passover, so I wanted to get that question answered for them ASAP. The problem is that meant I needed to touch base with several people who work for the City of New York, who, invariably, are looking forward to Good Friday and Easter, and who, for the most part, are expecting to leave today and not return until Monday, as many people celebrating their holiday need a day of travel time, so it seems that all the hebes and the non-hebes alike are expecting today to be it for the week (not to mention the fun that will await me, in the middle, come Monday morning). So I needed to assuage my frummy client regarding status and progress while being sympathetic to the woes of city workers that intend on evacuating this area and hit the Southeast or the deep South over the next 24 hours. It's a weird position to be in, and it only happens every so often, sort of like when Christmas and Chanukkah coincide on the calendar.

In the meantime, not spending my time with Kaia has mostly its cons. I find, when I come through the door at night, that my apartment is much darker and colder without her here. While she was here, she would spend most of her workday in my place rather than bother going to her office, so it was nice dialing my home number and knowing she was somewhere in my place, keeping it warm. Having her back in San Fran, however temporary, just doesn't seem right, and not having her next to me at tonight's Seder (it's the whole Passover thing) will once again remind me that the phone is not an adequate substitute for human contact. The one "pro," if it can be considered that, is since I got a copy of "The Godfather" game by Electronic Arts for the PC, I have lost all track of time. I don't remember the last time I bought a game -- I buy, maybe, two games a year if at all. Since I don't have time to enjoy them (or the proclivity I once had to do so) I just stopped altogether. But seeing the ad for the game (and hearing a lot about it from all different kinds of people/reviewers), I dropped the $40 and got me a copy. Two words: holy shit. It's as if someone took me and dropped me in the middle of the first Godfather film. On top of the fact that you take part in rather than simply watch a lot of the key scenes from the first movie (aka the killing of Luca Brasi, the Salozzo attempt on the Godfather's life, the hospital scene, the revenge against Salozzo, etc.) it amazes me the quality of the graphics and the interaction that the game offers.

Kaia was here when the package arrived, so we both got a chance to watch -- first-hand -- how incredible the game actually is, and she was almost as blown away as I was. I didn't spend much time playing it, though, while she was here, because I didn't want to neglect her or fail to spend time with her. Since she left, however, I've managed to get an hour or so in each night over the past week, save a couple nights. Spending time with her is a lot more important than any game, but since she and I are back on opposite coasts (and differing time zones) it makes it a bit easier for me to start mob wars, extort businesses, check off names on my hit list and throw bad guys off bridges or into bakery ovens that much more easy. It's not for the faint of heart -- it's (obviously) extremely violent and very vulgar and raw -- but it is well worth the $40 that admission demands.

We're heading out of the office early this afternoon to head out to Jersey for some much-needed family time. To those of you who celebrate Passover, enjoy your family and your holiday. To those who celebrate Easter, enjoy your family and your holiday. And to those who celebrate neither, go get yourself a copy of The Godfather and start raising hell. And fer chrissakes, when the bullets are whizzing by and you don't know what to do, break out a Molotov cocktail and toss it at the bad guys, or load up your Thompson and open fire on everything you see. Either one works for me ;)