Man, what a drug.

There is the possibility that I'll be heading to the East Coast for work in about 10 days, so I decided to do a little research on the internets.

Do you ever go to Wikipedia and just lose track of time? IMDB used to do that to me, but lately it's been Wikipedia.

I went over to the online encylopedia and did a quick search on Portsmouth, New Hampshire which is near my possible destination. I got all of the useful information I could from the entry and started poking around a little and saw that Betty Hill is a so-called famous person from Portsmouth. I decided I'd check out her page as well.

After checking out Betty Hill for a while, I was lead to another page which I cannot remember, but that in turn lead me to Project Serpo. Eventually I ended up on Serpo.org and I was hooked for the rest of the night.

If you haven't clicked on any of the links yet, I'll be upfront: It's a story about an alien encounter. I don't get all Tom Cruise about aliens, but I have a healthy amount of both skepticism as well as an open mind about things extraterrestrial. If you believe in the existence of aliens (not the ones from Mexico!) you should check it out. If you absolutely don't believe in aliens, but like a good story I'd still recommend checking it out.

I have lost about 3 hours of my life that I will never get back, thanks to Wikipedia. I'm not complaining though - it gave me something to do.

A little over two years ago I wrote a post about the TV movie Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. I've since turned the comments off on that post, but if I recall correctly I was ridiculed for my taste in television movies, but I withstood it by admitting my undying love for Christina Applegate.

So today I went on a three store crusade in search of a very specific USB flash drive. Color me suprised when I made a quick detour to the DVD isle in Target and saw that I could purchase my very own copy of Suzanne's Diary. I didn't pick up a copy though, because I couldn't solve the debate that was going on inside my head. It's a good movie with good acting and a good story. I wouldn't mind watching the movie again, but its not a movie I'd watch 40 times. With that said, can you really justify spending $19.99 for a movie that you liked but would only watch one or two times, especially a tv movie? After a little research I determined that this movie was released to DVD at the end of January of this year. Conclusion: I'll wait until it hits the $9.99 rack and possibly pick it up then. The movie could be deceptively popular though. When I was in Target there were only 3 copies left, so apparently I'm not the only one who enjoyed the movie.

In other news, I received a call from work today. It appears that today is my lucky day. I was told that I placed second in the competition for one available promotion, beaten out by a solid candidate with about a year of experience more than me. Which typically isn't a good thing - unless another supervisor tenders their two week notice, opening up another spot to be filled.

I'm supposed to start supervisor training next week.

Typical

Just shy of one month I've been waiting on this camera to get off of back-order and ship to my apartment.

Last Friday morning I logged in to check the status of the camera only to find it was still delayed. I had gotten beyond the point of being pissed about it anymore, and went about my day. As fate would have it, later that afternoon I found myself in the local Target Store so I decided to swing by the Electronics Department and take a look around.

I shouldn't have been amazed when I saw the exact same model and color camera that I've been waiting for sitting in their display case, but I was in fact - amazed. So I bought the camera, figuring I'd go home and cancel my original order. We all know where this is going, right? I went home and pulled up my order on the net only to find out that my order shipped.

I still haven't started the process for the promotion. I'm not entirely sure what the timetable is on this, but it's not an urgent issue for any of us, especially me since I just received $1.81 per hour raise. I've also been selected to be part of a natural disaster team. In the event of a significant natural disaster that would require more security at a different plant in the United States, I'd be one of the guys to go. It's an 18 month assignment, so that should pretty much guarantee good weather around the country for the next 19 months.

Choices, Choices..

Almost exactly a year ago I spent most of my time worrying if I was good enough to get my current job. Today I worry if I'm good enough to lead.

Ok, that's a little over the top. I know I'm good enough to lead, I'm just not sure if I want the headaches associated with it. Recently a supervisor quit and I have a week to decide if I want to sign up as a candidate to replace her. In the end, I know I'll eventually add my name to the list. Although I'm not exactly sure if it's lip-service or not, the current crop of supervisors tell me I'm in a dead heat with another person for the job, as long as I sign up.

The truth is that I'll be giving up a pretty easy gig if I do get bumped up, but on the other hand I'll have a little more say in the day to day goings on around our little operation. All I really worry about is having to eventually make the hard choices that can (and usually do) effect workplace friendships down the line. I know I'm not alone. The other guy that I'm supposedly in competition with for the job hasn't added his name to the list yet, for the very same reasons.

Choices, Choices....