#353 - Basically A Super Hero Today

I slept well, which was no surprise. I was pretty tired last night.

I woke at five-thirty and was elated to know that I still had an hour and a half before I had to really get out of bed. By seven I was ready to get up and that’s unusual for me. I’m a nine thirty riser if I’m given the chance.

I got up and did the morning routine, even managing to remember my new headphones and umbrella. I even remembered to grab one of the Alani energy drinks out of the kitchen fridge. I ran on all cylinders this morning. Full of beans.

The drive to the station was uneventful. I found myself turning off the stereo to listen to the engine instead. A rattle that I thought had disappeared returned. It happens when the car is idling or accelerating. But otherwise, the engine sound perfectly fine and I was pleased to have no more issues with it. I managed to get a decent parking spot and just missed a train that arrived at the same time as me. But there was another one on the way, and I only had to wait a few minutes before it rumbled to a stop, the doors opening right in front of where I stood.

I got a seat with no problems and got out the new headphones to listen to the Bobiverse audiobook. It was probably one of the nicest train rides I’d had in a while. Just the pure joy of sitting undisturbed with my eyes closed and all the noise of the world drowned out listening to a book series I really enjoy.

These new headphones have noise cancellation, but they aren’t as good as others I have tried. I mean it’s way better with it turned on, but I think they wouldn’t be great on a plane. Nonetheless, they worked perfectly for my ride into the city.

I kept them on while I walked down the Esplanade towards the studio. I stopped at the Berkley Street Café for a breakfast croissant on the way. The desire to go to the old place for breakfast wasn’t there at all.

I got to work and at the sandwich at my desk washing it down with the Alani energy drink I brought from home. The sandwich was delicious and hit the spot.

The office was unusually quiet today. I was the only member of my team in the studio. I got my headphones back out and put on the audiobook, hoping I wouldn’t get disturbed too much. Of course, today of all days I was pelted with questions and requests. There is no rest for the wicked as they say. The scene setup department received a shipment of assets from me last night and that always prompts requests for missing items. I am half repairman and half detective on days like these.

I partnered with one of the layout supervisors and together we tracked down the missing items, created them when they couldn’t be found or were determined to be nonexistent. We have a great team, and we all work together really well. It doesn’t take us long to get things back into order. It just takes multiple times as the scene setup director finds things all day long as he and his team go through their paces.

But, since we make it priority to take care of them right away, I don’t think they mind so much. I wanted to take lunch at noon, but multiple things came up right as I was getting out of my chair. Par for the course.

Eventually, the messages stopped, probably because everyone else was finally getting their lunches. I snuck out of the studio and went to a little Bhan mi shop I hadn’t been to in a while. It’s run by a little old lady and today she had some help. Perhaps it was her son, or it could have been her husband or brother. No idea. She’s a happy woman, content on making her sandwiches. There were about ten young women in there waiting for their meals when I got there. I didn’t have to wait long either. I order a BBQ pork with a little hot sauce, and it came to about eight dollars.

This is not a huge sandwich, but it was just the right size for what I wanted. The pork was good, but the bun was just okay. I’ve had better bahn mi sandwiches, but it was still very tasty. I brought I back to the studio and ate by myself in the kitchen / cafeteria. There weren’t that many people around after all. I washed it all down with a Fresca from home and was happy to have gone for a little walk to get a little sandwich during my little break.

I got back to work, knowing there would be more incoming requests. Any down time I spent looking over the next show I am supervising. Some paintings started showing up in my inbox and I gave them a bit of a once over.

Around that time on of our Technical Directors pinged me to help with our render farm. I had put in a ticket, because on of the computers in the farm was misbehaving and needed sorting out.

He was able to get things working again and just in time for me to do more renders for the scene setup team.

Kiddo #1 messaged out of the blue to see if I needed anything from Walmart. Now that she is out of work, she is helping by doing groceries and making the odd dinner for us. I wholeheartedly support these endeavours!

The rest of the day was a rinse and repeat. Even when I left the studio, messages were still coming in. Just outside the studio, there was a young man with a large backpack standing in front of an Audi in the middle of the street. His posture and actions were very aggressive. He was hitting the hood of the car with his fist and yelling at the driver. At first, I thought he might be a disgruntled cyclist, rightful upset at an uncaring driver.

But as the man circled around the back of the car, he picked up his bike and proceeded to annoying an innocent older woman who was just minding her own business. She was waiting to cross the street but was too afraid to get anywhere near this joker. She walked off in a hurray and escaped him.

I stopped to watch him in case her tried to follow the old lady, but his attention was soon diverted to a parked car down the side street I was on. He slammed his bike into the hood of the car and then was startled to see five young men walking towards him. They never said anything to him but the herded him further down the street like a posse of cowboys.

Seeing as they had dispersed him, I went on my way. I got about two blocks when the guy road up behind a car that was stopped at the lights where I was waiting to cross the street. He circled the car on his bike and then hit the mirror so hard it bent forward. Inside was a woman who was in shock at what was happening.

I walked towards the guy who was mumbling about her not having a sticker on her license plate, which legally you haven’t had to have for years. I said to him in a calm and conspiratorial tone, “Hey man, the police are coming, you need to get out of here before they get you.”

He turned and looked at me, said thanks and rode off to who knows where.

I walked the rest of the way to the station via the Esplanade. There were twenty or more police officers opposite one of the hotels, for what reason I don’t know. Could be a famous person is in town, could be a hated person is town, or it could a sports team is stating there tonight. Who knows in this city?

I made it on to an early all-stops train, which was fine with me. It gave me an extra ten minutes to write. Well, it would have if my mother hadn’t called asking me to order an eight part DVD set called “The American Experience: New York,” for my uncle in Scotland. He is in the building trades, and the cover shows that famous shot of the steel workers eating on an iron beam a thousand feet in the air. He also likes to travel. To be honest I have no idea why he wants this so much. But it was easy enough for me to make it happen.

My mother is heading to Scotland soon, and he wanted to save all the shipping costs to the UK. And the shipping was almost the same price as the item. So, I spent some time ordering that before taking out my laptop and writing.

The drive home was crazy busy for some reason. All stop and go traffic the whole way home.

I made a corned beef and muffuletta sandwich and headed upstairs. Robyn was outside on the porch reading her school materials. A new season of Slow Horses came out yesterday and I was eager to watch the first episode. I do love Mick Herron’s books, and the televised version is equally as good in my opinion.

It’s sheer joy to see these character’s given even more life. The casting on this show is amazing. The first episode didn’t disappoint either. By the time it finished, Robyn joined me upstairs and we watched one and a half episodes of Bill Maher and the opening monologue of The Daily Show. Nothing like a little news comedy to end your day. I made us some popcorn to snack on while we watched.

My protective case for the headphones arrived today and it was a perfect fit. Robyn took one look at it and thought she should get a case for hers as well. At least I can feel better about them kicking around the inside of my bag as I travel to and from work. I really enjoyed using them today and it was made even better because I had a Bobiverse novel to listen to as well.

At one point during the day, I stopped the audiobook to play some music, and I thought the headphones sound great. I’m not an audiophile, so the bar is low, but after wearing them all day I can say they were very comfortable.

Our new microwave gets delivered tomorrow, just in time to be installed on Friday by someone who knows how to do these types of things. I could have done it myself, but who needs the extra aggravation. It only cost a few hundred dollars for someone else to do it and take the old one away. I’m just to tired to deal with any of it that the fee is worth the cost to me.

I have a colleague I used to work with at the hotels, who started her own franchising consulting firm and has had quite a bit of success. She recently posted that she was looking to hire someone, and I immediately thought of another friend who would be perfect for the job. I imagined them in the same room together and thought they would get along like gangbusters.

My part was to connect them together. There are so many variables that have to align for them to want to work together. I’m sure salary is one of those points. There will certainly be others that I am not aware of as well. But sometimes you get a feeling that two people you know should meet. I hope for both their sakes that they find what they need in each other.

We got an invite for our friend’s birthday party this weekend. I liked that it was a timed event. Six thirty to ten thirty. We are all getting too old to stay later than that! Ah truth be told, the birthday boy has to work in the morning and has a five am start. So, we can cut him a little slack. I don’t mind being in my own bed by eleven anyway!

Okay. I am up early again tomorrow.

Time for bed.

Until tomorrow.