"Fun" with Netflix

So, as I've already said, I only got Netflix again so I could watch the HBO show, "The Wire". I plugged season 1 (five discs per season) into my Netflix queue, and went ahead and added a bunch of movies after those. But I wanted to hit The Wire first, and then see if I felt like getting movies in the mail again after that was all done.

So as I discussed in a response post on my first Netflix blog, what's the first thing that happened? I got an email telling me that one of my movies was coming...not the Wire. Huh? I checked my queue. When I had signed up, the "status" for The Wire (season 1, disc 1) was "now" (like every disc I'd seen). However, as soon as I signed up, suddenly that disc's status went to "long wait". What? What the hell did that mean?

I looked it up on their site, and it meant there was a high demand for it, and it was out on rental, and generally "long wait", in Netflix terms, means "less than 14 days". They also have a "very long wait" designation that means "up to 30 days or more". So could have been worse, I guess. But I was pissed! I'd only done this to watch The Wire, and wanted to start right away. Now I was having to wait for maybe two weeks?

So the movie came, and I had it for a couple of days, and then I checked the status on The Wire, and disc 1 was showing as "now" again. But would that last? I didn't intend to wait and find out. I went ahead and upgraded to the two-discs-per-month account, which then got that disc sent right to me. Okay. Fine. It came, I watched it, I dug it. I was totally ready for more. So I sent both discs back and eagerly awaited the next two Wire discs.

Did I get them? No. Disc 2 was now on "short wait"...and Netflix sent me the next two movies on my list. Oh, come on! Is this how it was going to be? I started wondering how this is supposed to work. Again...do I just have to get LUCKY and happen to return a disc at the right time when a wire disc is available? Or does just having them on my queue put me on some kind of waiting list? I didn't know. But after I'd watched one of my movies (Eastern Promises...pretty good), I noticed that the rest of Season 1 was back in play. So I quickly sent BOTH my movies back (didn't bother watching the next one) just so I could secure two Wire discs.

Can you guess what happened? I dropped them in the mail Monday night. On Tuesday, when they went out in the mail, I checked the site again. Disc 2? Back on "short wait". Grrrrr...

So since they were just going to be sending me two more movies - and, apparently, I'd NEVER get my hands on the next Wire disc - I wiped out my entire queue EXCEPT for The Wire, Season 1. Didn't even want Season 2 on the list for fear that they'd send me disc 1 of THAT if the rest of season 1 was off the table. So now they have no choice. They've got nothing else to send me until they have season 1's second disc (at least) back in. I'm going to have to repeat this process with each season until I'm done with the Wire, it seems.

You know, I don't mean to complain, but...you're NETFLIX. If you don't have enough of the Wire to meet demand? BUY MORE. What, did you just buy one set and keep passing it around the nation, one disc at a time, to Netflix subscribers? Maybe HBO's DVD prices were too much for you to handle, too...

Irritating. But now that I know how to work the system, hopefully I'll get to get passed the first three episodes of this show.

Nature's Perfect Faces (Part 1)

Kristin Kreuk

In life, sometimes you need to stop and enjoy the scenery.

New Nicole Update

www.michaeloconnell.com

Hear her words. They sing out truth.

It could happen...

Mission Park - The First 20 Years

If you're lucky - really lucky - in life, you can stop and take a look back at the past couple of decades and realize that for all the ups and downs, all the good times and bad, a lot of the same people have been with you through all of it. I'm one of the lucky ones.

And I'm doubly lucky in that I've actually got a couple of groups of friends like that in my life - with some intermixing between the two. One of those groups has come to be known as the Mission Park gang. When we all first started meeting up in the summer of '86, we were all under-aged - some of us just weeks out of high school, some of us still in it. As such, our options for places to go and things to do were somewhat limited. And on our weekend nights (and many week nights over the summer), we'd end up at a park located near a few of the guys' homes. Its full name was Mission North Park, but we just referred to it as Mission Park. It was the center of our universe (along with the local Lyon's restaurant, where we'd often end up before sunrise, as it was a 24-hour joint). It's where we went to drink (Ken worked at 7-11 so could get us beer, if we weren't using one of our other options), to goof around, to laugh, to (sometimes) fight, to occasionally"hook up" (there were a string of girls that moved in and out of circle, as much of the gang were dance club enthusiasts, providing us a rotating cast of guest-stars), to talk about our big plans and goals, or to just talk about movies or music. It became the place that defined our group, and our lives at the time.

The bond we had was a powerful one. We spent all of our time together, either out on the town or at each other's homes. Some of us went to college and took classes together (at American River College, the junior college where, at the time, it cost you a whole fifty bucks a semester to attend). We were all young and crazy and trying to soak up every new experience life could throw our way. Few of us had any kind of direction in life, but at least we were wandering aimlessly together. We each had our own challenges and dramas, and each were going through our own changes, but we were the constant in each other's lives. We had each other's backs. I had had groups of friends throughout school, ones that came and went with time. But even during our first months as the Mission Park crew, I knew this was different. I know I'd become part of something special. Something that would probably be a part of my life for the rest of my life.

So far, so good.

It's been over twenty years since that summer. We've all gone a lot of different directions, and sometimes to different parts of the country, or the world. But the bond is still there. As with any long-time group of friends, there has been drama, and some of it pretty serious. But time has smoothed over most of that, and the group is still intact. We've been in each other's weddings. Been godfather to each other's kids. Many of us have been roommates together at different times. Some of us have worked at the same companies. We've grown up and changed as people, often several times, and we've all had our scars and miracles. And we're certainly not all hanging out at each other's houses every night anymore. But the gang is still together. The bond hasn't gone away. We've still got each other's backs, and have no reason to think that's ever going to change. If you're lucky - really lucky - you know what that feels like. I'm that lucky. And I'm old enough to know how much that means, and to always be grateful for it.

I put together a little tribute to the Mission Park gang, which you can see here:

The Mission Park Journey

Give it minute to load up. If you're on dial-up, maybe more than just a minute. And make sure your sound is turned up, because there is music that goes with it. I hope you enjoy the journey through twenty years of a group of good friends and the times they've shared together. I know I have.

See you at the Park, guys. Somebody remember to bring a bottle opener this time.

Let the Journey continue!

Hey! I want to save a show!

I've been in this position before. There's a show that I just love, and the cursed network with all their money and power TAKES IT AWAY! That's not right! We've all had this happen. You really dig the show, but for some reason or another, no one ELSE seems to be watching it! And then the powers that be realize they can replace it with something that will get better ratings and more advertising dollars ("When Domesticated Animals Attack 7!"), and with ZERO regard for YOUR feelings, they yank it on you! The nerve, I say!

In the old days, when your show went udders-vertical, really all you could do was whine and move on. But in the internet age, you've got a PLACE to whine...where people from around the world can hear you! And you can also find lots and lots of other fans of the show who are just as obsessed with it (perhaps even more) than you, and usually one of them is enterprising enough to organize a campaign to SAVE THE SHOW! It's a common tale these days.

And during this age, I've cared enough about a handful of shows to get involved. I did, first, with Millennium. Season 2 of that show was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen on television. And then...the ax! Well, a bunch of us fans got busy and started a postcard campaign (okay, someone else started it...I just found out about it and sent one...), and it worked! They gave us a third season! And it SUCKED!! It was an insult! I own seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, but refuse to buy the third (that I worked so hard sending a postcard to save) and try my best to pretend it never happened. Man, talk about your backfires...

I also got involved with Angel, when it was about to go. Once again, us fan-types won, and we got one more season. This one, thankfully, didn't suck, and we were happy to have it. Mission accomplished.

I was MOST involved, however, with Firefly. THAT was my big obsession. And that's a well-documented fan-save story. Fans of this show were NOT typical TV show fans. "Browncoats", as we came to be known, rallied like a freaking army. Tim and I used the Nice Guy site to join in the fight. And I got involved any way I could, as did many people I knew. And what happened? Well, we didn't get our show back...but we got a movie, at least. Not some made-for-TV movie, but a real big-screen Hollywood movie ("Serenity")! Did we want more? Yeah. But we got a hell of a lot more than most people who lose their shows ever get. And some of us managed to make a lot of new friends out of it, too. Very cool.

This season I decided try out a few of the new network shows. None of them were really working for me. Some were okay...and weren't bad or anything...but they just didn't move me enough to make spending the precious time to watch them worth it. One, though, did do it for me. It was called Journeyman. It was not a new concept. It was, in many ways, Quantum Leap. You got this guy (a reporter named Dan Vasser) who started jumping through time (involuntarily) to fix things. Only with this show, our main character really had no idea WHY it was happening. I just started.

What made it different though, as I told people, was that it was Quantum Leap for grownups. This guy wasn't some action hero. He was a thirty-something guy with a wife and a kid. And with a past (recovering gambling addict...a wife who died in a plane crash...and a new wife that used to be his brother's girl (d'oh!)). But his life was going along pretty good...until he disappeared from a cab and reappeared a number of years in the past... HATE when that happens. And when these disappearances happen, and he returns, he doesn't return to the exact moment he left. He's gone...for a while. And this causes all kinds of problems in his life (marital, and, quickly, legal...). And as if suddenly slipping back into the past wasn't confusing and distressing enough, imagine what it's like for him when suddenly his dead wife starts showing up...who's not only NOT dead, but travels through time like him?

This show has a really awesome cast, one of the main reasons I kept coming back. Dan is played by Rome star Kevin McKidd. His (current) wife, Katie, is played by the wonderful Gretchen Egolf. His mysterious time-traveling ex-wife, Livia, is played by (the really, really smokin' hot) Moon Bloodgood (the name alone makes me want to marry her...and let her keep her name, of course). And his cop brother, Jack, is the reason I decided to try the show in the first place...he's played by Reed Diamond, who used to be Detective Mike Kellerman on Homicide (I was a major Homicide freak). And somehow, all those actors together really, really worked for me. They made me care about them, and their relationships to each other, and their lives. Yeah, sure, Dan was back in time helping people and all, but I found it was the stuff back in the present, with him trying to keep things together with his wife and son, or not lose his job, or to keep the rift between him and his brother from getting wider, were my favorite parts of the show. They were really stingy with handing out info on the whole story of what the whole time travel thing was about, but they were giving it to us slowly, and there was a good little conspiracy thing starting to happen...

And then, when the time came for NBC to hand out renewals for their new shows, Journeyman was NOT on that list. It's not an official cancellation...but it might as well be. It means the same thing...that's probably the end.

There were three unaired episodes at this point, and NBC was not going to bother showing them. But, in what I see as a first good sign, fans demanded to see them...and NBC said "okay" and showed them after all. So I got to see all thirteen produced episodes...and, of course, watch the last one with a cloud of melancholy hanging over me. Another of "my" shows, gone. This usually happens with Fox shows...I didn't see it coming from NBC, man.

Now, I know a number of people who watched this show. A couple of them were really saddened, like me, by the news. Others had started watching the show, but it just didn't hold their interest, and they stopped. So it's not a show for everyone. It's definitely an acquired taste. But I really think it was quality stuff. And I think if more people would have tried it out, they would have grown to love it as I did. Or, at least maybe half of them would.

So, I'm back in "save" mode again, as I found enough people like me cared enough about it to start a campaign. And it's a creative one. The show takes place in San Francisco. So someone (taking the idea from the "Save Jericho" campaign that send (literally) tons of peanuts to CBS to make their point) decided that we should send boxes of Rice-A-Roni to NBC. You know...the San Francisco treat and all? From what I hear, nearly 2000 boxes have been sent to Jeff Zucker, president of NBC/Universal, so far (a good start). And the Save Journeyman site is taking donations, too, if you're like me and you don't want to actually go to the store and buy your own box and wrap it and mail it (I'm a fan...but I'm a lazy fan). They're buying and sending boxes for us. And ordering them off Amazon.com, no less. Did YOU know you could get Rice-A-Roni on Amazon.com? I didn't. And the cool part is that NBC, in turn, is donating those boxes to charity. So it's a win for everyone.

So here's what I'm thinking. If you watched, and liked, Journeyman...well, good for you. You're smart, and you have taste. If you want to see more of it, go to that link and give a little PayPal dough and get some Rice sent - or find out there what address to use if you want to send it yourself.

If you haven't watched Journeyman...well, maybe you ought to. You might not care for it. Or, you might think it's really really cool and original. How can you watch it? Glad you asked. All the episodes can be watched right on the web at NBC's site:

Journeyman at NBC

Or if you're part the iPod generation, you can go to the iTunes store and grab the pilot episode there....and if you like it, all thirteen of them. And then, if you find want more, jump on the Save Journeyman bandwagon and help us bring it back!

Or at the very least, just drop me a line and let me know what you thought of it. That won't cost you a dime.

Cloverfield Night

Okay, opening night for Cloverfield was tonight. I said I'd be there, and I kept my word. And was not alone. Got a movie posse together, which was quite cool because we so rarely manage to pull one off anymore (or have reason to). I was lucky enough to have my office close early today (as we have Monday off for the MLK holiday, and they always close early on the Friday before a 3-day weekend), and had time to run around and get a bunch of stuff done that I just never seem to have time for...getting an oil change, getting a haircut, etc. We had chosen to hit the 8:10 show, and as I usually do on these premieres, I went ahead and Fandangoed the tickets for everyone so we wouldn't have to deal with the chance of sellout. After my errands, I headed to Ken's house. A.T. met up with us there, and I drove us. We got Barrie and Jess on the phone, and they had Kyle with them already, and Chris managed to get off work just early enough to join us. We all met up at Century theater on Ethan (home of many a big movie night for us over the years), and the wait for Cloverfield was finally over.

And I'm really not going to say much about it. I'd like people to see it on their own without any spoilerizing from me. I will say this, as I think it best sums up the impact of the film: when it ended, and the credits rolled, half the sold-out theater booed. The other half cheered. It was that kind of film. I quickly realized that I can in no way predict how you're going to react to this movie. I think that's a good thing for a film, when it can really draw strong emotional reactions out of people, one way or the other. Me, personally? I loved it. I really did. And I found myself wanting to strangle many of the "haters" that kept walking by me on their way out as I heard them grumbling their REALLY REALLY STUPID REASONS for not liking the film. I would have accepted their opinion had that made any kind of sense!! To explain further would be to give spoilers, and I won't. Because I think you should see it and make up your own mind.

However, do NOT see this film if you have motion sickness issues. This film is giving people serious nausea. That's because the whole film is a POV through a camcorder...filmed by someone who's, more often than not, running. Did Blair Witch give you issues? This one is worse. You will spew.

But if you don't mind the shaky cam (and if you do, by the way, don't ever watch any of my camcorder videos), I'd say go check it out...if for no other reason than so I can discuss my opinions on it with you. Let me just suggest this to you - let the film be what it is. Understand its storytelling technique and go with that, and if it's different than what you're used to in films you see...let it be different! Try something new! I think they did a great job doing exactly what they set out to do, and I think it was one hell of a ride, and some damned fun filmmaking. Thanks for not letting ME down, at least, J.J. Abrams. No matter what the other half of the theater thought...

Dear "Me" (Part 1)

Dear Mike:

Hey! It’s me! Well, actually…it’s YOU. This is YOU, writing to YOU…from the year 2008! I’m serious! I’m you! I just wanted to drop you a line and wish you a happy graduation, man. You made it! High school’s over! It’s 1986, and you’ve got your whole summer, and your whole life, ahead of you. And you seriously need to enjoy both, my man.

So you’re probably finally waking up after the big grad party. Very wise of you to not drink—because that’s what everyone was expecting a few of you to do. Plenty of time for drinking (and you will, this summer. Trust me). That was a good time, wasn’t it, just kicking back and staying up all night talking with the classmates? Good memories. You’re really not going to see most of those people much anymore. Some, you’ve just seen for the last time. So hold on to those conversations…and to the memories of those people. They were a great part of your old life. But that part’s over. It’s moving on time.

Oh, so why am I writing? Well, there’s the congrats. Plus, I just thought it’d be fun to let you know a few things that are coming in the future. I got to thinking how much some of the things today—and some of the things that have happened to me—would so blow my mind back in high school. So figured I’d blow your mind, just to see if I was right. 2008. Your brain can’t quite grasp it, can it? So far in the future! And you’re so OLD! How has the world changed? Do we have flying cars? Do you still have your hair?!

Bad news on the hair thing…

But let me jump back a moment to the classmates thing. I told you it’s time to move on, right? Scary thing, big changes, I know. You know all those people who are your friends now, who mean so much to you, who you think you’ll be spending all your time with for the rest of your days? Well…let’s just say, enjoy this summer. Don’t want to bum you out, but things change after high school. Enjoy all your buds in the next three months…but also keep an eye out. You’re going to make some new friends this summer. And THEY’RE actually the ones that will end up hanging out with the rest of your life (so far). It’s cool. They’re good folks. And ALL the old ones aren’t going away, don’t worry. Tim’s still around, obviously. And Rich Straub. Actually, you and Tim and Rich end up sharing a house together in 1995. Crazy, huh? That, by the way, is going to be a good time. Kanas is definitely still around. He did end up becoming a dentist. Has a great wife and a couple of great kids. Rich, too, has a great wife and a couple of great kids. Tim? You and he are still single and bitter. Okay, not really bitter. Still having a great time. You both had some romantic ups and downs along the way, but you’re both still waiting for the right lightning to strike. Did I mention you guys work at the same company? Hey, and you also end up creating a comic together. Seriously! You make absolutely zero money at it (so far), but you’ve got a web site (I know, you have no idea what one of those is) and one issue of a print comic, and you go and sign autographs and get fan mail and everything. It’s pretty cool.

Want some sad news? You know that high school you just left behind forever? You’re currently living around the corner from it. You pass it every day on the way to work. Don’t worry, you did actually leave town. You did some time in Phoenix, Arizona (you went all out when you got your first apartment…you went all the way out of state!), and you did about seven years in San Diego, which was AWESOME. But expensive. You’re back here for a while because it’s more affordable, and because you felt you’d spent too long away from family and friends and needed to be back around them again. Smart move. Got to keep up with the people in your life. They’re important.

You didn’t became a movie director (sorry), but you’re kind of a writer, and you’re trying to be more of one, so that’s cool. You actually ended up in the auto insurance business, doing claims. Who knew, right? It’s not that bad. Pretty good living. Lets you live alone and afford a pretty cool apartment, and it’s an okay career. You could have ended up much worse, believe me.

But, hey, enough about us. Let’s talk about the world! Yeah, it is TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT! What has become of the world?! Let me hit you with a few random samplings.

Cold War’s over. We won. I’m not kidding! The Russians just kind of gave up. And revolted. There’s no more Soviet Union. Communism did not take over the world. McDonald’s did, baby! Russia’s kind of our ally now. Don’t ask me how it all happened, and happened so fast. History works that way sometimes. So no big nuclear war happened (knock wood). Know what’s weird? I kind of miss the Soviets. They were pretty good bad guys. At least they were sane, unlike the current ones (a story for another time).

George Bush’s son is President (George Junior). Most of America hates him. That’s too long of a story to get into here. Oh, dig this…we’re coming up on this big election this year, and the nation’s in this big frenzy over who the nominees for each party will be, and some of the front runners include a woman (a former first lady), a black man (yes, we’ve come THAT far!), a minister, and a Mormon. You feel like Doc Brown right now, don’t you? Ronald Reagan?! The ACTOR?! Who’s Vice President? JERRY LEWIS?! It’s a really exciting time, I think. The days of presidential election blowouts are all over. The nation’s pretty divided. Our last couple of elections were so close there were, like, recounts. I think that’s cool because it means that it’s anyone’s game, that there’s a chance that anyone running can make it. I think that’s the way it should be. Speaking of Doc Brown moments? Arnie is Governor of California. Just kidding. No, actually, I’m not. He really is. On his second term, too. Thankfully we got a Terminator 2 before he went all political. He did Terminator 3 before then, too, but that one kind of sucked. Hey, and there’s a Terminator TV show, too, that just premiered last night. I haven’t watched it yet, so I don’t know if it sucks, too, yet.

Computers are EVERYWHERE. That Commodore 128 you have? It’ll get you through college, and a bit after, but you’re going to join the “PC” revolution like everyone else. Totally badass and powerful computers, man. Everyone has them. And you can’t believe the stuff they do. And they’re all hooked up to this thing called the “World-Wide Web”, or the “internet”. It’s a vast information (and entertainment…and porn) network that the whole world is on. Any info you want, it’s there. Screw libraries. Your PC is your library! Everyone communicates by “email”, these electronic letters you send back and forth instantly. Seriously, even Mom can do it. It’s EVERYWHERE. You use the internet to get all your news—politics, current events, entertainment, sports, ANYthing. You can check sports scores as the games are happening. Hey, want to know what movies John Cusack has done (his career goes great places, by the way. He’s no Tom Hanks, but still…)? You jump on IMBD (the Internet Movie Database) and type in his name, and BOOM…there’s the info. You, personally, use the internet for EVERYTHING. You use it to get airline reservations, do your banking, order groceries, watch movie trailers (“trailers” are “previews”…most people don’t start calling them trailers until the Batman movie comes out in ’89 and the term becomes popular. Did I just give you a heart attack with the idea of a Batman movie? It’s pretty sweet. Michael Keaton plays Batman. Don’t worry, he does a good job, I swear). I can’t even get into all the stuff you can do…there’s too much! There’s these huge videogames you can play “online” with thousands of other people, live, and they’re hugely popular. Videogames themselves get ridiculously popular. Movie are getting made based on the games. The old Atari 2600 is about to become historical, and new, AMAZING consoles are coming out. Everyone in your generation has one. Not just for kids anymore.

One of the bigger things to come out of the internet age is something called “MP3s”. These are “files” of songs, that you can “download” (save to your computer and play). These things totally took over the music industry. CDs are still around (so don’t worry…that CD player you just got for grad is still useful. You actually hang on to that stereo for a lot of years, so take care of it). Cassettes, pretty much gone. Records? Mostly gone, but they have their uses for DJs. No, not DJs like radio DJs. Another long story…. But these days, seems like everyone uses MP3s…and MP3 players. They’re these tiny electronic players that can hold THOUSANDS of songs. You can carry your whole music collection in your pocket. And you don’t have to go to the record store anymore. You just go somewhere online like “iTunes” (the biggest service) and pay a buck per song and just pluck them from the net and start listening in seconds. Well, the more honest people do. You really don’t have to pay for them. It’s easy to get them all for free. That’s kind of a big ethical debate of the past decade. But music is more alive than ever, and now any band around the world can put their songs up on a web page (it would take too long to get into web pages…you run a few of them yourself, actually) and let anyone check them out. Exciting time for music.

Hey, I know you want to know more, but time is short for me, and I’ve got to get to bed. Work in the morning. But I’ll get back to you soon. For now, just wanted to tease you with a few things, and wish you well on your big day. So this is your last summer before college…and it, and the next couple of years, are going to be a blast! You’re going to do a lot of stupid stuff, but have a great time doing it, so enjoy! I’d warn you off some things, but I’ll let you learn your own lessons. Just relax, enjoy, and get ready for some amazing stuff! I’ll be back at you soon.

From the future—

Michael

(You went through a phase and stopped using “Mike”. Don’t ask).

P.S. More Star Wars movies are coming! Bad news? They SUCK!! Sorry…

Back on the Netflix Teat

Didn't think it was ever going to happen, but I just re-signed with Netflix. I have nothing against Netflix at all, mind you. I think it's a great service, for most people, and I love how it gets people seeing films (indy, foreign) that they otherwise never would have watched...just because they feel they need to add something new to their queue (and they've already seen every Austin Powers and Deuce Bigalow film). People get to experience TV shows they never would have seen through Netflix, too (I know there's a lot of Firefly converts out there because of getting the discs on Netflix...and we welcome them to the Browncoat fold!).


When the service first came out, I signed up, and was digging it. This is when it first went live, back when you paid twenty bucks a months and you got three discs at a time. It was cool for a while. But then I hit that inevitable point...I got all the movies I REALLY wanted to see out of the way, and then started trying things I'd always meant to see, or ones that I was just curious about, but those kinds of movies aren't a real big priority (which is probably why I never saw them in the first place). So I found myself with three movies sitting in their little red Netflix envelopes on my coffee table, and I was just never in the mood to watch any of them. I could have just sent them back, of course...but my mind kept telling me I'd ordered them, so I HAD to watch them before I moved on to something else. So I ended up paying $19.99 per month for three movies to sit in my apartment, unwatched, for about four or five months. I finally sent them back when I decided maybe Netflix wasn't for me anymore. And about that time, my TV-watching time started going out the window, too, so there really was no point.

However, today I got obsessed with the idea of seeing the HBO show, "The Wire". I remember watching part of the first episode when it aired, and wasn't really thrilled with it. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood. It seemed slow and not very interesting. Anyone who knows me knows that I usually have no problem with slow in my media (I own the director's cut of "Wyatt Earp", for God's sake...), so I'm thinking it probably was mood. I usually try not to judge a show by its first ep only, and usually like to give it at least three before I write it off. Didn't get back to this one, though.

But I've been seeing promos for their upcoming (final) season, and a browsing of some reviews on Amazon have me really jazzed to try again. I'm liking what I'm hearing, how the whole series is described as a "visual novel", how there are dozens of main characters the show follows, and how all the different pieces fit together. I like that several people's reviews said it was impossible to properly describe the show in just a short review, that you just have to experience it to understand. And how they're saying that it's not a show you can just casually watch while cooking dinner or paying your bills - there's a lot of small details, and you really have to pay attention, and maybe even watch each ep more than once. I love shows like that!

What I don't love is HBO's price point when it comes to their DVD sets. In short - they screw you. HBO shows are (usually) only thirteen episodes long. And they want to charge you, often, up to a hundred bucks to own them (like with "Sopranos, Season 6, Part 1" - if you want to own the whole Season 6, you end up paying $200). In general, HBO prices their 13-ep seasons of their shows at $60.00. I am not going to pay $60 for 13 episodes when, generally, on any other show from any other network, I can spend twenty bucks less (often less than that) and get nearly twice as many episodes. I'd love to own the first two seasons of Carnivale. I'd love to try some Deadwood. At those prices? No. And you wonder why Bittorrent TV downloads are becoming such a problem for the networks...

My normal way of trying out a show that enough people have recommended to me is just to buy it. I did that with Veronica Mars (hey, and that was JOSS WHEDON recommending it...), which I still haven't gotten around to watching yet. But I know it's there, on my rack, if and when the mood strikes. And the cost was reasonable enough where I felt it was worth the money to have that kind of instant and anytime access to the set. But while I'm getting the feeling I'm going to dig The Wire a lot and probably will WANT to own them, I'm also not going to shell out $240 just to watch the first four seasons. So...

So it hit me today that Netflix was probably the best option. And unlike when I was with them before, there are different subscription options. There's a really low-level one that lets you pay on $4.99 per month, but that means you're restricted to one movie at a time, and can only have two movies per month. I like the one disc at a time thing just fine, so that's cool for me. But if I really get on a run (if I find time) and watch to start zooming through a TV show, I'd like the option to get the new disc as soon as I send back the previous one, and not have to worry about how many a month I can have. So I went with their $8.99 option, which is the one-at-a-time, no limit per month option. I think I can justify affording that. Especially if I mainly focus on TV show seasons, as that's four hours of TV per disc. And if a disc ends up on the coffee table for a couple of months (which I'm sure will happen at some point), well, I won't feel quite as bad about it at only $8.99. I thought about looking into the Blockbuster.com thing, as you can go return the movies and pick up new ones at the store if you don't feel like waiting for the mail, but then I realized...I'll never go to the store. I hate stopping on the way home from work. I'll never use that option. I want everything to come to me...I don't want to go out and get it.

So, for now, I'm back with Netflix, and I'll see how it goes, and see if I stick with it after I get through The Wire (assuming everyone else out there isn't wrong and I end up hating it...). Who knows? Maybe I'll even start catching up on some of those many, MANY movies I've missed in the theaters since I started sucking at making it to the theaters the past few years. I'll start browsing. Ooh, I could finally see "Last King of Scotland". This is starting to sound like a good idea...

FQA (Frequent Questions Answered) about Nicole

1. No, I didn't choose the name "Nicole". It was the name already on the "model" I chose, so I just stuck with it. It's not some kind of fetish of mine or something.

2. Yes, I did add the glasses. That IS a fetish of mine...

3. That photo in the background is my actual living room.

4. That's a framed poster of "High Fidelity" on the wall.

5. The thin framed one above the fireplace is a photo of Dublin (Ireland, not California).

6. Nicole is blocking the TV. She's a better door than a window.

7. Yes, I did give her that necklace. Why do you...oh. OH! Come on! No more questions from Russ. Good God.

8. I'll probably keep her around since it's a more entertaining way to update the site than me rambling on.

9. In case you hadn't noticed, if you move your mouse around the page, she follows it with her eyes. Creepy, isn't it?

10. Yes, I was wearing a bra on my head when I created her. It's ceremonial.

New Nicole update for the week

www.michaeloconnell.com

She works hard for the money, so you'd better treat her right.

The Blackout Blog - Epilogue

"I...have...the poweeeeeerrrr!!!" - He-Man

Monday night, home, with power.

I checked out at the Holiday Inn and went straight to work. About mid-day I called my landlady to check, and sure enough, we had power. Apparently our problem was a downed line. From what she tells me, where it was, SMUD probably wouldn't have found it if our handyman hadn't found it first and chased the truck down and told them about it. So I dealt with the office today. NIGHTmare. Down all Friday, and THEN our phones went down over the weekend, and were still down when I got there. So everyone who tried to call our company got a busy signal. Phones finally got back online mid-day, and the calls and voice mails started flying. Got many, many fires to put out. Going to be a long week.

But that's for tomorrow. Today, I left the office and came home and found my complex all lit up, after days of driving home and just seeing the black hole. Needless to say, I was in very, very good spirits. I came in with my backpack and opened the door, to find that when the power came on, my TV and my sound mixer popped on, so I was greeted with Wheel of Fortune in HD. Vanna never looked so good. Well, maybe in that Playboy issue... Hey, I was in high school when that came out. Of COURSE I looked at it...

So all but one of my clocks is reset (I'll get to the alarm clock when I turn in). My phone and answering machine are working. I've got the heater turned on (new storm coming in tonight). And most importantly, I have my computer back. Oh, I missed it so. And was happy to see it didn't fry in the power outage. My home is my home again, not a dark, cold place viewed by flashlight. My home is really important to me. It's my oasis, my safe place. Having that taken away for a few days really brought that home to me. Good to have it back. Hope the rest of Sac is doing as well with their power.

Speaking of being home...got some things to do and I want to make it an early night. And I want to read a BOOK. Just didn't get into the idea of book readin' by candlelight. Going to enjoy being able to make out the words tonight, and drift off to sleep...with my TV glowing in the background, playing some familiar film that I've seen but that I'm not SO into that it'd keep me away. Finally, a normal good night's sleep awaits. Whew.

Off to Safeway.com to order groceries. BOO ya! I've been off fast food for quite some time, and having to return to it reminded me why. No more fast food! Ugh! Frozen dinners and yogurt coming my way!

The Blackout Blog - Day 3

12:48pm

“I’m in the dark here! I’m in the DAARRRKKK!” – Al Pacino, “Scent of a Woman”

Okay, I’m out in the daylight, but it seemed an appropriate quote to start another powerless day in weather-spanked Sacramento. I’m on the patio. Nice out. Some clouds, some blue, not really cold. We got a good chunk of rain last night, but it’s giving us a break today so far. I’d see how long that’s going to last…but I can’t exactly go to Weather.com and find out. Looking forward to getting to work tomorrow to get some internet access back! Sadly, I won’t be able to check my home email, as my work blocks AOL’s site. Didn’t get around to doing that at Tim’s last night since we left so late, and we started the movie almost immediately when I got there.

The generator’s going again across the way. As I’m typing this, two of my neighbors are walking by. From what I can see on the bags, they’re coming back from Wal-Mart. He’s carrying a box of firewood on his shoulder. She has two Wal-Mart bags in one hand and a lantern in the other. No one’s clinging to the “maybe we’ll get power back tonight” hope anymore. We’re all prepared for the long wait.

My folks are here. Not RIGHT here. They got here about an hour ago, and are currently out trying to do my laundry. I feel kind of bad because they came all the way down the mountain to try to help me out today, but there’s not much they can do. As I said, we have no reason to hit the store. Still can’t store any food. Jack (my stepfather) is completely baffled over why I’d be getting the minimal juice that I am. Did I mention he’s been in construction for decades? It’s a mystery to him, but I’m not complaining. That’s really the one thing keeping me from getting a motel room (if any are even open in the area, come to think of it)…I don’t mind sitting in the dark and the cold as long as I can write. If I wasn’t able to accomplish anything, I’d be going insane.

So since laundry can’t be done at my complex, Mom was wondering where there’s a Laundromat (why did my Word spellchecker just automatically capitalize that word? Didn’t know that was a trademark. Interesting). I let her know there is one on the corner, where they have power, but it occurred to me that it’s not only Sunday, but it’s a Sunday where big chunks of the city don’t have power – including everyone in this complex, and they’re probably all there since it’s walking distance. It’s probably standing room only. They went to give it a shot anyway, and are brining me back some lunch. Before they left, I had another hit of good fortune. I told you my house phones are dead and don’t work, and the cell was down to one bar this morning and charging really slow with the wall socket, and I was telling my mother that I may not hear them if they try to call. Suddenly, I remembered that, for no really good reason, I had kept my old non-cordless phone that I used to have in my bedroom back in San Diego, and had shoved it in a drawer in my kitchen. At least, I was pretty sure I was remembering that. I checked, and sure enough, it was there, and I plugged it in and it works fine. No answering machine, but now I have a home phone that I can use, so I’m not as worried about cell power. Another one in the “score!” column.

And that phone rang before I came out here with the laptop (and a cigar). Mom, telling me I was right. That Laundromat (tm) has a line going across the mini mall. They’re now out driving around trying to find another one. I’m thinking they may not be able to do laundry today. But then again, this IS my mother, and queen of finding a way, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it all comes together. Mom is on the job, yo! She should write a book, and you should all read it.

Sitting here listening to that generator, I’m starting to have issues with “I Am Legend”. Will Smith had a big one going. I know it was inside his house, but come on…all of New York was dead silent. Like the zombies WEREN’T going to hear it. Though I can’t remember if he turned it off after sundown, come to think of it. I’ll have to see it again.

Mom just called. Twice, actually. I heard the ringing, and didn’t want to leave the laptop sitting out here to be snatched (maybe by zombies….), so I closed it up and tried to get me and my chair back in there and grab it. Got as far as the kitchen when it stopped ringing. No caller ID on that phone. Was it Mom? Didn’t know. I waited a couple minutes, didn’t ring again. So I went back out. Started typing, and it started ringing. Got me, the chair and the laptop back in again…stopped ringing again. Decided I’d call Mom, but realized I have no idea what her number is. Don’t know ANYone’s number in this day and age. It’s all speed dial in the 21^st century. Didn’t want to unplug the cell, but I have my life set up with backups for this kind of thing….got my address book in my palm pilot. So called her. They’re at Jack in the Box right now. Told you Mom would find a way….they called my step-brother-in-law, Rick, and he’s home this afternoon. He and my step-sister Wendy live nearby, and that have power (theirs came back on late last night) so we can do laundry over there. So looks like I’ll just wait for the folks to make it back here, eat my stuff they’re bringing, and follow them over. Haven’t gotten a chance to hang out with Rick since Thanksgiving, so this’ll be a nice break in an otherwise dark day. I’ll be back.

7:18pm

“Leave your cares, right on the stairs…”

(That’ll make sense in a minute. To some of you. Mostly those of you who are old and are down with Bing Crosby…)

Well, no power here, as per usual. But looks like that’s not going to be an issue tonight.

Had a nice time visiting with Rick over there. Very nice of him to let us use their washer and dryer. Wendy was out of town until later in the evening, so we unfortunately didn’t get to say hi to her. Rick, a musician, has this AWESOME recording setup. In that it’s all on his dining room table. They’ve pretty much used up all their room space in their place, so for him to get his new gear set up, he had to improvise. He took over the corner the dining room table is in. Their table is covered with soundboards and mixers and such, and at the one end, in the corner, there’s his guitar on a stand, a mic on a stand, and his PC next to it. Pretty slick stuff. I respect a man who knows how to set up a recording studio with limited space…

Okay, some excitement happening here. As I was just sitting here in the blackness, flashing lights began to brighten the parking lot. And what would come into view but a SMUD truck! Yes, they know where we are! This is one of those power trucks with the gondola things on them and the long arm to lift it up. Yellow and white lights are spinning on it, lighting things up, and it just pulled slowly though our small parking lot, inching its way along, then backed up. Like it’s looking for something. This, of course, has brought several neighbors out to look. A ray of hope? Adding to the strangeness of this is the endless sound of sirens, as, for some reason, no less than five cop cars have just sped by. And I think I just heard one stop nearby? Oh, and now a copter just flew by overhead. Okay, I know the idea of us getting our power back is pretty cool and all, but I didn’t think it was THAT big of a deal…

The truck is now gone, maybe out to the street. I assume this means they’re working on it…finally. How they’ll do with it is anyone’s guess.

Anyway, had a nice visit with Rick while Mom did laundry, with interesting background video. Someone has passed him a movie to watch on DVD, and he’d just started it before we showed up, and left it on. So as the family’s sitting around chatting, Milla Jovavich is flipping through the air kicking/shooting/stabbing zombies in the background. Your typical Norman Rockwell scene, you know. After this ended he popped in “Help!” (I know it sounds like a horror film, kids, but it’s a film featuring a band we used to have called “the Beatles”. You might have learned about them in history class). Way too much fun seeing that again. It’s horrible! But in such a great way! Rick has a few years on me, so that was much more his era, but I was close enough to it to have the appreciation. I might have to pick up that film myself sometime. Horribly fantastic.

We headed back here after (in separate cars…I took my van, as I recently found that trying to climb in and out of their van is a workout I’d prefer to avoid), and I got home as it was just getting dark. They followed a few minutes after…Mom stopped at the store to get me some stuff (non-fridge stuff). And Mom would not stop worrying the cold. I kept telling her it’s really not all that cold (even sitting outside right now is fine), but she also knows there’s a cold front coming in, and could not stop worrying about me freezing in here tonight. I finally convinced them to get on the road, and that I’d be fine, and I left at the same time, as I figured I was going to kill some time this eve and finally see that Charlie Wilson’s War. But as I got to the theater, my cell phone rang. Well, I ALMOST had them convinced. They were calling from the Holiday Inn near me, where they were getting me a room for the night. I think the problem is that they were here when the sun went down and actually saw me sitting in a dark cold apartment. There’s a point when you know arguing’s not going to work anymore (like, the point where they’ve already got the room) so I gave in and accepted. I decided to skip the movie and get back here instead, as I’d have some final things to do. Like shaving. I haven’t shaved in several days and I look like shoe bomber Richard Reid. Since I have to work tomorrow (I’m assuming we have power there…), I figured I’d better. Shaving in the dark. Not an easy feat. With my whole goatee thing going, shaving for me requires a trimmer, a clipper, some small scissors and a razor. Didn’t want to cart all those to the hotel. And I need to pack up a couple of things, since it doesn’t make much sense to get up in the morning and come back here to get ready when I can do it in the light at the hotel. So figuring out everything I’ll need so I can get out of here.

Here’s my prevailing theory, by the way, since the helicopter’s still circling. A couple of dangerous felons escaped, jacked a couple of SMUD workers and took their truck. SMUD still doesn’t know where we are, but the cops are looking for their truck.

Okay, just heard a police radio loudspeaker, from the copter. When everything’s quiet, you can hear that kind of thing well. It said that the suspect they were looking for is now in custody and they’re giving the all-clear. And since I just saw the truck come back in the lot for a minute and leave again, I’ll assume those are actual SMUD workers, not the whole cast of Fox’s “Prison Break”. So they seem to be working our area, but, as the folks insisted, I should do the hotel anyway, just in case they don’t actually get it up and going tonight, or in case they only get it up temporarily. So I’d better get moving, since it’s now getting close to 8:00. Thanks to the generosity of the folks, guess I won’t be eating Pringles in the dark tonight.

10:30pm

Ahhhhhhh.

Writing from my room at the Holiday Inn. My plan was to check in and then head to the hotel bar and write this from there, but I found out the internet access I have is Ethernet only, not wireless, so I stayed in here. Where I could check email!!! And there’s light!! And it’s warm!! And there’s TV!! And where things are sanitized for MY protection!

By the way, here’s another score for the mother-knows-best theory of the universe. I finished typing that last section and went back into the apartment, only to find that my temporary juice was gone for good. Guess SMUD’s out there working, since they took the last of my power away. So I’d have been stuck there tonight with no way to charge the cell and no more laptop. That would have been a long evening, to be sure.

Grabbed some clothes for tomorrow, and threw some things into a backpack – shaving kit full of toiletries, laptap, socks, jockeys, power cords, breakfast bars, one book, one umbrella. As I got outside, it was just starting to sprinkle – the rain’s coming in again. I got in the van and left my still-dark complex. I made two rights and started taking a residential street that would get me back on Madison. I could see more storm remnants still here – a street sign on one corner was lying on the sidewalk on its side. Fences were down. More branches were scattered. And the street was totally dark, part of my same blackout region. As I made my third right, I found the SMUD truck. It was on the side of the street, rolling slowly. It turned to make a u-turn, and I waited and let him do so. He passed, and I could see the SMUD driver (in his hard hat) behind the wheel. It was dark, so I don’t know if he saw me, but I gave him a big thumbs-up as he drove by. He can cruise my neighborhood ANY time.

So I’m all checked in here, and have a warm, nice room. Have to crash here pretty quick, but I might see if I can actually get this thing posted up while I have a link to work with. Going to drive by my complex on the way to the office tomorrow and see if I see lights. Hope so, hope so. Then I can go home and order some groceries. That’s cool – I’ve been meaning to replace that ketchup anyway. I think it’s been there in the door for two years or more.

So hopefully this is the last of the Blackout Blogs. Hopefully back to business as usual tomorrow. That’d be nice. You know, as annoying and inconvenient as this has been, part of me is kind of glad it happened. I think we all need a reminder, once in a while, that our safety and security and comfort is really all an illusion, and can be taken away just like that. Big, serious disasters can drop on us at any time, not just ones like this one. We need to be prepared, and experience is the best preparation of all. So I think it’s a good thing that a few (okay, a LOT) of us NorCal folks got to get this drill. We now know what to stock, what to prepare for, what to do and what to expect. Every bad experience is nothing more than a lesson to be learned. I learned a lot from this one.

Things I’m grateful for – free movie passes, hot water, barely-there electricity and a laptop that worked through the whole thing, not having thrown out an old phone like I really should have, Ron Popeil for inventing tiny lights you can stick anywhere, an electric company that actually answers their phone at three in the morning, tires that don’t pop even after running over miles of road debris, strangers, friends, and most of all, family.

See you on the light side.

The Blackout Blog - Day 2

01/05/08

4:00pm

Still no power. Woke up still in the dark today. The semi-working outlet still seems to be doing its job. The laptop is charged. I unplugged it and went to battery for a bit and plugged my cell phone charger in there and got it back up to full. Which is good, since I can’t use my house phone. The whole complex is still down. It was raining when I got up, but it seems to have stopped for now. However, I also know that the next storm is rolling in today…the COLD one. And me with no heat.

Haven’t done too much today. A little reading, a little writing. But the dark and the lack of options and the constant wondering is distracting and keeping me from being too productive. A neighbor of mine asked me if I’d called SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utilities District) and reported my outage yet. I said no, because I’m pretty sure they know about it, and they’ve got so many outages (someone just told me 1.3 million people in NorCal are without power) that they probably don’t need more people calling. He suggested that the more of us who call from here, the better than chance of them getting to us sooner. Made sense. So I called, and actually got someone on the phone in a lot less time than I would have expected. He took my outage info, and I made sure he was aware that it was the whole complex. So maybe my one more report will help. He said all he could find, info-wise, was that it was a nearby circuit here that was causing outages at about 200 homes. They’re aware of it, but there’s no ETA on when they’re getting to it. That’s too bad, as that dampened my “any minute now, the lights will pop back on again” hope.

So I think I’m going to stop my hoping for the best and start planning for another dark night. I have zero food, and haven’t done anything about that all day. Looks like tomorrow (when I hope to have power again) I’ll throw it all out and do a shopping trip. You know I have absolutely nothing in my home, food-wise, that doesn’t go in the fridge or freezer? I’ve only got about 30 minutes of daylight left, so I think I’ll use it to get myself ready as best I can and go out and get some food. I can’t shower, so I’m stinky, so I really don’t want to be around too many people, so probably no movie tonight like last night. I think I’ll hit the store and get some non-fridge eats to have around, and then hit a drive-up window on the way back for some warm dinner. Warm sound good, because the temp’s going to start dropping fast in here tonight. I’d better hurry up and get to this before the rain starts in again.

4:50pm

I have hot water!! What the--?

I was brushing my teeth and suddenly noticed the sink was putting out the hot kind of agua, much to my surprise. Now that I think about it, I have two utility bills…one for SMUD, and the smaller one for PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric), which is where my hot water comes from. I’d just assumed everything was down. See what happens when you assume? You, me? ASSES. Does that mean SMUD service only is down, and PG&E is up? Thinking about it, I have no real idea how water heaters work. Does having it now mean that’s all I have left, or does that mean I just have it, period? Don’t know, but I took the chance to hop in and get a nice hot shower (awesome) and feel much more motivated since I don’t smell anymore. Cool. Now that I don’t, maybe a movie is in order. Once again, I can’t check movie times, so I called the 411 operator and had her check the Folsom theater and see if “No Country…” was still showing (last week it was down to one showing a day). Nope. So I had her read me off the other possibles. She mentioned one I’d forgotten all about – “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Hey, I like Hanks, I REALLY like P.S.H. (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and it’s written by Aaron Sorkin. Sadly, it does have Julia Roberts in it… Regardless, might be good. Had her check the same theater I went to last night, on Garfield, and there’s a 6:20 and a 9:30. I’ll probably skip the first one. Too close. But I’ll go get some goodies and some dinner and come back and see how I feel about it.

And it’s now dark, and the rain has started again. I’m off to brave it. Maybe I’ll come back home and find lights and cable TV and that new-fangled “world-wide web” I’ve heard so much about. We’ll see.

8:35pm

Nope. No power yet.

For most of us. I forgot to mention something happening in the complex. We’re all in the dark, except for one apartment, which is partially lit. Why? Because those tenants seem to have hooked themselves up a generator. I first heard it early in the afternoon. When it went on, I didn’t know what it was…it sounded like someone was mowing the lawn. Or using a leaf-blower. Or maybe a wood-chipper. I took a little hope, thinking it might be a work crew trying to get our power back. Maybe a tree had fallen, and they were clearing it before getting the lines fixed. Though I started to notice that the noise was constant, and not going away. I later noticed what it really was. They have some kind of gas generator set up out on their patio. I can see low lights inside. This makes them annoying for two reasons. One, a childish one – they have lights (maybe even a TV and DVD player going) and we don’t. Second, and I think justifiably, it’s REALLY LOUD. It’s pitch black out here with no other sound to hear (which you can hear in your apartment) but what sounds like landscaper doing night work. Getting close to 9:00 at night here, and that thing’s still grinding away. Even if I HAD one? I’d personally never use it, just out of courtesy to the neighbors (some of whom may be trying to sleep already). I used to have this air pump that sounded a lot like that (it since broke) that I used to put air in my wheelchair tires, but I’d only use it during the day.

No movie. Before I left I got a call from my pal A.T. (who has power), and he said he was thinking of dropping by and keeping me company. So I figured I’d stay in. Last I heard from him, about an hour ago, he was finishing some things up and trying to get his kids to bed. If he gets here early enough, we may head over to Tim’s house. Tim, who has power. He doesn’t have heat, as the guys trying to install the central heat and air in his place Friday found a problem and have to come back Monday, but he’s got a TV, for crying out loud! And an internet connection! I could check email! But if too much more time passes, we may not bug him, and might just hang out here and have a couple of drinks and play wait-for-the-lights. An evening with A.T. by candlelight. Hadn’t seen that in my future.

Ah, there goes the rain again. It had actually stopped just as I was leaving, and it’s been dry since. But now it begins. I’m back on the patio while waiting for A.T. Figured I’d have a cigar. I had Wendy’s for dinner (haven’t had that in a long time), because I tried to go to Burger King and found that whole block was black – and the BK sign destroyed by yesterday’s wind. I hit the store and got some breakfast bars, some Pringles, a Sprite (just one, since I wouldn’t be able to keep others cold) and a couple of those RonCo lights you see on the commercials. You know, the ones you “stick anywhere” and click on for light? I have one going on my kitchen counter to keep some light in there. Seemed safer than a candle. A.T. tells me he and his wife, Lynn, had an apartment back during the last monster Sac storm in ‘96, and their power was out for three days. Sigh. Well, almost two down.

Hey, the generator just went off. I can actually hear the rain…and myself think. Wonder if they turned it off for the night or ran out of gas?

Good news. Tonight A.T. was home transferring a VHS tape to his computer and burning it to DVD. This is a big thing on my 2008 to-do list, starting to get all my old camcorder tapes (about a decade of them) into digital format before the tapes start to degrade too much and they’re lost. So A.T. has done the groundwork for me, and he can just show me what to do. Sweet! Now I can start making “best of” DVDs for friends of mine with all the old moments we shared during my film-everything period of my life. Then again, some of them might not WANT me to do that.

Going back inside. We’ll see what the A.T. and Tim status is.

Another Saturday night and I AIN’T got no power

I got no MySpace and got no eBay

Oh how I wish I had SOME way to email

I’m in an awful way…

9:10pm

Wow, THAT’s annoying as hell. Tried to put the plug in my cell phone to charge it some. Remember I mentioned how this outlet’s, like, really in and out? It charged the cell just fine earlier, but now it’s getting the same on-and-off thing I get with the laptop. And whenever you plug the cord into my cell, it makes this chime sound (and yet, won’t ring when someone calls…). It does that when you UNplug it, too. So it keeps going from power to not, and the bell just keeps ringing and ringing. Can’t put up with that right now. Still got two bars. I’ll try it again later when I go to bed and can turn the cell off.

Talked to A.T., who’s getting Parker (his daughter) some tea, putting on his shoes, and heading here. Called Tim real quick, he’s down for us coming over. Which is cool since I haven’t gotten to see his new house yet. Plus, he’s got a fire going. So instead of A.T. by candlelight, I’ll have Tim and A.T. by a roaring fire. My evening just keeps getting more gay by the hour. So we’ll probably grab some beverages and hang out there until midnight or so. I’ll drive once A.T. gets here, so that way we’ll come back here to get his car, and can walk me in, since fumbling with my keys and a flashlight coming home last night was a bit of a challenge. Dare I dream I won’t have to worry about it when I return? Lights, internet, action? We’ll see.

3:00am

I’m serious – 3:00am right on the nose. Not 2:59. Not 3:01. Right on the money. I am THAT good.

No power. We made it over to Tim’s, hung out, watched a movie (Hellboy – I’d started the film before a couple of times but always got interrupted, never got back to it. Tim has been bugging me for like three years to see the whole thing, so tonight was the night, and now I’m all up to speed and ready for the sequel. Got the tour of Tim’s place. Nice. Very much a work in progress. He’s doing all manner of stuff. The bathroom’s torn up for the remodel (he’s having to shower at his folk’s place until it’s done), there’s holes in the walls, lights hanging down, etc. Room by room is how you fix your fixer-upper, and he’s taking it one step at a time. Going to come together nicely, I can tell. Sadly, looks like there’s not going to be room in there for the awesome bar that his father built for him that’s followed him for two moves now. Looks like the bar will end up staying in the garage. Doesn’t that kind of encourage drinking and driving, though?

Got back home, my complex is still in a big black hole. A.T. (having a lot of vodka in him) decided to call SMUD and pretend he was me and try to get some more answers (at 3am). He put it on speaker on his cell. A very nice young woman basically said there’s no timetable on my area…and they aren’t giving ANYONE timetables because they don’t want to raise false expectations. She did mention that the company plan is to have absolutely everyone back up by Monday or Tuesday night. TUESDAY? Wow. Well, what are you going to do? Like I said, lots and lots of people without power, and this company’s working the problems, round the clock. And I’m sure they’re dealing with many angry people calling and giving them hell over all the inconvenience, etc, etc. I don’t want to be that guy. I work in customer service. I’m on the phone with whiney customers all day who think the universe revolves around them and that their little problem is the greatest tragedy ever faced by mortal man. Okay, you know what? Life happens. SMUD didn’t cause the storm, SMUD didn’t make all the trees fall down. SMUD is doing their best. Seriously, how could they NOT be? The NorCal press is surely all over them. It sucks for everyone, not just me. I really hate people who demand to be moved to the front of the line just because they feel that’s owed to them (again, because the vast universe spins clockwise ‘round their visage). If I gotta wait, I gotta wait.

So, I got hot water (apparently), I got a laptop (though charging is starting to take a lot longer with this weak juice), I got a cell phone and some light sources. I’ll make due. The folks are planning to make it tomorrow, but I don’t know what they can do or if they should waste the drive. There’s no power in the laundry room for mom to do my laundry. And I was going to take them with me grocery shopping so they could carry all my stuff for me, but I’m not getting any stuff if I’ve got no working fridge to put it in. I’m seeing a lot of fast food in my next couple of days if something doesn’t turn around. So, guess I should get some sleep here. Again, really hard to without that TV to nod off to. But since I stayed up this late, hopefully I’ll drop fast. And the good news is that it doesn’t seem all that cold in here right now. Hope that holds true tomorrow night…if I’m powerless still.

The Blackout Blog

01/04/08

Northern California got its ASS kicked today.

As I’m writing this, it’s Friday night, around 10:00pm. I’m outside on my patio. And my laptop screen appears to be the only illumination in about a two-mile radius. Okay, it just seems like that from where I’m sitting.

You may have heard that we had a big winter storm hit Northern Cal today. And if you’re not from California, you may have laughed. On the radio tonight, I heard a DJ talking about being a transplant here in California. And he’ll often hear other transplants from other states get attitude whenever Californians whine about their weather. “This is nothing,” they’ll scoff. “Try a tornado sometime. Try a hurricane. This is nothing!” After saying this, the DJ said, “This? This is not nothing. This is SOMEthing.”

I woke up this morning and turned on the local news right away, knowing what was blowing in today. Already they had reporters stationed for live cut-ins from different trouble spots – the Donner Pass, the Yolo causeway, the airport. The Sacramento valley, itself, was getting sustained winds of 35mph at the time, but they were getting up to 60mph. Rain was coming hard, and coming horizontal. Power lines and trees were going down. Multiple—MULTIPLE—big rigs were just plain blowing over on the freeways. Flooding was beginning. Power outages everywhere. And it wasn’t even 7am yet.

I got up to prepare myself for what was sure to be an adventurous drive to the office. I had to clock a little “library time” (sorry), so as I often do, I took my laptop with me. I had just gotten on and signed into my work email to see if there were any office weather warnings of any kind when my power went out at home. Oh, well. At least I had my laptop, right? Oh…no power means no cable modem. My connection cut immediately. So much for getting any work done BEFORE work. There in the dark I could hear the roaring winds outside, the rain pelting everything, the occasional ruckus of something breaking loose and skittering away in the wind. At least my power was back after a little bit, allowing me to get a hot shower. And my power was still on when I headed outside.

I had my umbrella in hand, but one look at the wind made me realize it was useless to open. I’d just lose it. So, since the brave man likes the feel of nature on his face (wisdom from the great Egg Shen), I braved the rain and got into my van, pretty soaked. I got the radio on right away to get what reports I could, and they already sounded pretty scary. Lights down all over, they said. Sounded bad, but I didn’t realize how bad until I got out onto the streets. Branches and limbs in every lane. And the strength of the storm really hit home when I got on Winding Way and to the side street I use to get over to Manzanita. I couldn’t use it today…because of the entire TREE that was lying across it. By the way, driving a van in 60-plus MPH winds? Not a good idea. Driving one with a REALLY touchy steering system in it? A feat of daring best left to professionals, like myself. Do not try it at home. Seriously, my van would not fit into your home… So I harnessed my veteran driving skills and faced the sways of the storm, and expertly dodged one obstruction after the next on the streets. Limbs. Shrubbery. Signs. A colorful variety of trash. And I dealt patiently with the fellow drivers out there. We’ll call them the dip****s. You know, the ones who don’t seem to notice there’s a major near-hurricane storm going on around them and drive at their normal 50-60? The ones who blow through intersections where the lights aren’t working, because if there ain’t no red there, they must not have to stop? I passed a couple of them on the side of the road, standing in the rain next to their now-dented cars, and wondered if I’d be the one to end up handling their claim later.

I managed to get nearly all the way to work. I was waiting for my turn at an intersection (where the lights weren’t working) when my cell phone started vibrating (my ringer is busted, so my old-ass phone only vibrates now). It was Tim calling from the office. He asked where I was, and I told him just about ready to turn in. He let me know that the power was out in our building, and had been for about 40 minutes. And, therefore, the elevator didn’t work, and since our office was on the second floor. In fact, our intern, Justin, was actually STUCK in the elevator and waiting for someone to get him out…just as I would have been if I’d been a little earlier, probably. As he was telling me this, he paused and told someone that he had me on the phone, and I was just pulling into the parking lot. Turned out to be my boss. Oh, good. Now my boss KNEW I was 10 minutes late. Thought today, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

So, best I could do was just pull in to the parking lot and wait. Hey, at least I got to sit and listen to the radio while the storm rocked my van back and forth (go ahead…knock…it’s not what you think). After a bit, Tim came out and ran through the rain and jumped into the van with me. He would have called but he lost cell signal (probably due to a tower going down). He let me know that everyone upstairs was basically doing nothing. Our boss, Debbie, had let everyone know that the cutoff was two hours. If there was no power after two hours, everyone got to go home. So at this point, we had just under an hour to wait. Tim hung out for a while, then, since he couldn’t get anyone else upstairs to answer their cells (they probably lost towers, too), he decided to head back up and see what was happening. I mentioned that since we were about 45 minutes to deadline, with my luck, the power was likely to go on in about 20 minutes. Tim chastised for jinxing us and then jumped back out into the storm.

I had some time in the van, and realized I had just recently added something to my 2008 to-do list, something I’d been meaning to do for about a year and a half—figure out how to program my car stereo and do station presets. I’d just never bothered to take out the manual and figure it out, since I was usually thinking of doing do right when I was needing to get out of the van and didn’t have time. So I pulled it out of the door pouch, figured it out (I waited a year and a half for something that took about two minutes? I think there’s a lesson there), and set up my six stations. Cool beanage. I also checked in with my mother, who’s living up in the Lakeport area. They had no power (and no heat…and it’s COLD up there), and the pond next to their house, thanks to the rain, was now UNDER the house (the house is raised for that very reason). They had headed into town for food (and my Mom to find a public restroom to put on her makeup in, as she couldn’t at home). She and I talked for a bit, and as I was looking up, I saw the lights pop on upstairs at the office. I noted the time. Almost exactly twenty minutes. Damn. If only my sister hadn’t made me listen to the “Secret” CDs. Look what I manifested! I don’t know the limits of my own terrible power! Tim beeped in almost immediately and blamed it on me. And he also let me know that an elevator guy had come in and rescued Justin. Me, not wanting to meet Justin’s fate, I decided to wait in the van for another ten minutes or so. The lights stayed on, so I decided to risk it.

I got upstairs (and let out my held breath once the elevators doors opened) and headed inside, where everyone was bitchy, both because they had ALMOST gotten to go home and because the servers were slow coming back, so some systems were working, others not. I got booted up and seemed to have pretty much everything working. I started working a couple of files. There was an attorney I needed to call back asap to finalize a total loss deal on their client’s vehicle and request a fax of the title so I could issue payment. I got her on the line (“Blanch” was the paralegal’s name. Refreshing, isn’t it, that there are still women in this world named Blanch in 2007? I wanted to ask her if a Stella or a Rhoda worked their, too) and got most of the details out. I was just telling her about faxing in the title when our power went out again. Both my monitors went black, and, on my phone headset, Blanch started sounding very far away and her voice faded to almost nothing. Then the power kicked back on. Blanch started to return. I started to tell her about our power problems. Then it went out again. Blanch again faded, and by the time I figured out how to switch from headset to handset, she had already hung up. I would have called her back, but her number, of course, was on my now-lifeless computer.

I rolled around in the dark (not total dark – we had the windows, thought it was gray and stormy outside) to get an idea of what was happening with the office situation. And it seemed the two-hour clock just started over, which didn’t make people happy. This was around 11:00. People were very frustrated, and a lot of them (if not most) were just going to take lunch then and hope that there was power when we got back. People started getting on cells to call food places to find out if they had any power. A buddy of mine got Togo’s on the phone. Their power was out, but they were still selling cold sandwiches only. Tim, himself, had run out to get lunch at that same Togo’s and had just come back in the door with his sandwich, and he said they’d had power five minutes before when he was there.

Tim started eating his lunch and I just hung out there at his desk (with nothing else to do) when we heard a commotion at the end of the aisle. Turns out Debbie had officially called it, and told everyone to go home. Woo hoo! Hey, if it’s got to happen, might as well be on a Friday. Early start to the weekend. Plus, that meant none of us were going to have to deal with rush hour storm nightmares. People started streaming out. I waited with Tim while he finished his lunch, as I was going to have him get me down the stairs (elevators, not an option. Just ask Justin, who’s probably claustrophobic now). One person after the next kept coming over and asking me if I needed help, to which Tim kept answering, with attitude, “Please. We’ve been doing this for 30 years.” And we have. Even under sometimes challenging circumstances (Margarita Village, Tijuana, Mexico, 1986. A story for another time). And then Debbie came by and wondered aloud how we were going to get me down. Tim gave her the same answer. She said she wasn’t comfortable with that (keep in mind we ARE an insurance company…). Which offended Tim. I told her that likely I’d just hold onto the rail and walk myself down (I can still manage that…as long as the direction is down) and Tim would carry the chair. She said she wasn’t comfortable with that either. She’d feel better with someone helping me walk down while Tim carried the chair. Well, okay. We had a number of volunteers right there. So we all went to the stairs. I was ready to get up, but Tim, stewing at the lack of confidence in his skills, looked back and said, “She here? No. Fine.”, and proceeded to just quickly and expertly get me and my chair down two flights of stairs in fluid, practiced motion, and in seconds. Yes, folks…we know what we’re doing. And Tim then headed back upstairs, satisfied, to finish his lunch.

Me, I went back out in the rain, again not bothering with the umbrella, which just would have ended up turning inside out in seconds. I loaded up and strapped in behind the wheel, turned on my radio, drunk on the luxury of being able to just switch between six FM stations instead of clicking up and down the dial, and drove back into the chaos. There was plenty. More accidents, more trees down, areas of flooding, and the wind still tearing everything up. But my spirits were high. Hey…I was going home early on a Friday, and my apartment still had power. I started building a mental list of things to accomplish with this found time. I also decided I could use some lunch (which I usually skip when I’m working), and a hot mail in a rainy day sounded like a fine thing. I hit a drive-up window at KFC and got a Mashed Potato Famous Bowl (do they give out Nobel prizes for fast food creations, because whatever genius came up with the idea of shoving mashed potatoes, chicken, corn and gravy into one bowl needs some kind of recognition. THAT’s good eatin’). I made it into my complex parking lot, relieved that I’d made the journey back with no collisions or blown tires. I got inside and turned on the TV and watched more live weather reports while I ate. More ugly, more ugly. Delays at the airport. Blizzards in the Sierras. Power company crews running all over Sacramento trying to get service back on. Freeways being closed. Quite a circus.

As I finished my lunch, the power went out for a moment—then came back. Seemed okay for a while, so I hoped for the best. I went and turned my computer back on (it had been off since the outage this morning) and found I had no internet service. Everything on my end seemed to be working fine, so I assumed it was a cable company thing. And while I was in the middle of that, the power went out again. No flicker this time, though. It just went, and directly AFTER it went? I heard a very loud noise somewhere outside. Uh, oh. That didn’t bode well. Transformer blowing? Tree taking down a line? No idea. But I was definitely without power. That was about 1:30 or so. And my complex is STILL dark.

I waited for a while, thinking it might come back up. I got on my laptop and got some non-internet stuff done (some writing) for a while, but then realized I might be without power for some time and finally shut it down with the battery about half gone. So now, I could pretty much do nothing. Too dark inside to read. Not able to watch TV. Not able to write. It’s moments like these that remind you how much we depend on electricity. My crappy cordless phones in my apartment just plain don’t work without power. This left me with my cell only – and the realization that I would now not be able to CHARGE my cell. Oops. And this led to another realization – my fridge. I had just been planning out things until next payday, as Christmas and the trip involved really drained me. I had done an inventory and found that I wouldn’t need to worry about food for about nine or ten days (one of reasons I went ahead and bought the fonts mentioned in the previous blog). And, as mentioned in another previous blog, all my meals at home consist of frozen dinners. Guess what? They ain’t that frozen anymore. My fridge has now been without power for ten hours. Wonderful. Kiss all the yogurt goodbye, too. Looks like there’s a shopping trip in my future after all.

I decided I’d just lie down and grab an afternoon nap, and I hoped to wake up to a flashing 12:00 on the alarm clock LED screen on my nightstand. I started waking around 5:30pm (though I had no idea what time it was when I did), and no such look. I was now totally in the dark. Soon my cell started to vibrate. It was Mom, checking in, and I let her know the score. She was immediately concerned about my having no heat, but I assured her it wasn’t cold here like it is where they are…though it’s going to get real cold this weekend (when storm #2…the less powerful but much chillier one…rolls is). I shouldn’t need the heater tonight.

So it looked like I’d have power no time soon, and I made some evening decisions. I have one flashlight, and it seems low. And I have no candles. What I do have, though, is some free movie passes in my wallet. So I figured instead of sitting in the dark, I’d go get some storm gear and then see if the local theater had power. Man, am I dependent on the internet. That’s where I always get my movie times! I also wanted to get on and check my money and see if my rent check had been cashed yet. I was in a world gone mad!! So I called 411 and got a 7:20 movie time for Walk Hard, one of the three movies out there I want to see (the only one of the three still in theaters. Isn’t it amazing how fast getting multiple Golden Globe nominations (“No Country for Old Men”, “There Will Be Blood”) gets you booted out of theaters to open more screens for multiple showings of National Treasure II? I got back outside, and the worst of the storm had passed us. The wind was all but gone, and there were only occasional sprinkles coming down. My drive gave me more radio time, and more news about how jacked up things were around town. There were power lines down in the middle of the Madison/Auburn intersection, a major one right by my place, and they had closed it down and were routing heavy commuter traffic through residential streets. I avoided that. I went to a shop I occasionally go to for cigars, as I know they also sell candles (and gun replicas and wacky license plate rims and these odd framed posters with blinking lights set into them). I grabbed a couple of cigars and asked for a candle, and the guy sold me some apple-scented one in a jar. I also went next door (as I’d planned) to Ace Hardware and looked for a new flashlight, preferably smaller than the one I already had. I found the right aisle…and it was all but empty. All the cheaper ones had already sold out. I managed to find out smaller Ace brand mag light for about twelve bucks.

So I got my blackout goodies (hoping I wouldn’t actually have to use them) and headed to the theater. They did, thankfully, have power, and I figured since the winds were gone they’d probably keep it for the night. I found out in line that a lot of people were there for the exact same reason I was…their power was out, and they had nothing else to do. I got inside and immediately ran into someone who recognized me, but I was at a loss as to who he was. For a reason, turns out. It was Mark, younger brother of my pal Kevin. I’d known him years ago…when he was a KID. Now he was there with his new bride (whose name I’ve already managed to forget. My brain needs a bigger hard drive), and they, too, were without power and just passing time. So that was fun and random. They headed off to see National Treasure II (having many times to choose from…), and I headed for Walk Hard. I’ve been wanting to see this film for several reasons. The main reason is that one of my current main creative heroes, Judd Apatow (Freaks and Geeks, 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) co-wrote and produced it, and I always want to back his stuff. Also, one of my favorite character actors EVER, John C. Reilly, was getting his first major starring role! I needed to support him, too. Finally, I’d heard that though the reviews were good, it was tanking in the box office. So I wanted to drop my $9.50 and help out (or in this case, drop my free movie pass, but at least that would help make the box office figures look better, right?). I got into the theater 15 minutes early. And I was the ONLY one in it. That’s not boding well for the film, considering it’s a Friday night.

As for the film? Won’t go into a whole review here, but it was fun. Wasn’t perfect, and was a bit too silly, but the majority of the gags in it worked for me, and it had a lot of my favorite people in it (Apatow regulars), and I was in the right mood for light entertainment. What did annoy me was that half the stuff shown on the trailer was NOT in the final cut of the film. I’m not kidding about the “half” part. No Morgan Fairfield. No Cheryl Tiegs. No Patrick Duffy taking a punch from Dewey. No commercial for Cox Sausage. Those looked like some of the best gags. But after seeing the film, I can kind of understand the reasons for the cut. At 90 minutes, the film was already a bit too long for the little foundation it had. But I look forward to picking up the DVD and seeing all the cut scenes. If the film keeps doing numbers like it is, I may be able to get it on DVD by the end of the month… But don’t get me wrong about the film. I laughed a lot more than I cringed. There’s some really funny stuff there. John C. Reilly is just amazing. I think my favorite part about the film experience, though, were the trailers. I got to see trailers for two new Apatow & company films coming out in the spring, and this was the first footage of them I’d seen. Both look great, to me. I just can’t get enough of this mess of Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen films, man. There are just so my sense of humor. I hope they keep cranking them out.

So drove myself home, hoping I’d see my complex all lit up. Nope. The strip mall with the liquor store and the Vietnamese restaurant next door? They have juice. My complex was totally shrouded in darkness. I would have driven right past it if I didn’t already know it was there. I parked and sat there and looked around at the blackness, and felt, suddenly, like Charlton Heston in Omega Man. All I needed were zombies with big afros coming after me and I’d have been living the dream. I got out and really took note of what a nice night it had turned into after all the abuse earlier in the day. Not very cold (I can’t tell HOW cold without the internet, damnit), and suddenly, all the clouds are gone, and it’s stars everywhere. Very nice and peaceful.

Got into my apartment (with my flashlight out) and noticed something weird. I have this old PC set up on a stand between my kitchen and dining room. The idea was to have one out there for people to use when they dropped by to visit (so they wouldn’t be in my bedroom checking their email), but I rarely have visitors, so it just sits off most of the time. In the darkness, I spotted something odd – a slowly flashing green light on the PC’s monitor. I looked around. Nothing else was working. Then I took a look at my laptop. I had turned it off but plugged it in to the adapter, figuring if the power came back on while I was away it would charge up. Well…the charge light was on, and it was green. I turned the laptop on and, after it booted, unplugged the power source to double-check. Sure enough, it was 100% charged again? Huh?

As it turns out, though I have no other power in my apartment, and my complex, and the one across the street, are completely black, for some reason I have ONE OUTLET that is SORT OF working. I found out the sort-of part when I came back in from the patio. I plugged the laptop back in to charge. And it’s sitting here switching itself back and forth from outlet power to battery power every few seconds. Which is annoying, because the screen brightness drops several notches each time it goes to battery, and then goes full bright again when it jumps back to outlet. But, hey…better than having no laptop at all, right? That’s awesome. So I was able to at least come home and get some writing done instead of just laying in the dark or trying to read by candlelight. So very happy about that. And I don’t have to worry about watching the battery, because though it is now charging much slower than normal, it’s still charging. So I got that going for me. Taking away my ability to write is just evil! Glad to have it, even if I’m not able to check email or check election news. Or find out what’s happening with Britney and her ambulance ride. You know, the REAL news? What can’t they just LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE?!!! (Sob)

So, I have no idea how long it’s going to be before I have power again. Sure hope it’s this weekend. I’m so used to falling to sleep with the TV on that this is going to be tough tonight. What…just sleep? Who does THAT? I’ve got my girly candle if I need it, but so far just the (varying) light from my laptop screen has been fine. So, those of you living in places with “real” weather can feel free to laugh at our whining here in California tonight. True, we don’t know what real storms are like (I would offer that we’re not dumb enough to live places that have hurricane and tornado SEASONS), but we’ve certainly had our taste today. It’s been an adventure. Hope wherever you are, Mother Nature’s treating you kindly. And if you’re here in Cali, hope that you have the juice to sign on and read this.

And I hope Blanch isn’t already filing suit against my company for my hanging up on her…