Working on Memorial Day

So my job has changed a bit in the last few months, and it's expanded to include global trading (and not just domestic). And because the rest of the world hates our freedom, they don't celebrate Memorial Day. And, because of that, I had to work on Memorial Day. In fact, one of my a-hole clients made sure to send me an email that said - "We will be open for business on Memorial Day and expect full coverage."

Thanks. I support the troops too!

Now, coming in isn't mandatory, but I figured I should come in. They give "time and a half" for hours worked, and four hours (a half day) would get me six extra hours. And I figure that will help somewhere down the road. Because if I hadn't worked, I would've woken up at ten or so...and by the time I would've woken up and start being productive, I would've already been done.

So before I left on Friday, my team lead made sure I was coming in Monday. And this conversation came up:

Me - "What can we wear Monday?"

TL - "It's a day off, you can wear whatever you want."

Me - "Okay, I'm wearing shorts."

TL - "That's fine, it doesn't matter."

So this morning, I get up and put on some khaki shorts, a t-shirt, and some flip flops. I was going to a pool party after work, and it's 95 degrees outside. Plus, being comfortable would make up for having to come in.

And about an hour after I got there, my team lead comes up to me with a simple question - "who gave you the impression that you could wear what you're wearing today?"

Umm....you did. You, specifically.

Apparently, the dress code applies whenever you're at work. Which is insane, particularly since I was voluntarily coming in on a national holiday to catch up on work that I have. Too much work that I have, in fact, because we're working with a skeleton crew full time.

Does anyone wonder why I'm getting out of corporate America?

Now, I don't understand why the dress code applies at all. I don't really understand how professionalism applies because I don't think people would work any harder when they're less comfortable. I also don't understand why clients would be upset if they saw people dressed in pajamas or whatever. If a guy makes you one million dollars, you're going to be excited no matter what he's wearing. Heck, the guy could be completely naked, and I guarantee you'd give him a hug.

So there's no reason for the employees and no reason for the clients. So the only reason to have a dress code is for the managers to have power over people.

I'll prove it. There was zero chance that a client was going to come in and see what we were wearing. Zero. Secondly, the people who were coming in volunteered to come in. So the only people who would be coming in would be dedicated (everyone else) or just good (me).

And I might get in trouble tomorrow. Seriously. And if I do...I'm guessing I'm going to have some interesting news for the blog tomorrow night.

Catching Up

I haven't written in a while, but I wanted to go ahead and catch up on some things.

1. The LOST finale was fantastic. I was never truly worried about the show because I had a lot of faith that the writers would get things right. But the finale connected things on so many different levels that I was surprised. The show was able to maintain, for the most part, such a fantastic level of quality from season one to season six. And, because of that, LOST is my unquestioned favorite show of all time.

2. Some people complained that some questions were unanswered, but I don't think the show was ever really about the questions and answers. Sure, the mysteries of the Island kept people watching, but the show was always about the people. That's why not every episode dealt with the Island, but every episode in the first three seasons dealt with a different character's flashback. It was about the people - the mysteries were just the icing.

3. I actually watched the finale at the Angelika. It was not the coolest moment of my life, but it was pretty cool to experience the event surrounded by people who were as fascinated by the show as I was.

4. With LOST over, I am trying to find a new show. I was disappointed in FlashForward and V, but Fringe is pretty solid. And, as far as comedies go, Community is just about as good as it gets. I'd like to try to watch Modern Family and maybe Parenthood.

5. One show I'm continuing to try is Mad Men. Time Warner Cable has been showing the series On Demand, and they gave me a couple episodes a week to watch. Because of this, I was able to watch the first couple of seasons from December to May. The third season? I got two weeks to watch the whole thing...so I was watching a lot of the show recently. It's really done well, but I just don't really understand the fascination with it. I do think the examination of the 60s is interesting, particularly looking into how much things have changed during the lifetime of my generation's parents.

One scene had the Drapers having a picnic, and when they were finished, the family just left their trash in the middle of the park. They never even considered cleaning it up, and that's just so wild to me. Because if someone tried that today, they'd probably get yelled at. And something like that might even be illegal. Stuff like that is interesting.

6. Another interesting Mad Men tidbit dealt with the Kennedy assassination, and I was able to make some connections to how it felt when the September 11 attacks happened. Everyone was consumed with watching it unfold on television, and people were just in a general sense of "what do we do now?"

7. We played poker today, and I won. We've played a handful of times, and this was my first win. It was nice to finally get that done because it's a lot of fun to play. And it's a really interesting game to examine - bluffing, reading other people, skill vs. luck...it's all pretty cool.

8. I saw Iron Man II the other day, and I was a bit underwhelmed. I thought the first movie was really fun, but I think a lot of that fun was missing from the sequel. I didn't hate it, but I was also a bit confused at the lack of action. None of the fights were that exciting, and I just couldn't get really into it. I was hoping for better.

9. I've been playing a lot of MLB 2K10 today, and there's a featured called "My Player" - where you can create a player and only play as him. I created myself, and it's pretty fun because you can play a week's worth of games in a half hour or so. It's been a pretty fun way to waste time.

10. Tucker's been trying to help Ashley and me get into better shape. On Thursday, I ran two miles (one at a time), and it was good to actually get that done. Then, on Saturday, Tucker and I played tennis in the 95-degree weather. He destroyed me, as usual, but it was also nice to get out there and play for that long in that heat. It would've been nice if I'd gotten more of a tan, though.

Bonus - I have to work tomorrow. It's just a half-day, but I'm a little upset about it. I'm going to get "time and a half" for it, and I'm also going to get two weeks off in July. But with only ten holidays, it's a bit stupid to make people come in. It's another reason this job is utterly stupid.

Re: "Lost"

After all this time, I know so much. And yet, there's still so much to know. Is there really a way this could all end the way it should end by Sunday night? It's an exciting prospect, but it's also a little scary not knowing how it will end.

My hopes are high, though. Higher than usual.

A couple thoughts

1. I watched the "Modern Warfare" episode of Community. One of the best episodes of any show I've seen in a while. There's a chance that it's about to pass 30 Rock on the list of NBC comedies. If you haven't seen it, go do so.

2. Time Warner Cable was doing so well with Mad Men. I was on a great pace of two episodes a week. Then it moved to three, which was harder but manageable. Tonight, I find out that I have to watch nine episodes before next Sunday. What in the heck are they trying to do to me?

3. Tomorrow night is the second-to-last episode of LOST. Six years of speculation is about to end, and one week from today, I'm either going to be very happy, very angry, or very confused. Either way, I can't believe it's almost over.

4. I don't know how everyone can do this sleep thing so well. My insomnia has been attacking me hard recently, and it really bothers me. Does everyone else struggle with sleep as much as I do?

An Open Letter to the Writers of Lost

Dear Writers,

How are you? I am fine.

I'm actually a better writer than that, but I think that's a funny way to open a letter. And you obviously appreciate humor, so I will continue.

Thank you for your most recent episode, "Across the Sea." It was a great episode, getting to meet young Jacob. Learning about the early years of the Island is pretty fascinating, and I'm glad we got to see it all before the show wrapped up.

You answered a lot of questions in the episode, as you promised. We learned that, in fact, Jacob and the Monster are brothers. We learned the identities of Adam and Eve. And we learned about how Jacob's brother became the smoke monster. We also learned what was so special about the Island. Well, kinda. But we won't worry about that just yet.

But you didn't answer a question that I've had since the end of season five. You've shown us this "evil" character in black several times since the season five finale...heck, he's now a major character on the show.

But we don't know his frickin' name! We have an entire episode where we learn the guy's origins, and I still don't have a name for him. I'm tired of using one of the myriad of fan names - Fake Locke, Flocke, the LockeMonster, the Monster, Jacob's Enemy, Jacob's Brother, the Man in Black, MiB, Esau, etc. Give him a name so that we can put all of the other stuff to rest. I've never had so much trouble talking about someone in conversation because of all the different designations for a single person.

Call him Jimmy. Call him Bob. Darryl. Jimmy. Stu. Claus. Dante. Frankie. Carl. Zeus. Isaac. Peter. Zane. Dixie Ray. Pollyanna. Drake the Magnificent. WonderDude. I.P. Freely. Hugh Jass. Homer Jay Simpson.

I don't care what his name is...just give him one so we can stop worrying about it. Because I don't think anyone thinks of it as this huge mythological question. If you end the show with his freakin' name, it's not gonna make us "ooh" and "ahh". It's a name...we just want something to call him. And by having an entire episode and not mentioning it, I think you're just being jerks.

By the way, love the show. It's been amazing the entire time.

Love,

Drew