May 6, 1999
Dear Everyone:
I’m still stuck in neutral as far as replacing
Versatile is
concerned. Specifically, we
can’t go forward until the decision is made whether to buy a
server or
rent space from CITC; and whether to use
Oracle or
SQL Server
(pronounced sequel server).
I’ve made my recommendations, based on the usual facts and figures that
can be manipulated to support whichever decision we want.
And all of the “Team Leaders” (we don’t call the supervisors
“supervisors” anymore, we call them “team leaders”) have indicated that
they support my recommendation.
Nevertheless, a meeting is required for all of the
leaders to agree that they are all in agreement.
The next “planning” meeting is scheduled for next Thursday.
So, until then, there’s not much more I can do.
Actually, next week looks pretty light all the way around.
It might be a good time to take a week off before the weather
turns too warm.
Speaking of weather, a freak storm blew through
here early last Sunday morning (on its way to
Oklahoma and
Kansas, apparently)
and tore a rip in the cloth cover of the “Instant Shelter” shade that
covers half my patio. It
started at a seam and went right up towards the center, splitting the
cover in half on one side.
I’ve taken it down for now, with the plan to try mending it with good,
old-fashioned duct tape.
If that works, fine.
If not, I already have the manufacturer’s Web Site “bookmarked”
on my PC.
And speaking of PC’s, “Jeannie” is still on the
learning curve with Oberon.
I went up to her place last weekend to help her remember how to get into
Excel where
we had set up a
spreadsheet for her to record receipts.
Trouble was, the spreadsheet in question is several folders down
and she couldn’t find it. I
showed her how to use the File menu to find the last four files that had
been opened, one of which is likely to be the receipt file.
In the meantime, I have given her a homework assignment to turn
the computer on and off again every evening (to get accustomed to the
Start Button) and to play at least one game of
Solitaire
each day (to improve her mouse skills).
Then we went to see the movie
Entrapment.
A handsome, debonair man, who already has more
money than most people would know what to do with, plans and executes
the “perfect” robbery for no better reason than to prove to himself that
he can do it.
A beautiful (younger) woman, an insurance
investigator, eager to prove she’s better (naturally) than her male
colleagues, sets out to trap and capture the Master Thief.
They meet…they spar…they fall in love.
Will she choose her career over her heart?
Will he prove his love by allowing the trap to close on him?
Cue the music.
Cue Noel
Harrison (Rex’s
son) to sing the
Oscar-winning theme song, “The
Windmills of Your Mind.”
Steve McQueen,
Faye Dunaway,
The
Thomas Crown Affair, 1968.
Is Entrapment
a cheap rip-off? Well, I
wouldn’t call it cheap. The
production values are excellent.
There are a few plot-twists to keep you guessing.
And there’s a top-notch action piece that is truly breathtaking.
Of course, some people thought that Faye Dunaway seducing Steve
McQueen over a chess game was pretty exciting, too.
On the other hand, there’s no emotional investment
in any of the characters.
You have no real reason to care what happens to them either way.
This was also true of the original, which is why the director
threw in a lot of fancy camera work.
As for the age difference between
Sean Connery and
Catherine
Zeta-Jones, much has been made of the fact that he’s 68 and she
probably hasn’t seen 30 yet.
But, if you will recall the fact that it takes an average of two years
to get a movie into the can and onto the theater screen, then Connery
was probably still a sprightly 66 when he started cavorting in front of
the camera with Catherine.
You’re never too old until it stops being fun.
Does he still “have what it takes”?
Shoot, I’d pay good money to watch Sean Connery read the phone
directory.
Love, as always,
Pete
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