April 19, 2000
Dear Everyone:
“My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!”
“I burned my candle at both ends,
And now have neither foes nor friends.”
I know how Sam feels.
Been working a lot of extra hours these days, trying to get
everything in place so we can stop using the old system and have
everyone using the new system.
Just last night, I worked until the last possible second, then
ran home and dashed through a bath in order to be out in time for
Buffy the
Vampire Slayer.
(It’s important to keep one’s priorities straight.)
Today was the last day for training, at least for
now, and that’s a blessing.
Training people is exhausting work.
Even when you call for a break, there’s always someone who
figures this is an excellent time to ask you “one quick question”, the
answer to which will take an hour to explain.
And, of course, they don’t realize how much effort it takes to
stand all day, talking at the top of your voice so people in the back of
the room can hear you.
Nevertheless, with any luck, we will be using the
new system exclusively (except for “Hobby”, of course) by the end of the
week. We are Very Close to
finishing the actual conversion from the old system to the new one.
Once that’s done, the next big push will be to
create all the report formats that people will be clamoring for.
Oh, and I have to go to “Hobby” and “Beaumont”, Texas, the week
after next. (Why do I always
wind up going on a business trip in the middle of a
Sweeps Month?)
I’ll be in “Hobby” to train the Users there and “Beaumont”
because a newly formed chemical company wants to “explore their options”
in finding a records management system.
In other news…
Burning my candle at both ends, and in the middle,
too, doesn’t mean we can’t see a movie.
Last Saturday, “Jeannie” and I were wracking our brains, trying
to remember what was the last movie we had been to.
I finally dredged the information out of last month’s Day-Timer,
but it was clearly time for another one.
The Cider
House Rules was still playing at my local theater, so we walked
over and saw that.
Michael Caine
won the
Oscar for his portrayal of a kindly doctor who presides over an
orphanage and sniffs ether
on the side. One of the
older orphans, whom the doctor would like to see replace him, decides to
go out into the world and discover himself.
He picks apples and learns life-lessons.
There is a story line that involves
abortions, which
were illegal in the 1940’s, of course.
The orphan is opposed to abortions; and you can certainly see his
side of it, since he might never have been born if one had been
performed for his mother.
But then he gets to see the other side of issue and has to make some
decisions.
This film has “independent production” written all
over it. You can see it in
the superb performances by actors you’ve probably never heard of, by the
production values, by the lack of flashy special effects, by the
gorgeous New England scenery.
Serious subject seriously explored.
If that’s not your cup of tea, go see
Mission to
Mars.
Love, as always,
Pete
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