May 12, 2005
Dear Everyone:
A few weeks ago, “Jeannie” received a package from “Frankie”. It contained a lovely cloth tote bag, made from pieces of fabric much like a patchwork quilt. “Jeannie” was somewhat confused as there was no note or other method of explanation. Just the bag in a package addressed to her. So she assumed that the bag was meant for her.
Until she spoke with “Frankie” on the telephone. Well! Obviously, it was a birthday present for me. (My birthday was in March.) We’re assuming she mailed it to “Jeannie” because she has that nifty outdoor cabinet next to her garage door, where the accommodating Postal Service carrier puts packages too large to fit in “Jeannie’s” mailbox. A note, however, would have made that a tad bit more clear. As it is, management-by-telepathy still not working all that well.
The bag stayed at “Jeannie’s” place until a couple of weeks ago. I had several things that I needed to gather up and bring back from “Jeannie’s” and the bag came in terribly handy for carrying everything out to the car and in to my place.
That’s when I realized what a boon this bag would be. It hangs on the back of a chair in the “dining area”. Every time I have something that needs to go to “Jeannie”, a tape, the weekly Letter, whatever, it goes into the bag. As I head out the door on my way to her place, I grab the bag and everything comes with it. When I get to “Jeannie’s” place (or the hairdresser every four weeks), her stuff comes out and anything I need to bring back with me (usually VCR tapes) goes into the bag. What a great system. Thanks, “Frankie”!!!
In other news…
Monday morning we got to work to discover that the name of our company had been changed (again). Last month, we worked for Company, “Boring and Really Expensive Services”. Last week, we worked for Company, Information Technology Company. This week, we work for Company Corporation, Company Information Technology Company. (Can’t wait to see what happens next week.)
After three and a half years, I guess enough of the former Another Company executives had collected their golden parachutes and the Powers That Be decided to go back to the more familiar name. However, we do have a completely new logo. Well, actually, it looks an awful lot like the old logo with some computer animation thrown in.
And I just got a new box of business cards. With the old names, of course.
More importantly…
After a very long, dry stretch, I’ve finally started going to the movies again. “Jeannie” declined to see Kingdom of Heaven, saying something about movies about the Middle Ages only made her glad she didn’t live then. So I went by myself.
It is late in the 12th Century.
After the
First Crusade, before the
Second Crusade.
In The Holy Land,
the king of
The blacksmith, Balian (Orlando
Bloom) has recently lost his family and probably his faith.
The knight, realizing who Balian is, tells him that he, Godfrey,
is Balian’s biological father.
He offers to take the younger man to
Once in
Interestingly enough, the Arabs also have a handy catchphrase. They yell, “God wills it!” with the exact same fervor. It’s a convenient method of absolving yourself of any responsibility for your actions. “Hey, it was all God’s idea. I was just following orders.”
Soon enough, war breaks out. Balian, the simple village blacksmith, seems to have an remarkable aptitude for the strategy as well as the engineering of Medieval warfare. The battle scenes are impressive.
As for the Crusades themselves, if you go back and
crunch the numbers, the Pope usually called for a Crusade about the same
time that the population in
Good movie, though. Worth the matinee price.
Love, as always,
Pete
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