Watch the trailer for our latest Buffalo 48-Hour Film Project movie, The Chain.
Fantastic soundtrack written the weekend of the competition by Miranda Wilcox.
Tag: work
A Better Understanding
I was working with a new engineer at the hospital I was at… she was listening to country music…
D: Is my music bothering you?
P: No, not at all.
D: Do you listen to country music?
P: No, but I can get a better appreciation and understanding for it…
D: Understanding?
Weigh-In Wednesday – Back On My Soapbox
Sure, more people do die from other sources than have died from Corona virus thus far. But the Corona virus is deadly, and stopping it from spreading will SAVE LIVES. As noted in this handy “I’m Conservative So I Think The Media Is Evil and I Only Listen To InfoWars and Rush Limbaugh” chart that proves nothing other than people die from many sources, people still die from other things. Duh.
The difference is, these other things aren’t contagious. You’re not going to contract Heart Disease by shaking the hand of someone with Heart Disease. If a diabetic sneezes on you, it’s gross, and rude, but you’re not going to become diabetic from the exposure. See the difference? No? I have no hope for you then.
Ridiculous Workday Notes
I have discovered my job is literally Peter Gibbons’s job in the movie Office Space. Now, I love the movie Office Space, and in fact,traveled with a digital copy on my laptop to watch while on flights, in my hotel, etc.. while I had a contract that required weekly travel from 2006 through 2009. That job was a high-pressure job, and working from the road all the time wasn’t always easy, but back then, running my own business, and experiencing so many different places was so much better than just being in an Office Space type work environment. Why do I say that my current job is Peter Gibbons’s? Because the job doesn’t seem matter, at all. I do my work, which is completely trite, unrewarding, and for the most part without meaning, or consequence, good or bad. I get direction from management, but it’s rarely ever followed-up on, or consistent. I have eight different bosses who will all tell me the same thing, or in most cases, nothing at all. My presence is required, but at the same time, completely optional as long as work gets done. My only fulfillment comes via direct deposit, which isn’t great, but the flip-side is, once I leave the office I don’t have to think about my job at all. Not a single bit. No worries, no over-hang of stress, no wondering how I will solve problems, or make anything work. Nothing. I can completely focus on things that actually matter to me.
There is a certain serenity in that. I’m not changing the world here, but it keeps the bills paid while I work on changing my world elsewhere. When I’m here I hate it, and I want to leave, or find something new. But at the same time, I realize such jobs are pretty rare.
Weigh-In Wednesday – What’s New?
Just a note: if you find yourself in a debate over which fast-food chain’s chicken sandwiches are better, you might want to consider that you have the diet preferences of a 10-year old, and perhaps work on finding a little more culinary culture, or at least a healthier diet.
Am I one to talk? Is my diet perfectly healthy? Hell no. But deep fried chicken sandwiches aren’t a point of debate for me, and I would rather patronize locally owned, and developed establishments rather than a national chain that either doesn’t give two shits about the markets they invade, or spread bigotry against marginalized groups through their religious rhetoric, while using their employees’ generous nature as a national marketing campaign as if the company is the good-doers, and not the individual slaving for them at minimum wage.
Work Complaints. General Complaints. All The Complaints.
I’m in IT, and it is a ridiculously complex environment. Technologies are siloed, and everyone has specific jobs based on the technology area they deal with. That means everyone, in each area should have some relative expertise in their technology, and how it fits into the interconnected parts of the IT environment. However, daily, I find this isn’t the case. My job is very much a generalist type position that has to sort out issues that could stem from any one of these other silos, and when I ask those other silos for information about their silo the answers I get generally range from, “I don’t know,” to, “Not my problem,” to no response at all, or a response that is of no value.
“Ask Howard.”
Who is Howard? What department?
…no response.
I have to assume they meant Howard the Duck, so I’m heading to Cleveland.
Weigh-In Wednesday – Stunning Websites without Stunning Images
I saw an add for Wix. Wix annoys me. They promote their services as “do it yourself for free,” and try to convince people they can just build a wow-factor website in under 15 minutes at no cost.
Eight days later, most users have an incomplete website that looks like a 5th grader built it in 1998 using Microsoft Frontpage and Paint, and on this monstrosity there’s a Wix advertisement in just about every corner that pops up whenever your mouse cursor gets within 30 pixels of it.
Weigh-In Wednesday – Something Missing
#PHOTOGRPAHYWITHOUTLIMITS
I came up with that tag a number of years ago in a way to express that I’m kind of a go-anywhere, do-anything for a good shot kind of photographer. Obviously, I have limits, but they’re usually based more on how can I get the shot AND keep my camera safe? Because if I can’t retrieve the shot, then it’s not worth the shot.
At the start, someone believed it was in response to a threat lodged by a former colleague that I would never take photos at an event in WNY again. That was a silly threat, with no chance of being enacted, so I wasn’t really worried. Since then I have photographed countless events. I can try to count them. Shall we?
World’s Largest Disco, multiple times. Witches Ball, every year. Pride Parade, on behalf of 2 different organizations. Cupid Undies Run. Carley’s Club fundraiser. St. Paddy’s Day Parades. Not to mention dozens of Yelp community events, Buffalo Without Borders, and thanks to my relationship, First Night, Steam Punk Fest, and a dozen other events she has performed at.
Weigh-In Wednesday – Staying Steady
I feel more empathy for the families of our fallen. No one has a child with the hopes that they lose that child at a young age in a meaningless war. I spent more time on Memorial day remembering war is something we should have evolved away from eons ago, but resource ownership still dominates our societies, and the common people are the pawns of the wealthy. We still allow ideologies to control our societies, instead of focusing on what is best for humanity, and our planet. Oh yeah, and it’s all pretty meaningless if we destroy the livability of our planet, yet a lot of you keep voting for war-mongering, religion-bent, science-denying sociopaths based on stupid ideological platforms. That is a war that will eventually kill more people than you can even consider…
Maybe the best way to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our “nation” would be to learn the lessons we should have learned from those wars in the first place, and work at making our nation a better place, instead of what we’re doing now… otherwise, what did they sacrifice for?
Weigh-In Wednesday: Still Recovering
It’s the end of an era. I bought that house in 2008 (the process started in the autumn of 2007) , and moved in shortly thereafter. It was a house, a meeting place, a home, an office, and a photography studio. With my technology business, we helped dozens of local businesses on their path to success, and modernization. We worked multi-million dollar projects for an international medical manufacturer, hosted technician training for their contractors, developed wireless network assessment calibration , and reporting techniques, and policies, software R&D for their products, and customer support, all while implementing their solutions at hundreds of hospitals across North America, and Australia. I hosted monthly networking meetings for over four years to bring Buffalo businesses, entrepreneurs, and clients together. I designed creative photography concepts, and hosted collaborative photography sessions involving photographers, models, and other artists. That house saw fund raisers that raised thousands for organizations like the SPCA, Family Justice Center, and Buffalo Animal Shelter. I hosted marketing events for Xerox, and other local businesses. It saw mimosa Sundays, and New Year’s Day gatherings for friends. It hosted meetings for 48-Hour Film projects, and outdoor movie nights on the back deck. I raised chickens, and gardens, and provided a place for my kids to explore, be artistic, play games, and have fun. It gave a home to friends who needed a place to land, and most recently, Rika, who also needed a place to land. It experienced joy, and happiness. It experienced sorrow, and heartbreak…