I haven’t done one of these “7 Quick Takes Friday” posts in awhile.  I’m not sure I have the hang of it yet.  If you want to see the pros in action, go over to conversiondiary.com and check out the other posts there.

1.

It hasn’t really hit me yet that I have to get on a 7am flight tomorrow morning.  I am not prepared.  I used to do this all the time when I worked in corporate America, four years of commuting to either Boston or Houston.   I know what to expect and no amount of coffee will cure the morning fog I’m going to feel until I arrive in Baltimore tomorrow afternoon.  Oh sure, take a nap on the plane they say.  Yeah, right. That never happens for me.  And, I can’t read that early in the morning either, so I’m counting on my iPad to entertain me with some soothing music or a film that I’ve watched a dozen times already, just so I can put my brain in neutral for awhile.

2.

Baltimore, you say?  Yep! I’ll be attending the Bloggers Dialogue session that precedes the Fall meeting of the USCCB.  It’s been a long time since I hobnobbed with bishops.  I better go shine my shoes or something.

3.

It’s guy’s night tonight, which will probably be my undoing given tomorrow’s early flight.  But, how could I turn down trying out a new BBQ joint with my buddies, followed by seeing the new James Bond flick “Skyfall” at the Imax.  It’s a moral imperative.  (Does anyone but me ever get that reference from “Real Genius“?)

4.

It’s always the cables.  Anyone who spends much time working with computers or other electronics knows that if a problem crops up, the first thing you do is check the cables.  I know this from LONG experience of working on all kinds of equipment, from PCs to custom designed RTUs and PLCs.  I apparently forgot those important lessons earlier this week.  I installed one of those medial alert systems in the home of my elderly aunt.  You know, you push a button on your wristband if you’ve fallen and can’t get up.  I could not get the thing to work.  I even read the directions and looked at the diagrams, TWICE.  I know, right?  Should have worked.   It was only after calling technical support did I realize that I had the phone cable plugged into the wrong port.  I blame the diagram for inconsistent wording.  It’s not like I have a master’s degree in computer science or anything.

5.

The election is over.  Oklahoma is probably the reddest of red states.  There’s a palpable sense of anger and disappointment here.  Now would not be a good time to try and mess with us.

6.

I am not an accomplished movie reviewer, but I’m going to try.  Last Tuesday, instead of obsessing over the election returns, I went to a showing of the new film “Flight” with Denzel Washington.  I hope this isn’t a spoiler, but the film was not what I expected it to be.   First, it’s definitely not a family friendly movie.  The preponderance of drugs and alcohol and the mostly positive portrayal of it was not something I enjoyed.  The language was just as bad and gratuitous.  There’s some great acting in this film, particularly by Washington, John Goodman, Don Cheadle and Kelly Reilly.  However, having had to deal with the issue of alcohol addiction in my family, I did not enjoy this film, did not like its overall message,  and can not suggest it to others for that reason.  I know, if you’ve seen the movie, the end of it seeks to redeem the characters for their flaws.  That doesn’t mean that I enjoyed the film any more.

7.

On a happier note, for Battlestar Galactica fans, the first two episodes of BSG: Blood and Chrome are now available on Youtube, on the Machinima channel.  It’s a very light weight prequel of the previous Battlestar Galactica series.  From what I can tell from the first two episodes, it’s going to be action packed, but without all the deep philosophy and rich character development that we came to love.  But with just 12 minutes per episode, that’s fine with me.  Perhaps it will get some legs as a web series and have a chance at being extended into a real show on SyFy.