I forgot to mention something kind of funny that happened yesterday while I was at Media Play. I was browsing the largely denuded DVD racks, looking for anything that might be worth buying, when I spotted a little film that brought back a lot of memories, an obscure B-picture from the early ’90s called Robot Jox. (“Two men! Two machines! Too wild!”) I reached for it with one hand, while turning my head to speak to The Girlfriend. “Hey, honey,” I said, “Look at this. I ran this movie when I was a projectionist at Movies 9. It only played for a week or so, and I think I was the only person who ever actually watched it.”

Suddenly, a voice said, “Yes, I think you probably were.” It turned out the guy standing next to me with his arms full of clearance-priced DVDs was none other than my former movie-theater boss, Cal Gunderson. Small valley, eh? I still see Cal from time to time — he manages the Megaplex at Jordan Commons for local magnate Larry H. Miller now — but it’s been a while since our last encounter. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a number of good bosses over the years, managers who would go to bat for you when you need someone on your side, folks who are friends as well as supervisors and who know when to draw the line between the two, but Cal was one of the best I’ve known. Every time I see him, I feel like I ought to say more to him than I do, to thank him for something, although for what I’m never quite sure. I get the impression he doesn’t recall my name anymore, but I am greatly pleased that he still knows my face and recalls my somewhat questionable — or at the very least eclectic — taste in movies. After all, it’s been about fifteen years since I worked for him. But then he probably hasn’t had many employees who actually see, let alone kind of like, movies like Robot Jox.

I probably should’ve bought that DVD while I had it in my hand…

It was unseasonably warm in Salt Lake yesterday, more like the first of April than the end of December. I was walking around downtown with my coat unzipped and sweat gathering beneath my arms. I wished I’d worn a lighter jacket; still, the sunshine was a pleasant change from the fog and bitter cold of the last couple weeks.

My company’s Christmas luncheon had wrapped up about a half-hour earlier. I imagined most of my co-workers were already miles away from the city center, eager to finish their last-minute shopping, or to get home so they could start enjoying their holiday plans. I, on the other hand, felt no desire to be anywhere in particular. I didn’t feel like going home, and I sure as hell didn’t want to go anywhere near the malls. As for getting started on the holidays… well, the truth is that I’ve been pretty indifferent toward the Christmas season this year. It all seemed to come up too fast, like a squall materializing out of a clear sky to ruin a nice day’s sailing.

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I received the following via e-mail this morning. It may or may not be all that funny, but given the week I’ve been having at work as my project managers try to push everything on their agendas through the mill before our Christmas break, I find that any little bit of levity is outlandishly effective. In other words, I laughed hard at this, so I thought I’d share:

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