Running on Diesel Power (and about to collapse ...)

Yo yo yo.

Man, today was just one of those days. Little sleep last night and then it was just one thing after another. It's one of those days that makes me almost be tempted to use this blog to lay my own personal verbal smackdown on certain people. But ya just never know who might be reading this thing, so I will take the high road and refrain.

But I won't really hesitate to let you all know that today started with YET MORE GETTING JERKED AROUND by the fine car dealership from which I purchased my car a little more than a month ago. Since my parents were here this week I thought it'd be a good opportunity to finally bring in my car one more time and see what was going on with the crazy turn signals that randomly stopped working. So I did, yesterday. Of course when I went to pick up the car last night, surprise surprise, they couldn't find the keys so I could bring it home. So they apologetically offered to bring the car to me this morning so I could drive it to work. Think that actually happened? Um, no. Called them up to double check before work and of course the guy had no clue what I was talking about and said they couldn't drive the car over. Luckily I had warned my dad that this might happen and he was prepared to give me a ride to NBC. See, good timing with the parental visit. Oh, get this, on the phone the guy from the dealership tells me that ... I'm being difficult. WHAT? YOU MEAN AFTER THEY'VE SCREWED ME TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN A MONTH'S TIME? AFTER THEY SOLD ME A CAR THAT IS ONE MORE PROBLEM AWAY FROM OFFICIALLY BEING A LEMON? ANNNNND III'M BEING DIFFICULT?

Yeah, so now that THAT's out of the system ...

I did finally get the car back this evening. And the repairs to the wiring are being covered under the warranty (damn skippy they are). Let's HOPE that that is the last car-related problem that occurs for the forseeable future.

But aside from that, today was a hell of a long day at NBC. Got to work at 8:30 am, and worked until 6 pm. Two tours. And the Tonight Show. And it was pouring rain and cold all day, for seemingly the twentieth day in a row.

Now let's just say that people were once again a little on-edge today, myself included. But suffice to say I seemed to be a convenient dart-board for everybody's frustrations. I won't go into detail, but basically my thoughts are that yes, I take my job very very seriously and try to work as hard and make as good of an impression as I possibly can. But, this is entertainment, not nuclear physics. Our job at NBC involves accomodating people and giving them an enjoyable experience and making them feel good about being a part of our product. Yes, things need to run smoothly and yes this is a time sensitive job we are doing. But above all it is about a presentation of professionalism. Things always go wrong, mistakes are always made. And they happen to EVERYONE. Our job is basically to work together to give people the best possible experience they can have. To bring one's own problems into the group dynamic is just unprofessional and detrimental to everyone. To look for others to blame for one's own problems is just as bad. After being a counsellor and teacher for many years, I know the importance of separating one's professional tone from one's personal tone. They can't mix. If I'm telling someone to get in line for example, I tell them in a professional way, not in a way that reflects the fact that I may be tired or grumpy or pissed off at that moment. That doesn't affect the way I do my job. Any other way of doing things is just immature and ridiculous.

And that's my rant for today.

But yeah, will this rain please STOP?

So .. who was on this glorious edition of the Tonight Show? Mr. Vin Diesel himself. I remain convinced that he is really a Jewish guy named Marvin Goldberg.

Yesterday was a pretty cool day. My parents went to the Tonight Show and were seated in the second row, and were on camera a bunch of times. One shot had my dad's head take up like a third of the screen! Kinda funny, right? Chris Rock was the guest on both the Tonight Show and Ellen, which I was doing, and was very funny in both appearances. Should be interesting to see what he does on the Oscars. But Ellen, wow. It's just a minefield of middle-aged woman - a hormonally0charged Amazonia that somehow empowers otherwise mild-mannered women, from teens to octogenarians, to dance continuously for an hour to the sounds of early 90's techno-pop electronica. Good god, what a spectacle. Ellen actually had to stop the show for a while due to a coughing fit that held things up for a good twenty minutes. Peter Boyle was also on the show. I wil lalways respect him for his classic X-Files guest starring role as the title character in "Clive Bruckman's Final Repose," one of the all time great TV episodes ever made. But ... wow, not sure what his deal was yesterday. He was talking nonsense, like, just totally insane and nonsensical. An acid flashback maybe? Hmmm .. weird, but not quite as weird as the Great Regurgitator on today's Leno ep. Don't even ask, just know that it was GROSS.

It's funny, yesterday I was wiped out from Ellen and so glad to be done with it, but looking back it was a great, laid-back time compared to the near-apocalyptic Tonight Show today. OK, it wasn't THAT bad ... but let's hope the rest of the week is a little more drama-free (ugh, I used that phrase and I really don't like it when other people do, oh well, I'm a hypocrite).

What a crazy week so far, between the rain, crazy stuff at work, my car, my apartment hunt, and my parents being here. The stress, the guilt, the cold, cold dampness ...

But darn it all, I still had time for some TV. So here's some ...

QUICK TV REVIEWS:

FOX SUNDAY: Quick mention for THE SIMPSONS. So, Patty's a lesbian. No big shocker there. But, wow, this was a good episode. I really liked the relentless satire of this episode. Merciless and well deserved shots at FOX here, which is still amazing as, well, the show is ON FOX. The whole episode was handled surprisingly well for nu-Simpsons, and it was probably the most memorable ep of the year. Cool. Briefly, another very good episode of MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. Where is the love for this show's amazing cast?

24: Another solid outing. I felt that the two big deaths were premature though. The evil Arab father was so good at being bad that I wish he had stuck around a bit longer. Also the Marianne Taylor character was killed very early. We never really found out what made her tick. But, it looks like there's about to be a huge turn in the plot, with the show once again veering into conspiracy-within-our-own-government territory. I'm still at the edge of my seat, but I am a little anxious about so much happening at once. Still, another very very good installment.

Veronica Mars: So, Alyson Hannigan makes her debut. And it was a surprisingly brief appearance, which may have disappointed her fans. But I didn't really care because this was a GREAT episode. So many great little lienes and moments, this ep really cemented to me just how good this show is and how good it can be. There really is no justice in TV Land if this show doesn't improve in the ratings. I mean, this episode alone had not one but two jaw-dropping plot-twists, the debut of a major new character, and about four different mysteries big and small. Just great stuff. Please, watch it. Honestly, if 24 wasn't so darn good this season, I might just have to call Veronica Mars the best show on TV right now.

Okay, I was hoping that'd be a cathartic blog entry. See what we've become? A society of people just looking for catharsis through unattainable means. Whoah, deep. I do feel kind of more relaxed, I guess. Or maybe that's just the Jefferson Starship playing on my WinAmp talking ...