What is On Jeffs' Mind

I realized it has been a few weeks since I have posted anything on my site. I guess all I can say is that I have been busy, I thought it would have been with moving, but unfortunately more with work.

The plan of mine was after I was done with my oncall schedule, that I would focus on getting ready for moving. I had done a bit of that, but so far, not as much as I would have liked. Unfortunately it seems like there is a lot going on at work, which in turn I have had to spend time working after hours. It seems every summer, people like to start up projects, that push into summer. I guess that frustrates me, as staffing is already short, and to me it just seems unfair for people to start up projects which mean that people have to work extra hours through the summer months. I just look at the suit tie people who start these up, and then ask for updates, and then jet away on their holidays, leaving others to meet their time-lines. With covering for holidays of others, and this added work, it makes what is supposed to be a great season, ultimately a miserable one.

Last summer I carried some anger, from both work and outside of work, and at the end, I felt I really missed out on the season. I am worrying I might fall into that mindset again, and I really don’t want to. It will be a busy summer, and I really don’t have time to brood about things. The past few weeks at work has been challenging, and at time it has gotten the better of me, but I have to stamp that out, and focus on the next few months. Work is there between 8 and 5, but after that, I don’t feel I am obligated to it, I have informed my management that I have other priorities. I may have let things creep in this week, but going forward, life after 5 is about different things. I informed who I needed to inform, and really is up to me to follow through with what is my priority right now, which is moving, and ultimately enjoying summer for the next few months. I can change me, as what is around me, I cant really, and some of those things I cant do anything about it regardless.

Last night I met up with a friend of mine, Dale, and he had the new series of Star Wars Kubricks. I had been looking forward to the series,and they look great. Dale also gave me a good price on the chase Commander Gree Kubrick, as I have a minor focus on the character after getting the Helmet a few years ago. The series was based on Episode 3 of Star Wars. They had Anakin, Darth Sideous, Clone Trooper, Darth Vader, Tarful and General Grievous. My only real complaint is the distribution of these. I get a box of these, and have extras, but in the past, they used to have at least 2 or each figure, except for 2. Now 3 of the 6 figures you only get one, and the others you get multiples. The break down for my box was 1 Anakin, 1 Darth Sideous, 1 Tarful, 2 General Grievous, 3 Darth Vader and 4 Clones. It might be that they have Clones in the set, as the last series was similar in breakdown, with a lot of Clones. I guess for me, I only really just like one of each, and before, the way they are distributed, there was more flexibility with the set. I guess I am getting an extra Clone instead of possibly an extra Anakin, Darth Sideous or Tarful. I am hoping if future series that they go back to maybe a more traditional distribution, as other series have had troopers, but never over filled with them. But regardless, I am excited about having these, and adding them to my others.

Tags: Anakin, Commander Gree, Dale, Darth Sideous, Darth Vader, Ep3 Clone Trooper, General Grievous, Star Wars Kubricks, Tarful, work

This weekend I did not much, past sit in my house for most of it. A bit cold outside, and some things have come up, which will probably make me stick close to home for the next few months. But I digress, this weekend there were a couple of races on TV. On Saturday evening I watched the IRL race from Texas. I will be honest it is not a race that I look forward to, given the high banks, the full throttle racing and the complete Nascar bias by the track administration does more then enough to turn me off. Anyways, I watched it, the few Champ car drivers left in the series were pretty much uncompetitive, highlighted by a second lap accident of Graham Rahal. The race ended with Helio Castroneves winning the race. On Sunday was the Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix. Brawn GP continues their dominance of the season, with Jensen Button grabbing another Victory. This race was tough on the past World Champions as all 3 of them in the field could not get into the points. I guess my biggest complaint about both races was team orders, this is where teams dictate how their cars are to race ( or more correctly not race) In the IRL race, I was upset that Ryan Briscoe who was dominant for a good part of the race, ended up coming in second after a suspect yellow flag from the IRL, and then what I felt was favoritism on the part of his own team in terms of Castroneves. After the last pit stops, Castroneves got the front spot based off of where his pit stall was located. Team orders over the radio was for both drivers to not race, and put distance between them and team Target. Well by the time they had made some distance, Briscoe’s chance was pretty much gone, and I am sure he was told to just hold his spot. In the F1 race, not for the win, but for second place, the two Redbull drivers were told not to race as well. After some bad pit strategy, Sebastian Vettel was behind his team mate Mark Webber, at the end of the race, Vettel was coming on, but got the order that Webber was faster and to preserve the car. It was obvious to me that Vettel looked like he had something, but told to back off. I guess I felt frustrated, as in both instances, the faster driver was told to not challenge. I guess the IRL one really upset me the most, but it would be nice to go back to the days when people raced each other regardless of team. I understand not taking team mates out, but it really does take whatever excitement might be in the race, out.

This morning a friend of mine Dale, sent me an email about the next series of Star Wars Kubricks. This series will be based off of Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The series will include Anakin, Tarful, General Grievous, Darth Vader and a Episode 3 Clone Trooper. The chases are Tion Medden, Commander Gree and 4 arm version of General Grievous. Normally I don’t go for the chases, but this time, I really want a Commander Gree, to go with some of the other Gree items I have. It looks pretty cool, all the figures look cool, so I am excited for this to arrive. Dale said they should arrive in the next few weeks, and I am hoping the Canadian Dollar will keep strong.

Tags: Anakin, Commander Gree, Darth Vader, Formula 1, General Grievous, IndyCar, Star Wars Kubricks