He's the new member...

Still too busy to assemble that computer, but I took some time to piece together another one of my thoughts into a post. This time, it's about the financial divide betwen the wealthy and those who aren't. I was sent to a country club to do a gig and for the first time, I felt that one even existed.

You would have thought that I would have noticed this divide when I went to another gig in the Hamptons. Just knowing that there are a few hundred people around you paying large sums of money just to be a member and knowing that they only use the place when they don't want to be in NYC made it much more immediate. (I later found out that the price of membership was a mere one hundred thousand dollars besides being sponsored by a member. Not to mention annual dues. Chump change as they say.)

Prior to this job, I knew in my head that there was an elite group of people whose financial wealth allowed them certain privileges that I couldn't afford. I realized what privileges they could afford when I walked in and saw what amounted to a large manor house surrounded by an eighteen hole golf course, olympic sized pool and tennis courts. Chefs manned barbeque grills to cook the members hamburgers and hot dogs. And the only way one could get a drink or seated at a table for dinner required that one would sign off on a card with their membership number.

As I walked around to locate the general manager, I couldn't help being amused by the number of members who nodded to me as if they knew me. As I walked by one group of members, I heard one of them explain to another that I "must be a new member." I kept a pleasant expression on my face, nodding back to those who nodded at me and presented myself to the general manager. I could barely contain my laughter.

I wasn't sent here to rock their dining hall with music at a crazy party. Oh, no, that wasn't the reason. I was there to distract the kids under twelve with a movie. Yep, I was there to set up a projector, screen and dvd player so that the kids would leave the parents alone as they dined. I was being paid to be a glorified babysiter. Along with some popcorn as my assistants.

As the kids watched the movie (Racing Stripes), I wandered around the room, which was filled with plaques going back fifty years listing tennis and golf winners each year for men and women. Some of the names I recognized, which astonished me. I didn't expect to see names of wealthy people here that I would have heard of.

Finally the movie ended (I won't ruin the ending for you), and the kids raced back to their parents. As they left, I thought other than being messy, they were rather well behaved. I expected some tantrums that didn't occur during the time I watched them. I was a bit surprised that my expectations were not met.

As I packed up the equipment, my thoughts ran over the environs that I found myself in, wondering what being a member to a place like this must be like. I knew that even a few hours spent here wasn't enough to expose me to the experience that being a member was really like. Eventually, my masquarade as a "new member" would fall apart and they'd learn the truth. The final thought as I drove away from the clubhouse was that even though my car belonged there in their parking lot, I knew that I didn't belong.

A whole lot of nothing

It's been a busy week for me. I haven't had the time to put my computer back together yet because of a couple of projects due this week and being called into work two consecutive days for "emergency" gigs. I'm starting to look like a panda bear with the bags under my eyes.

The projects weren't hard, just tediously time consuming. Nothing like having a professor hand us a manual, telling us to read it and make this chip do something with two days to do it in. Twice. Boy did we scramble. I even managed to make them work like they're supposed to, barely.

Actually, I would have made them work properly without stressing out so much if I hadn't agreed to doing those emergency engagements. What can I say? When you need money to pay the bills, you really can't say no. Especially when one of those expenses happens to be a Lexus.

The ironic part about these two engagements centers around the usual snafus that happen in any business. People screw up. One gig, the paperwork was "incorrectly" filed (read as wasn't done at all) and my company didn't assign anyone to the engagement. The other happened because the guy assigned to the party didn't show up. (He claimed he was sick. I would be too if I had stayed out 'til 4 in the morning drinking up a storm.)

I worked both of these jobs and received a bonus from my boss to thank me for coming through. Would that my old job had done this, I might have been happier there. Since it's all in the past, no point in crying over spilt milk. I have to admit that it's been a lot more fun working parties than it ever was running from customer to customer fixing their neglected machines.

Otherwise, nothing new has happened on this front. I have some thoughts that I'll be posting soon. Until then, keep writing!

What blindspot?

Last night, I was driving home with my sunroof open during a welcome break from the heat, enjoying the floral scents and smell of the salt air. Last night, some idiot in a pewter Nissan Pathfinder SUV didn't check his blind spot and almost ran me off the highway while we were traveling at 70 mph. He (or she) was trying to read a map with his courtesy dome light on, and when he realized that the exit was upon him, cut across three lanes of highway to make that exit.

He never so much as turned his head to check that I was there. As he veered right, I was in the middle lane enjoying the scents of the evening. I veered right as well, slamming on my brakes. I came to a stop on the shoulder as the idiot blithely drove away up that off ramp. I leaned on my horn to remind him to check where he was going the next time. I don't think he cared.

I was calm as this incident happened. Only as I started to merge back into traffic that had also slowed to a stop as they tried to avoid both of us, did I become angry. Angry over the near loss of my hard earned and newly purchased car. I didn't fear for my life. This wasn't as harrowing as some other near accidents I've been in.

One time, I was cut off while driving on a rainy night on a two lane off ramp. Another driver in his IROC-Z decided the right lane wasn't fast enough for him and he veered into my lane before checking his enormous blind spot. I veered left to avoid him, overcorrected several times before losing control of my car. I did four 360 degree turns watching as headlights of other cars spun rapidly by across my windshield.

When I regained control of my car, turned it around to face the correct direction, miraculously not hitting any of the cars surrounding me and sped up to find this guy. I admit that I was angry enough that time to park my car in his driver side door. However, that idiot's luck held up for him as he immediately sped away. He was smart enough to run away and hide before I could have done something drastic to him.

Then there was the time a police cruiser who was so focused on catching a speeder that he almost drove his car in front of me on the highway. I was less than a hundred feet away from him as he started to edge onto the highway. He stopped just in time before I, brakes locked and skidding, would have plowed through that cruiser at sixty miles per hour. I admit that I was quite shaken after that and had to pull over to regroup as the police cruiser sped by to chase his prey.

As I sat in my Driver "Improvement" program earlier yesterday to lower my insurance rates, I reflected on these previous incidents. The thought that came to my head was that those idiots belonged in this class more than I did. It brought an amused smile to my face as the instructor droned on about checking blindspots. And after last night, I have in mind another driver who should have taken that class.

Geeky Anticipation

So I finally sat down and ordered the replacement parts for my computer. These parts arrive next Tuesday. I can hardly wait. I'm getting some new toys! It's been so long since I bought a new gadget. (I don't count the car as one of those toys. Even if it is a bit fun to drive. Ok, a lot of fun to drive. *grin*)

Actually, I thought the lack of connectivity to the 'net would be burdensome. I told my friends jokingly that I would suffer withdrawal symptoms and need my "fix". To my surprise, I hardly missed it. I suspect I'll have to do a lot of reading to catch up with everyone. Not to mention a lot of commenting to make up for the few comments I've received lately.

I took all the excess time I've had and used it to catch up with parts of my life. Like relaxing and doing nothing but working on my tan. Or doing some much needed car maintence. Or washing and waxing the car. (It'll be the last time I buy a white car, I tell you now.) I also helped my friend install a supercharger in his car. He's been tearing up the roads with it since we got it running.

And, I avoided relationship-like things during that entire time. Engineering girl has gotten a job that prevents her from going to class, so she withdrew from it. I haven't seen MK in a month, though there is a chance I might see her this weekend. To be honest, I am almost enjoying my continued bachelorhood. No need to over-analyze being single.

In any event, here are the items I purchased:

• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ "Venice" CPU
  
• Asus A8V motherboard
  
• Kingston 1Gb of DDR ram
• PNY Geforce FX 5200 w/ 128mb video card
  

All of these items for $288.00. Yes, I know I cheaped out on the video card. Especially since some video cards come with 512 mb of ram. It was either that or not have a video card at all. Perhaps when my income stabilizes, I might splurge and buy something nicer.

Until then, I have tons of labs to catch up and amazingly, I actually am still working despite July and August being slow months for my company. I figured the financial pinch would be pretty bad, but if I can manage to work until the end of the month, this emergency purchase won't hurt the wallet as badly. Besides that, I am taking a driver "improvement" program to help lower my insurance rates this weekend.

As I said earlier, I am entirely looking forward to Tuesday night. I feel like a little boy in a candy store while holding a twenty dollar bill.

It's all smoke and mirrors

Today, as I was studying for an exam at Panera, I watched this gorgeous young woman barely out of her teens with model looks standing outside lighting up a cigarette. And her friend was a close second in physical beauty. Both were bottle blondes, wearing the current fashion of not enough clothing, and as they lit up their cigarettes, they became instantly unattractive to me.

As I watched them smoking and chit chatting, I saw another pair of women, in robes that covered their two piece bathing suits stand up, gather up their things and step out of the restaurant. As they walked out the door, they also lit up. They walked to their car and got into it, puffing away.

Because of the job I have in the entertainment industry, I've been to a large number of clubs, parties, weddings, etc. I can't help but notice the great number of females who often step outside to light up during these celebrations. Just about every dancer that I work with smokes.

When I receive hugs from them, I can't help but notice the lingering miasma that one can't avoid when someone smokes. Even if they take breath mints and chew gum to mask the smell on their breath and wear perfume to mask the smell on their clothes.

Supposedly, women who smoke are more likely to be adversely affected by the smoking. I've read a number of articles about this in the past. The last link, which is the summary from the surgeon general's report on women and smoking, is chilling to read and this report is already five years old. It doesn't even begin to address the upward trend on female smoking in recent years.

What reason can they give to explain why they started in the first place? Was it peer pressure? Was it because they wanted to stay skinny? Because it makes them appear socially mature? Did they feel unattractive or had low self esteem and started smoking to improve their self-image and social standing?

I have often wondered if these women are aware of the side effects of smoking. Do they know how terrible it tastes to kiss them? Are they aware of what it does to their skin? Or the various forms of cancer they will eventually be susceptible to? Or the other types of damage they do to their bodies even if they aren't afflicted by cancer?

It's quite possible that I am being a bit puritanish. Maybe it is merely my personal distaste over the issue. After reading some of the health consequences, I begin to wonder if it is merely ignorance or apathy that perpetuates this scary trend. Some day, I might find the courage and audacity to ask these women the questions I have to see what they have to say.

UPDATE 7/13/06: Some more recent news about women and smoking: http://www.newsday.com/news/health/

Pictures!

As promised, pictures of the Lexus! Here are three pictures of my car taken at Jones Beach State Park just before sunset. The wet spots under the car that look like an oil leak is really water dripping from the A/C lines.