Blizzard of Saturday Grab Bag

Just to follow up on the Record Setting Crippling Winter Storm Approaching post, my son's daycare ended up closing early yesterday, so I actually left the office half an hour ahead of my already planned early departure, at which point the whole office was emptying fast anyway. Even with a sidetrip through the (mobbed) grocery store, I made it to daycare and home again without incident. My wife's clinic ended up closing early (for them, which meant 5 p.m. instead of 8 or 9) and she also made it home with neither slip nor slide to report. The snow started early but didn't really start sticking to the roads until around sunset anyway. So, we're all fine, our house has power and heat, we have our larder stocked with essentials (note: I don't think we actually have a larder) and we're watching the snow pile up ridiculously high outside. I'm eager to get strted with the shoveling, and thus get it over with, but it hasn't stopped falling yet.

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Incidentally on the work front, I finally received my annual review from my boss, the follow-up to my self-evaluation. His supervisory scores and comments for me were largely in line with my own, which means either I had a pretty realistic handle on my performance or (I strongly suspect this latter theory is where it's at) my boss has no idea what I did from June through December and just followed my lead. Either way, the own-horn-tooting gambit seems to have paid off! (Or will, in a couple months, when I actually get my minor salary adjustment.)

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Another one for the vanity plate archives: the other night, driving home on 66, I saw a BMW with tags which, at first glance, I thought said NYR 3PTT. Baffling, since I immediately extrapolated "New York Rangers" (the hockey team) from the first three letters, and then wondered if the last four characters were supposed to mean "three-peat". Of course the Rangers have never three-peated, not even close; my Little Bro is a much bigger hockey fan than I but I got caught up in the excitement when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, after a 54-year championship drought, so I know that much. Had the owner of the Beemer over-confidently registered those tags in 1995? Traffic was moving pretty slowly on 66, so the Beemer stayed in my sights a little longer, and I got a little closer, and I realized it was actually NVR 3PTT. As in, I can only surmise, "Never three-putt." I'm also not a huge golf fan, but I'm pretty sure every pro has three-putted in a major tournament at least once, so boasting that you NEVER miss more than one putt once you're on the green? At the risk of jumping to unfair conclusions: Christ, what an asshole.


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My wife and I are big fans of 30 Rock, which is a pretty consistent hoot. This week's episode was about Jenna's mom, played by SNL alum Jan Hooks, who (I'm sorry but HOLY CRAP) has not aged well. I found an early scene in the episode particularly resonant, though: Jack's PowerPoint presentation to Jenna about saying "No" to her manipulative mother (technically the presentation was about saying "No" to Jack's manipulative mother but could be applied to any bad mom). On the one hand I was fascinated by what the scene represented in terms of the evolution of Jack's character. When the show started he was the symbolic (and satirical) representative of the giant corporation, and his voice was one of conservative groupthink and hyperadvanced capitalism. He was on top not by virtue of being right, but by virtue of knowing how to play the game of the way things are. But last night, talking about standing up to a parent's negative influence, he was unquestionably the Voice of Reason. The PowerPoint presentation was hilarious, but dead on; I kept thinking "so true!" with each slide. In the show's original premise, Liz was the Voice of Reason, the lone sane person surrounded by crazies on all sides: narcissistic actors, tempermental writers, weirdo pages, and profit-driven sharks-in-suits. (Plus wackadoo would-be boyfriends because, y'know, chicks, man, amirite?) Last night Jenna and her mom sang a ridiculously inappropriate duet and Liz was caught up in the crazy, leading to the exchange of the night:

Liz: "How can you not be moved by this?"
Jack: (deadpan) "Because I'm listening to the words." (drinks scotch)

Once again, the Voice of Reason is assigned to Jack. Which makes me wonder if last night's script had a guest writer with a slightly different take on the traditional roles of the ensemble.

But I find myself still thinking about the insightful PowerPoint today, which is odd in its own right because I get it but I can't really relate. My relationship with my parents isn't perfect by any means (best described with terms such as "fine", "not estranged but not close", and "an awful lot of work some times") but it falls decidedly on the non-toxic side. Yet I kept thinking everything Jack said about drawing boundaries against hurtful parental behavior was not only valid but importantly true. I'm not sure why that should be the case. Maybe I just imagine the world would be a better place if everyone took the slideshow to heart.