Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:34:29 GMT

Eh, well, might as well post my notes over here right? You know, since I don't have a freaking Facebook anymore....

Of course, wouldn't you know it, my weekend in New Orleans is gone. Didn't save the damn thing like I should have. Gr...

So, I’m in trouble at work. No big surprise there, really. Bishop is still convinced I had something to do with springing little Rosebud out, but of course, he’s got absolutely no way of proving it. Because of this, he’s watching me like a hawk. Normally, I wouldn’t mind a little extra attention from my superiors, especially if it gets me what I want, but seriously, this is getting ridiculous.

Anyway, I’m in trouble. My good old buddy Amanda told me there was a new branch of Primatech opening up in New Orleans. Clearly, I want to transfer there. Monica’s heading back there in September, and to be completely honest (something I don’t do often when feelings are involved), I don’t want to let her go. Long distance relationships have never been my strong suit, and I don’t want to end this.

So I talked to Bishop about a transfer. And inadvertently got Amanda in trouble, as it wasn’t common knowledge when I decided to open my big trap and ask him about it. At any rate, he calls me into his office to have a little chat with me about it.

“So, Jack, I’ve been thinking about your transfer request,” the human slug says, his hands folded on his desk. Well, he didn’t completely dismiss it, at least.

“Good to hear, sir.”

“There are, however, a few concerns we have about relocating you there.” Yeah, no surprise there. “Your history here has been less than stellar. Your assignments don’t always go as smoothly as they could, you continually disobey orders, you’ve made more than a few enemies here in Odessa. So tell me. Why should we accept your request for a transfer? How do we know that we won’t be in for a repeat performance in New Orleans?”

Wow. Did not expect this. And just how in the hell am I supposed to answer that question? I have no way to guarantee that I won’t be the same there as I am here. I’m not entirely sure I will be different. But I gotta give him something. This is the only way I’m gonna be able to go to New Orleans, and dammit, I’m gonna do everything I can do get there.

I might not be the model employee. I might not be “the most valuable asset to this company.” I might not be the smartest, the fastest, the strongest, any of that. But I got one thing in my corner: no one – /no one/ – kisses ass better than me.

“Sir, to be completely frank, there’s no assurance I can give you that will set your mind at ease.”

“In that case-”

“However, if you look over my recent performance here, I’m sure you’ll notice a marked improvement over the past two months. I show up and do my job to the best of my ability. My last assignment was a complete success – I even did it in less time than was projected, and with less mess. That equals less cost, less clean-up, less risk of exposure in general. Yes, I’ve made a few enemies here, like you said. But I’ve been handling it in a professional matter. You’ll note that Dr. Harper still has an intact face – something that definitely wouldn’t happen if I wasn’t doing everything in my power to do my job professionally. I can set aside personal differences and work side by side with someone who’d just as soon shoot me as help me. Sir, I know my short career here at Primatech has been less than ideal, but I’m doing my best to turn it around and get my career in line. Maybe a fresh start in New Orleans is just what I need to prove myself. Please, just give me a chance.”

Bob just sits there. No hint of emotion, no sign that I said the right thing. Or the wrong thing. All I can tell it that he’s thinking. And I’ll take that as a good sign.

After what seems like forever, he sits back in his chair and sighs. “Alright, Jack.”

“Alright what?”

“Alright. I’ll give you a chance.”

Sweet! I can’t wait to tell Monica! “Thank you, sir. I-”

“I am going to need a few things from you first.” Shit. Shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. “To begin with, I want a five year plan from you. If you really are trying to get your career in order, you need to start thinking long term. I want to know what goals you have for yourself, both professionally and personally. Then, I want another plan from you detailing how you think the new branch should be run. We want to use this opportunity to try out new ideas, test new methods, develop better, more efficient ways of doing the same thing we’ve done the past 45 years. I want to know what your ideas are for this facility. If you want to be a part of this branch, I want to know exactly how you see yourself fitting in there.”

“Absolutely, sir.” Not exactly my idea of a good time, but I can handle it.

“And I want it in one week.”

Ah. “Aye, there’s the rub” much? “I’ll certainly try, sir.”

“You’ll do more than try, Jack. In addition to that,” he says as he stands up and walks over to a book case. There’s more? “We’re going to be setting up the offices down there in a few weeks. You’re going to go down there and help. It’s only for a weekend.”

“A weekend?” Yeah, I tend to be a little busy on weekends now…

“Only one. Unless you don’t finish, and then it’ll be another weekend. Can’t take away valuable time you should be spending on your current job.” He pulls out a folder and hands it to me. I start flipping through it and it’s a basic plan for the new branch. And by basic, I mean mostly blank. I got a lot of work to do on the whole “ideas for the new facility” thing.

This deal is starting to look a little less appealing. Monica /so/ owes me for this. On second thought, I am definitely not telling her I’m doing this. It’s slightly embarrassing that I’m getting pushed around like this.

“So, Jack, now that you know what I need from you, are you still putting in for that transfer?”

I flash a smile. “No doubt about it, sir. Keep my name on that list for transfer.”

“Excellent. I look forward to you reports.” He sits back down and folds his hands, grinning like the self-righteous son of a bitch he thinks he is.

I nod and leave the office as fast as I can.

Thank God that meeting is over. I get back to my office and plop down in my chair. Yeah, this is rapidly becoming a nightmare. I sit with my head in my hands for a few minutes, trying to wrap my head around the massive amount of /paperwork/ I have to trudge through. Finally, I take a deep breath and pull open a drawer on my desk. Move aside a stapler and there it is, that picture from when we went and saw Indy 4. We look pretty damn hot.

No time to dwell on that now, though, my cell phone is beeping at me. New voicemail. I check it. Obviously.

"Hey Jack, don't let Bishop get ya down. Love ya!"

Well, that helps put everything into perspective, doesn’t it? Hope you appreciate this, Dawson. I’m doing it for you.
I'll get the others later...too frustrated at the moment.

It is with heavy hearts...

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:56:28 GMT

...that we gather here again.

Just let me get this out of the way first... STUPID MOTHERFUCKING FACEBOOK. DELETING JACK COOPER?!?! SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK!

Ok, we're good now.

So here's our memorial to the fallen.

Rose Smith (we miss you, Rosebud! Come join us here!)

Jennifer Williams (get that sexy ass back in gear, you got a date coming up)

Owen Tyler (again, you got a date coming up, so hurry up already)

THE MIGHTY JACK COOPER

And just for good measure...
John Hart (cuz he is pretty hot...)

Let us take a moment to remember all the fallen. Because we're nothing if not stubborn asses, and hey, at least on here, we can go AU and not feel bad about it...

It's a Freakin' Party Wherever We Go

Tue, 27 May 2008 03:43:49 GMT

So I took Monica to see the new Indiana Jones movie, right? Right. It was awesome, like I expected it to be, But we were standing in line at the theater and we suddenly get swarmed by these photographers. Apparently they were in town for some convention or something, and couldn't pass up the hotness that be the two of us.

One of 'em was actually nice enough to send us one of the images. So go grab a glass of ice water and a fire extinguisher, because daaaaaaaaaamn, we are hot.

All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:28:59 GMT

Normally, I don't succumb to peer pressure.

Ok, that's a big, fat lie. But that's beside the point. The point is that somehow, Gwen convinced Monica to start one of these stupid things. Then Claude caught wind of it and followed like a "bloody german shepherd," I believe is how he put it. Though I think "lemming" or just plain "sheep" is more apropos. And come on, I can not have Claude being more technologically advanced than me.

So I started this damn thing. Happy now, Dawson? Stacy? Rains?

I blame each and every one of you.

Oh, I'm a little pissy, huh? Yeah, let's not get started on why. One, I don't feel like talking about it. Two, I'm not allowed to talk about it.

Stupid freaking paper company...

Pardon me while I go ice my swollen jaw.

love_the_coat

It is with heavy hearts...

It's a Freakin' Party Wherever We Go

All The Cool Kids Are Doing It