Licence to Drive

So I went home early today, a bit under the weather today. I turned on the TV and flipped over to one of the random cable stations in the 50's, or 60's on the channel spectrum, and what do I come across, the late 80's movie "Licence to Drive." Yes - that "Licence to Drive", staring the dynamic duo of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman.

I always admit that I had a special place in my heart for this movie. It was a stupid teenage, bad hair, 80's movie, but for some reason it made me laugh - both then and now. It was released just before the world started getting too PC and you make jokes about drinking and driving. Heck, there was even adult sponsored underage drinking (okay, one sip or champagne during a toast). I hadn't see the movie in ages, but I do remember having a teenage crush on the female lead, who drank too much, and ends up passing out for half the movie.

I never knew who it was, and when watching the movie, she looked strangely familiar. A quick check on IMDB.com, and I found out it was an 18 year old Heather Graham, in one of her first feature films. I was stunned. I figured that she probably went the way of other incredibly beautiful 80's teen movie stars, like Sloan from "Ferris Buller's Day off" or Monique from "Better off Dead", who were one hit wonders. I was glad to see this was not the case and that this one ended up having a real career.

Too bad that is not the case for Corey and Corey. C'est la vie.

"Live every week like it's 'Shark Week'"

In the last 48 hours, the two predominate activities for me have been (1) watching Season 1 of "30 Rock" and (2) thinking about the reorganization at work we are undergoing. For those of you who have not watched "30 Rock", the title of this posting is advice Tracy Jordan gave to Kenneth the NBC Page. For those of you I have not talked to about work lately, things are changing.

A major reorganization is in the works for us. We all knew it was coming, but we didn't know what was going to happen. We got a taste of it on Monday when the overall structure was laid out, and the changes are major. Not all of the changes make us feel confident of the future. Two of the four key directors are out of jobs.

Layoffs for the rest of us seem inevitable (or more politely know as job eliminations). We don't know who or when, but we all expect this to happen in the next few weeks. It could get brutal. Everyone is counting on their supporters to cover for them. I am not sure what my future will be with the division. I think I should be safe, but my hopes of getting a better job may not happen. It could happen but maybe not. Maybe I will get fired.

Then today, I thought, maybe I do want to get fired. Maybe I really want to be laid off. I haven't been happy at work in - well - a long time. Maybe never after many years of working for 3M. I have been working and pushing myself in the hopes for something better in the future at 3M, which still has not materialized. Maybe this is a sign that nothing good is in my future here and that it is foolish to waste any more time waiting. Instead of thinking I "should" look around, maybe I need to get fired so I "have" to find something elsewhere. Maybe it is time, and this is the kick I needed to leave.

I though about this today and it made me happy. Excited actually. More excited than I have been in a long while. It was a good reminder that we do have choices and control over our actions, just like our friends in the deep blue ocean.

Live every week like it's Shark Week.