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Shobhit worked an evening shift last night, so I had most of my time after work at home alone. I did laundry, and I vaccuumed, and I made myself a veggie ham and cheese sandwich for dinner. I made myself some chai and then drank two more mugs full of regular Australia tea.
The first two episodes of the new Star Wars series
Ahsoka premeired on Disney+. I tried to launch the Disney+ app on the Xfinity cable box, but forgot that for some reason they gave us a different box for our current cable package and this one, unlike the previous one, won't launch Disney+. A message came up offering to order more equipment to make that possible. Nope.
I still have my ancient Apple TV box, which I think I bought in 2010 or 2011. Newer versions have the capability of adding new apps from an app store, but this one doesn't, which I have never understood. I was reminded of a conversation with Alexia last week about unsustainable practices people really don't think about, such as "growth" for its own sake, and she brought up how we used to manufacture products to last and which could be repaired if they broke down. Now it's all "planned obsolescence," and as much as I love Apple, basically every one of their products is designed that way. I'd love an updated Apple TV box but have really been resisting buying a new one on principle. It's stupid that I should have to, as the one I have still works fine otherwise.
One function that does work on it is screen mirroring, so I was still able to watch
Ahsoka on the TV screen that way. I texted Gabriel that I was about to watch it, and he immediately called me to wax poetic about how much he loves this character. He referenced a plethora of details regarded as canon history in the Star Wars universe even though this character has existed almost entirely in animated series up to this point. I had very little frame of reference for it.
So, I could only judge these episodes without that contextualization, based on the content and performances in these episodes alone. Gabriel later declared them "amazing," but then, we should remember his initial reaction was the same to
The Rise of Skywalker, which is by a wide margin the worst of all the Star Wars films. He just loves all Star Wars things. To be fair, I do understand he's right about how beloved the character of Ahsoka is and what she means to the canon and to fans with a long history with her. I get it.
But, the episodes themselves, to me, were . . . fine. A few very good action sequences. Some incredibly stilted dialogue and wooden line readings, sometimes from Rosario Dawson herself as the title character. I'm ambivalent about her performance so far. I didn't know it was possible to overact at the same time as being "understated." Gabriel says the performance is in line with the character's long and emotionally intricate history. I guess I'll take his word for it for now.
I was doing some photo organizing on Flickr when Shobhit got home. It's a bit of a project: I've decided to make collections of each year's total photo albums, so I can reference how each year compares to my photography history. I've gotten up to 2005 so far. At this point we're getting into the early years of my first getting a digital camera; I have 65 photo albums from 2005 alone. That number will likely get higher as the years get more recent. Anyway, this task is tedious and time consuming but, for me personally, still fulfilling.
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About a month ago I suggested to Gabby and Amy during our weekly "team meeting" that we should all go out for lunch sometime. They seemed to like the idea, and Gabby suggested Wednesday August 16. Last week she had to go out to the Ballard store though and so it got pushed to this week. We just got back from that.
My thinking, really, was that with Amy and me being Gabby's two direct reports, thus making us a three-person team (even though both Cathryn and Amanda do my job for other departments but are not on this team, which is odd and confusing), it might be a good idea for us all to get to know each other in a more social context than just our weekly meetings, which are very work focused. Although Gabby has started using this deck of prompt cards for "ice breakers" every week. This morning it asked what we think the most impressive American landmark is. I chose Yellowstone National Park even though it's a park and not a landmark, because I think it may very well be the most impressive point of interest in all of America.
Anyway, Gabby drove us in her car up to Champagen Diner, which I recommended after being so impressed with it when the Category Management and "Center Store" teams had a lunch on July 12. Gabby and I both went for the Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Creamy Tomato Soup, which we both found excellent. Gabby sprung for us all, and when Amy said, "Hopefully you'll get reimbursed by PCC," Gabby replied, "Nope. It's my treat!" Well, it saved me money either way so I appreciate it!
And, I think the lunch very much proved a good idea for getting to know each other in ways we might not have otherwise, or at least not as quickly. We all learned new things about each other, which was fun. I suppose mostly it was Amy and me learning new things about each other, and Gabby learning some new things about Amy; I share pretty much everything so there's little that Gabby doesn't know already. Amy suggested we each share something the rest of us wouldn't likely know, and Gabby found that a slight challenge it seemed, and settled on feeling like she has an inability to stick with any hobbies. She also said that if it weren't for her husband Nick, she'd be far less social and just stay home a lot, so I suppose that actually qualifies as a new thing we learned about her as well.
All in all, it was quite pleasant, and Gabby kind of took the words out of my mouth after she drove us all back to the office and suggested we do this again. I would advocate for quarterly lunches, but she suggested something during the holidays maybe. We'll see how it shakes out.
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[posted 1:02 pm]
