exactly one time.

Thing 1: Clickety clickety.
We've hired a new guy, a fresh-faced new Virginia Tech graduate who has come to relieve me of the installation duties, but still did not manage to relieve me of the title of "Youngest Person at the Company." I've been doing a lot of work with him, showing him around, training him, and also working with him when installation tasks come down the pipe that are still beyond his experience (unfortunately, some of them look to be beyond mine as well). Making installs can be a slow process a lot of times. You often just have to hit a button and then wait for the computer to do something. I guess I've gotten used to this fact, so it doesn't bother me much anymore. But this new guy, he is apparently not the patient sort. He insists on wiggling the mouse or repeatedly clicking on something to make the computer hurry up what it is doing. In fact, he actually argued with me that he read an article (ah, the elusive source of "an article") that said that doing these things makes the computer finish its tasks faster. Actually, what it does is drive me nuts. I'm of the opinion that constant clicking while the computer is already bogged down will only make it go slower. Luckily, we've worked together so much that I feel comfortable screaming, "STOP THAT INCESSANT CLICKING!" at him whenever it gets to me. I am one step away from bringing in a fly swatter and popping his hand whenever he even touches the mouse. I've found that I am frequently impatient with impatience.

Thing 2: Nostalgia.
I found a copy of a VHS called The Last Unicorn at a thrift store last week. I remember this movie from my childhood. In fact, I remember two things: the title and something about a scene with a caravan. So I bought the thing for a dollar and watched it last night for nostalgia's sake. It's an animated fantasy movie about this unicorn who goes looking for all the other unicorns, but can't find them because they all drank too much Red Bull and ran into the sea (or maybe it was that a giant red bull drove them into the sea - whatever). Anyway, without the advantage of a five-year-old mind, this movie is not very good, despite the voice talents of Angela Lansbury, Alan Arkin, and Mia Farrow and the songs by America. Luckily, somone is remaking it at this very moment, so you'll all be able to not enjoy it at a theatre near you soon. I do confess the scene with the skeleton did make me laugh exactly one time.

Thing 3: Hey la, hey la, my doormat's back!
My neighbors put my doormat back. They did it during the night after our first realization of each others' existence, possibly at the very moment I was writing about the incident. I assume they were just hoping to sneak it back before I noticed its absence, not knowing that I had alerted the entire internet to what they had done. Take that! In any case, I am feeling much better about my new neighbors. Someday, I may even speak to them.