Grumble, grumble, grumble

So (there's that so again; I've gotta come up with a new intro word) MAB and I were discussing the fact (mentioned in one of yesterday's ramblings) that Rob Lowe is leaving WW, and we came up with someone we thought was the perfect replacement - right level of nerdiness and earnestness (and - at least to me - the right level of cute, but a different type of cute from Rob Lowe) - to play the new Head Speechwriter/Deputy Communications Director: Josh Malina (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Malina,+Joshua), who was Jeremy on "Sports Night" and played David, Sydney's assistant, in "The American President" (a wonderful movie. If you haven't ever seen this film, what the heck are you waiting for? Go rent it. Go! Now! I'll wait here 'til you come back...dum-de-dum-de-dum).

I felt the desire to share the idea with one of the West Wing-related lists I'm on. And the first post I got back was from someone on the list saying (and this is a direct quote) "Gee, poor Rob's body isn't even cold yet."

As I said to a friend in response, what - did I miss a memo? I thought that speculation about who would take over the role was a reasonable response to Rob Lowe's business decision to leave the part of Sam Seaborn. The actor's not dead! His career might be, but that's another issue (mind you, I didn't really like Rob Lowe as an actor until "West Wing," and I think a lot of why I like him now is a credit to Sorkin's writing ability).

Therefore, grumble, grumble, grumble. I'll get over it, I know, but y'know - give people the right to have opinions, huh?

Up later than planned...one of those days

I'm usually in bed by now (yes, really). I get up at 6:15, so getting to bed by 10 ensures that I can get enough sleep that my left eye doesn't freak out on me the next day. But I'm still up.

Today was a weird day. My company, for some inexplicable re ason, made the decision to release all our products on the same date - 30 September - meaning that the 26 of us (the docs group, down from a high of 37 at the time of the buyout) have to put out over 100 manuals by 30 September. Problem is, some of the p roducts are still in the development phase. I'm lucky - both of the books for which I'm currently directly responsible, and the ones for which I am in charge of supervising, are all in decent shape...we think. At least now. But it means that work's bee n very, very busy.

Meanwhile, as if work wasn't enough stress, I had a heated discussion with my mother regarding a family event that MAB and I are unable to attend due to many factors. My mom and I have a great relationship, usually. But there are th ings I just know are going to be tension points, and I'm always unable to avoid them. Gotta learn how to deal with that.

On the upside, as I was scurrying out of my office on the way to a doctor's appointment, I had a pleasant encounter with my boss' bo ss' boss (did that make sense? He's my uber-boss' boss), who had a question for me. Now, we're not big on ceremony in my company; this was something that was really hard when we were part of EvilCorp, which really took titles seriously. So having a shmooze with someone 3 levels above me shouldn't be such a big deal. But he was looking to me for clarification of an issue one of my direct reports asked in a meeting with the uber-boss' uber-boss, so I was a bit nervous (also, I was in a massive rush, as I watched the clock tick closer to my appointment time and I hadn't even left to catch the subway to my bus). But it ended with everyone pleased with the fact that I had taken notes in that meeting (though my uber-boss, whom I adore, teased me about my handheld-and-keyboard setup) and I was able to leave the stress of the day in the office.

We had dinner with friends tonight. We keep trying to get together with these people, but between our busy schedules and theirs, it can be 3-4 months between visits. Had a lovely dinner, friendly discussion, and no stress. Just what I needed tonight.

I'm hitting the "fire bad; tree pretty" stage, so I should sleep soon. More rambling tomorrow, most likely....