9 to 5

I love the movie 'Office Space'. I thought it was a joke. I am rethinking my theory. Work in general pretty much sucks but one has to pay the bills, get satisfaction from their job and live the American dream. Work ethics are high priority - at least I thought that. I have seen the light or some strange glow.

How is it that a teenager can get a job at an electronics store at the mall and make almost as much as me? He calls in sick on a regular basis. Positve aspect - he does call in. But he calls in when he wants to chill or go out with his friends - not sick.

He gets to work at least one minute before his shift. His response, "I start work at ten, why get there at 9:45?" Okay, I'm lost here.

His female co-workers (including his 19 year old manager) hit on him. I know he's a handsome dude but come on. On week four he gets a promotion and a pay raise. Okay, I'm lost here.

I am so glad he has a job and it helps that he has money to burn and that he does very well. He's always broke and lives from payday to payday. He has all the latest gadgets and hip clothes. He eats out all the time.

Life seems to have taken a path that I am unfamiliar with. That fork in the road and I took the one less traveled - apparently I should have taken the other path. At the end of the movie 'Office Space', the character is living it up on some tropical island. Where is the justice? I'm off to work.

HDTV

I'm not a big fan of watching television - I would rather be writing or curled up with a good book. When it's cold outside or I'm in the mood to watch something on the telley I prefer to watch it in color. I don't mean all green. Our t.v. is old - really, really old. The tuner has been broken for years and we run it through the vcr. Since the vcr's are going extinct we have seen trouble on the horizon. A few years ago a button on the front ceased working so it is taped in the on position - sometimes the tap falls off and you see nothing but static. When the power goes off, even for a split second, the television shuts down and it is quite a production to get her up and running again.

Several weeks ago the color from the tube turned green. That would be green faces, green skin, green cars, green milk - green everything. I don't mind seeing Brittney Spears as the green goddess but when I see the green decorating scheme of the Dream House on HGTV - I just can't accept that scenario.

The search to purchase a new T.V. has begun. Sticker Shock!!! Then, there is the question? plasma or LCD? I am clueless. When does size matter? Several years ago (seems like we did everything several years ago) we purchased a beautiful all wood (oak) cabinet to house our dinosaur television. It is truly a beautiful piece of furniture and it is all wood - no pressed board, no metal no glass or all shiny. I love wood furniture makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Will the new purchase fit in our beautiful wood cabinet? No! What to do? What to do?

A new television is inevitable - you can only watch green people for so long. My beautiful oak cabinet will be sent to the garage to languish permanently in limbo. It will become shelving for paint cans, potting soil and hubby's tools. I don't know if I could bear that. I'm wondering if some museum would accept our dinosaur T.V. set along with our oak cabinet? People would walk by and say, "Hey, what's that?"

I need to let go, after all, it's just a television that has seen me through several presidents, wars, cold winters, the birth of puppies and moves to several states. Perhaps watching the world in green is not such a bad idea.