So Way back last year about this time, I was having a nervous breakdown over a bunch of railing hassle... That was for a show that we had done for a couple years... Well the fall out of that disaster show (not my company's fault) was that this year, they were scaling WAY back to the point it was nothing... The producers even went to the second string production companies that do more cheesy shows for them that are mostly pipe and drape, and fast fold screens...
The show loads in in 2 weeks as of yesterday...
Guess who called today...
Yea, so the show that was dead, suddenly has life... And let me tell you, those rat bastards have high ambitions considering its two weeks out, and we're just beginning the process... First it started as a little custom drape, and some slightly over-sized stock flats... Only had to meet walls at one point per run of flats, simple cornice to finish it off... Now they've changed their minds... They want the walls to run up to the ceiling of the room, which by the way is a stretched crotch vault, and our flats run at odd angles to the 4 arches in question...
Could we do that given a month?.. Well, probably, but it would be a bitch... 2 Months, sure... 2 Weeks, no real chance...
Oh, and they want a price on it for the morning... The drawings didn't get to my office email until 5:02pm...
They're not getting a quote in the morning...
Oh, and yea, I've got another show loading in the same weekend... Why can't these corporations take friggin' turns... Been dead since November, and now this...
Shit...
Here's the thing... I have a halogen torchiere lamp in my living room... In this case it is one of the 300 watt models... You used to be able to buy a 500 watt version of them in the 80's and 90's, but then there were some fires, and UL decided that 300 was the max... Well I'm not crazy about that limit as I never had an issue with a 500 watt unit, but fine... Unfortunately, my current fixture is killing lamps at a fast rate, which means the lamp socket is no longer good... Having a background in lighting, I understand these things, and its no big deal... So off I go to buy another fixture...
Nobody stocks the damn things any more... I've been to 12 different stores today... Apparently the retail industry has decided that I can't be trusted with these things, and I'll burn my house down, or get hurt at the very least, because all I can get around here (and remember I'm in NJ, not some backwater little town) are either fluorescent versions that really are a joke despite the marketing, or 3 way incandescent versions... My girlfriend has those incandescent things and they suck... There is no chance in hell of me ever putting a fluorescent fixture in my living room, never... NEVER!!!
Ok, I acknowledge that there are safety hazards with this style lamp... I am also not a friggin moron... I don't intend to let anything except a stray fly fall in to the open top of the fixture... Mine location is such that nothing can get near it to knock it over... I don't have wild drunken parties that might lead to something stupid being done to the lamp... Hell I'll sign a waver if I had to to get one...
Now, I can order them online... So I do have an option... The problem there is 1) I can't evaluate the quality of the fixture before buying, and 2) I don't want to pay $20 to ship a $30 fixture to my house...
What am I left with?... I'm not sure at the moment... I know I could go out, buy a 500 watt work lamp, rape the lamp holder, and repair my current fixture... That will work, but it seems kinda silly... I could make my own from scratch, also having to rape a work light to get a base, but it would be built better...
I'm tired of this Nerf world... I don't need all the sharp edge in life removed... Stop protecting the people that natural selection is trying to get rid of...
So I bought my girlfriend a Metrokane Rabbit wine bottle opener for Christmas... She loves wine, and the usual openers are annoying... I've seen the rabbit like openers around for some time, and they always look great... So I got one online as I hate shopping. It came quickly, got wrapped, and then opened... Boy was I shocked that I had spent that much money on a plastic wine opener... It looks nice, but it feels like crap... I should have done more research on the damn things before buying to find out the plastic issue... My bad, and a lesson learned (again) right... It works fine, I just don't like that plastic feel...
Today, we were out and about doing some shopping... At Target, we wandered through the Christmas clearance stuff that is still left, and I picked up a Rabbit knock off... Sure it was on sale, but the original price was only 1/10 of what I paid for the real rabbit... I figured at 50% off, I couldn't go wrong if it broke after the first cork... So home I came, and I opened the unit, and guess what?... Solid steel and chrome... This thing is built like a tank... The visual lines aren't quite so soft and pleasing as the rabbit, but who cares... If I drop it, I damn well will get my feet out of the way as it might break a toe or two on impact...
I'm thinking at this point, I should go back to Target to buy the rest of them as gifts to the people I already know that have the bloody rabbit POS...