Friday my company provided us all with lunch and a movie - Office Space. Because Richard hadn’t seen that one either, he rented it, and so Saturday we watched it (again, for me). If you have ever worked in a cube maze, or dealt with big-company politics and corporate business practices, you need to watch this movie. Of course, it was hard to get motivated to do anything productive after watching it Friday afternoon at work, but I have to admire my company’s sense of humor. Small companies have politics too, but nothing quite like big ones. The movie only reinforced my relief at having left the Big Fish. Anyone pondering making the switch from small company to big company should watch this movie. You might think they are making this stuff up. Trust me. They aren’t.

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Flush from a successful bike ride, we returned home to clean the house in preparation for the arrival of dinner guests later in the day. I yanked the sheets off the bed and took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather (low 80’s, in April! Please tell me this is not a sign of how the summer will shape up!) to hang a few loads outside. We then converged on the kitchen, to wash and chop a huge pile of potatoes and onions and leeks and other assorted white or green vegetables, dumping them into the crock pot for the evening’s dinner. I plugged the pot in, wandered off to do a bit more cleaning, and then the power went out.

The power stayed out a few hours. During that time we hopped onto our bikes again and took a quick trip downtown. The plan was to grab lunch at one of the local shops, but downtown was out of power too. And when we rode back home to get the car and try a restaurant across the tracks (because sometimes only our half of the town shuts off, it being the older side), they were out of power too. There were police swarming all around the power station, and the fire trucks would occasionally rush by with lights and sirens blaring. It was the height of small town excitement, I tell you!

Thwarted at our in-town lunch plans, we were forced to go to Davis for sushi (gee, shucks), where we inhaled many plates of seaweed-wrapped rice and fish concoctions and pondered alternate dinner plans for our guests. Fortified by copious amounts of sushi, we returned home, where we were greeted by the flashing lights on all the digital appliances. I broke out the bread machine and whipped up dough for some incredible rolls, and stirred up a batch of brownies. The power was restored, the crock pot was turned up to high, and dinner was saved.

Sunday was just about as hectic. The choir sang at both Easter services (although luckily the director hasn't pondered making us sing at the sunrise service yet. I think he knows we'd probably declare mutiny if he ever suggested it). Richard and I ducked out after the anthem the second service, then hurried home to change before heading down to his parents' for Easter dinner. We did stop at the grocery store on the way out of town (at my insistance) so that we could have the required Cadbury eggs. To my regret, I allowed myself to be tempted by the Snickers egg instead (which was nothing like a real Snickers, despite it's claims to the contrary). Next year I shall know better.