Shooting Blanks

I don't know about you, but my brain isn't working correctly. I'm just having problems generating ideas, coming up with any kind of . . . thing to discuss.

Last time I mentioned the television series Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, writer and producer of The X Files. I am now in the midst of episode five of season one (Netflix), and I have to say I am floored by this show. It had an explosive pilot, followed through wonderfully, and continues to evolve as the series moves forward. The whole idea behind the series is evolution, moving from one episode to the next as the characters make decisions and see those decisions come to haunt or help in the future. One thing that really lead me to this series was how Gilligan talked about not caring how long the series lasted; he is on a mission to tell a story and bring this big bird all the way to the nest. I can see how he hangs each episode for the next to increase viewer appeal. bit I can't hold that against him; he is doing the right thing and trying to make some money while he does it. That's what I do. I suppose that's what a lot of decent people do, you know, instead of chasing that American dream we call wealth.

But I can see that this story is a tragic story. The protagonist has a prominent hamartia--one that the writers try to cover by character evolution--but it is there, and that means that it must end in tragedy. I hope that everyone dies at the end, that would really hark back to the Bard and his stuff. Not that everything he wrote was genius, but enough of it was that I think any sort of homage to him can be called classy, classic, or at least good enough.

Now, the main character is played by Bryan Cranston. I initially thought "That guy from Malcolm in the Middle?" but the way Gilligan talked about him on that radio interview, you would think he was a true chameleon, a brilliant actor, a renaissance man of the highest caliber. Gilligan said the man takes his acting very seriously, that you can never see who he is in his roles until after--or until you've seen him long enough to recognize his traits. I will attest to this. He is brilliant. He is truly one of the greatest actors of this generation. This show is his testament, the true culmination of his talent, and should be have a lasting impression on the very medium of television and storytelling. I can't get enough of this man, and I mean that in the most heterosexual way.

I'm going to switch gears, here. I recently built a computer for a client of mine, and it didn't go as planned. Sometimes you win, but this time I lost. The motherboard was dead on arrival--as near as I can tell. I swapped part after part, booted, rebooted, no POST, no video, nothing. Then it started to work. Then it didn't. Then it did, and didn't. Then I decided to refund the mobo and build a system on an old mobo. It works, but now the DVD drive is having some problems. I will not believe--it is unbelievable--that I would get two defective parts in the same shipment. This is why I feel like my brain is shutting down. I should be able to diagnose and fix this problem in a day, no more, and be on with it. But today was the second day I've had all day to work on this damn rig, and I'm still one component from perfection.

Now, I'm not upset, not exactly. I love building computers, and like I've told many of my clients, the more problems, the more content I am to sit down and find and fix them. But this client has been waiting for this PC for about two weeks, and I am unhappy and anxious that he could be unhappy and anxious about it. I don't like being pressured, but that is what is happening. I realize that I need to have a timely service, and that even though this wasn't my fault--I had issues with billing and shipping from my parts company--I still have to take responsibility in front of my customers. I have to look strong and competent, savvy and confident, that not only can I do this job, that I care about this job, and my clientèle, and that I am willing and able to go above and beyond the service provided by other local computer sources.

That is my mission statement, I guess, and my promise to consumers. Unfortunately, I have never been able to take promises or missions lightly, and so now I will push myself to the absolute edge in order to deliver. I only hope that I can make some money while I do so.

More later on.