The blog has been a little silent lately mostly because I've just been exhausted and scattered. My week has been a little different but I think a part of me is wanting the same, while the other part of me wants to find a different profession altogether. How come there's no job that just pays you to be you?

So on Monday, I received an email that said that I was to be part of a Kaizen event, in a nutshell, it is a team consisting of one engineer, a production worker from each affected section, coming together to implement a new system of moving product from one location to another. Its sold to us as a team effort, but really its 95 percent engineer, and us grunt who know the stuff to build and implement it.

So the first two days I was being a slight lump in the testicle, challenging his ideas and questioning the quality of data collected. I was keep throwing wrenches in his presentation because I was truly curious and wanted to understand why it is that way. But after the second day, I scaled it back a bit. Anyway, after 4 eight hour days we finally finished it, and on the last day I did a process diagram on Microsoft Visio, something I've never done before, and also make a video showing the entire process. I got all weird and director-y on them, blocking the action and being meticulous. Because we had a time limit, I explained that we had to shoot in sequence without cuts, and then insert the voiceovers after the presentation, and then noticed that my coworkers eyes were glazed and a small residue of drool had formed at the corners of their mouths.

Anyway, it was a good experience except it brought up the feeling of dissatisfaction about my place in the world, that I wasn't quite good enough to work on the important company changing stuff, but I was really too valuable to be shipping. I hate that feeling because I'm all about practicality, and I feel like the 52 inch HDTV and I'm showing Standard Def infommercials. Sigh. Or like people who buy 120 gig iPods and they have 5 albums on it playing through some cheap Walgreen's 20 dollar speakers.

But shooting the video yesterday did make me realize how much I miss doing shit like that, even though it was with people who don't act, and about an activity that's work-centric. Perhaps I should get back into shorts. To keep sanity at bay. Like I told a co-worker at work, I don't have to be a working filmmaker, just a active one. It just keeps the mind from going to dark places.

The other drawback about being in a week long event was that I wasn't listening to any podcasts all week, which actually messed me up a little more than I anticipated. Not getting my podcasts was akin to living in some sort of a cave, devoid of any information and being a little left behind. So in a big way, I'm looking forward to going back to my regular gig, even if it's a gig that doesn't pay so well and requires very little of me mentally, but drains me physically.

We came back from the doctors and the good news is that he doesn't have any Auditory Processing Disorder, nor does the doctor think he has any clear indication of ADD or ADHD. What she does see is that he's got a big gob of anxiety, some expressive obstacles, and does have problems remembering things unless it is hinted at heavily. So the next step is for us to try to get him into some occupational therapy, which sounds like something I might be interested in myself. I need therapy for my occupation.

Finally returned Far Cry 2 to the store and rented out Dead Space. Far Cry is pretty good but it's such a long ass game that it would be worth buying. I thought that maybe I'd just give it up for now and just buy it when it gets cheaper. About a year from now. So going in, I had the option to rent Bioshock 2, Dead Space, Fallout 3, and COD: World at War. It was a very tough choice. I'm not a big horror survival fan, but Dead Space looks awesome. Heard nothing but raves about Dead Space.

Well, next week is a short week, plus we get Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday. Always a bonus.