An Overwhelming Feeling Of Failure

Even in a new office building I felt the pressure of my failure. It also didn’t help that I knew four people who worked for the company, one of which was the one who passed judgement upon me, and that I was woefully under-prepared for the hackathon. So I stayed, for as long as I could, before bowing out early. I told myself fleeing was in my best interest and that it would mean that I could get a few chores done earlier (which I did, but eventually wound up falling asleep earlier as well), but in reality I realized that I was the one who couldn’t hack it and had to go.

The Unwatchable Kimmy Schmidt?
With a half hour to kill on Sunday afternoon I decided to stream what many people have been saying is a really good Netflix series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The show, created in part by Tina Fey, and starring Ellie Kemper (think “The Office”), is a show about four Indiana women who were being held underground by a cult leader and have been freed. Three of the women return to Indiana, while Kimmy, decides to stay in New York.

The first episode nearly broke me. I felt it was filled with cliche “I’ve been out of society for so long that I am childlike and do not know how to interface with people any longer” jokes. There were at least two times that I considered turning it off and tossing it onto the “Not for me” pile.

I’d like to say that I did a 180° turnaround with the second episode when I watched it on Sunday night, but I doubt that this series will ever fall into the “Must stream TV” category for me.

Has anyone else watched this? What’s your opinion?

Ace Was The Place With The Helpful Hardware Man?
As I drove home from the Decatur area after eating dinner on Sunday I saw that another Ace Hardware has shuttered its doors. I understood when the East Atlanta Ace did the same thing some number of years ago, but I figured the one along College would be able to survive since it wasn’t situated too closely to a Lowe’s or Home Depot. I was obviously wrong.

For years everyone (yours included) has poo-pooed WalMart for its business practices which put pressure on “mom and pop” shops, including making all efforts to stop them from opening new stores (see also: Suburban Plaza). However I’ve never heard the same disdain for Lowe’s and Home Depot.

I guess Ace Hardware’s future will be one of small town America and niche locations such as the one located in Virginia-Highland.

A Half Truckload Of No-Longer-Needed-By-Me Items
I’ve loaded the M6 with a half trunkload of things destined for Goodwill today. Included in the truckload is the old roof rack components from the Jackmobile, sans the tray I promised to return to ITP-Reader Steve.

With Spring in the air (eventually) I will be continuing to make critical decisions about the things that are occupying space inside the ITP-Estate and getting rid of those things that are not bringing me happiness.

I still have hope and big plans for my future, I am the unbreakable Paulie…

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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11 Responses to An Overwhelming Feeling Of Failure

  1. HamWithCam says:

    The Smith Ace on College has been closed since July 2014. A fixture in Decatur for over 40 years, the Ace closed to “make way for development”.

    FWIW, the Decatur Ace on Scott Blvd still seems to be going strong. Even in light of the Wal-Mart going up just down the street.

  2. That long ago? I guess that I don’t go that way very often any longer. And I completely forgot about the Ace on Scott Blvd; it outlasted the Chinese buffet that used to sit beside it.

  3. Steve says:

    So did you at least learn where you need to add to your knowledge? It’s OK to learn what you don’t know.

    You’re right about the Lowes/HD conundrum. And we have an Ace in Luthersville!! Much easier to go there than to drive 25 minutes one way to the Lowes. Although I have to say “our” Lowes gives great customer service, and the last time I was in HD, theirs wasn’t as terrible as in the past. That particular Ace in Decatur changed hands some years ago and lost a whole bunch of stock- pared down to the minimum… I think to some extent, they did it to themselves.

    WE HAVE CELL SERVICE sort of. I reused some coax cable that used to drive the satellite dish, and hung the cell repeater antenna outside. It isn’t high enough yet, but Debbie called me while lying in the bed this morning, which is a first.

    -FP

  4. Yea, I actually learned quite a bit. Had I thought that the rest of the evening would have been productive there I would have stayed.

  5. Stacy says:

    A brand new Ace just opened blocks from me, no joke: the corner of 7th & Juniper! I was tickled to see it and hope they do OK, what with the big Home Depot on Ponce just a mile away.

  6. 7th & Juniper? I’ll have to investigate.

  7. Steve says:

    7th and Juniper!! Wow!

  8. Barb says:

    We just got a brand new Ace up the street at Delk, and then the one that has been there forever on Roswell Rd closed. It is much more convenient than HD or Lowes, so we tend to frequent it.

    Never even heard of that TV show.

  9. Debbie says:

    I went to the independent hardware store in Grantville this morning. That place is a maze overflowing with stock, but the guy at the register knows where everything is. Another customer was putting him to the test and he never missed. When it was my turn, same deal. I’ll definitely go back there.

  10. Steve says:

    And Debbie got her rocks off… or is it on? 4 tons of #57 gravel delivered!!

    She was very excited a little while ago… “I’m calling you from the living room”.

    Ahhh, technology.

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