Okay, I know I said that I didn't want to write so much about work, but I'm doing so now, for a very good reason. Ever since we finally got a second cutting machine operator in digital, and because UPrinting has taken over another company, our workload has increased significantly. Today, we were busy literally until it was time to clock out at 10:30 pm. According to one of the managers, tomorrow, January 23rd, is shaping up to be even busier than today.
When our manager returns on Monday (he's been on vacation this week), I need to have a long talk with him about some issues we're having in the shipping area. First off, I want to reiterate to him that we very much need another packer, especially if our workload is going to potentially remain so high. I'm concerned that we are going to eventually become unable to keep up with it.
Secondly, I need to speak to him about some recurring issues with how the first shift crew is handling things. We're facing some of the same issues we've had previously; namely, their tendency to neglect things they should be doing, but aren't for whatever reason. They have been leaving piles of packed, but unshipped items, which they've already been told they are not supposed to do. No one is allowed to do this, as the company needs to know who's been handling what, if any issues arise. Also, it seems like they're slipping back into the old habit of neglecting the folding materials from their own shift.
So, why am I writing all this? A couple of reasons. I need some prayer regarding Monday. Pray that I would say what needs to be said, that I would speak truthfully and not out of anger or frustration (though I've certainly felt plenty of both recently), and that, Lord willing, we could find some resolution to the problems we're having. Also, I think putting things down in writing has allowed me to start sorting things out in my mind.
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On January 21, it was announced that actor/writer Simon Pegg will be co-writing the next Star Trek movie. For those who don't know, Pegg has appeared in the last two Trek movies in the role of the U.S.S. Enterprise's chief engineer, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott.
Depending on which Star Trek website you choose to visit, reaction varies from total dread to absolute excitement. Some fans are concerned about how Pegg can handle with a more serious tone than his Cornetto trilogy of comedy films. Pegg is an avowed Trekkie, having gone so far as to learn a proper Glaswegian accent for his performance.
Those of us Trekkies who have been following the development of the upcoming movie have borne witness to a lot of the typical fluctuations that seem to be common with studio productions. Since the movie was announced, it has gained (and lost) a director/writer and two other screenwriters, and has seen at least two potential scripts rejected by the studio, Paramount Pictures. At present, the director slated for the movie is Justin Lin, who is best known for his work on the Fast and the Furious series. This in itself has been a source of great consternation among the Trek fanbase.
In my opinion, I think what most bothers the fans about what's been happening production-wise is that the movies are not being handled by those who are absolutely apparent die-hard Trekkies. Not that this is necessarily the best idea; that would be a direction that is potentially quite perilous. I don't mean that a fan couldn't run the franchise competently, or even successfully; my concern is that a die-hard fan might treat the franchise a little too preciously, too reluctant to embrace change when change would be necessary. Change comes very slowly to Star Trek, and Trekkies are even slower to allow change, much less embrace it. For a group of people who pride themselves on the idea of being open-minded and embracing new ideas, Trekkies sure don't live up to it.
Also, I think it upsets Trekkies that the franchise lacks a single, major guiding influence, like Joss Whedon has been for the Marvel Cinematic Universe over at Disney. A number of Trekkies on various message boards have been saying Whedon himself should take over Star Trek for Paramount. I love Star Trek, but for Whedon to leave the sure thing at Marvel (where he's settled in for the long haul), moving over to Paramount and Trek seems like a step backward, at least from a professional standpoint.
It just seems like Trekkies are so afraid for (or of?) the future of Star Trek that the collective fanbase is grasping for some old notion of the past, rather than face the potential, if uncertain, future. Sometimes, I think the fans won't be happy until Star Trek is run exactly the way it used to be with the same old creative people behind the scenes and onscreen as it was for decades, even though that was what eventually ran the whole thing into the ground for a time.
Star Trek badly needs new blood and new ideas, and what I'm most afraid of is that it's going to be the fans who will kill it in the end, with their collective refusal to try anything new and their refusal to be satisfied with anything different. Of course, they may find that if they refuse to be satisfied with the product, those who produce it will stop trying to satisfy them.
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