The Core Dump

Moving up in the world

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:45:58 GMT

Yesterday, I deposited my first paycheck with four digits.

Admittedly, it was only just barely over the 1K mark (although it was a full kilobyte's worth), but it wasn't a full month's salary, as I've only been working for a few weeks. Still, it was pretty exciting, getting the receipt for my bank account and seeing the balance jump up to where it hasn't been for months.

Having this job is kind of weird. Let's start out with the obvious: I work for the government. I work for the government. Admittedly, it's the state government, which is kind of a lower-case-g government compared to the Federal Government, but still, I feel like I should be issued a gun, or neuralizer, or at least a badge (technically, I do have a badge, but it's the plastic security kind, not the metal awesome kind). At the very least, it just feels right to drive into work wearing my sunglasses. And then there I am in my cubicle, a government ~~agent~~ employee, working on my character sheets for D&D at lunch.

Also, I work in a cubicle now. As weird as that sounds, that's always kinda been my dream. Maybe I just read too much Dilbert as a young child, but having your own cubicle (which I finally got on Friday, when my last stage of training ended) has always been some kind of symbol (although certainly not the only one) of a Real Job. One that may not get respect, but one that may deserve it nonetheless. And that works for me.

Also, again, I have a government job. That's pretty real. And it's nice to know, on an empirical level, that the government is made of real people. I've met some of them, they're nice. I'm one of them. Of course, this also means that the government is made of people who play D&D and are nearly furries. So that's weird.

...Uh, where was I? That's a thought-derailer if I've ever seen one.

Anyway, my job is pretty cool. Having a lot of people there who know my mom is... weird, but seems to be working for me. I've already had the head of my entire department (I think.. still not sure about the hierarchies) personally recommend a professional writing position to me, just because she knows from my mom what I studied in college. It's still only another temp job, but it's about half again as much money as I'm making now. And I'm actually feeling pretty good about my current job. It's not as stressful as it was when I started, and I really do like doing what little I can to help these people. Not to mention that it really makes me appreciate my job. Really, really appreciate what it means to be employed these days.

My life's not too bad. Not perfect, but things are looking up. I think I can make it in this "real world."

Edit: Boom de yada, boom de yada, boom de yada, BOOM DE YADA

Things I said today

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:02:18 GMT

09:38 @kyari It most certainly is! I'm trying to get used to waking up at that time. Not being particularly successful though. #

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Still alive (and on Halloween!)

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:02:18 GMT

Well, I made it. Got through training, and then spent a day taking calls from real people who wanted unemployment. Darn near killed me, since there are apparently a lot of things that I didn't learn in training, but I made it! Even if there are a couple people who got transferred to the wrong number because the unexplained handout they gave me with the transfer numbers was not very clear.

*ahem* Okay, that was probably my fault actually.

Anyway, I am now more or less an expert in the field of Texas unemployment law! So.. yanno, if anyone is currently unemployed, and has worked in Texas in at least two of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters (or, in accordance with Texas Labor Code 201.21 section 1 has recieved over $1000 in compensation for general domestic work from an otherwise non-employing entity in Texas over the course of a calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar year), I can tell you just about anything about what you need to do. It's been burned into my brain.

Unless you're on extended benefits. I don't know jack squat about that, even if half of everyone calling in wants 'em. Although I'm trying to learn it very fast, I don't think it's quite fast enough. Still, I don't think I did anything catastrophically wrong.

Still, from my first day talking to real people, I have some tips.

If you were laid off after your boss found out about the results of a drug test, you weren't laid off. You were fired. You were so very fired.
Don't give information you haven't been asked for yet, and don't ask for information I gave you a few minutes ago. Making me do things out of order is bad, and I could very well make all the work I've done on your claim so far vanish into the ether if I'm not careful. This is bad. Besides, you'll be getting everything I tell you in the mail anyway.
Don't try to apply for unemployment when you don't know anything about your last employer, much less any of your last three employers. We only need the last one, and we really usually just need a name, but seriously?!
Don't try to apply for unemployment and take orders at the drive-thru at the same time. Not only is it a really bad idea in general, but you don't qualify if you're still working full time anyway.

It's a learning process. And I'm certainly learning - although I seem to be teaching a bit too. Being... well, me... I seem to be one of the more computer savvy ones in the group. And so, because I needed the help, I wrote a little script using a little tool native to the software we're using to make the script we're supposed to say pop up in little convenient bubbles at the appropriate times. There's a lot of things that we're required to say, and it's a long shot that I'm going to memorized the beginning and ending spiel in less than a month.

But anyway, this automated script started turning heads in my training class. And then the trainer took an interest. And yesterday, my trainer's supervisor (I think - the hierarchy is a little fuzzy to me, but definitely one of the more higher-ups) stopped by to take a look at it, and said she thought it looked pretty good, but that there'd have to be a little more looking into it before it could be approved for everyone else to use.

So.. that's interesting.

Anyway, I'm glad for the weekend. It's stressful taking these calls when I'm still not sure what to do a lot of the time, and it's nice to have a break after a first day like that. Especially a holiday like this. I expect I'll get a little more confident at it after a while, but for now, well.. at least I've got a pretty decent employer. First check on Monday, a day off every month (although I won't be able to use the days I've saved up for a while), decent sick leave, nice insurance benefits, lots of different positions to maybe get moved to if I want, and lots of nice people. And that last one's important.

Anyway. Happy Halloween everyone!

Things I said today

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:02:44 GMT

22:28 My alarm is set to go off at 5:30am on Saturday morning. I have nothing planned. I can't even begin to comprehend what is wrong with me. #

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Things I said today

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:04:03 GMT

21:23 "I like it." The best writers know good writing, and use good characters. Firefly lives! Love this show. tinyurl.com/yljhbbk #

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Reality is relative

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:05:09 GMT

I've been roleplaying all week.

Training at work has been going smoothly. We've progressed to the point where we're taking simulated phone calls, and going through the procedures for various hypothetical scenarios. The first time, as I really should have predicted, I freaked out, forgot everything I knew, and stumbled my way though it. Subsequent times were much easier though, and while I'm pretty sure I'll have some kind of relapse when I start taking real calls, at least I know I can go through the process.

Fortunately, I've got something of an advantage over the other people there: the whole system, besides the script of things to say, is run by the computer. And I'm good with computers, even kludgy outdated DOS-based systems like this one. Plus, the whole process runs like a computer program, even if it is a little strange at times. Maybe even because of that too.

More fun RP happened yesterday, at my old haunt PMM, where the infamous Hope had her annual Halloween bash. Can't remember if I've actually attended one before, but I sure made sure to this year! To start with, I attended five or six different times, if you count pets and alternate personalities separately. You'd think NPCing an entire world as a DM would help prepare me for that, but when there's a few dozen other people to interact with and keep track of, plus a few different conversations to keep track of at a time, it's not easy. It went long into the night, and my brain still hurts from it all. But it's a good pain.

Also, I even went so far as to use my new tablet to draw a certain themed costume group, finished at the last minute (or, really, maybe a couple hours into the RP as I frantically tried to juggle managing already-entered characters, drawing, and a vacuum cleaner that I had to try and disassemble for some reason). It's not.. actually good, in my mind, but I think it's better than most of what I've done up to now. arilla helped me a lot with a few issues I was having, and I finally learned how to not make legs look quite as stupid. Still a lot of issues with it, but... dang if that isn't just the cutest and happiest little Nibbles there.

Gonna be practicing drawing more in the future, I think. It.. it feels good, and I want the practice. My comic's still in my head, and with SiM over, most of my random creative thinking is dedicated to figuring things out about it. One of these days, it's gonna happen. Not in the near future, though; I'm still figuring out how to manage my more limited free time with this full-time job I've got, and about one reasonably-finished picture per week is probably about the most I can manage. And I've got a lot of figuring out how to draw before I'll feel confident enough to try drawing people I have never seen outside my own head before. At least, if I want to try for a picture of any kind of quality.

Still. Fun times. :D

One More Thing: No, I'm not going to say who they are. If the robot and the scarf don't tip you off, you're just not going to get it. ...Kyari is Romana II, though. I guess that's a little more obscure, what with the dozens of other companions. A LITTLE.

Things I said today

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:02:36 GMT

18:14 "I've been doing claims for fifteen years. I know everything there is to know." "Except what Travis teaches us." "Right, except that." #

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A note from the trenches

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:02:33 GMT

Job training continues.

The training for my new job is being held in a different building than
what's usual - it lets me have a little more time in the morning, an easier
job of parking, and convenient access to a number of restaurants (mmmm,
Pok-e-Jo's) and Fry's, if I ever feel like going down there. I guess I'd be
more likely to go down there if I had money, but I don't think I'll get my
first paycheck until after training is over, so it's something of a moot
point. On the bright side, I've got the route to Fry's memorized.

The allowed internet behavior for breaks and such (like now) is.. somewhat
ambiguous, but one thing that's pretty certain is that using your email is
allowed. Fortunately for me, email is rife with possibilities. I can, of
course, check email, I can chat, I can upload to Google Docs (weird glitches
about email-submitted docs being invisible aside), and, if anyone is reading
this, I can update LJ with an email too. Handy.

The only downside so far (besides my still-adjusting sleep schedule and the
obvious decrease to free time) is that some of the rules are... well,
absurd. The "procedure" document which ostensibly tells us everything we
need to know to take a claim (that's what I'll be doing now) actually is
full of errors, missing information, misleading structure, and at least one
typo. It is a personal mission of mine to rewrite it - it's only fifteen
pages, and if people actually started using it, it'd look great on my resume
and probably get someone's attention in the right direction, plus I'd have a
better document to use - but it's against the rules for me to take it home,
not for understandable privacy concerns (not that it has any sensitive
information, really), but because if I take work materials home, it might
possibly count as overtime, and they're not allowed to give me overtime. Or
something silly like that. I'm thinking I might try to work on it during
lunch... Although, mentioning it today during a break prompted someone to
say they might pull me out of taking calls to actually work on that.
The actual odds of this is unknown, as I don't know enough about this
person's workplace powers or personality to know if they were joking, but
still, I'm taking it as a good sign.

Despite its faults, though, I think I'm making pretty good headway at
figuring out the procedures. Half of the training class has actually
declared that they want to sit next to me, because I can figure out how to
work the computer. It's a good feeling, one I haven't felt since high
school. I actually feel... competent! How 'bout that? It's a good thing.

I just hope that this carries on past the training period. Right now it's
like I'm in school again - with one very long class, but still, it's very
school-like. Theoretically, it should make a smooth-ish segue into the
actual workplace, but it's hard to be sure. On the other hand, I think I'm
doing pretty well at adjusting so far. I don't even mind the clothes
anymore, once I got the hang of them (although color coordination is still
beyond me. I'm pretty sure that particular ability is just genetic.
Nothing I can do, unless I were to go so far as make an actual chart of
approved shirt/slacks combinations. And I'm not that obsessed. ...Yet.)

So, that's how the past few days have been (I was pretty much just wiped out
over the weekend, as a result of my aforementioned adjusting sleep schedule
and some impromptu manual labor). I'm feeling pretty good about life in
general. Still dunno where it's going, but now I'm pretty sure that, even
if I don't quite figure it out, I can manage to end up somewhere that's not
too bad.

I've also been getting songs stuck in my head all day, which I think is a
byproduct of staying in the same place for so long without any other musical
input. That's kinda weird. I hope it goes away, I prefer to at least
choose what music runs through my head all day.
Still, I could do worse than this one. It all fits into my secret plans.

[Edit: Wow... email submission does wonky stuff to formatting. Noted and LJ-cut.]

I can has a job! (and an overused meme)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:44:44 GMT

Yesterday (was it really yesterday? Man, today was a long day) I finally got the call I've been waiting for. The interview was good, I had the job, and could I start tomorrow? Well, there was some frantic faxing of paperwork first, but I got that done in time, and was ready to start today. Which I did.

That is, I started doing even more paperwork today, which is pretty hard on four or five hours of sleep. And I'll be working for the state, so it's a LOT of paperwork. Next comes training. A lot of training, too, it'll be a couple weeks before they even let me take a call.

But still. It's a job. A real (albeit temporary) job, that comes with a monthly salary and health benefits and full dental and I'll get my own cubicle and everything. Not that having a cubicle is the pinnacle of achievement or anything, but it's a big step in the right direction, I think.

Isn't it?

So tired. Sleep now.

Apparently job opportunities are like Murphy's-law-compliant taxis...

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:43:26 GMT

The job search has been uneventful, as usual. Up until this week, when I got sick and suddenly everything started happening at once. Three different things coming out of the woodwork at once.

The Mom option:

I finally got a response from one of my job applications - my first interview! If I get this, it'll only be a temp position of answering phones a lot for some state agency, but it's a good foot in the door for other state jobs, which can lead to good job stability, nice benefits, etc. Plus Mom knows how the whole system works there, so I'll have a man on the inside, so to speak.

The Dad option:

Through a friend, Dad found out about a program I can go through to become a teacher, which pretty much guarantees I get a certification (99% graduation rate), guarantees I get a job if I complete it successfully, and has a relatively low cost that mostly comes out of my guaranteed paycheck instead of being paid up front. Of course, the downside of this is that I'd actually have to be a teacher, which is... okay, but... Well, it's an option.

The wildcard option:

An old friend recently got in touch with me (flightsimguy, not that that.. actually probably tells anyone reading this anything), and mentioned that he's doing pretty well for himself at a pretty respectable web-based company, and that he could probably hook me up with a tech support job. Which of course would be a pretty good foot in the door there too. The catch to this being that I would have to move to Los Angeles. Which is... well, it's exciting, terrifying, and this is probably about the only time I could really do something like that, what with not being particularly tethered to where I am now.

So.. yeah. I guess I'll see how my interview goes, and then go from there. I guess I'll have to choose whether I want that job pretty soon after the interview, if I get it, I know I only have a week or two to decide if I want to do this teaching thing, and I have no idea how long the tech support thing is on the table for.

SURE IS GETTING EXCITING IN HERE, RITE GUYZ? @_X

*ahem*

On a completely different note, I noticed that there's a kind of common thread through all these opportunities that matches up with something I was talking to someone about recently. They're all about communication, and successfully conveying information and concepts. I could probably do a whole other post about that later, but that concept there is kinda a big deal to me, and in my eyes, the basis of civilization as a whole. So at least I'd be doing something I believe in whichever thing I go for, on a fundamental level at least. That matters.

Things I said today

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:00:58 GMT

15:26 Making delicious pancakes one at a time. I could swear the batter is bubbling at me impatiently, though. Should have used a bigger pan. #

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Things I said today

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:03:44 GMT

21:18 @tibek Finally! Another fan of this very excellent show. #

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Week in review

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:27:34 GMT

This week started out great. I've been practicing driving recently - I still know how just fine, it turns out, but I needed some figuring to work out how to get around -, so I drove down to the bank to deposit my first paycheck from my new job as a substitute.

My first paycheck ever, really, since I always had direct deposit before. Felt so good about it, I went and treated myself to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. It was good. I mean, I actually felt like a decent, productive member of society.

And then, the next day, I got called in to work again, because one of the teachers was sick. Great! Things were looking up! But then, despite my constant use of hand sanitizer and vitamin C drops, I fell sick the next day. Then again, I've been feeling weird for a while, maybe that just finally pushed me over the edge into sickness.

But still! For a shining few days, I felt like a real, bonafide adult, even with the caffeine molecule keychain and listening to my silly music in the car. That's the kind of adult I'd rather be anyway. It's a good feeling. I could get used to it, especially with the bringing-in-money part.

I'm still looking for and looking forward to a full-time job. But in the meantime, I think I'm doing okay.

Life's pretty good, all things considered.

Things I said today

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:02:28 GMT

15:54 Your vs you're is important. tinyurl.com/yemn5n8 #

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Avast, me hearties!

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:37:36 GMT

'Tis truly a fine day, with fine company, fair weather, and truly a fair bounty of fortune. 'Twas a fine birthday I had not one week ago, with a cake of tremendous chocolate and not one ounce of strength to hold itself together. A fine feast it was, for what little time it lasted, and was a fine ending to a day full o' celebratin'.

And there was a good haul of loot to go with it, indeed. Two movies in particular, one of a Horrible Doctor and one of the Hog Father, were a sight of glory, and there be a book yet to be read, tho I know despite its name of "Stardust," it be a fine tale of pirates, an' perhaps some other things.

But 'twas only yesterday that the final present was to be found, and 'twas worth the wait as well. A tablet, for the makin' of the finest arts. As large as me computer isself, but a thin as a gnat's eyelash. It makes truly a fine addition to me cabin desk, and I've already begun the trainin' for its use.

Okay, I think I'm running out of talking-like-a-pirate juice. Done now!

Things I said today

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:02:15 GMT

14:47 My cake has limited structural integrity. This is unfortunate. #

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Things I said today

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:02:02 GMT

22:47 Watching Dr. Horrible DVD. Birthday comes early! #

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"Life's too serious to take things seriously."

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:29:22 GMT

Overheard the above line said by some lady while shopping the other day, and it really stuck with me, because it just so perfectly encapsulates to major tenents of my life.

I take everything seriously.
I take nothing seriously.

Sometimes I slip a little closer to of these or the other, but I try to keep it balanced. Everything in life has significance. Everything is important, in some way. But importance is a human construct, usually just attributed by consensus. Things are important because we say they're important, not the other way around.

People seem to think it's horrible that some people treat life like a joke, but really, I think that's what it is. Life is quite often ridiculous, and people should laugh at it more. It's that or cry, and I much prefer the former.

I'm going in in about an hour to get a sonogram of my liver, because apparently it's giving off high levels of some enzyme that there's usually a lot of when the liver is dying. I'm treating this seriously, of course, making all the necessary appointments (I've lost track if this is my third or fourth), and even taking notes of the exact numbers for my Google Health account (is there anything they don't do?). But I'm not going to worry about it. If there's some horrible thing wrong with me, well, I'll deal with it, but I will take every opportunity to make jokes about it. 'cause if I don't, who will?

Things I said today

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:04:29 GMT

08:02 1.5 hours of sleep, just got called in to sub. This is how I found out I got the job. Awesome. Now, how do I get there? #

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Fact: I have a tablet.

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:48:04 GMT

This tablet is built into my computer. It has been there since the first day I got this laptop, and the last one had it too.

Problem: It is very small, and I have no stylus. Also, most people call it a touchpad.

List of things that work on my touchpad:

My finger
A damp piece of sponge
The negative end of a AA or AAA battery
A small magnet (one end only - not sure which end, none of mine are labeled)
Flat metal (the aluminum foil from a gum wrapper, a key lying down)

List of things that do not work on my touchpad:

Paperclips
Pens
Pencils
Pointy metal (paperclip, pen spring, anything from my swiss army knife, etc)
The positive end of a AA or AAA battery
Anything metal touching the negative end of AA or AAA battery<
Anything metal touching the "working" end of a small magnet

I'm leery of making a stylus out of a magnet, even if the danger is supposedly grossly overstated. The battery is nice, but a little

SCIENCE.

Notes: Although the sponge works when I'm not touching it directly, it doesn't seem to work in the pen unless it's connected to me by metal. Go figure! And MORE SCIENCE

Results: SUCCESS! Somewhat. Mostly.

It spazzes out if I move too fast, and I have to press it down pretty hard (with a sponge, not really worried about damaging it or anything), and clicking is tricky, but it works! Going to experiment with sponge moisture a bit to try and not have to press down so hard.

Edit: GRAAAAAAAH. It keeps omitting half my movements. I try to draw a circle, it turns into some kind of crazy spiral going off the top of the screen. Impossible to draw with this setup without wanting to kill something. Darn, thought I was onto something there. But hey! Had fun trying.

Misc core dump #481516

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:17:11 GMT

So! I finally completed my campaign this weekend, after about three years. It was exciting, lots of fun, and kept me up past four in the morning. But it was so worth it. I'd even say it was worth all the time I spent on it, but really, most of the time I spent was fun too. Now I'm looking forward to what comes next.

The saga, for anyone who's interested, will eventually be available here, when I finish uploading them and adding little descriptions.

Might polish the site up a little more too, but it's mostly for my own entertainment anyway, so I don't know if I'll actually bother.

Randomly, I have started keeping track of my weight lately. This is also pretty much for my own entertainment and reference, but it has one problem: it's really boring. If my weight was going down (which I'd like it to), then I'd have a sense of progress. If it went up, I'd have a sense of being challenged. But no. It stays almost exactly the same, no matter what I do. Huge dinner at Olive Garden and then cake? Stays the same. Spend the entire day doing physical labor? Stays the same. Do absolutely nothing all day and eat average meals? Stays the same. I don't think I've had more than a variation of about a pound and a half either way. Not feeling very motivated there.

What else is up? Not much. Looking at volunteering at a random editing job so that I can have experience so that I can get an actual job. Birthday's coming up. For my birthday, I would like a job. Maybe a tablet too. I'm starting to get interested in drawing again. And while I'm dreaming, I would also like a lifetime supply of candy. ...And a dental plan with that job.
...And I'd like them to put the Terminator show back on the air. And, and...
I dunno.

What else, what else... Finally chose a number for my Google Voice account. Maybe choosing one based on The Numbers wasn't the coolest thing to do (or, if Hurley is right, the smartest thing either), but it makes it dang easier to remember. I already have it memorized, and that usually takes months.

Of course, having a Google Voice account is useful because it gives you better options for what happens when people call you, better control of voice mail and SMS, free long distance across the continent (except Mexico), email notification of messages, automatic transcription, specialized behavior based on who's calling, and great contact management. In other words, it's pretty useless if you're someone like me, who never ever ever gets phone calls. But maybe it'll be useful someday.

Things I said today

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:22 GMT

11:51 @DangerJazz You really should get checked for brain damage. #
23:07 Trillian Astra installed. ...Let's see how this goes. #

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Warning: this post links to TVTropes

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:50:24 GMT

Had an interesting weekend.

First, went to the circus on Saturday. It was pretty awesome, and everything I hoped it would be. With funny clowns and cotton candy and elephants and seven motorcycles in a cage of death and goats riding on ponies and amazingly well-trained tigers and an inexplicable jungle-themed sequence and ADORABLE LITTLE DOGGIES.

There was also an interesting narrative running through the performance of the ringmaster and one of the clowns fighting over control of the circus, each of them trying to outdo the other and prove they deserved the ringleader's hat. And during an interesting vehicle-themed sequence, it all seemed to come down to a very elemental struggle of order versus chaos - the highly organized, precision machines of the ringmaster, and the insane, technicolor cars and bouncing human-powered rubber transports (something like a cross between a pogo and a unicycle) of the clowns. And I know it was all perfectly choreographed, but it still felt like careful training versus improvised antics. Not sure why, but that really struck a chord with me. Very interesting.

Anyway, the best part was still the motorcycles.

On Sunday, before my game that never ended up happening for yet-unexplored reasons (whatever, I'll just do it this weekend, it's not like it was going to be the final session of my entire campaign ending in an epic battle for control of all magic from a dead world against an ancient Aztec god or anything), I went to see District 9. Truly, a great movie. Excellent. The plot was unexpected, the characters extreme yet believable, and the setting surreal yet nearly plausible.

But why in the world did no one tell me that it was full of High Octane Nightmare Fuel? People's guts exploding and splattering all over the camera lens was the LEAST disturbing thing in this movie! Ye gods, people! On the other hand, there was gratuitous use of the Vektor CR-21, so I suppose I can forgive it some things. But still. asdasdlkgjfingernailsohgodwhy

In other, completely unrelated news, I think I might have a small part-time job as a substitute teacher at my old high school. The qualifiers there are added because, although I sent in my application and a copy of my driver's license a couple days ago at their request, I haven't actually heard anything back from them. Just like I still haven't haven't heard back from anyone else. If it weren't for automated responses, I'd wonder if my email was working at all.

Ah well. C'est la vie. It's a start, I suppose.

One More Thing: With my campaign coming to a close (if I can manage to get all three of my players on at the same time, seriously, it's like herding cats with ADD), I'm going to have to look elsewhere for my major creative outlet. And already, I'm being pulled in multiple directions at once. Dunno which I'll pick (or how many of them), but there'll probably end up being posts about whatever it'll be here. Later.

Maybe.

[Edited to add: contains more serious District 9 spoilers in comments, view at own risk.]

Things I said today

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:02:06 GMT

18:12 Foundation wants my DNA for study on people with "high levels of cognitive functioning." ...What happened? I used to be smart. Now, no job. #

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My life since then...

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:59:04 GMT

...Has mostly been looking for a job.

It's kind of like an essay that I need to get done, in that I can't really relax and fully enjoy myself until it's done. Unlike an essay, I really have only minimal control over it being done or not.

This is annoying for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there's that lack of control over my life. Yes, I do have some influence by sending out my applications, but with all the replies I've been getting (read: none), it just feels like I'm tossing them off into the ether, never to be seen again by mortal eyes. Which isn't a terribly good motivation to keep sending them, but fortunately I've got others.

One of these is that I want money, which ties well into another reason this is annoying. When I left Virginia Tech, I made a decision. It wasn't a very important decision, but it was mine. I decided that I would finish playing Final Fantasy VII once and for all, since I've never actually played through one of those, and I've played that one so many times before on someone else's system. Which, of course, means that it has forever been an unfinished part of my life. This bothers me a lot more than it probably should.

My solution, which I decided on during my last few weeks at VT, while I did some looking on eBay, was to buy a copy of said game from said medium of purchase, once I graduated and was back home. Watching a few auctions go down, I concluded that the PC version seems to go for around $30 on the low end. Which isn't so bad.

I was recently reminded of this when I was informed that I needed to make an Amazon wishlist for the purpose of my upcoming birthday (shameless plug, shameless plug), and saw that FF VII goes for between double and hextuple that amount on Amazon.

So I might be doing some shopping on eBay in the future, once I have some money coming my way, and I don't need to worry about working on getting a job. Which should be soon! I hope.

One More Thing: In quasi-related news, I'm looking for a tablet, preferably one I don't have to sell a kidney to afford. I know there's a couple art-type people reading this - does such a device exist? I can't seem to find any tablets that cost less than the computers you need to connect them to, and that doesn't make any sense. And I don't think I'm gonna get one of those any time soon.

(Technically, I already have a tablet that my dad gave me, but apparently its drivers don't work with anything newer than Windows 3.1, and its company has long since stopped producing new drivers / supporting the product / existing)