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Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
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9:40 am - ch-ch-ch-changes...
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Been a long time since I put anything here... The updates:
I quit my job a few weeks ago and took a new one.
I work downtown for a consulting firm now, right in the loop.
I've been socializing more lately, getting out with friends, and it is good. It is, after all, why I bought a place in the city.
There are other things going on.
My brother was just in a motorcycle accident. Thank goodness he's OK despite totalling his bike. He's hurt, but was able to walk away.
My friend Rachel is in my thoughts, she's going through some rough times right now which I won't go into detail on to respect her privacy. I miss her dearly. We didn't spend enough time together before she moved away to California.
The rest I'll keep to myself. There's bad. There's good. Overall I'm good despite the bad. Some of the bad (i.e. the above) is out of my control and all I can do is do my best to be a good brother / friend. Some of it is within my control, and it's becoming clearer each day what I need to do about it. Something will be done about it.
Overall, life is good and there's more changes coming. Huge changes. The path before me seems clearer than ever, and I feel like I'm just now about to really, really start living life.
This is a total non sequitur, but I ran across it today, and I feel that everyone should see it. It's an amazing photo of a strongly emotional moment. just click...
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| Thursday, March 8th, 2007
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6:50 pm - what would you do...
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If you had been gone from Champaign since early 2004 and had a very short time to come back (one evening, that's it).
New restaurants or a great new place to hang out for an evening?
Or if you were to go the route of nostalgia - has anywhere gone to shit? Are Murphy's fries still the best in town?
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| Thursday, February 1st, 2007
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9:23 pm - witness to an ending...
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It was good to talk to her on the train ride home - the easy highlight of a rough day, for certain. She always sees the good, and smiles defiantly at adversity. My stop came, and I stepped off the train into a blustery wind that floated flurries like plastic bags through the air.
I took a deep breath and tried to see the cold and the snow as she would. A beautiful sight indeed, despite the bitter breeze clawing at my cheeks. What's a little blood in the eyes if it brings rose colored hues, after all?
Down the steps and darting to the crosswalk, I clasped my keys as I always do. It makes no sense to grab them so far away from the car, I'm not saving myself any time. I halt my stride and scout my opening - a true sport on Fullerton at rush hour - and with a quick hop I'm on my way across.
Trash on the ground is typically ignorable in a metropolis. Not today.
I reach the other side of the street and there it lies. Where are the cameras? Scenes like this are only shown on film.
There lay dozens of photos, cut and ripped in half, strewn across the sidewalk. Chicago's brutal wind screeches through an open window as I peer down.
A wedding, a birthday, a family, a vacation, a shared romantic moment. As a part of me I thought was dead comes rising from the ashes, I'm glad that about half of them are upside down. Empathy has returned with a vengeance and an army of tears surges forth, spears raised. Heat consumes my ducts as ice grows outward from them on my exposed face.
The torn photos become movies, memories. The clock zooms forward as my mind takes me into the apartment above. The fight plays out like a movie. Projected from my retina out onto the back of my eyelids, they rage. She's left bruised and leans back into the corner, sliding down the walls to the floor as he storms out the door. She reaches over and grabs the shoebox, flipping through memories deemed meaningless. Overcome, she holds back nausea and knows it's time to let go. A rip for closure, a tear for reconciliation, she lifts the window and lets winter's frigid fingers probe inside. Into her hands she offers tattered memories, carried on swirling air to the sidewalk below.
There they rest, an open wound for all to see. Scattered photographs lie at my feet as I return from my mind's eye to my real ones, making my way to the car to get home.
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| Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
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6:50 pm - oh joy..
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It wouldn't be a proper month without something bad happening that cost me lots of money.
Today's shittacular day was brought to you by the letter "Car Accident", and the number "Fuck You"...
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| Thursday, January 11th, 2007
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1:31 am - ugh...
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With no particular provocation or reason at all, I suddenly find myself very much missing someone out of the blue. Someone who I shouldn't miss.
It's wrong to miss her for a myriad of reasons, and yet I do. I wonder what "I" is up to these days.
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| Monday, January 8th, 2007
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3:40 am - well.. this sucks...
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I finally got my "you are responsible for" amount from the previously posted about hospital visit.
Well, let's just say the total of the bill is several thousands of dollars, and I'm responsible for "a fuckton more than I can afford right now."
Almost every single month so far since buying a condo, I have had some large financial hit to my bank account that I could not anticipate. This one is by far the biggest, and has me giving honest thought to taking a full week off of work just to grind out some money at the poker tables. I've been broke before, but I didn't have a mortgage to pay. Now I'm broke again, and I do have a mortgage, and I'm kind of scared.
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| Thursday, December 21st, 2006
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5:34 pm - sick as a dog...
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So.. I started my week off in the hospital. Rock on. I'm still recovering from an only semi-diagnosed issue of a "severe bacterial infection" that may or may not have been food poisoning.
Warning: it gets graphic.
So late monday night I'm kept up by an upset stomach. Come 1am or so, I'm struck with a horrible, horrible stomach pain and I run to the bathroom. The next dozen hours are spent simultaneously/alternately puking and shitting. The best part was the dry heaving and the bile. Yum. I didn't sleep at all. Finally I started calling my insurance provider to find a qualifying hospital with an emergency room, and checked in to the Lincoln Park hospital.
After I'm hooked up to an IV for rehydration, I'm told I will need a CT scan to see if my appendix is screwed up. Unfortunately, the brand new CT scan machine at this hospital is broken down, and I'll need an ambulance to take me to another hospital. Awesome. So I wait about 3 hours while getting IV fluids, medication for nausea, antibiotics etc. I'm asked to drink 2 cups of what looks like nasty cloudy water - it tastes even worse than it looks - to prepare my intestines for the CT scan. Up 'til this point I've been unable to keep so much as a sip of water in my stomach, but they say I should be able to keep it down now that I've been on some anti nausea stuff for a while. Over time I drink it down, but god is it nasty.
Minutes before my ambulance is finally supposed to arrive (4 hours into my ordeal), they get the CT scan at this hospital fixed. Good news. Sort of.
I'm brought up to the scary CT scan room and they start trying to inject iodine in through my IV, but it hurts like fucking hell so they stop. Apparently, the IV line has been in a long time and isn't in a good spot, so they need another one. There's no normal hospital bed here, so I'm just sitting awkwardly and holding my arm still in the air pretty much so they can take my other arm and very painfully get one in there and I nearly pass out (I'm not a fan of needles, but I'm generally ok with them and certainly have never felt faint or passed out). Thrilling.
So after 40 minutes of being in the CT scan room, waiting for a nurse to get up and put in the new IV, etc, they finally start the scan. That takes a good 20 minutes or so where I have to hold my breath for longer than I'm capable of while the scanner moves across me, etc. Sucktacular.
Finally, the scan's done and I'm moved downstairs into the ER again where I'm hooked up to yet another bag of IV fluids and the first IV is pulled out (holy shit pulling that tape off sucked as bad as pulling out the needle). I have to wait another hour while they monkey around with tests, etc (and probably triage people who are more likely to die than me without immediate care). An hour later my CT scan is negative and I'm ready to be sent home once they pull out the IV from my other arm (ouch again).
So... I had Monday and Tuesday off of work, spent tuesday in the hospital, slept all day Wednesday skipping work.. Tried to go in to work this morning and made it about 2 hours before having to go home because I was too dizzy and weak.
I've probably lost a good 9-10lbs so far and my stomach is still unable to tolerate anything more than toast. Pretty awesome stuff.
Well... merry farking christmas. Time to go back to the bathroom.
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| Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
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7:12 pm - elections nearly done...
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Well, on the plus side of things, it looks like republicans have lost enough ground in the midterm elections that their reign is over...
On the minus side, you should really look at the exit poll information for various elections on CNN. The only reason Democrats won any seats is because of women and minorities. White men (like me, except.. not me) STILL seem to favor republicans across the board - even in races where democrats won. That's really sad.
exampleand example... le sigh.
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| Tuesday, November 7th, 2006
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9:53 am - Please vote...
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Vote today... please. Participate in the electoral process.
Polls are typically open until 7pm, and that means if you GET IN LINE by 7pm you get to vote. They're not going to keep you from voting if you were in line by closing time.
Please freakin' vote. Now's as important a time as any even if it's "just a midterm" election.
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| Thursday, October 26th, 2006
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11:12 pm - har har...
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To the person who directed Seth here, and you know who you are: go fuck yourself.
I mean, I really don't care that he saw what I wrote. That's not the issue at all. He was being a dick, and I wrote a rant in response, because he was a dick. I said all of these things, roughly, in an email to him. He should know that everybody in Champaign-Urbana has always thought he was a dick, and that I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt despite this. He should know that they still think he's a dick.
The point isn't that he read what I wrote. I've got no problem with him reading my opinion of him.
The point is that pointing him here indicates that you're a duplicitous bitch with selfish intentions.
Any CU person could've found their way here if they poked around the chambana community, but I know that's not how Seth got here. Sooooo... EABOD.
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| Monday, October 9th, 2006
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12:37 am - counting things....
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Note: I don't tend to get real political when I post here, but here comes some.
We all know Iraq and 9/11 are wholly unrelated, and the Bush administration finally has been forced to say that aloud. However, it's interesting (and really sad) to note the following relationship (or lack thereof):
2,819 civilians were killed in the 9/11 attacks. [source]
As of October 8th, 2006, 2,743 american soldiers have been killed in Iraq. [source]
It won't be long before we've lost more men and women in Iraq than we did in 9/11, despite 9/11 being the general pretense for starting this war. We'll probably reach that number by the end of 2006. It's worth noting that if you add in US military deaths in Afghanistan (340), we've already surpassed that number.
It's also worth noting that Condi Rice's office recently had to admit that a meeting Bob Woodward did, in fact, occur. Woodward alleges that a meeting took place where Condoleezza Rice was warned about 9/11 a full 2 months in advance (July 10, 2001). Then, the memo we all know about that showed up on August 6th, 2001 - Bin Laden determined to strike in US. Especially telling is the following quote:
Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.
I'm no conspiracy theorist. I don't think even a body as atrocious as the Bush administration "planned 9/11". However, I do think a lot lately about how different this world would be if it had never happened. Especially how different this country would be.
Our administration was warned in July and warned again in August. The strikes in September occurred anyhow.
We lost 2,819 of our friends and family to an attack that was wholly preventable - that our officials were warned about.
We've since used that loss to tangentially justify invading Iraq, where we've lost nearly as many of our young sons and daughters. We've spread our military too thin to contain a real nuclear threat such as North Korea who tonight announced that they completed a nuclear test. Finally, in order to do all of this we've spent ourselves into ridiculous debt.
I'm absolutely amazed when I meet someone who knows all of this and supports this administration anyway. Are they just in denial, or do they just want cheap gas prices and/or dead brown people?
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| Sunday, August 20th, 2006
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10:13 pm - long time no post...
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So... I've been really busy lately... work insanity, dedicating a lot of time to updating features on openingbands (it's got tons of cool new shit.. check it if you haven't)...
But becoming a little more involved with openingbands brought me back into something I forgot about: Flamewars with douchebags.
Thing is, Seth Fein has always been kind of a douchebag. He's been nice to me, but rather not nice to many, many others. Until recently, I've tolerated the fact that he's a dick to a lot of people and looke the other way. Now, though, what a serious Grade A asshole.
All I've heard since I left Champaign is "Seth Fein runs EVERYTHING now, he has a monopoly on local shows and he's a pain in the ass to deal with." I hear it, I don't (well, until now I guess) repeat it.
So Seth puts on one of his many shows, posts weeks in advance that it's $5. Then, less than 48 hours before the show he changes the price to $7 out of the blue. A dick move in and of itself, but it gets worse: He changed the price on openingbands, but not the site of the actual venue where the show was going on. Hence confusion, and hence someone called him out on our forums.
It starts a flamewar, and he tries to defend it and lie and say he changed the price a full week in advance (still not really any less dick, but anyway...), but I know he changed it about 48 hours prior.
I jump in to the caller-outer's defense when Seth starts getting really rude to him, and of course I'm brought into the flamewar.
Well, Seth's response is to post a column in the Buzz (a local newspaper for you non champaign folks) about how openingbands is lame now, how he hates all of it except for one person, etc. He mentions how its founder "ditched town" (yes, I said "fuck all of you!" and left), and goes on to bitch about the guy who called him out on the forums. Basically, he's responded to the forum flamewar, but in a public newspaper where nobody can reply to him and he gets the last word. Douchebag.
So I post to that effect on openingbands... and the lamest part of all of this is that someone who probably has more reason than most human beings to recognize what a dickhead Seth is being (not to mention dislike him in general) got a compliment from him in the newspaper article, and because that person stands to benefit far more from his good grace than mine, has taken to publicly defending him, defaming me, and locking the thread.
Is it stupid that I'm participating in a public flamewar with a douchebag? Yes - arguing on the internet stupid. However, I think it's high time that the Champaign folks who have disliked Seth for ages but continue to kiss his ass because of the "power" he appears to wield are made aware that they're not alone in their issues. It seems everyone I talk to thinks they're the only person who thinks Seth is not just kind of a dick in his choice of words with people, but kind of a controlling favoritist jerk when it comes to the work he does.
I've really avoided believing all of the crap people say about him because of all of the crap I've heard people say about me despite me making my best efforts to be fair and nice to everyone - I figured hey, I took my share of shit even though I think I was a good guy, Seth is probably in the same boat. The more I hear though, it just becomes overwhelming - the guy is clearly jizzing himself over what it's like to be a "big fish in a small pond", and exploiting it to the best of his ability.
It doesn't take much to take away his monopoly. All Champaign needs is 1 or 2 dedicated people who are willing to book some bands and the venues will be open to it.
I'm pretty frustrated with this whole thing.. it's stupid.. I've gone back and read everything I've written and it really doesn't seem unwarranted, and certainly doesn't seem untrue (contrary to some things Seth has written). Flamewars are universally pretty dumb, but the fact that I'm being called an embarassment for coming to someone's defense on Seth's total douchebaggery is rather sickening. He has so much control - mostly over people who know he's a dick but defend him in public because he monopolizes the local scene and they don't want to hurt their relationsihp with him. They might need him for something.
Guess what - his power is nothing more than a perceived notion. I used to run around with just as much of it, I just didn't limit who I helped with it.
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| Thursday, July 13th, 2006
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4:43 pm - hit 'n fuckin' run...
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I pull into the right lane with nobody in it...
Dipshit in the left lane is at least 150 feet back...
Speed limit is 30mph...
Dipshit has to be going 40 or more...
I'm in the right lane for a good 200 feet...
Dipshit decides to make lane change from left to right, smashes in my front fender/bumper, breaks my headlight, and drives off into the day...
Deductible, which I will have to pay unless Dipshit is tracked down AND has insurance (unlikely, and unlikelier), is $500 that I totally do not fucking have...
I am seriously financially FUCKED right now... time to dress like a bum and beg on the street or something...
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| Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
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11:11 am - what to do...
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I think I've finally come up with an idea of how I could contribute something that would be extremely valuable to society, and that I would be passionate about. The problem is that it would likely require going back to school for many years and I'm already feeling too old for that.
What I would love more than anything is to be able to research and discover why it is that facts don't matter, and how it is that we can present them in a way that does matter.
What I mean: A person holds a viewpoint, let's say he heard once that Blue Widgets work better than Green Widgets, and he's believed this for a while now. For whatever reason, he's so latched on to the belief that Blue Widgets work better than Green Widgets that even if you provide him with a research report and a list of facts about how Green Widgets outperform Blue Widgets -- he'll never change his mind.
Apply this really dumb made up scenario to politics, religion or any other divisive issue, and you'll see what I mean about people's stubbornness. Whether it's about the effectiveness of a president, the lack of a relationship between 9/11 and Iraq, the snake-oil mythology BS of astrology or Blue and Green Widgets -- people seem to make up their minds and refuse to change them even if presented with overwhelming evidence that they're wrong.
Why is this? I'm dying to know, and I think that finding the answer could be a source for an amazing change in our society. I think if we could understand why, and understand how to get around this tendency and get people to listen, the world could be a much better place.
The problem is, I'd need to go back and get a psychology degree, then probably a masters and/or Ph.D just to even know where to start trying to research this phenomenon. I'm not willing to quit my job for something I'm so in the dark about. I'd have no idea how to research this or where to start, and it's such a complex issue I'll probably be dead before it's solved. Maybe there's someone researching it now? Probably not. I don't know. Any psychologists or neuroscientists reading this thing?
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| Wednesday, June 28th, 2006
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10:22 am
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Actually heard at the lunch table yesterday at work:
Person A: [jokingly, regarding someone going to Canada and coming back over the border] "He'd better be careful. These days he might get shipped off to Guantanamo without all his papers!"
Person B (a relatively high up person at my company, not jokingly/sarcastically toned): "Pssh.. they have it better than us at Guantanamo. 3 square meals a day, TV interviews..."
It took all of my strength to stay silent.
Person C: "Did you hear about the [some event I forget] in Iraq?"
Person B: "I don't pay any attention to that stuff. It's all a bunch of BS"
Wow. Just... wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
I don't know how I managed to not lay into him and tell him how fucking ignorant his statement was, but I managed to stay silent.
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| Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
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7:15 pm - this day in history...
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Today in the Senate: Senate nixes bid to raise minimum wage, despite the fact that $5.15/hour, the current federal mandate, still puts people over $6,000 below the poverty line.
Meanwhile, in the House: House of Representatives votes to give members of congress another pay raise - as it has done almost every year for the last decade.
And in wholly unrelated news (or is it?): GOP Lawmakers delay vote on Voting Rights Act renewal. For those not in the know, the Voting Rights Act is a little law passed in 1965 that got rid of "poll taxes" and literacy tests as requirements for voting. This primarily affected african americans, who were unable to vote.
I've got a whole bunch of shit going on in my life right now... but honestly, in an environment like this, does any of it fucking matter?
June 21st, 2006 should go down as one of the saddest days in US legislative history. Saddest thing is, the common man/woman affected by all of this is seemingly blissfully unaware, or so cynical and jaded at this point to be unsurprised and numb and tolerant of it.
What's it going to take to wake these motherfuckers up? Does it really have to go all the way to a Marxist rise of the proletariat, military style? I sure as hell hope not. All each person has to do is take 30 minutes to smell the bullshit they've been either believing or ignoring, and then get off their lazy, complacent ass and vote.
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| Wednesday, May 31st, 2006
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5:21 pm - The adventures of the new condo, and moving out of the old apartment...
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[note: 4 rough-ass weeks and a lot of cynicism ahead, I'm not going to have a nervous breakdown or anything... yet.]
Quick summary for skimmers: I'm achy and seriously flat broke and have a ton of shit to get done, much of which costs money I don't have....
- It all started with the inspection. It was revealed that the heater didn't ignite, and it was too cold out to test the A/C. The previous owners signed an affidavit assuring me the A/C worked. Ruh roh.
- Painting: It sucks balls if you're not good at it --- and I'm not good at it. Getting a wall to look good, especially after the previous owners have put asstons of holes in it that you've had to spread joint compound in to flatten out and paint over, is a real pain in the ass. I never did finish painting the 2 bedrooms entirely. They still have touchups to be done. The living area and kitchen aren't even started.
- Flooring: If you are not an active person (i.e. regularly run, jog, etc), and this really applies to painting and packing too, putting in flooring will BUST YOUR ASS. My legs and back have not yet recovered. Also, throwing away unused carpeting is a huge pain in the ass, and waste removal companies want over $200 to come pick it up. Thankfully, I found a carpet company who took it from me for "only" $50.
- Packing: I cannot stress enough that you should start packing for a move at least 4 weeks in advance. Seriously. I'm not messing around here. I started several days in advance, and still didn't get quite done in time for the move.
- Moving: The movers I got kind of sucked. I thought they were good during much of the move, but at the end of it all, they totally ripped me off. They charged me for tons of packing material they didn't use, etc.
- Moving the rest: Moving the rest of my stuff that the movers left behind (some inexplicably.. some because it wasn't packed) was a BEEEYOTCH. Being a packrat is a major problem. Don't be one if you can avoid it. I suck at that.
- Cleaning: Cleaning out the old place was an absolute bitch. The worst part is that the move revealed some major, major problems, and I am now completely and utterly screwed. The carpeting in my old place is absolutely ruined because Ender had hiding places where he was peeing and I didn't know about it for several months (i.e. under desks, discreetly in the back corner of a box or file cabinet I never really looked at, etc). I'm not only going to lose my security deposit, but probably a lot more .. the carpet is pretty much all going to have to be replaced.
- Cleaning Part 2: In addition to finding secret pee-hiding spaces during cleaning, I also found some things ruined by said pee -- including a bunch of my old school nintendo stuff.
- Work: In the meantime of all of this, a huuuuge project has been coming toward its close and had all sorts of hiccups and stuff making it very stressful and time consuming during the day, and making any time I took off of work for the purpose of moving etc very problematic.
And then there's the problems with the new place, which I'm sure some day will be totally awesome, but...:
- The A/C didn't work despite a signed affidavit to the contrary. Memorial day weekend was really, really hot.
- The cats were insanely stressed by the move, and are terrified of the new place. To help with things, I threw out all of their old litterboxes and bought a brand new fresh clean one. I bought special (expensive) litter made for problem cats. I bought an insanely expensive Feliway diffuser (Feliway smells to cats like facial pheremones they use to mark things, and makes them feel more comfortable, the diffuser is like a Glade Plug-in). I confined the cats to just the master bedroom so as to a) not overwhelm them, b) lock Ender in a smaller space that makes him less likely to pee anywhere but the box. I couldn't bring myself to lock him in the bathroom as much of what I've read on helping cats go back to the litterbox has suggested. It took 2 days for them to seem even slightly comfortable walking around the room, and almost 3 days for either of them to eat anything.
- The ceiling fan in the master bedroom has 2 pull switches: 1 for the light, 1 for the fan. The whole unit is then connected to the bedroom's lightswitch, which must be on for either the fan or light to be on. No big deal except: The light pullswitch doesn't work consistently, and mostly doesn't work. The fan pullswitch chain was cut off at only about an inch or so out of the fan, so I had to buy an extender to get it to come out the rest of the way. I don't know how to fix the light pullswitch at this point, so I have it off and the fan on since it's sweltering in there with no A/C.
- The closet doors for the bedrooms won't go back in the same way because of the height difference with the carpet. Also, the morons installed the handles on the wrong sides of the (accordion-style) doors. Dipshits.
- The freezer door has a broken piece inside that the asshats managed to keep from falling off during the first inspection. It promptly broke upon barely touching it.
- The assholes took the window treatment from the master bedroom, which they weren't supposed to, so everything I do is completely visible to neighbors and I'm pretty much broke so I can't go buy curtains and stuff, plus I'm still finishing paint touchups so it's better not to go installing curtains yet anyway. Also, I know nothing about buying curtains.
- I still have no cable or internet, because of a series of moronic events: 1) First comcast tech arrives on a day I've taken off of work specifically for them to show up. Apparently they need access to a room I do not have a key to. No luck, have to reschedule for almost a week later. 2) Second tech arrives on another day I've taken off of work for them -- I have access to the room now, and this guy can't find out which wire from my place goes down there. He gives up and says he needs to send a special team over. 3) Special team is scheduled for next Monday now, but apparently according to my property manager, they aren't gonna be able to get the job done because of issues with the way the building was wired. We'll see, I guess. Fuck.
- The "stainless steel" refrigerator is actually aluminum, so not only was I deceived, but magnets don't stick to it. How fucking annoying is that?
Unpacking:
- It's taking forever, and I'm nowhere near done yet.
- I'm flat broke from the moving expenses and the new flooring etc, which causes a major unpacking problem: I don't really have anywhere to put lots of the stuff, so I need shelves and bookcases and stuff like that, but I can't afford them.
Misc:
- I'm currently sleeping on a bed with no frame, because my other frame broke, and I can't be bothered to / afford to buy a new one.
- With no internet, I can't play any poker, which may be a good thing because I'm stressed and tired, but at this point I really need some supplemental income. I'm in serious, serious cash flow trouble right now because of the down payment, the unanticipated ruining of carpet at the old place, the $100-dollaring to death from Home Depot and groceries and stuff, etc. I'm seriously in a difficult, difficult spot right now.
- Because of the way Metra passes work, it looks like I'm going to have to drive to work for the next several days and possibly a full month -- this is expensive as hell.
My legs haven't stopped aching in the last 3 weeks, my lower back is the same way, and my left shoulder may actually need medical attention. I think I've overworked myself and maybe pulled/strained something or maybe worse. I can't lift that arm above my head without pretty serious pain.
I need a vacation.. oh.. I can't afford that either.. feh.
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| Wednesday, May 10th, 2006
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6:22 pm - updates and things and stuffs and things
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So.. I feel like updating or something..
Work has become pretty crazy as of late. Over time, I've become more and more well known as "the answer guy". As more people know who I am, more people ask me questions and add to my workload and it kind of snowballs. Of course, on the positive side, management loves me.
It has become additionally crazy, because the issue of department morale has been brought to the forefront recently. Basically, I like my job and my team is kind of separated, to an extent, from a lot of the others in our department. Truth be told, there is some amount of politics, drama, cattiness that goes on in my department. However, because my team's role is somewhat unique, we are rarely in the middle of this and I don't have to deal with it -- so I'm truly happy.
Well, we have these offsite "all hands" meetings where our department meets. They're actually really cool, because we talk about how things are going with the business and with the department, give out awards for recognition, and also talk about what things can be improved in the department. Well, long story short, we had a sub-team meeting to follow up on this last "all hands" meeting, and I sort of let the cat out of the bag and gave some pretty honest, candid feedback. I was afraid I had just committed political suicide, but as it turns out, management was quite happy, and I even got a hand written thank you card. Wow.
So work is hectic, and crazy, but pretty decent.
Condo stuff: I closed on my condo, I've started painting, but god damn I have so much to take care of before the end of the month...
- Set up power [done]
- Set up gas [done]
- Set up internet (probably cable)
- Set up satellite (oops, I have Dish now but this local DirecTV company has an exclusive contract, so I'm stuck with DirecTV.. plus these local douches want to charge me all sorts of money for the receivers? what the FUCK?)
- Set up mail forwarding to new place
- Purchase monthly train and bus passes for my commute
- Pick paint colors (still haven't picked them for every wall/room)
- Buy more paint
- Finish painting place before May 19th...
- Pick flooring (laminate) and order it ASAP, because the only weekend I can install it is that of the 19th
- Install flooring
- Find cleaning service and schedule cleaning of new place
- Pick a date to move, fill out an asston of forms for my condo board to let me move in, and deposit $200 (do not pass go?)
- Find a moving service
- Decide whether or not I even have time/ability to decide which stuff I'm throwing out and which stuff I'm keeping...
- Get everything in this shithole packed (it is a TON of fucking stuff)
- Find and purchase a new bed (maybe full bedroom set, but don't have much money)
- Get all my stuff moved
- Clean old place (or hire cleaning service for that too)
- Unpack and organize
Wow.. so um... yeah.. I like my job still, but with work being busy, and that bigass list -- I'm kinda stressed right now. Meh.
current mood:  stressed
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| Thursday, May 4th, 2006
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2:01 pm - wow...
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So, if you've downloaded but not bought the new Tool album, please allow me to inform you of something:
You're missing out. Go spend the measly $10 to have the real thing. The artwork is worth well over $10. It's seriously the greatest album art ever regardless of my love for the band.
What it is: A tri-fold cardboard "wallet", where one fold has stereoscopic 3d glasses, the middle fold has a booklet of artwork, and the other fold serves as a "back wall".
What it does: When folded in the shape of a "U", you fold up one page from the booklet and hold it up against the "back wall", then look through the stereoscopic glasses at the image -- a full color 3d rendering of the artwork. No stupid red/blue glasses, and no crazy dot-composed "stereograms" -- REAL full color pictures in all of their 3d glory.
Cool pictures. Really, really cool pictures. Ranging from Tool's typical abstract/dark anatomical diagrams to photos of the band members in really neat settings. By far the greatest take-home experience I've ever had buying an album. I sat in my car and looked at them all, probably hurting my eyes in the process.
You wanna curb piracy and sell CDs? Do cool shit like this. I can't imagine passing this sort of thing up.
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, April 26th, 2006
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7:40 pm - wow.
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