The Occasional Solipsist

The concept of Star Trek as teacher is not exactly a new sentiment for me. I was introduced to it at the tender age of 4 by way of my Mom taking me to see ST:TMP in a theater (yes, I am that old), and it has been my constant companion ever since.

Way back before Trin, even before Superwife, I had a wall poster that said exactly this: Everything I needed to know about life I learned from Star Trek, and it contained a number of mostly comical adages about life for the geek who pays more attention to science fiction than to the so-called real world. Things like 'always set yourphaser on stun' and 'never trust anyone with pointed ears'. I can't find an image of it, or there would be one in this post, but you get the idea.

I recently watched the TNG Season 6 episode Tapestry, in which Picard's artificial heart fails on him during a mission and he dies on the operating table because of it. He is then taken back in time to see if he can change the event that caused him to have an artificial heart in the first place, a purported wrong choice that led to him getting stabbed. He makes the appropriate changes, avoids getting stabbed, and is then brought into what should be his present, only to find that history is not as he remembers it. He is now a Junior grade Lieutenant, living a quiet, safe life shuffling papers around. Turns out that choosing the safe, easy path led to a life of not taking the opportunities he was presented with, and ultimately creating a much different life than the one he remembered. Picard then goes back in time yet again, sets history right, gets stabbed in the heart, and with the timeline restored, wakes up on an operating table in his present, his artificial heart once again working.

Where is this going exactly, you might ask? Well, yesterday I was presented with not one, but two job opportunities; one a headhunter contact, and the other a firm offer, both of which would lead to me getting off of shift work and back into working the daily grind like most of the rest of the world. One would in all likelihood be for less money than the one I have now, the other was a little more; one would offer significantly new challenges, and the other was basically a modified version of the job I have, just doing it straight days.

Essentially, (and here's the Star Trek part) like Picard I was faced with two paths: I could take the easier, safer path and maybe be sentenced to a life of quiet non-involvement, or I could take one of the other offered positions, and maybe start a chain of changes that could lead to who knows what. (Maybe my own ship someday?) But here's where Picard and I part ways. Because where he was horrified to find himself trapped in a job with no passion, of never being noticed by anyone, I am quite content with the same. Some might see it as a lack of ambition, some might think I am just plain lazy, but the truth is that as long as my basic needs are met in a job (i.e. enough money to support my family), I just don't get gratification from job recognition. I like coming into a job, doing my thing to the best of my ability and going home to the people that matter to me. And that is all. I don't crave praise at a job or need to feel validated by others for my accomplishments. I work to live baby, never the other way around.

So for a litany of reasons, I made the choice to stay where I was for now, and Superwife, as always, remains my stalwart supporter. As long as I am happy, she is happy for me. She is the absolute tits, in case I haven't said so lately, btw. It is so great that the only friend whose opinion I honestly value, who supports me no matter what, also happens to be my wife. If we were ever to part ways, I am so screwed, because I could never ask for a better partner in life.

I guess now it remains to be seen how much this event will impact the direction of my life, at least in the short term. Maybe my decision isn't as life-changing as getting stabbed in the heart, but only time provides the appropriate context to put these kinds of events in.

Labels: star trek, work

As heard in the car the other day, listening to the radio with Superwife:

John Tesh: "..so that's why experts say that you will live a longer, happier life if you select a career that financially rewards you for doing the thing that you love and are really good at."

Me: "A little bit obvious, but thanks anyways John."

Superwife: "That's a good idea but I don't think it would be all that good for our marriage."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Superwife: "Because with that advice, I should have been a prostitute."

Me: "..."

Labels: everything else, superwife

the new office
Originally uploaded by raistlinsghost

So I have officially been moved to the basement now, as my 'old' office has been converted to a toy room for the munchkin. Now that she is going to be 3, she should be able to occupy 2 bedrooms, right?

I have been waiting for this shirt to be become available again at Threadless for-fucking-ever and even though it was just reprinted, the sonofabitching thing was part of the spring sale and sold out in less than a microsecond or two. Maybe they only reprinted one of them. But if anyone reads this, loves me, and loves me enough to buy me something, well, there's the link. Size Medium because I eat more nowadays. And if not for me, for any Batfan, once its available again you are going to want one of these anyways.

Labels: comics, rants

Dear Trinity,



I'm writing you a little later than normal this month; for some reason I haven't felt like I have all that new to tell you lately. But of course, like any other month, you continue to grow and change and develop and I am just not making a big deal enough out of that. Or maybe its that I have been so busy either having fun or losing my (admittedly small amount of) patience with you. One neato thing about your personality developing is that as it grows so does your capacity to want to get your own way, and so often what you want conflicts with what I think might be the right course of action. Foreshadowing for the future, you think?



This month has been about par for our life as it is nowadays. I work a lot, you and your Mom hang out at home a lot, or visit with your family up here. When I am off, we get to hang out, continue watching the few episodes of Star trek that might be considered kid-friendly.

We are going to head down to see your Aunt and some old friends 5 hours away tomorrow morning and I am both really looking forward to the trip and dreading it because its been almost a year since we've had you in the car for that length of time. We will just have to see how it goes.



Your Grandpa came to visit with us this past month. You had such a good time with him, which really surprised us, because you really haven't seen him that much, so we figured you'd be shy around him. But not so. You played harder with him than you have with anyone, launching yourself at him like a skydiver. You made him pretend to be the Big Bad Wolf (of 'Three Little Pigs' fame) about a hundred times, but in your version of the story, the little pig was always the winner. The next time we see him will likely be at his 4th wedding this summer, if we can get to it. Yeah, 4th wedding I said. Ask me about that one sometime.

This month I noticed a greater than usual amount of people commenting about your immense vocabulary and your control over it. I imagine that a function of being around adults more means that you are likely to pick up linguistic skills easier, but its just as plausible that you are a ridiculously smart girl instead. I like that one.



Some favourite things of yours this month: Kraft Dinner. No matter what meal it is, the one thing that we are guaranteed that you will at least eat some of, is Kraft Dinner. You usually like to share too, which always brings a smile. Your favourite book lately has been a collection of condensed Disney stories, that you often prefer to flip through yourself a few times before you pick one (or all) for me to read. Your favourite tv show has been 'Peep and the Big Wide World'. You call it Peep and the Whole Wide World, and you scream bloody murder if we try to correct you. I just call it Peep.



I couldn't settle on what pictures to post with this letter, so I am attaching more than the normal amount. Each of them is just too adorable to toss into the pile of other pictures I'm not showing the world (and you).

See you next month.

As always, your Daddy loves you.

Labels: family, trinity

I don't know what else there is to say other than this is the bestest thing I'll read all week. Maybe longer. Go read.

If only this apocalypse had already happened.

Labels: atheism, comics

So I have had my two new favourite toys for just over a week now, and now that I am almost finished working a week of nights, I am finally going to get to play with them. By toys, I mean my HP laptop sent to replace the one that died a horrible death from motherboard failure (twice) and the Asus Eee I bought as a backup for when (not if!) my new HP experiences a similar fate.

But the Eee’s Linux distro just plain sucks balls. I don’t care what anyone says, geeks who feel that because Linux is open source, you are compelled to both like it and hate Windows are just being elitist. I get a lot of shit for that attitude at work, but the world gets by for the most part on Windows platforms. Sorry, but there it is. I’m not a Linux hater, but this particular distro totally sucks, so I dumped it and installed Windows XP on my Eee and now I love it.

The new HP does run a lot better than the old one though, and it has an unnecessarily large screen, all the better to watch movies on (read:porn). The thing is 17 inches, and something in the neighbourhood of 10 lbs or so. Its more of a gigantic paperweight than a portable, but I guess that's what the Eee is for. I am planning on finally getting in on an MMO on it this weekend (City of Heroes!), even though I have always said that the only way I would ever have had time to play one would be after Superwife divorces me. (Which hopefully won't be happening anytime soon). We’ll see how that goes.

Ah, that’s what I’ve missed most about not having a pc at home: The ability to satisfy my compulsion to post inane horseshit that no one really cares about, any time I want.

Labels: everything else, tech