I am currently enjoying the long time off part of my shift work that comes around every five weeks, and find myself bored. Not in a negative or self-destructive way, nor even in a restless one. Just in an 'I've run out of projects to do, things to read, movies to watch, but I am still just quite content to enjoy not having to carry stress from my job' kind of way.
Its not lost on me that I am so lucky with the job that I have, and among other benefits, the time off that my shift work entails. That I don't mind working a swing shift is a given, as all-nighters and long days aren't a problem for me. But that Superwife equally doesn't mind my weird times of absence, or that I had a good day when being interviewed for the full time version of my job, and was subsequently successful in that competition. These things aren't lost on me.
I am also feeling a little more contemplative than normal. As I usually do this time of year, I have been thinking a lot about my friend Jon Cooley, who died way too young from cancer over the Canada Day weekend, what, almost seven years ago? Man how could that much time have gone by? I have never been able to be close to a lot of people. I usually draw a wall between myself and others that find a reason to make the attempt, and those attempts are few and far between, probably because I have always been a bit of an odd duck. I don't know who to blame for the way that I am. No one but myself I guess. But with Jon it was just different, and not because he died and I can now posthumously elevate our relationship, like some people are wont to do with their own friendships after losing someone. He and I always had a way of communicating to each other on a level that I have only since found with my wife and partner. My life has been a little poorer for Jon's absence and I still miss him greatly, even after all this time.
Hmm, now I have gone from contemplative to morose. But I am not, not really. Just bored. And maybe a little melancholy. I don't find thinking about absent friends morbid, but life affirming. I am not dead, or as far as I know, currently afflicted with anything more serious than inexorably working towards my own end like everyone else on this flying mudball. I am in a healthy, loving relationship with someone who for reasons mostly unknown to me has chosen me to spend her life with. I have a wonderful, vivacious, inquisitive daughter to help me see the world through, and along with a job that affords me the luxury of having so much time off at once that I can claim mild boredom as my only current problem, I guess I am doing all right.
I was going to go off about how Fucking Spectacular the 11th episode of Doctor Who was, what with Billie Piper finally returning to the show (sorry if that was a spoiler), but I think I'll just save anything more about that for later. I think I'll soon crawl into bed with the wife, and with no ulterior motives other than to feel her comfortable presence alongside mine, go rub her back in her sleep or something.
Its not lost on me that I am so lucky with the job that I have, and among other benefits, the time off that my shift work entails. That I don't mind working a swing shift is a given, as all-nighters and long days aren't a problem for me. But that Superwife equally doesn't mind my weird times of absence, or that I had a good day when being interviewed for the full time version of my job, and was subsequently successful in that competition. These things aren't lost on me.
I am also feeling a little more contemplative than normal. As I usually do this time of year, I have been thinking a lot about my friend Jon Cooley, who died way too young from cancer over the Canada Day weekend, what, almost seven years ago? Man how could that much time have gone by? I have never been able to be close to a lot of people. I usually draw a wall between myself and others that find a reason to make the attempt, and those attempts are few and far between, probably because I have always been a bit of an odd duck. I don't know who to blame for the way that I am. No one but myself I guess. But with Jon it was just different, and not because he died and I can now posthumously elevate our relationship, like some people are wont to do with their own friendships after losing someone. He and I always had a way of communicating to each other on a level that I have only since found with my wife and partner. My life has been a little poorer for Jon's absence and I still miss him greatly, even after all this time.
Hmm, now I have gone from contemplative to morose. But I am not, not really. Just bored. And maybe a little melancholy. I don't find thinking about absent friends morbid, but life affirming. I am not dead, or as far as I know, currently afflicted with anything more serious than inexorably working towards my own end like everyone else on this flying mudball. I am in a healthy, loving relationship with someone who for reasons mostly unknown to me has chosen me to spend her life with. I have a wonderful, vivacious, inquisitive daughter to help me see the world through, and along with a job that affords me the luxury of having so much time off at once that I can claim mild boredom as my only current problem, I guess I am doing all right.
I was going to go off about how Fucking Spectacular the 11th episode of Doctor Who was, what with Billie Piper finally returning to the show (sorry if that was a spoiler), but I think I'll just save anything more about that for later. I think I'll soon crawl into bed with the wife, and with no ulterior motives other than to feel her comfortable presence alongside mine, go rub her back in her sleep or something.
Labels: doctor who, everything else, family, work
So I am sitting in a hotel room in Toronto right now, while Trin and Superwife slumber away in the double bed beside me. And I can't sleep even though I have been on day shifts for the last 4 days. My mind would just rather be awake then asleep I guess.
We came down here to take Trin to the zoo and either delight her with the fact that all those animals she sees on tv and in books are real, or scare the shit out of her with that same fact as they stomp around in front of her. Either way, we're hoping for a big reaction.
Oh, and here's an update: I went to see Indy 4 after work last night with a pal, and don't listen to anyone that tells you otherwise, this movie. Is. Fucking. Awesome. Fucking awesome I tells ya! Its fun, campy and full of comedy, just like all its predecessors. Yes, there is a very scif-fi MacGuffin instead of the usual religious tripe. So? If anything, that made the movie better than any of the first three. Check out this thread if you're interested in hearing more on the debate. If you are a fan of these movies, don't be a sheep and listen to the naysayers. Go see it. You won't have more fun at the movies this year until, well, until you get around to seeing Iron Man. Or until Dark Knight comes out. Or Hulk. Or X-Files 2. Well still, it is very good.
And just so its been said, Shift Work FTW!, cause its a Tuesday night and my workweek is over til Friday night.
We came down here to take Trin to the zoo and either delight her with the fact that all those animals she sees on tv and in books are real, or scare the shit out of her with that same fact as they stomp around in front of her. Either way, we're hoping for a big reaction.
Oh, and here's an update: I went to see Indy 4 after work last night with a pal, and don't listen to anyone that tells you otherwise, this movie. Is. Fucking. Awesome. Fucking awesome I tells ya! Its fun, campy and full of comedy, just like all its predecessors. Yes, there is a very scif-fi MacGuffin instead of the usual religious tripe. So? If anything, that made the movie better than any of the first three. Check out this thread if you're interested in hearing more on the debate. If you are a fan of these movies, don't be a sheep and listen to the naysayers. Go see it. You won't have more fun at the movies this year until, well, until you get around to seeing Iron Man. Or until Dark Knight comes out. Or Hulk. Or X-Files 2. Well still, it is very good.
And just so its been said, Shift Work FTW!, cause its a Tuesday night and my workweek is over til Friday night.
Not exactly a very noteworthy position I guess. Who actually wants to work for a living anyways? Whoever answers 'Me' to that question is either a liar or someone I don't care to know. Probably both.
I have had some funny things going on lately work-wise, and even though I am on the 'time-off' part of my swing shift schedule, I find myself thinking way too much about work. Hence the post about it.
2 weeks ago I turned down a job promotion that would have meant moving from shift work to days for a little bit more money than I make now. And I don't regret that move a bit, because after working really fucked up hours on shifts for the last 2 years, or working for a company on Vegas time for a year or so before that, it turns out that I don't much care for the 9 to 5 anymore. I am not sure that I can say I ever did, come to think about it.
And last week I had a job interview for the contract gig I currently have. I went in thinking I didn't even want the job, cause I make more money on contract, but as it turns out, I kicked all kinds of ass in the interview, and I realized afterwards that I really do want to keep doing this job for the foreseeable future. Which likely means I won't end up getting it, but there it is anyway.
Where the hell is this post going again? Oh yeah, all this thinking about work, and I have come to the realization that I would be quite cool with not spending the bulk of my time doing something for someone else just so that I can sneak in a few minutes every once in awhile to whine about it on my blog. So if I have some long-lost wealthy relative out there who's only got me in the will, no offense, but can you go ahead and die already so I can focus on my retirement?
I have had some funny things going on lately work-wise, and even though I am on the 'time-off' part of my swing shift schedule, I find myself thinking way too much about work. Hence the post about it.
2 weeks ago I turned down a job promotion that would have meant moving from shift work to days for a little bit more money than I make now. And I don't regret that move a bit, because after working really fucked up hours on shifts for the last 2 years, or working for a company on Vegas time for a year or so before that, it turns out that I don't much care for the 9 to 5 anymore. I am not sure that I can say I ever did, come to think about it.
And last week I had a job interview for the contract gig I currently have. I went in thinking I didn't even want the job, cause I make more money on contract, but as it turns out, I kicked all kinds of ass in the interview, and I realized afterwards that I really do want to keep doing this job for the foreseeable future. Which likely means I won't end up getting it, but there it is anyway.
Where the hell is this post going again? Oh yeah, all this thinking about work, and I have come to the realization that I would be quite cool with not spending the bulk of my time doing something for someone else just so that I can sneak in a few minutes every once in awhile to whine about it on my blog. So if I have some long-lost wealthy relative out there who's only got me in the will, no offense, but can you go ahead and die already so I can focus on my retirement?
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.
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.
Been hard to get a chance lately to collect my thoughts, let alone write them down, mostly due to the fact that I have been laptop-less for going on 6 weeks. That and when I do get a chance to do anything I feel obligated to write reviews for the DVD site I get free Blu-Rays from. (Tip of the hat goes to Eyecravedvd.com.)
I am currently plugging away right now on a loaner machine that I have to give back tomorrow so I am trying to get as much done tonight as I can. But no more reviews tonight. Three in a week is my limit.
I am desperately awaiting the arrival of not one, but two laptops, as HP is finally (fucking finally!) going to replace the one that I have had to send back twice to them for motherboard failures. And I am also eagerly awaiting my new eee pc, so that I have something to always take with me and a backup in case my new HP turns out to be as reliable as the last one.
Listening to the free instrumental album off the new Nine Inch Nails release, Ghosts and its really good. And free, as in the band is offering it for download and has upped it to every torrent site in the cloud at no cost in the hopes that downloaders might then buy the whole 4 album package. Which I won't be, thanks. Although I might just download the whole thing for nothing (snicker).
Been working on my resume tonight too. Unfortunately for me, there are some postings at my job for the job I currently have to make it a full time gig. Bummer for me because I like working on contract; better money. And now I have to compete for a job I currently have, and might lose, which is teh sucks. But such is life.
And now that I take the time to update the blog, I find I have relatively little else to say. An old friend of mine recently was written up in an article for a St. Catharines newspaper and it is worth a read. He is a motivational speaker, and aside from being a bit of a religious nutter, he is one of the coolest guys I have ever met. Awesome attitude, and I was really happy for him when I came across the article. One of these guys that, were he to be handed lemons by life, would likely build a lemonade stand and donate the whole thing to a passing homeless guy.
I am currently plugging away right now on a loaner machine that I have to give back tomorrow so I am trying to get as much done tonight as I can. But no more reviews tonight. Three in a week is my limit.
I am desperately awaiting the arrival of not one, but two laptops, as HP is finally (fucking finally!) going to replace the one that I have had to send back twice to them for motherboard failures. And I am also eagerly awaiting my new eee pc, so that I have something to always take with me and a backup in case my new HP turns out to be as reliable as the last one.
Listening to the free instrumental album off the new Nine Inch Nails release, Ghosts and its really good. And free, as in the band is offering it for download and has upped it to every torrent site in the cloud at no cost in the hopes that downloaders might then buy the whole 4 album package. Which I won't be, thanks. Although I might just download the whole thing for nothing (snicker).
Been working on my resume tonight too. Unfortunately for me, there are some postings at my job for the job I currently have to make it a full time gig. Bummer for me because I like working on contract; better money. And now I have to compete for a job I currently have, and might lose, which is teh sucks. But such is life.
And now that I take the time to update the blog, I find I have relatively little else to say. An old friend of mine recently was written up in an article for a St. Catharines newspaper and it is worth a read. He is a motivational speaker, and aside from being a bit of a religious nutter, he is one of the coolest guys I have ever met. Awesome attitude, and I was really happy for him when I came across the article. One of these guys that, were he to be handed lemons by life, would likely build a lemonade stand and donate the whole thing to a passing homeless guy.
Labels: everything else, work
getting me through
Originally uploaded by raistlinsghost
Here's a little love note from superwife that is doing wonders getting me through an otherwise really shitty night at work. Its just one of those nights that I want to be at home with my family a whole hell of a lot more than I want to be at the office.
And Superwife's addition of the horns and tongue on the making-fun-of-Jeebus postie that the note is written on just adds that extra something special.
So its early xmas morning, even earlier than I would normally be up on the 25th of December, and instead of getting ready to watch my little girl exhaust herself opening and playing with her xmas presents, I am instead getting ready to go to work for a 12 hour shift. The joys of shift work are now being fully realized as I get to experience firsthand that when you work somewhere that never closes, someone has to be there on xmas.
There are a few things that are going to make it worthwhile though. It is likely to be stone dead at the office today, and that will be a nice change of pace for a day shift. I will also get paid a ridiculous amount of money thanks to that strong union and their requirement that people that work stat holidays get paid twice their normal rate. And the last one isn't so much a benefit but rather a consolation; Trin is only 2 and a half, and as such isn't going to know that when she celebrates xmas on Boxing Day that she's really a day behind the rest of the world.
And as an atheist I really don't have a leg to stand on anyway. Its not like I'm missing out on the cake and ice cream at the birthday party we're throwing at home for Jesus or anything.
There are a few things that are going to make it worthwhile though. It is likely to be stone dead at the office today, and that will be a nice change of pace for a day shift. I will also get paid a ridiculous amount of money thanks to that strong union and their requirement that people that work stat holidays get paid twice their normal rate. And the last one isn't so much a benefit but rather a consolation; Trin is only 2 and a half, and as such isn't going to know that when she celebrates xmas on Boxing Day that she's really a day behind the rest of the world.
And as an atheist I really don't have a leg to stand on anyway. Its not like I'm missing out on the cake and ice cream at the birthday party we're throwing at home for Jesus or anything.
Labels: atheism, everything else, family, work
I am taking my first sick day from work for the first time in I don't know how long. At least since I started my current job and I've been at it for almost 2 years.
Been fighting off a cocksucker of a cold all week and finally gave in today. Decided that I'd rather spend the day with my pot of Neo Citran.
And just now as I was writing this post I just violated my sweet innocent laptop in the worst way by sneezing all over it. Poor thing. There's always victims when people get sick.
Been fighting off a cocksucker of a cold all week and finally gave in today. Decided that I'd rather spend the day with my pot of Neo Citran.
And just now as I was writing this post I just violated my sweet innocent laptop in the worst way by sneezing all over it. Poor thing. There's always victims when people get sick.
Labels: work
You know how sometimes it feels like you're moving through your life on a conveyor belt, not really paying attention to the progression of time as it passes you by? No? Well I feel like that sometimes.
I try to pay attention to the most important moments because I know that if/when I am an old fart I am going to look back and lament not relishing every moment with my daughter and Superwife.
But I think sometimes in my zeal to pay attention to my immediate family life, I overlook other things like self-improvement, personal development, my career. I have always tended to look at work as a necessary evil, something I would choose not to do with my time if I could afford that luxury. But I do still treat work as seriously as that attitude will allow, because I want to feel validated and that I am earning my way through my life.
I haven't been looking at my current job in any long term way, as I have up til now been on recurring short term contracts. But I just today got a spot of good news in that department: I signed a much better contract early this morning, one that will give me some security and a better chance of a permanent position.
So Trin can't call her Daddy a Temp any more. Well, she can, but it won't leave him with the feeling of career impotence that it used to.
I try to pay attention to the most important moments because I know that if/when I am an old fart I am going to look back and lament not relishing every moment with my daughter and Superwife.
But I think sometimes in my zeal to pay attention to my immediate family life, I overlook other things like self-improvement, personal development, my career. I have always tended to look at work as a necessary evil, something I would choose not to do with my time if I could afford that luxury. But I do still treat work as seriously as that attitude will allow, because I want to feel validated and that I am earning my way through my life.
I haven't been looking at my current job in any long term way, as I have up til now been on recurring short term contracts. But I just today got a spot of good news in that department: I signed a much better contract early this morning, one that will give me some security and a better chance of a permanent position.
So Trin can't call her Daddy a Temp any more. Well, she can, but it won't leave him with the feeling of career impotence that it used to.
Labels: everything else, work
I've recently been spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about my help desk job and how it is pretty much boldly going nowhere fast. The pay is pretty good, but I am on contract with a vendor, so I'm pretty much a temp. I actually taught Trin the phrase 'Daddy Temp' the other day and she ran around the house yelling it at the top of her lungs.
Yes it was funny. But it didn't make me feel a hell of a lot better about my job.
To add to my discomfiture I recently came across a clip on MSN video about Fortune Magazine naming Google as the best company in America to work for. This from a list of 100 great places to work in the US.
Perks include on-site doctors, laundry services, 11 gourmet restaurants, barber shop, car washes, fitness center, massages and games rooms. All free of course. Oh and don't forget about $5,000 toward buying a hybrid electric/gas car. Or bringing your pet with you to work.
Link here
I suppose I could feel worse about my job after watching the clip, but I can console myself with the fact that I would never, ever have a chance in hell of getting a job at Google anyways.
Yes it was funny. But it didn't make me feel a hell of a lot better about my job.
To add to my discomfiture I recently came across a clip on MSN video about Fortune Magazine naming Google as the best company in America to work for. This from a list of 100 great places to work in the US.
Perks include on-site doctors, laundry services, 11 gourmet restaurants, barber shop, car washes, fitness center, massages and games rooms. All free of course. Oh and don't forget about $5,000 toward buying a hybrid electric/gas car. Or bringing your pet with you to work.
Link here
I suppose I could feel worse about my job after watching the clip, but I can console myself with the fact that I would never, ever have a chance in hell of getting a job at Google anyways.
Labels: everything else, work
The guy I work with was ordering Chinese food tonight and he didn't know what to get, so he'd ask me about each item that sounded good to him, and have me tell him what each item actually was. Chicken Soo Guy, Chop Suey, etc. And then he got to Moo Goo Guy Pan. I was stumped. So I Googled it.
And here's the first result I got, courtesy of The Urban Dictionary:
And here's the first result I got, courtesy of The Urban Dictionary:
Moo Goo Guy Pan
The ancient eastern art of using stealthy martial art skills to rub one out directly next to or in close proximity to either a roomate or complete stranger.
It was dark and quiet that night in my dorm room... It was a little too quiet. I wasn't sure but I had the feeling that wang, my asian roomate and also bunkmate was quietly pulling a Moo Goo Guy Pan on me while we both lying in our bunk bed and I couldnt do anything about it.
Labels: everything else, work
So its after midnight on one of my nights off, and I'm sitting here at my pc working my way through over 400 entries in my rss reader, and I'm thinking to myself how nice it is to relax at home and listen to the rain through my open window.
I'm also thinking that I subscribe to entirely too many rss feeds.
I found out yesterday that my contract with my current job got picked up, likely for at least 6 more months. I didn't have to go through the re-interview I was told I would have to, and even though I wasn't really all that worried about that, every few minutes I look over at Superwife and my daughter sleeping in the bed a few feet away from me and I find myself feeling so fucking relieved.
Btw, out of the 400 entries I just finished, I did find a few worthy of linking:
Star Trek's EMH not as far off as you might think
Poking fun at 10 religions at once!
A girl who compares daily life to an RPG is a girl after my heart (notwithstanding the facts that I'm happily married. and she's a lesbian. and taken)
My Next Project, or What to Do With that Bible You've Got Laying Around
Rick Mercer mulls the Liberal candidate race (worth the click solely for the Stockwell Day joke)
I'm also thinking that I subscribe to entirely too many rss feeds.
I found out yesterday that my contract with my current job got picked up, likely for at least 6 more months. I didn't have to go through the re-interview I was told I would have to, and even though I wasn't really all that worried about that, every few minutes I look over at Superwife and my daughter sleeping in the bed a few feet away from me and I find myself feeling so fucking relieved.
Btw, out of the 400 entries I just finished, I did find a few worthy of linking:
Star Trek's EMH not as far off as you might think
Poking fun at 10 religions at once!
A girl who compares daily life to an RPG is a girl after my heart (notwithstanding the facts that I'm happily married. and she's a lesbian. and taken)
My Next Project, or What to Do With that Bible You've Got Laying Around
Rick Mercer mulls the Liberal candidate race (worth the click solely for the Stockwell Day joke)
So Trinity, Superwife and I just got back today from our first vacation of the summer, and now I'm settling into the first of four graveyard shifts in a row. (Don't worry boss: I'm blogging this on my lunch!)
The first day of my four days off we drove to my in-laws place on the lake for a well deserved break that was just long enough for everyone to have a great time. The trip up always takes 5 hours (each way!), which with the baby is about 4 and 1/2 hours too long. We're planning on hooking up an in-car DVD player for Trin so she can watch Sesame Street for at least a few minutes of the trip before she gets bored, (and thereby give Mom and I a little break) on the next trip.
We had a great time though. Trin got to go for her first real fishing trip and she loved it. I caught my limit in fish and exceeded my limit in UV rays; I forgot the sunblock and got one of the worst sunburns I've ever had. At least now, when the Big C: Cancer finally shows up, I'll have no one to blame but myself.
Note to self: obscure Alec Baldwin SNL reference, check!And now that I'm back and plugged back in, I have a plethora of likely-only-interesting-to-me things that I have been intending to blog about, but lack the werewithal to write separate posts about each. So the following are some good links to click on, in no particular order:
- The Matrix is right around the corner. Scientists have found a way to implant a neuroprocessor in a human brain that can be used to detect brain activity and transmit those signals to a computer to then do .... pretty much anything I guess. Pretty soon, you too can say "I know kung-fu".
- Star Trek 40th Anniversary Convention. If there were a way for me to simultaneously get out of work AND convince Superwife that its a good idea for me to go to Vegas alone for a weekend, I would SO be going to this.
- 2 faced kitten video (courtesy of MSNBC) Pretty much proves evolution in one fell swoop because no god could be this much of a fucking jerk.
- Natalie Portman to star in the next Indiana Jones movie. Guess they managed to cast the part of Harrison Ford's Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter.
I miss it already.
Labels: everything else, family, work
Today is my first day off as part of my new four on - four off shift schedule, and we're inside enjoying the first thunderstorm of spring.
I have always loved the experience of thunderstorms. Maybe its the reminder of how little control we actually have over our environment.
And now, as I sit here in the gloom and listen to the rain pelt the sidewalk just a few feet away, and the thunder roll from one side of the house to the other, I also get to listen to the comforting sounds of my daughter nursing beside me.
And the best part: I don't have to even think about work until Friday afternoon.
Gotta love the new job.
And rainy days.
I have always loved the experience of thunderstorms. Maybe its the reminder of how little control we actually have over our environment.
And now, as I sit here in the gloom and listen to the rain pelt the sidewalk just a few feet away, and the thunder roll from one side of the house to the other, I also get to listen to the comforting sounds of my daughter nursing beside me.
And the best part: I don't have to even think about work until Friday afternoon.
Gotta love the new job.
And rainy days.
Labels: work
Ok. Bold statement to be sure, but honestly I have never had a better first week at any job in my life.
I spent the better part of the week getting my head crammed so full of protocols and policies on things I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of remembering, that it was pretty much spinning like a top. But it was fun to learn some new things, and it only helped illuminate just how fucking bored I was with my old job, even though I didn't really recognize it at the time.
I've met most of the people I'll be working with and to a person, everyone in the department seems pretty cool. I have never been able to say that at a new job. Of that I am sure.
Because the nature of the job is going to rely on being able to communicate quickly and clearly with other staff, it is very nice to know that everyone's backs are covered.
So there are the work reasons that this job is so cool.
But you want to know what I really love about this job?
Friday afternoon, while mentoring under one of the more senior guys, I ended up being a part of a debate on who would win in a shooting war between the Empire and the Federation. I shit you not.
And the best part? These people weren't kidding. There was a little good natured eye rolling from a couple of the guys, but even they had an opinion one way or the other.
Now don't get me wrong, nobody broke out their technical manuals or anything (thankfully I didn't mention that I own one); it was just a fun discussion among fans.
I am seriously going to love this job.
Labels: work
Great line from a great book. Actually if you count each part of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a separate book, that line is in fact the title of a great book.
It is also, as it turns out, not a bad parting shot as I move from one employment opportunity to another.
I don't often post about doings in my own life anymore; I used to use this blog to give voice to some of the more important things that were going on in my life, maybe to help me understand them, maybe to help solidify my own feelings about those events. In particular I posted a great deal in the months that led up to the birth of my daughter.
Now more often I find myself making observations about things I read about, movies I see, videogames I play, etc. From my view in the cheap seats, its all good content, just little substance.
At least there's still the monthly letter to my little girl.
I think in the future I'll try to post more often about what's going on in my life, if for nothing else than to at least keep my other personalities updated on what I'm up to. (Assuming they read my blog)
To that end, I recently walked away from my cushy low paying stay-at-home job to take a real job amongst real people. While the thought of working with real live people again daunts me a little (I've been working from my home for the last two years) along with the major separation anxiety I’m likely to go through by being away from my wife and daughter for extended periods of time, I am really looking forward to the change of pace.
I fully believe that life can get a little stale when you’re not challenged enough, and as enjoyable as my life is right now, I think I could use a new challenge.
Labels: work
In case you haven't noticed, I've just updated my blog to use Blogger, rather than put up with the continuous headaches of administering my Movable Type install. And with the recent news that Six Apart is now charging for use of and support for its MT products, it wasn't a hard choice.
Its a little less geeky using Blogger; any monkey could set one of these up. And at least the constant headaches of maintaining my MT install reminded me that I was doing something that not every user could. But it was those same headaches that made me decide to just shitcan the whole thing and move to a hands-free sort of platform.
Now I can concentrate more on using my time blogging for actually writing (or not writing, as it were) and less on administering a lousy product.
So over the next little while I'll be migrating the rest of my few hundred posts here. And at least now, I can actually claim annonymity. Not much chance of getting Dooced if no one knows who you are.
And maybe that same annonymity will allow me to express myself more, not that I do a lot of holding back as it is.
Hmmm, is this how Stern felt when he went over to satellite?
Its a little less geeky using Blogger; any monkey could set one of these up. And at least the constant headaches of maintaining my MT install reminded me that I was doing something that not every user could. But it was those same headaches that made me decide to just shitcan the whole thing and move to a hands-free sort of platform.
Now I can concentrate more on using my time blogging for actually writing (or not writing, as it were) and less on administering a lousy product.
So over the next little while I'll be migrating the rest of my few hundred posts here. And at least now, I can actually claim annonymity. Not much chance of getting Dooced if no one knows who you are.
And maybe that same annonymity will allow me to express myself more, not that I do a lot of holding back as it is.
Hmmm, is this how Stern felt when he went over to satellite?
Labels: work
