the ongoing saga of my job

My Job: Then vs. Now

College. RCC. The ResNet Software Installer CD-ROM.

Me: I totally almost have this working! Just one more… aw, shit.
Jamie: Come on. Let’s take a break.
Me: Just a minute. I’ve almost got it.
Jamie: You’ve been working on that for five hours. Take a break. Now.
Me: *rubs eyes* OK…

[We walk downstairs from the Server Room in Kreischer Quad, and go outside to the smoking area]

Me: It’s dark out. When did that happen?
Jamie: *drags off a freshly-lit cigarette* Couple hours ago.

 

Fast forward seven years. Current job. Arrowhead Park, Maumee. Cube farm.

Me: It’s only 3:00?
Scott: Yup. Hour and a half to go.
Me: Two hours for me.
Scott: Yep. Hey, can you cover phones for me from 4:30 to 5:00?
Me: I suppose.

[We stare blankly out the window at the squirrels]

 

I remember being engrossed by my work. Sure, it was good-paying for a college gig, but it also taught me a lot, and I found it interesting.

Maybe that’s the difference between college and the workforce (I refuse to say “real life”). In college, you do what you want, mainly, but you still complain about it. In the workforce, you do what you have to, but you still complain about it.

humor

Multimedia Amusement

I’ve gotten some highly amusing animated gifs and video files as forwards at work lately. So, if you’re ready for a page to load up several megs’ worth of bitch-slapping, fire-eating, and other random carnage, read on.
Continue reading →

memories 1 Comment

Kindergarten Ethics

I have vivid memories of singing this song in my Kindergarten music class, back in 1981 or so:

I have a little pussy
Her coat is silver gray
She lives down in the meadow
Not very far away

She’ll always be a pussy
She’ll never be a cat
‘Cause she’s a pussy willow
Now what do you think of that?

Meow, meow, meow, meow,
Meow, meow, meow, meow—
Scat!

I came home and sang the song to my Mom. She was bothered by it, but I really didn’t understand why.

I don’t remember singing that song very much after that.

randomness

Waterville Community Garage Sale 2005

Last year, we got a fairly decent haul. The year before was crap. The couple years before that were phenomenal.

This year? Good. Definitely good.

As with last year, we started out at the St. John’s Jesuit High School Garage Sale. Unlike last year, both Aaron and I found some stuff of interest:

+ The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Edward L. Ferman, Ed.
+ Star Trek: Legacy by Michael Jan Friedman
+ World’s Best Science Fiction: 1971, D. Wollheim and T. Carr, Ed.
+ Galactic Empires, Volume 1, Brian Aldiss, Ed.
+ A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney by Andy Rooney

Yeah, we’re sci-fi geeks. *shrug*

We got to Waterville around 10:30am, which is impressively early for Aaron and myself on a Saturday. We started around the Kroger, which is a different end of town from our usual haunts. Good thing, though, because we ended up finding a *fantastic* neighborhood with tons of sales. We must have walked for an hour or more without even moving the car. Finally moved to a different ‘hood, then got lunch at Kam Wah (excellent Chinese food), then tried to hit a few more sales, but were just too saled-out to keep plugging away by 3:00 or 3:30pm. But we got a righteous haul this year:

+ PlayStation console, no cables, works, $1
+ Palm IIIc with accessories, works, $15
+ small apple basket (which served to carry sale items)
+ mechanical metronome (not the electronic kind)
+ Game Boy Secret Codes
+ random assortment of terra cotta clay pots
+ metal watering can (to be used as a planter)
+ Sam Kinison VHS tape
+ Tae Bo VHS tape
+ two 45’s and eight LP’s

I must be forgetting something… Anyway, yeah. Good haul, beautiful day, great weather, and (as always) quality time with my Honey Muffin. 😀