Tuesday, September 30, 2003

So I'm writing this blog from the comfort of the Red House family room. And there's no Cat5e cable connected to my laptop :P Yeah you got it, I've gone wireless! Thanks all to my boss. My boss is seriously the coolest guy ever. Here's a little story on how I got to work where I do.

Last spring semester I had IST 35, a really interesting class with a really good teacher, Mike Wunderlich. Really smart guy. So about 1/4th into the semester I ask him if he knows of any jobs on campus. I've been here for 3 years and I knew there was no way I was getting into CMS (Computer Mediating Services) and that my knowledge was much greater than 99% of their student staff. SO he puts me in touch with Jeff Pitt, actually calls him right there from the classroom and puts me on the phone with him before class lol. So I talk with Jeff a bit, and go meet him and boom, I've got the job. I begin working, joining 2 other students, and it's a great job! I actually did so well that they fired the two other kids and kept me on this year and gave me a raise. I work right across the street from where I live, allowing me to get those precious extra minutes of sleep whenever I feel like it. I get great hours, and very fair pay. And the extras rock. It's like getting job perks in the real world almost. For instance Jeff loaned me this wireless access point till the end of the year. He might even let me keep it! I can take off of work whenever I really need to, and I work my own hours. Of course I'm not getting paid like I was this summer, but that's OK, I'll be back to that soon enough when I graduate.

I'll have 1 1/2 years of experience with them (by the way my group is calls CSG, Computer Services Group who serves the Arts and Sciences college solely), and 2 years of experience with AIG (my big internship company). I'm really optimistic for how much I can start off earning when I graduate and head out there. The other day a guy stopped in who was the first guy to ever work as workstudy student. He started out making 55k right out of college with no more experience than working a year with CSG. Yeah...I think I'll be ok lol.

Awesome...I just saw MTV news, all about POD's idea for promoting their new album. They're selling the cd, with a dvd of tons of extra footage, AND they're including the coolest PS2 game ever-Amplitude. I own both Frequency and its aforementioned sequel. It's the coolest thing ever, you run down these "tracks" within a song, like vocals, bass, drums, guitar, etc and you play notes on those tracks. Now the notes can be on the left, middle or right of the track. Thinks get even more complicated when you can go from the end of one track and create a streak by immediately starting a new one. If that isn't complicated enough, you have multipliers equal to the number of consequative streaks going. Add in a few other powerups and it's one helluva fun game. Looks like bands are finally getting the idea to entice music listeners to buy cds again. It's quality of the quantity in my opinion. Ugh time go to work on a group project...if Craig would call already...
Things like this absolutely horrify me...but I'm amazed at the resilientness and resourcefulness of children.

Monday, September 29, 2003

Yeah so this whole past week has blown major donkey chunks. Ok wait a minute that's just the anger talking. No offense to any donkeys. You're very noble, helpful, and respectful creatures. That said here's a recap of the past weeks events:

Death of a Friend: A friend of mine from elementary school who I've stayed in touch with over the years died this past week from leukemia. It seems like every time I seem to forget about death's grasping clutches another person is taken from my life. This might have been easier to take had a friend not lost her uncle this week as well. Seeing her mirroring how I was feeling kind of gave it a secondfold strength. This was last Monday for me, so it started the week on a down tone. I'm glad though, she's in a better place and she won't suffer any longer.

Class From Hell: Yeah so my professors decided to pick this week to add insult to injury. I had so much work I was up for 4 out of the 5 schoolnights until about 3-4am working on assorted projects, assignments, and reading. Ugh at least that big chunk is done with!

Who's Laughing Now?: So after a pretty bad Friday night (rainy, and not much going on), I wake up Saturday morning to find my car broken into. The small triangular window on the passenger rear door smashed in, the rear hatch lock decimated and assorted scratches all over. The object of desire? My roadside assistance kit, containing jumper cables, tire inflator, some flares and cool reflective markers. So some schmo must have though he had the motherload of a laptop. Wish I coulda been there to see that one. God DOES have a sense of humor lol...Not that bad a thing but it really put a downer on the rest of the weekend. I was pretty down in the dumps all Saturday and it really killed my Sat. night. Back to almost normal on Sunday. I mean a third of the semester hasn't even passed and already I've have my car damaged twice! Claims adjuster just called. Rather than going all the way home to Ideal Auto Body (the guys who rebuilt this car from scratch when Mom and Dad had their act of God accident about 5-6 years ago) or I could find a place here. I'd like to find a place here if at all possible. It's a pain to drive 8 hours and have to wait a few days there to get it fixed. The guy didn't even take anything else. I had EZ-Pass and change and all that in the car, but I guess he was paranoid enough to be in a hurry. So an appraisal person's gonna come and take a look at that this week. Woohoo...

At least there's some bright news. My sister is thinking of coming up to visit me for parents' weekend. That would really make my semester right now. I keep hearing from my nephew via email, and I spoke to my sister the other day. I really miss my family this semester. I thought that that wouldn't be such an issue my senior year, as I've gotten 3 years to get used to it. Guess not. They're such a part of me I can't imagine not having my parents, siblings, niece or nephew. Sometimes it really is the small things in life that matter most. Rent is coming to 'cuse! The travelling one at least. I can't wait for that. I've been really excited to see it. Our party date is set, October 25th! Red House Halloween Whorer party! Whoooooooo! About 6 of my friends want to come up. I hope they all do! It would be so awesome to have an awesome halloween. Still trying to piece together my costume. Not too easy, but maybe I can pull it off....

Time to go cook some Italian goodness!