Take that survey, all you bloggers in the world. It'll help MIT get a better sample. And who doesn't like MIT? Just a quick pop in whilst I'm in the midst of doing other things that also end in -st. Or not. Right. Chris is finally back from his (curse him) vacation in (also curse him) Walt Disney World in Florida. But I think he needed the trip, so good for him. The bugger.

Work. Yeah, what to say about work. Everyone sucks on the sales floor but me. Jimmy's given more a few more responsibilities on the floor, which is a bit of a stressor. No more pay (yet) for the active and competent execution of these new responsibilities, but my time will come. In the interim, howe'er, he has tasked me with the training of all the new guys that will be coming in to the Car Audio department. Echos of Chick-fil-A, there. Speaking of CFA, the boss-man paid for lunch there today. Free food = ample recognition. For me at least. If rockin' at the job means more free lunches for me, I'll keep on rockin' at the job. Unfortunately, there's not much chance of me being promoted within the Car Audio department to senior, what with there being a senior already and another guy with lots more experience to take his place should the current senior crap out. But I like it there. No plans to go to another department until I max out my pay scale in Car Audio. Even with the increased responsibility, I am personally responsible for less by way of actual revenue. Which, given my experience in selling computers for an hour last week, I am by no means incapable of making more money, but I'm lazy. If I can make the same money with a little less work and a little less demands, well, I'll go for it. Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

Also, if anyone knows any household remedies to remove rust from steel, that'd be super. I'd like to start cleaning up my armor, but my rust remover stuff didn't make it up here from my mom's yet.

go monkey go

I Can Officially Cook

The true test of one's ability to cook is in taking raw ingredients and, without recipe or directions, make a full meal. Done and done. The result? Seasoned (Jameson Whiskey, minced garlic, olive oil, basil, oregano, and steak seasoning) steak tips over spaghetti (boiled with just a smidge of olive oil and a dash of garlic powder) with a tomato sauce (with, of course, lots of garlic, oregano and basil.) So there. The rest of the steak is marinating in a homemade concoction. The results of that will have to wait until they are actually cooked.

But at the moment I have laundry that needs doing and a small cat resting stubbornly on my shoulder. Rah.

tell 'em I ain't comin' back

Weird Dreams as if from Nowhere!

So yeah. Weird dreams for me last night. The first was a dream set in an ancient Chtulu-esque temple I lived in (o.O) right behind an ancient BestBuy I was finding myself the manager of(o.O). Only here comes corporate and I'm in my underwear! Wtf?!

The second was a lot darker. But I don't have time to get into it at the moment. Work soon. I'll post the second dream after work. But it was the first dream I was ever able to re-enter after being woken up by my cat. Stupid cat.

sweet dreams are made of this

De Machina Antiquus

All of my computing has been shifted (back) to Skywarp. Luthien has not been retired, however, as she still serves as extra processing power if I need her, and also my communications array when I am online gaming. Because I am a geek of the highest order. I also have a nice new all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/whojiwhatsits. And, thanks to me, we are currently on Wireless G, not Wireless B. Of course, Doug and Chris have B cards, so only I get the benefits of this, but that's what they get for not upgrading. Bwahaha. So be afraid. Be very afraid. Skywarp is nigh-unto self aware. Once he undergoes his final upgrade, he will take over the world's computers and change his name to SkyNet.

you give us everything you've got

Experiments in Luxury

It's been no secret that Chris and I do so enjoy the physical comforts and luxuries this world can offer. Our current apartment is in the first complex we looked at when we were looking around about 6 months ago. Reason being? THey had a gazebo out over the small lake in the middle of the complex. In addition to the nice pool, covered jacuzzi, and massive sun deck. The apartments were huge, the amenities amazing. We have leather living room furniture. We're planning to get an HDTV and a surround system by the end of the summer. But on to what I was going to say...

At least once a week, we'll pack up the hookah and take a couple of bottles of wine or liquor out to the gazebo and chill for a few hours in the pleasantness of the atmosphere. It's beautiful way to wind down after any kind of day. So a few weeks ago I postulated that adding a small amount of mead, honey wine, to the water used in the hookah might work well. And boy did it ever. Of course, since there's alcohol in the smoke from the hookah, you'll find yourself under the influence swiftly, since instead of being digested and run through your blood, the drink is actually absorbed directly into the blood stream through the lungs. But it was nice being able to taste the mead and the double apple tobacco. So for those of you out there with a hookah (not a bong. Marijuana is stupid.) put a little bit of your favorite wine or juice in the water. Yum.

just a little too slow

Dior Thingol, Young Prince of Felix

I have a new cat! Kitten, really. I think he's 10 weeks old. Tiny little critter he is. He's a dark grey tabby tux cat. His name is Dior Thingol, which means Dark Grey Coat in Sindarin Elvish. We call him DT for short. Bailey, of course, immediately wanted to play, only the tiny guy wasn't too keen on the prospect. Ebony is, as to be expected, wholly unimpressed at the prospect of another cat in the house, especially one so young. But he's a cute little thing. I'll have to find my digital camera, snap a few shots of him when I can.

hail Dior, Thingol's Heir

Oh. Hey. Yeah.

As it turns out, corporations can make mistakes and can even rectify those mistakes relatively swiftly. Car Audio was doing rather poorly last month. The store was doing ok, but my department was just lagging in the numbers. But we can't really control a whole lot of that. If people aren't interested in radios, they aren't interested in radios. Then someone had the bright idea to look at more than straight percentages. Then all of a sudden, we're looking not horrible but actually pretty good, save revenue. Because while we didn't have large numbers by percentage, the amount of money we were making for Best Buy was significant. Meaning we didn't sell as much as we should have, but what we did sell was making lots of margin dollars. So last month wasn't as terrible as it could have looked. This month has started off with a massive bang for us. We had made our budget by 6PM, whereas the closest department was sitting at 75% at the time. So we rock.

Now if only I could get someone to realize that paying me $0.24 more an hour doesn't mean you can cut my weekly hours by 8. 1) A week full of 6.5 hour days means NO LUNCH for Justin. Which makes Justin more than a little cranky. 2) You're actually paying me less. More per hours, but enough of a cut in hours to make me poorer. We're currently operating at 70% of our payroll budget in Car Audio so it's not like we can't afford it.

My room finally approaches finished! My desk made it up this past Saturday. I didn't get to cleaning it out until yesterday, though. Moved the laptop off my dresser to actually sitting on the desk (OMGWTFBBQ!!!1). And while Jerod (LOSER!) forgot my desk chair, I've ganked one from the, mostly, unused dining room. Temporarily, of course. If this place didn't already feel so much like home, it would feel more like home. But this is home. First place since my parents' houses that felt like home. Now Salisbury is "Mom's house" and Greensboro is "my" house. Whee.

Lastly, allergies, you are a dick. You go aaaalllll bloody spring without so much as a peep. And then, without warning, you smite me about the head and shoulders. This morning. Yes, you were there, you remember. No warning. Felt just fine last night, don't ya know. I will destroy you.

bad case of lovin' you