Good news, everyone...

I got off the phone with my contact at UNCG and I should be receiving my job offer as a PC Consultant from their office mid-late this week. This is beyond amazing news. This is exactly the kind of job I've been hoping and praying for. Minimum of $30,000 a year. My experience may net me a little more, but 30K is half again as much as what my highest paying job to date was getting me. State health benefits and the ability to use NC State Employee's Credit Union. And on top of all that, the college gives me free tuition on up to three classes a semester! Huzzah! H.H.Gregg is a decent job, not really any worse than any other retail position I've worked before. But the pay is too inconsistent and I'm not a fan of never having weekends off. At all. UNCG will be 8AM to 5PM, but I can get in a routine for that with relative ease, since those will always be my hours. And I'll have weekends free! This much greatly is the exciting for me!

whaaaaaaaaaaa?

New job, new comic, etc!

First off, I haven't posted lately because I've been more occupied with trying to get a new job. For those of you that don't know, I worked the job at ElitePC+ for all of three weeks before the bosses there decided to close down the retail location on December 17th. I was supposed to get my first pay check on the 15th, but never did as my immediate boss got sick and couldn't open the store. I immediately began looking into new employment, while waiting on my check, which was "in the mail." I waited and waited. Finally, after having great difficulty, I was able to get my former immediate boss on the phone on the 27th (right around when I should have received my second and final paycheck) to ask what was going on. He told me that his bosses had told him checks had been sent out on the 26th of December. Mail is slow on the holidays, so I waited patiently. Sort of. Many attempts at regular communication with my old boss failed, as per usual. No paycheck. On the first weekend of January, I was supposed to meet a guy and he was supposed to give me my check. I was early and stayed more than an hour after he was supposed to be there. Nada. Angry emails and voice messages ensue and I finally get a contact email address for my boss' boss. Just in time for the email server to have some conveniently inconvenient problems. Then my boss was supposed to give his boss an angry phone call to call me back within the hour. When that didn't happen, I was supposed to give my old boss a call and he would give me his boss' phone number. This was last Saturday and, of course, I haven't heard from my old boss. So Tuesday I filed with the NC Dept. of Labor with the incredibly sparse contact information I had, and we'll see if I ever see that $1260 I'm owed. Of course, from what I've been told, the NCDOL usually gets the employer to give twice that as compensation. I'm ok with that. I was still really worried about money, and still am truth be told, but not as much. Until that gets settled I'll at least have some income starting Monday.

I've done my usual gamut of applications in the area in gradually increasing distances, but there were a couple of jobs I felt much better about. I found that UNCG was hiring a PC Tech Support position or three, so I put in there, but in the conversations I've had with their coordinator, and my knowledge of how these things go, it's a slow process. I did have some luck with a new electronics/appliances retailer here in town called hhgregg. All lower case and in one word, according to their logo. I interviewed Thursday and they called me today to ask if I can start next Monday. I'm a little nervous, though, because your pay is based on commission only. I think I'll be ok, though, given what I know I can do in a retail environment like that. But it'll be different not having the safety net of that regular pay. Still, it'll be nice to make money based solely on performance. If I'm as good as I think I am, I should be sitting pretty. I'm still going to pursue the UNCG and/or similar jobs, though. I didn't really want to go back into retail again. I'm good at it and I have experience in it, but it's just not what I want for a career.

And without further ado(do), here's another comic.



after all, what's life without work?

Jed & Dark, vol. 2

Yes, folks, I'm beginning this madness once again. The sprite sheet rebuild will slow down any plot, so the first bunch of episodes will likely be contrite means of introducing my new sprites. Huzzah and all that. Happy New Year!

return of the mac

Holidays...OF DOOM!!!1

Not really, of course. It's just fun to put "OF DOOM!!!1" at the end of something. So here's some quick-fire updates.

Work is still good. Not being broke is immensely useful. I'm working out a budget and/or plan to get a lot of things back on track which all should go into effect at the start of the year. Saving! Investing! Oh my!

The cats are, well, cats. But they seem to be happy and healthy enough, and that's all that really needs to be said about that, I think.

Once a room is cleaned, it doesn't take all that much to keep it that way. Who would have thought? Maybe those parent types actually knew something after all. Kinda scary, huh?

Yay party this weekend! It'll be good to see all my Charlotte ren-friends again. There's something comforting and almost medieval about Phil parties. We show up, we eat, drink, laugh. There's a pack of dogs rolling about all over the place. We sleep where we crash and start over again the next day. Truly, an image of Heorot. And this suits my blood just fine.

It's finally close enough to Christmas for me to not hate incessant Christmas music. I spent most of last night organizing my collection of songs, as well as ripping a lot of cds I'd forgotten I had into iTunes. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" has always been one of my favorite Christmas carols/hymns. "Oh Holy Night," "Carol of the Bells," and "Angels We Have Heard on High" rank pretty high up the list, too. Add in a mix of Manheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra into a blend of the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Burl Ives and you've got my mix o' Christmas songs. And the ubiquitous Barenaked Ladies version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" with Sarah McLachlan because it's just that awesome.

I should probably get back to work.

come thou dayspring

Get Comfortable...

...this is going to be a long one.

Mostly because it's been over a month since my last post. Heh.

First and foremost, faire was a blast and I'm sorry it's over. My body and sleep schedule aren't, but I am. The kids were absolutely fantastic this year. They're a hit with everyone there. Or at least anyone that Chris and I have deemed worthy of consideration. Each weekend their drum jam got more and more spectacular, and it seems the last weekend was beyond phenomenal. Our good friend, Pirate Lisa, inducted each of the guards as honorary members of the Order of St. Anne, which is a real and good and true order of some note. The kids also received the Director's Choice award from Matt, our kind, benevolent and patient entertainment director this year. It has a place of honor in it's temporary location over my mantle in the living room. The cast party was fun, as it always is. I tried pumpkin beer/ale for the first time. So good! And I ate myself stupid. Huzzah! Really, the only reason we put up with ren faire and spend all the time, effort and money to go is the free booze and food after the last day. Heh. Hannah and I are already planning for next year, as are many of the kids. She's insisted on making me a couple of new doublets for next season. Twist my arm.

Speaking of next season, Chris and I are conspiring mightily. If one can even do that. We're currently researching the steps and such necessary to incorporate as a 501c(3) non-profit organization. He's really excited about the notion of carrying on the tradition of his leadership academy at what once was Imani Institute. The Lofton Academy/Foundation/Institute, which would be part summer camp, part after-school program. And the best and brightest from the program would be given the chance to join the CRF cast as royal guards in the years to come. The royal guards showing the highest promise would be given a chance to branch out as their own characters, or to move on to the Fairhaven militia, which would require more thought, reliability, self-sufficiency, independence and responsibility than the Royal Guard. Or at least that's the notion at the moment.

Next season also looks good for me, as far as characters go. I didn't get to play a prince this year, because we had no king. If I were the queen's younger brother, and she were unwed, she'd not be queen and I'd be king, not prince. Hence, no prince for me. But it looks good for next year. We've got one or two really good candidates going for it next year, and I've got a good working relationship with both of them. But I'm all for Tom getting it. For no other reason than so Chris doesn't. Bwa-ha-ha. I will outrank him on stage! Though it'll be tough to let go of Captain Grey if I do get to play as Prince William next year. He's a very familiar beast to me. And I'll miss being directly involved with the guard I've struggled so hard to create over the last eight years. Granted, I'll still be in charge behind the scenes. And if I were prince, I could, technically give orders, but it's not the same as being the Captain of the Guard. It's just been so much a part of me for so long. But if I get the chance, I'm gonna take it. So there.

The apartment is starting to look like a habitable space again. I've made the living room back into a living room, no bachelor crash space. With the money I got from faire, I was able to afford a decent, inexpensive vacuum. Though I've probably put a year's worth of wear on the thing just vacuuming the living room. God knows when it was cleaned last. But it's already made a profound impact on the appearance of the place. I cleaned out the front closet, which houses the litter box, too. I made good headway, cleaned out all the trash, but it'll still need a little work again relatively soon. I must be getting old if it feels good to clean. Hmm.

And I start a new job on Monday. Intrex just isn't what I thought it would be. Promises made aren't being kept, and there's just no real money in it. Granted it was an alright job, and better than Best Buy, but it wasn't better enough. So I was just kinda looking around for stuff, and found a new competitor in town, Elite PC+. So I jumped ship and turned my coat inside out and I'll be making a little more money. With reviews every 6 months, not annually. It's kinda funny, too. I went in, asked if they were hiring, filled out an application. I checked back on it a few days later, and was told I would be called in a couple of days. The manager said if I didn't hear from him, to come in anyway. Turns out, he never intended to call, but was seeing if I'd come in. He scheduled an interview for this morning. And by "interview" he meant "come in so I can find out when you can start." I'm pleased with this arrangement.

The cats are fine, I'm reading a lot, and I'm cooking and eating healthier. Not that it'll matter after Thanksgiving, but you do what you can.

ciao

Boo! Hiss! Slacker!

So it's been a few days, wanna fight about it?

A lot's been going on, and I haven't been able to sleep in since mid-September. Busy little bee. Two weekends of Faire down and things are going well. There were some paperwork issues, but those have been handled. Wes even got to teach the kids some stage combat techniques, very cool. The weather could have been cooler and there could have been some rain at some point ever, but so far the biggest complaints I have are climate and the hour at which I have to get up. Can't do a whole lot about either, so I do with what I have.

Work is work. It's not bad. I have mostly good days. I enjoy what I do. The other day I had to deal with Midget Lord Fontleroy and his bureaucratic control over the tech bench in Greensboro, but I've dealt with worse examples of douchery. He really can't complain about me working on my own machine when he won't let me work on anything new on account of me not being there but two days. Make up your mind, man. I could much rather like not having to drive to Winston-Salem three days a week. Even if I'm going from the shortest distance between the there and here to work, it's still taxing on me, my car, and my gas money.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. Hannah will be there instead of at drill, huzzah, and it's supposed to rain this week, so maybe Fairhaven won't be a gorram dustbowl.

Clockwork Orange

Today, after work, I picked up a new kitty. He's a little orange kitten. I have named him Clockwork. I will get some pictures of him as soon as I charge my batteries. He's a fiesty little guy, and hungry, apparently. But he and DT seem to be getting along alright after just a few hours. Mostly calm. And, oddly, it's little CW that's instigating most of the scuffles. Things should smooth out soon enough. I just hope this helps DT be a little less prone to separation anxiety.

it's people! soylent green is peee-heee-heee-puuuuullll!!!

Yes we're men!

Today was a manly sort of day. I got up around noon all by myself. Remarkable given my tendency to sleep in much later on Fridays. I got up and I got everything ready to change the oil and such in the Lincoln. I've changed oil in cars before. I know how to change the oil in a car. But I didn't know specifically how to do so for the Lincoln. So I checked my Hayes' Manual and got all my stuff out and I lift the car up, put it on jack stands, squeezed under it (not a lot of room, even jacked up) and saw I needed a bigger socket than what I had. Crap. So a run to K-Mart and Wal-Mart later, I have a new wrench set to go with my socket set and some new spark plugs. Huzzah! Get under it again, drain the oil, wiggle out, turn the wheels, get the filter out, replace filter, seal up oil pan, and bob's your uncle. I also did the air filter, but that's a nothing change there. I'll replace the headlamps a little later and as soon as I can get some help, I'll do the spark plugs. I thought those would be easier, but not so much. I need skinnier arms, really.

But at least for a few hours, I was "real man." Lost all grease-monkey points I gained, though, when I got a flourescent bulb for the "Geek Cave" to keep the room cooler for my computer. Heh.

macho macho man

Adventures in Bachelor Cuisine

I am not worried about my ability to cook anything ever. Tonight I combined leftover egg noodles, a box of shells and cheese, garlic and spices, a can of spinach and some Parmesan cheese into something easily edible! I had to put some italian seasoned bread crumbs into it to thicken it up a bit it was otherwise fine!

Yum!

Great Jeeaaaarrrrreerrraaarrrrbb!

I am officially on salary with Intrex as of today. I turned in all my insurance paperwork along with my time sheet for this last pay period this week. And if things turn out the way Curtis (District Manager) says it will, I should be Lead Technician at the Winston store before too long. Which will help make that commute worth the money a little more. My "hourly" rate in the salary isn't all that much different from what I was making when I left Best Buy, but I have benefits (vision, dental, AND medical) and a guaranteed 40 hours a week. So that means more money, seeing as how a good week at Best Buy meant 32 hours instead of 28. Huzzah, and all that. And that Lead Technician bonus would be mighty sweet, it would. We'll see how that goes.

More news as it happens.

Don't hold your breath.

Cause you'll pass out or something. Kill brain-whojawhatsits.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was, at least as far as posts go, holding my breath. I had an interview with Greensboro Day not too long ago and I was waiting to say anything about it until I heard back from them. On account of me not wanting to jinx it and all. But it's been too long waiting and not posting anything. Bad me or something. Heh.

Intrex is a good job. There's potential, and this seems more realistic than anything ever was a Best Buy. And I'm making a little bit more than I was in the ol' Geek Squad and there's a lot of side benefits. A "busy" moment in the store is 5 customers. That creates a significantly smaller portion of People Stupid going around. There's at most 5 people working on any given day, and that's if the District Manager is there. The managers, even the DM, are pretty down to earth. That's a first for me. I'm used to DM's being these mysterious Black Shirt SS types coming in with fire and fear as their weapons. With a swish of their pen, you could find yourself banished from the light! But Curtis is more like unto a store level manager in terms of relationship. But then, any given store is no bigger than a department, employee-wise, at a big box retailer. And everything is blissfully more laid back. I pretty much just do my thing and I get left alone to do it. Joy! I have to help "the floor" sometimes, but everyone does. Big whoop. The best part is, come the 7th, I'll be on salary. Some people don't like salary, but I do. At least in this particular scenario. I already get an hour lunch. With a lunch that long, I don't mind working longer. The longest day I could ever have is 10 hours. From 10AM to 8PM. But that's not ever likely to happen. I don't ever have to be there earlier than when the store opens, since only the opening manager has a key and he always shows up at opening time. And I don't ever have to stay one minute past my shift. Ever. It's a good job. And since I'm El Floato Tech between Winston and the Southwest Greensboro store, I'll be getting a little extra compensation for the travel. Even more on top of that is the productivity bonuses and Curtis has me ear-marked to help start up an On-Site program in Greensboro. The initial radius? Within 10 miles of the store. To help make this make sense on how awesome this is, I live just under 2 miles from the SW Greensboro store. I'd be doing work in my own neighborhood. It's just a sweet setup.

Greensboro Day would, however, ultimately be a better job. The money would be about half again as much. The benefits are a little better, and I have the chance to re-negotiate my salary every year. So if I go and get a certification or two during the year, I can go in and work out a little more money for the next year. And it's a 10 month contract paid out over 12 months. Paid. Summer. Vacation. And I can always get a summer job if I want to make a little more. More so the dream job would this be. Even over the very exciting potential that Intrex has to offer.

Really, though, I just need to get bloody paid already. Intrex pays on a bi-monthly schedule, much like the military, according to Chris. Once at the 1st of the month and once on the 16th. Which means all the work I did from the 7th til the 15th I'll get paid for this Friday. And my first full paycheck I won't get until the 15th of September. Bleh.

Oh yeah, I had an adventure in vehicle repair this weekend. The Sunday before last, the starter went out on the Lincoln when I went out grocery shopping. Fun times. I wasn't until this past Friday that I was able to get a new starter, thanks to Doug's very much appreciated generosity. So Friday afternoon and into the early evening, I did my best to help Wes, and later Chris, put a new starter on the Lincoln in the Lowe's Foods parking lot. We even ended up replacing the battery terminals. Good times, good times. But it's all working again now. I went to have lunch with my mom, Randy, and Chase Sunday. I finally got my comic books and some other things along with some casserole dishes my mom was willing to part with. And as soon as we went to leave, the car wouldn't start. BLARGH!!! It turns out that the new terminals weren't as tight as they should have been and the exposed wire ends might be a little corroded. But Randy just took a socket wrench to them and it started right up. Whee.

Last night was fun, though. Hannah and I went to visit Pirate Lisa at her place to see Mars be all bright or whatever. I love astronomy, even if I don't know anything about it. But space and planets, stars, novas, nebulae, it's all so very cool to me. So we drove out to Denton and gathered around a little fire and chilled. I got too cloudy to see much of mars, but it was pretty cool getting to see this bright red dot in the night sky for a little while. The moon was gorgeous, though. Lisa lives way out away from any kind of city light, so the effect of a very bright full moon was much more pronounced. I've always loved that silver-blue light on a clear night. You could see well across the fields out by her house. A good time was had by all. Most were rennies of one sort or another, so as soon as there was alcohol, there were all manner of lewd and crude stories, jokes, and songs. A great time, really.

Today was sorta mundane. Just another work day, but that's nothing so bad. It's still a little uncomfortable in some things, especially financially (it's my own dumb fault I got canned and didn't look harder for something over the summer. Yadda yadda. I'm well aware of how I got into this mess.), but by mid-September, everything should be right as rain in that regard. Chris and Lani are mostly moved out and Doug is mostly moved into the master bedroom. Which means very soon I/we can start getting the apartment very awesome. I'm very excited about that.

There is one bad thing about working at Intrex, though. I have access to waaaaay too much awesome gear. I just built a great new PC in Skywarp, but I've seen the cutting edge up close and it's just so. very. cool. But I restrain myself. At least for now. I think this year I'll be able to participate in Intel's Retail Edge program and get a hold of a nice Quad Core CPU. If you don't know what that means, it's like a V-12 engine as far as performance goes. And most of everything else is a beat up four-banger 20 year old Ford Escort in comparison. Just sayin'

working in a gold mine

I Has Employment

The interview with Intrex went really well, it seems. They called me not 24 hours later to offer me a job. It's not Greensboro Day School, sadly, but it's still a big step up from Best Buy as far as potential is concerned. I'll be starting out making at least as much as I did when I left Best Buy with plenty of opportunities for bonuses and the like. I go in tomorrow at 10AM (bleh-ish) to start the paperwork and all that fun stuff. And it looks like they don't mind working with me on some weekends so I can work the Renaissance Festival with no hassles. Even better, the job I'm being offered has a SET schedule. I know what I'll be working every week unless someone asks me if I can make a change for a week. Huzzah! And even if I didn't have a set schedule, the store is only open for one "shift" anyway. The store never opens before 10PM and never closes later than 8PM. I can live with that. It looks like I might, might have to get up at 8-8:30AM at the earliest. And I doubt I'll ever have to be there later than 9PM. I'm really jazzed about the job. They offer health, vision, dental, 401(k). And the room for growth is good.

Also: I'm feeling a lot better now. Everything's gone except a little congestion, but the loratadine I got from Wal-Mart (generic Claritin) is helping that out a whole lot.

take the 8:15 into the city

Not Dead, Just Sick

Yeah. About a week ago I picked up some bug or another. No congestion at first, just that sudden creeping pain and fever that crawls up your back and up over your head. Flu-like in that regard. Felt fine at dinner, then like utter crap a few hours later. Fever's broke then come back a couple of times only now there's post-nasal drippage. Fun times, fun times. It's not terrible. I feel like I'm getting better. Less ache and little, if any, fever. It's really more groggy/funny feeling in the head than fever and ache now. There's no discoloration of mucus to suggest infection, at least. And I'm not really all that congested. Just enough to be really irritating, but not enough to be able to do anything with it like, I dunno, sneeze/cough/hack/blow it out. Bleh. I've had much worse.
Gross, perhaps a little too much information, but these are the things I think about when I'm sick. Very clinical. There's a lot of medical professionals in my family.

In good news, I have a job interview tomorrow at 11AM. Not with Greensboro Day School, though. I haven't heard anything from them, yet. Which is disappointing. I'd much rather have that job. But I got a call today from the District Manager of Intrex Computers today. They're a local-ish computer parts only outfit. It's retail-ish, but it's a job at least. I do, however, grow weary of having to explain why I don't work at Best Buy anymore. Actually, I get tired of having to do it in a way that doesn't come off as virulent and bitter. It's not easy. But yay interview? Especially considering they weren't hiring when I put in my application and test. Go figure that out.

iiii-hiii am a maaa-haaaan of constant sooorrroooowww...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I'd love to write a full review, but the book came out two days ago and I'm not really one for spoiling things. But I can give you a breakdown of some vague highlights, at least.

Read time: Two sittings. First Sitting: approx. 235 pages, 2 hours. Second Sitting: Finished the book, 6 hours.

So points I liked, in all their vague glory: Snape and Neville. These two characters get to shine, albeit kindly briefly. This was Harry's book and efforts alone, really. Not the solid team effort that the last two books were. The ending...was foreseeable. It was good, mind you, but not terribly surprising. That might be the only complaint I really have with the book. Some of the major points felt a little telegraphed. But maybe I'm just good at predicting things based on previous evidence. Did anyone else feel this way, or am I the only one? *shrug* Well worth the $20 and ten minutes we paid at K-Mart to pick it up Saturday at midnight in the morning.

darth severus. heh.

Hannah Misses Snow

I couldn't think of a title. So sue me.

A lot has gone on since my last post. Heh. I'm all slow and can't blog anymore. Is ok. I've seen Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was ok, but felt more like And Now Some Highlights from the Book... But it was good. The biggest thing I wanted to see but missed was Neville growing a spine and coming into his own. I really think it could have been about an hour longer so as to shove in a little more depth, but it was good. It was certainly MILES better than Eragon, which is only topped by Legend of Earthsea in horrible book raping.

We had a very brief visitor stay with us recently. One night recently, Hannah found a little kitten wandering around under cars and chased her around outside trying to keep her out from under the cars. Chris finally caught the thing. She was a little black thing with a small spot of white fur on her chin and the toes of three feet were white with one back leg nearly all white. So Chris named her Broga, which means "boot" in Gaelic. She was weak, so they took her to the vet. She had worms, and was a little dehydrated. They got some meds and a little kitten formula. Unfortunately, she was just too sick. She was doing ok for a day or two, but in the end, the dehydration was just a little too severe. She started to get weak and cool and they took her to the vet again. The vet said she was just too dehydrated. She passed away at the vet's office the following morning. Lani was, of course, torn up, and Chris was a little, too. His paternal instincts are starting to kick in, it seems. But it was like I told Chris: it was just her time. At least we made her comfy for her last couple of days. She was loved, well-fed, warm. It's still sad. Lani and Chris have been going to the local pet store daily for "fuzz therapy" since she passed. They're definitely thinking of getting another cat when they get moved into the new place, which should start this week upcoming.

And I'm going to be looking into it for my place, too. DT's never been a lone cat, Ebony's always been around. And cats being social-ish creatures, it's usually good to keep them in pairs or so. Or at least, we always have. And as much as I'd love a dog, I don't like small ones, I don't have a yard, and I can't afford one right now. Maybe soon, though. I'd love a Corgi.

Job front: no one seems to be hiring around my place in retail. Odd. But I have heard from Greensboro Day School's Director of Technology, and my interview should be scheduled for sometime next week. Yay!

let it snow?

ZOMG :-O

Right. So. Transformers. Haaaa!!! So awesome!

Seriously. The film was fan service in a crystal glass on a silver platter next to plate full of bacon at a five star resort pool served by Chuck Norris. Beer-battered and deep-fried with a side of ranch dressing. Heh. It opened with Hasbro in big across the screen. And Peter Cullen coming on a voice-over intro. Optimus Prime! The real Optimus Prime!! Shia LaBeouf shined as Sam/Spike, he's grown as an actor since his Disney Days. And Bumblebee's car mode antics were hilarious. The only thing I didn't like was the movie didn't lend much characterization to the Decepticons. Oh, they were awesomely badass. Every one of them had their own version. Except maybe Frenzy, but he was hilarious anyway. I plan to see it again.

Hannah should be home tomorrow evening. Which means I need to bust my butt and clean the place up. Sigh. I've started a little bit. Tidied some things up in the kitchen and living room, but that whole zone of the apartment is a disaster area. And I don't have enough direct control over the room to clean it up all the way. But I can do my own room and the bathroom, at least. Bleh. I hate cleaning bathrooms. But...

Eh. It'll just be nice to have her "home" again. I've missed her.

my brown-eyed girl

So...

This weekend was good.

I've been eating far more fruits and veggies than I had before, which puts me right at recommended dosage. I've been (attempting) to cut back on the fatty/fried foods and meats with limited, but some success. Hannah even mentioned that it looked like I might have lost a little weight. I'm ok with that. I certainly feel a little better, though not being able to sleep well is cutting into the getting-in-shape-itude.

I got to see the North Carolina National Guard 440th Army Band (Chris and Hannah both being members) play on Sunday. It was an awesome show. I love live concerts like that. They played in a little town called King, which is about 15-20 minutes north of Winston-Salem on 52. It was a good crowd, and they were all the Good Old Fashioned American Rural Types. Y'know, heart-felt flag wavers and the like. So many people came up after the concert and thanked them for coming out to play and for serving the country. One number the concert band does is a suite that includes all the songs for all the branches of the military. The commanding officer of the unit introduced the song and thanked the crowd for allowing them to play, at which point an audience member called back "No, thank you!" after which there was an immediate standing ovation. Before they even played the song. It was a powerful moment. I still get moved even now just thinking about it. After the concert everybody went back to the hotel for general hanging out, and I met a few more of Hannah's unit buddies. They all seem to think really highly of me, which is awesome. I chuckle, too, because Asshat, her ex, is in the unit, too, so he gets to stew in his own juices while she gets to be happy with me and everyone likes me a whole lot more than they seem to like him. Bwahaha! One of the people I met last night apparently works for IBM.com Global Services. He seemed impressed by the way I carried myself and said to keep in touch with him, especially once I start going back to school. Networking, FTW!!!1

Today wasn't nearly as exciting. I got up a lot earlier than I would have otherwise preferred but Hannah and the rest had to get on the road to Fayetteville and Ft. Bragg. But I came home and took a nap, so it was ok in the end. I also went to Joann's and got the fabric I've been wanting for a cloak for CRF this fall. Me and The Sewing haven't seen each other since I was a freshman at East Rowan High School. Like ten years ago. So this could be very interesting. Very.

she wraps her cloak around her

18 Days Later...

Just checking in before I run some errands.

I've signed up with a temp agency for the summer. They were impressed with my test scores and think they can place me right away. I'm just waiting to hear back from them about a potential job. As a note, I uploaded my resume late Thursday, filled out their online application, and got a call first thing Friday morning. Yay me.

I was in Raleigh for the weekend and had a fairly good time. My days were a little dull, but Hannah was doing her Army band thing, so there was no help for it. Though I did get a lot of reading done. Yay new book!

Hannah and Chris are going to be gone until the 4th or 5th on their Annual Training Band-a-Thon thing. So I'm going to find myself very socially bored very soon. Anybody got any ideas? Hopefully I'll start the temp work soon so I'll at least have something to do.

Speaking of reading, I highly recommend Steven Brust. He writes fantasy novels. The first set of his I got into was his "Khaavren Romances." I got the first book in that series, The Phoenix Guards, at a book fair in middle school, I think. That run is a series of five books styled after Alexander Dumas' Musketeer series of books. It's very fun, swashbuckling and witty banter. But my sweet and awesome lady-friend bought me The Book of the Jhereg, which is a collection of the first three books (Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla) of his series of books about Vlad Taltos, a human assassin working for and in the world of Brust's universe's elves. They writing style is more modern in tone than the "high speech" of the Khaavren books, but that makes them a lighter read. All very good. I finished all three books in a matter of a few days, so now I've got to go buy the next collection or so. Yay books! ^_^ and/or XD.

But now I have errands to run and books to buy and lunch to eat.

take a look; it's in a book

So Bad At This

I didn't used to be, though. I used to blog all the time. And then I found something else to do, I guess. *shrug*

Well, the biggest news since the last post is that I am finally out from under the yoke of Corporate Retail. Best Buy and I finally called it quits. It might have dumped me, but the love was gone a long time ago. And I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to quit on it. I'm no quitter. The last several days have been very relaxing. And, shock of shocks, I even have another job lined up! The Greensboro Day School job I've mentioned before is very, very likely mine. There's no 100% sureness to it, but my former co-worker and still friend Adam is putting in good word and effort for me. Huzzah! The only down side is that it doesn't start until August. Which means I need to find another job for the summer. Which is pooptastic if you ask me. But paychecks being meager due to crappy hours I don't have anything resembling enough saved up to pay my bills for two months. Bleh. Which probably means another two months of retail crap, since that's what will most likely be doing any just summer hiring. Feh. Feh I say!

Hannah's been here since last Friday. I'm glad for it, but there's some growing pains, of a sort. We haven't been together all that long, and we're suddenly seeing a whole lot of each other. But it's working out. That whole True Love thing and all.

Yay pool! I've spent most of this week's afternoons at the pool and it is good. I'm actually getting a little bit of a tan on this pasty flesh of mine. Totally killing the whole geek-cave-troll image, though, so I'll have to find a new one.

Well, if anyone knows of any just-for-the-summer jobs, send the ideas my way.

Tomorrow I get to go up to Boone with Hannah for the day. Yay mountains!

everybody's workin' for the weekend

Return of the Slack

I should have made a post a long time ago, but I'm easily distracted these days.

My new PC is finally built, and it screams. I can play Oblivion at maxed out settings with very little, if any, lag or skipping. It looks amazing. I had some issues with the first RAM I got, but it's all better now. The only lament is that the parts I had leftover, I was going to build Chris a tower out of, but the motherboard decided to quit on me. Fun time, fun times. I can't be certain, but I think there's a short near the IDE controllers on the board. Either way, it's dead and Chris doesn't have a desktop yet. But I can get good replacements for it for not very expensive at all, so it'll be all good in a week or so.

Hannah is recovering from her tonsillectomy nicely. I wish I could see her, but work just doesn't allow for it right now. Maybe next week, but I doubt it. We talk online and over the phone so it's not too bad. I'll be able to see her soon enough, but I do miss her so.

Mentioning work, is there anyone what knows of work in the triad area? 2 years and 3 months of retail is enough for me. I'm stuck where I am with no prospects or hopes of moving on or up. I need something better. As much as I hate mornings, I'd love a 9-5 Mon-Fri job. Or at least a M-F. I'd like to have my weekends free. I just need something that provides more challenges than just showing up on time. That's my "biggest" challenge at work. That's it. I schlep car stereos and GPS devices. There's no real fulfillment there. Even the amusement of separating fools and their money (not all of my customers, not even most) has lost its appeal. I want something that uses my brain. My current job doesn't. The most strenuous mental activity is figuring out in my head what stock I should put up when to maximize the use and location of my ladder. Whee. I do that, at most, twice a week. The rest of the time, I can shut the brain off and run in autopilot. And still perform well above standards and expectations. Job = too easy. At least Geek Squad required a little contemplating and thinking. Sigh.

i love to work at nothin' all day