Archive for December, 2005
Quencher Size Me
20 December 2005Jack in the Box is now well within walking distance for lunchtime, so of course I had to take advantage of it my first week. I went & bought a sourdough chicken-something and a large drink… Well, they accidentally gave me the Quencher size cup, and my goodness! This cup is ridiculously large. It must hold the better part of a two-litre of soda. I’ve never had a cup so honkin’ huge as to feel guilty filling it up–until today. There I was, at the drink machine, watching Dr. Pepper guzzle into the behemoth, and I start thinking about… starving children in Ethiopia. Ok, it’s not even so much that it’s a guilt trip as that it’s just so excessive and unnecessary that I just couldn’t allow myself to fill it up. I filled it 2/3rds full and wound up sucking on it the rest of the day.
Not to get on a soapbox, but really, why do we need Quencher size anything? Is it to fill out the cupholders in our deluxe oversized SUVs? Eesh.
Anyhow, my 2nd day of work today at my new job, and it’s going well. I’m actually feeling lacking for things to do, so I can’t wait for the first couple of weeks to get over with. Of course, by then I’ll probably wishing for some downtime already. :-P I teach a class somewhere around Feb. 1st or 2nd, not sure when exactly. But I’ll be doing it together with Nate from Ed Tech. He’s cool, he apparently knows a lot about designing Flash (so I’m sure I’ll wind up picking his brain at some point) and he’s a Red Mountain alumnus. (In fact, his mom used to work in attendence at RM, too… small world.) Loyal (my boss) seems like he’ll be a pretty good boss. Not much else I can say about my work without going into extreme geeky detail, but if you’re curious as to what I’ll be doing/training on, check out Macromedia Dreamweaver and Contribute.
Gotten most of my Christmas presents already, since we’re not doing anything fanciful for it at home this year. (Didn’t know what kind of condition mom would be in–turns out pretty good.) So I’m fiddling with my iPod nano, which I love, and now I’ve got my iHome dock/clock radio set up too, which rocks. In fact, I’m gonna go fall asleep to it. Right now in fact. Peace. ;-)
Well… Here I am.
15 December 2005Last day on the job. 105 minutes left… Or maybe less than that. I no longer have to punch a clock. :) Funny, everyone’s been asking if I’m excited, and I’m not particularly so. As much as I’m excited, I’m also guarded about change and about new responsibility. (Fear of commitment creeping up, maybe? lol) I think I’m mostly concerned about the “administrative” aspects of the job. It’s technically a supervisory position, though I don’t think I’ll be directly supervising anybody, but the thought of the possibility is somewhat intimidating. Plus I’ll be dealing very closely with superintendants and other high-ups in the district, and acting as part-time Gestapo when kids abuse web access. Actually that last part is kinda cool. }:->
It kinda feels like moving, when you’re (hopefully) moving to a much nicer house in a better part of town, but at the same time, you know there’s gonna be a lot of work to do. It’s hard to be giddy, but of course I’m looking forward to the change.
So that’s that. In other news, because my mom’s getting surgery and she won’t be up to do much for Christmas, we’ve gotten some of our big gifts early. I got my iPod nano! :D (Here’s how much of a Firefly geek I’ve become: I named it “Vera”.) It’s handy. I loved my Shuffle (and may consider getting another one just as a tosser) but the nano’s got a glossy sleekness that helps me understand why so many people see iPod owners as pretentious. :P
(By the way, my mom’s surgery shouldn’t be anything to fret about. It’s weird internal stuff but supposedly fairly common and not “critical” so to speak.)
There may be something to this having money to blow (or at least anticipating having money to blow). I’m in pretty regular touch with Bink (even though it’s often to postpone plans as we’re bad at keeping them), Kaleena, and Erin (who’s coming back to the states in a week). I’m also talking to someone new. (*GASP*) Lisa, who lives up in Snowflake. (FYI, the rural town where Fire in the Sky took place.) She seems pretty cool, we seem to have a lot of the same tastes & interests, though she’s more of a book-reader than I. Most importantly, she’s sufficiently outdoorsy for my tastes, so there’s more than an outside chance we’ll plan a camping trip for spring if we continue to hit it off. Plus she’s a Firefly geek. Woo! :)
Not hearing from G very often… Last I did, she’d mentioned getting internet for her apartment in NZ, so my guess is she decided against having a monthly bill. Anyone else? I’ve gotta meet up with Dante again, whom I’m helping with a website. OH! Haha, Jeanette messaged me on MySpace yesterday. Weird. Nothing to spite her, but that friendship is one door I’d grown somewhat pleased to have closed. Not sure if I want to re-open it. There are just those metaphorical “mile markers” we pass in life, and to return to them seems to be going backwards.
Oh well. I’m certainly not going backwards in any other respect. Perhaps in some ways finally kicking it into gear, or into a higher gear. So maybe the coincidental timing in her messaging me is meant to be a retrospective or something. Me, have a retrospective? Naw. :P
Hey, Somethin’ Worth Updatin’
5 December 2005Ok, nearly two months since my last update, sorry to the three people who read it. ;-) And I think you all know of my big news already, but it’s certainly still worthy of an update.
I’ve got a new job.
I’ve got a KICKASS new job, in fact.
Beginning December 19th, I will be the new Webmaster Programmer for [work-related]. I’m going to be dealing with all the assigned webmasters for each school, training them on how to use the software and design web pages, monitoring their activity, acting as the district Gestapo in dealing with the high school teams, and helping to develop new & improved websites and web applications at the district level. So basically getting paid to do what I do for free at home on my own websites, and doing what I’ve daydreamed of doing since being one of those rebel punk kids on the RMHS Web Team 5-6 years ago. (My how the tables have turned.)
My immediate boss is the Webmaster Supervisor, but it sounds like we’ll be working more as a team than as lord & serf, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. It’s a salary position–I’m not going to get specific about the amount here, but it’s more or less double what I’m paid now (skewing heavily towards ‘more’). Plus there are perks I didn’t even consider. My understanding is that I’ll be getting an office–yeah, a real office–complete with real walls, a door, and even a window (which is rare and a matter of luck & chance in this district), a new Dell, possibly a PowerMac G5 (or that might be a shared computer, I dunno), a new cellphone, a PDA, a notebook computer for travelling purposes, several complete software packages (Macromedia Studio, Adobe Photoshop, etc.) AND a complete duplicate software/network setup so that I can work in a simulated “district” environment from home if I need to.
I’m just now getting over the shock of actually being offered this job. As I’ve said before, I’m still half-expecting someone to tell me I’m delusional, that I was turned down for the job, and that I turned in my two-weeks notice over an imagined phone call. But no, I’m pretty sure it’s for real. :-P It’s crazy. In just a couple of months, I’m gonna be able to pay off all of my debt (save for the hefty but low-interest student loans) that I’ve barely made a dent in over two years. And what after that? It’s been suggested I try to buy a condo or something. Scary real-world stuff. Personally I hesitate to buy something on my own… I’d prefer to spend the next six months trying to acquire some semblance of a life, start dating again, maybe get to where I can split an apartment with someone, or else even split one with Phil (though I think he’d need a better job). But the job will definitely free me up to a load of new options… Hey, I can go camping or take road trips without feeling the bite on my account balance for two months afterwards.
Wow, just crazy.