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Tuesday, December 4th, 2001
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12:49 pm - DeadOrAliveJournal?
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Here I am, finally updating.
Between how busy I've been, and the fact Livejournal has been down the few times I've tried, it's been nearly impossible to write any updates.
And to those who say, "get a membership," I say, "been there, had one, the reliability still sucked." Not to completely knock all the hard word the site's creaters have put into it, because aside from the reliability aspect, it's the best damn journal site I've seen.
And speaking of liking unreliable things, I drove the Porsche to work today. Problem is, I've got all these old phone books we cleared out of our cabinets a while ago (not all ours, either.... some had been in there since before I'd even moved to California, lame-ass management company just never cleaned them out). We meant to take them to a recycling drop in Torrance, which is why they're in the car, but the center was closed that day (and will be now until next Spring). Now they just sit there... well, slide all over back there, waiting to find a new home. It's just no fun taking a corner hard when everything's sliding around. I have got to find another recycling center that will take those.
I redesigned my website since my last update, too. I got tired of having a big personal webstie out there, so I changed it to focus more on technical content. It's still a little sparse, but I'm slowly getting more things up there.
What's annoying, though, is I keep getting all these hits from people searching for Sharon Kramer, who is apparently some personality in that stupid Majestic game (remind me to rant about how stupid that game is sometime). Not only the hits, but e-mails and conversations in my journal comments, asking what I know about her and crap.
News flash people, I'm not part of your god-damned stupid game. Avoid real social interaction on your own time, will ya? I want nothing to do with it.
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| Tuesday, November 20th, 2001
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11:29 am - Oh yeah...
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I'm stylin' today... Hot Pockets for lunch.
Beats walking all the way over to the cafeteria. Besides, Boeing owns that cafeteria.
In other work-related news, after four years of successfully dodging every manager's attempt to leash me with a pager, I've finally run out of excuses. *sigh* Mine is on order and should be here in a couple days. Doom on me.
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| Monday, November 19th, 2001
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2:37 pm - School Days
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Well, this has been an obnoxious afternoon at school so far. First, the walk across campus to my first class was along the fields they just fertilized with fresh manure. Mmmmm.
Then I get to that class, only to find out that the project I busted my ass to finish this morning had been postponed to next week. Somehow, only about 1/4 of the class was aware of this. That prof babbles so much and so incoherently that it really is just about impossible to pick up anything important she might say.
Most, annoying, though, were the two dumber-than-rocks kids I sit next to. Since no one can understand a word the prof says, it's not uncommon for people to do other work during the class. Not these guys, though, they were having a full-fledged, animated conversation. Which is typical for them, and not particularly annoying normally. But they reached a new low today. I had managed to successfully ignore them until the conversation came to this:
DUMB: I can't believe he did that
DUMBER: Dude, I'd pay to see someone kill himself. [sound of disgust from the girl behind us]
DUMB: No way man.
DUMBER: Really. Wouldn't you? I've never seen someone die. You have to.
DUMB: Uhhhh...
DUMBER: Would you shoot yourself in the leg if someone paid you to?
DUMB: I dunno, how much?
DUMBER: Like a thousand dollars
[More similar stupid questions about jumping out of airplanes, off of buildings, getting in a car accident, etc.]
DUMBER: What would you do for a million dollars?
DUMB: I dunno
DUMBER: Would you have sex with a guy?
DUMB: Dude, yuck. No way man. That's exit only.
DUMBER: Would you have sex with a transvestite?
DUMB: A transvestite or a transsexual?
DUMBER: What's the difference?
DUMB: A transvestite is a guy who dresses up like a woman. A transsexual is a guy who has become a woman.
DUMBER: A transsexual?
DUMB: For a million dollars? Sure.
DUMBER: Ohhh, yuck. You are sick. You are one dirty fucker.
DUMB: Hey, she's a girl now.
DUMBER: Dude, it's still a he, just with parts cut off.
At that point I finally asked them to knock it off (yeah, took me long enough to realize I couldn't just simply ignore them). They apologize but the "man, you're sick, I can't believe you'd have sex with a guy." rhetoric kept on going. I finally just left the class. Sure wasn't getting anything useful out of the prof anyway.
And then, to top it off (but the day's not over yet), I finally get to the engineering building, and get stopped by a guy in my Comp. Architecture class. Not someone I've ever been chummy with, I've just sat over his shoulder in the lab once or twice and helped him get his project working. I don't even know his name. Anyway, he came up to me in the hall and said he wanted my number. Given his difficulty with English, and the fact I don't even know him, I wasn't even sure what he wanted. Sure enough he wanted my phone number.
ME: I'll give you my e-mail address
HIM: Oh. Ummm. You don't have a phone?
ME: I do, but I don't just give that out. If have questions, you can e-mail, though.
HIM: Okay. I can't have your number?
ME: No. You still having trouble with Lab 6? (the last and most difficult lab for the course)
HIM: No, it works. I need your number for help if I don't understand something.
Yeah, so basically someone I don't even know (and find particularly difficult to talk to and understand) wants to be able to call me when he's studying for the test and final. Audacity. Some people are strange in how they just seem to assume you want to help them. People like him, who don't ask for help, but demand it.
Only 50 minutes until my next class. Wonder if anything annoying will happen between now and then. I'm on a roll so far today.
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| Wednesday, November 14th, 2001
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9:01 am - Plotting your own demise
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Heh. It's not uncommon around the office for people to put up notices in the snackrooms and community areas, selling their cars or condos or whatever.
I went to wash out my gladware (brought fruit to work for breakfast.... damn was that papaya good) in one of the snackrooms, where someone was advertising a two-person cemetery plot for sale.
I'm guessing divorce. Regardless, it's definitely not your typical item for sale. Especially in a workplace. But a company like this is just filled to the brim with pragmatic engineers.
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8:25 am - We don't want your sick
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More and more, both around campus and the Internet, I hear Computer Science and Computer Engineering students complain about their dismal job market prospects. I've heard some go so far as to complain that it's not fair that they had to spend 4-6 years in school, because they started when programming and web development jobs were all the rage.
You know, nothing lasts forever. Anyone who expected that the Era of the Mediocre Programmer would continue on indefinitely is naive. Maybe it's just who I know, but it would seem most of the people doing the complaining are the ones who are struggling in their studies anyway. The people who really only chose the field because of their optimism about future job salaries.
For those students and recent graduates who are skilled in their field, job opportunities abound, even in this time of a poor overall job market. There isn't a day that goes by here that we aren't desperately looking for bright, competent graduates.
However, no society (or in this case, company) survives by taking in the weak links. We don't want your sick. We don't want the mediocre.
The days of the quick buck for any programmer with a pulse are over. Wake up and smell the Java, dammit. If you're studying something you're really not very good at, for the purpose of doing it for the rest of your working life, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate.
That said, I think I'll get off my high horse now.
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| Monday, November 12th, 2001
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10:21 am - Where did all the cars go?
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The drive to work this morning was almost creepy, between the gloomy fog and the complete lack of cars on the road. I was beginning to wonder if something had happened that caused everyone to stay home. It took a while before I realized Veteran's Day had happened. How come I work for a Defense company, yet I don't get Veteran's Day off? The holiday was actually yesterday, so it didn't really both me until I saw how many other people obviously stayed home today. I mean, the roads were desolate by Los Angeles standards.
Bah, and I see I still have class tonight, too. What a pisser.
Oh well, at least the drive to school down the 405 should go quickly for once. There are few things I love more than the five-lane parking lot known as the 405.
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| Saturday, November 10th, 2001
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10:41 pm - On Ice
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Jenny and I went ice skating today. It was the first time in years for both of us (longer for me than her). I even had her parents secretly ship out her old skates for the occassion.
Wow, I swear I used to be able to skate better. Zoom zoom zoom go the kiddies, flying right by me. Oh well, I was slowly getting the hang of it.
Of course, just as we were getting ready to leave, I took my only big fall of the evening (to avoid taking out some poor innocent little kid). Got my knee real good. So we came home a little sore, but it was well worth it. I want to go again soon, but I just hope I'll do a little better next time.
Tomorrow: hiking.
If we're not too battered and bruised for it.
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