A waste of bits and bandwidth

…after all, it’s already been three months. Yes, that is correct, I am moving on to a new job. It was a tough decision made easier by late pay-days and the general financial instability of the company. I really like the them, love the people I work with and I’ll miss my PowerMac in the worst way.

I have been surprised at the reaction of my co-workers to the ‘financial warnings’; I know of only one other who is actively seeking other employment. Everyone one else seems unphased by it all apart from some grumbling. Seems odd to me but many of them are pretty young so I doubt that they realize the magnitude of the situation.

After the ride I have had over the past five years, it doesn’t take much to set off my spidey sense. I knew something was up at Schema long before Apple swooped in but I didn’t know what it was until it was too late. I’m actually quite disappointed that things have turned out this way but when I manage my money better than my employer… well, enough said.

That’s not to say that I’m not excited by my new position. I’ve long admired their technology and the place is like an Infoslave retirement park so there’ll be some familiar faces. It’s a Linux shop so I’ll be able to add that to my CV, meaning I’ve tested on all three major OS’s. Above all, it’s stable and I’ll be testing bleeding edge enterprise software so I’ll be learning new things all the time. I fear a steep learning curve but I’ve always dragged myself up that curve in the past and I have no reason to doubt that I can do it again.

As always, many thanks to Spanky; this makes three times that he’s hired me. I guess some people never learn.

I’ve been sick since Thursday which totally sucks. Even more so since it seems that summer is finally here. Meanwhile, I’m in a hot bath, sneezing and blowing my nose every 4 minutes. Given that I have all this time on my hands I thought a long-ass meme would be in order…

Have you ever…

…smoked a cigarette – yes
…smoked a cigar – not in years
…crashed a friend’s car – nope
…stolen a car – nope
…been in love – yes
…been dumped – yes
…been fired – is this your first time here?
…been in a fist fight – not really
…snuck out of your parent’s house? – nope
…had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back? – yep. that blows…
…been arrested? – nope
…made out with a stranger? – nope
…gone on a blind date? – nope
…lied to a friend ? – I’m pretty sure we all have
…had a crush on a teacher? – I think so
…skipped school ? – duh…
…slept with a co-worker – no. that would be stupid
…seen someone die – yes
…been on a plane – yes
…thrown up in a bar? – no
…taken painkillers? – just T3′s
…love someone or miss someone right now? – yes
…laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? – yep
…made a snow angel – when I was a kid
…played dress up – does a play count?
…cheated while playing a game? – I don’t think so
…been lonely? – very seldom but yeah
…fallen asleep at work/school? – nope
…used a fake ID – nope
…felt an earthquake – yeah, Hooterville had some mild ones
…touched a snake – I don’t think so
…ran a red light – um, yeah…
…been suspended from school? – nope
…had detention? – hell, yeah
…been in a car accident – a few. only one was my fault
…witnessed a crime? – yeah. it’s hard not to unless you walk around staring at your feet
…pole danced? – thank you, no
…been lost? – I was lost in a subway station in Seoul. I think that’s forgivable
…been to the opposite side of the country? – I’ve been as far as Montreal
…felt like dying? – nope
…cried yourself to sleep? – nope
…played cops and robbers? – probably
…sung karaoke? – not at all
…done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? – of course
…laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose? – I don’t think so
…caught a snowflake on your tongue? – yeah
…sang in the shower? – not recently
…had a dream that you married someone? – no. I believe that would classified as a nightmare
…got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? – how stupid are you?
…sat on a roof top? – yeah
…didn’t take a shower for a week? – I think the longest I have gone without a shower is maybe 3 or 4 days. I was camping.
…scared to watch scary movies? – no
…played chicken? – no
…been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? – I got thrown in a shower with my clothes on once
…broken a bone? – nope
…been easily amused? – by certain people
…laughed so hard you cried? – yeah
…cried so hard you laughed? – I don’t think so
…mooned/flashed someone? – I don’t think so
…cheated on a test? – no, which would explain my grades
…forgotten someone’s name? – what was the question?
…slept naked? – yeah
…skinny dipping in a pool? – I don’t think so
…been kicked out of your house? – um, no
…blacked out from drinking? – absolutely not
…played a prank on someone? – weekly
…gone to a late night movie? – yeah even though I hate movies and Hollywood

I met up with the Spanky’s on Saturday for some sushi. Naturally, I don’t recall the name of the place but I do know that it was in Kerisdale. The sushi was fantastic; Kate and I shared an enormous platter that we couldn’t finish it but damn it was good.

We considered dessert but Spanky was the only one who had room. We retired to the West End and went to yuppy tea house on Denman. $4 seemed a bit steep for lemon tea (I’d bet money it was Earl Grey) but I think you’re paying for the atmoshpere. It was pretty cool being Saturday night and all. There’s a yuppy cupcake place next door, so everyone was happy in the end.

Today I decided I needed to go to Future Shop. I had two things on my list; a battery for my cordless phone and a printer cartridge (I’m sure those bastards at HP program them to die after a period of time as I don’t print much. Anyway…) I ended up getting distracted by flat panel monitors, wireless routers and iPod do-dads, none of which I needed so I wandered off. I was almost home before I realized I never got the goods I set out to buy. I guess I’ll just print in red for the time being.

hey, I’ll eat your crust

What a lovely long weekend this has turned out to be. Cool and wet, just like a good beer. According to the Weather Network, no rain is expected. As I look out my window, I can’t see the North Shore due to the clouds and rain. My eyes must decieve me as everything on the internet is true…

I’ve also noted that people seem to think that my blog is still at the root domain. It’s not. My plan was to write about cool software there and blog here. I figured that doing so would force me to learn about the software but my writing leaves something to be desired.

I need to clean it up and get to the point sooner so that the article isn’t so long and rambling. I guess that will come in time but for now, it blows. I broke my initial rule of writing a number of entries and and queuing them up so I had a buffer. No matter, no one is reading them anyway and the handful that are, don’t understand them.

And so it goes…