I GOT IT!!!

I have a new job now! YEA! I will be working at Monster Games starting October 29th. I’m so excited! I’ll be working like 2 miles or so away from my house and working on video games as well. This is so awesome. I’ll have I job I don’t hate in some regard. What a novel idea. I haven’t met everyone there yet, but so far the few people I have met I get along with really well. The pay will be close to what I’m making now; technically it’ll be slightly less, but since they don’t deduct anything from your paycheck for benefits (which I’ll have as well) it’s quite possible that I’ll be bringing in more money than before. Score! It’s like a dream come true.

My position, if I remember correctly, is Assistant Producer. I’ll be helping with the design of game: the sounds, the colors, the game features, the tracks, etc. I’m not sure exactly what my day-to-day activities will be, but I’m sure I’ll pick it up in no time. I bet with my schooling, they’ll let me update their website, because it could use some help. Maybe even their logo. Man, I can’t wait!

New job?!?

On a lark, and because I’ve started to take as much from my current job as I can, I sent a cover letter and resume to Monster Games. As it turns out, they had a postion open and they asked if I wanted to apply, so I did. I’m very excited about all of this. The position is Assistant Producer/Design Intern. Basically you try to refine all kinds of aspects of the game to make it better (eg. item placement, sound effects, item colors, terrain refinement, etc.) This is like my dream job, ok it’s almost my dream job. My dream job would pay way more and it’d be a higher up position, but the activity is exactly the same. This is too awesome.

Plus, they’re located in Northfield, so I’d get to see Emily every day for lunch at the very least. I could bike to work on nice days. I could run errands before, after, or maybe even during work. They have flexible hours, so they won’t jump down my throat for being 10 minutes late occasionally. Plus I already have a friend working there.

I’ve only had one interview so far, but that went really well. It seemed like their only issue was that the position would be step down on the corporate ladder for me, but I explained to them that was not an issue for me. I’d rather being doing something I enjoy and support but have a lesser position than be management for a company who’s practices clash with my beliefs. Call me crazy.

My only problem is not getting too excited about it all. They’ve haven’t called to schedule a second interview yet, and until they actually offer me the position, I don’t have it. But I can’t help but daydream about working there. Hell, I’ve been daydreaming about working there for at least a year now, and there wasn’t even a position involved then.

Honeymoon Camping Trip

I’m so excited. Emily and I are about to take off on our Honeymoon camping trip. We’re going to drive from Northfield, MN into Massachusetts. I think we’re spending a week at Myles Standish and then another week at Nickerson State Park. Then we’ll head back to Northfield. I don’t think we have many plans. There are a few places we want to visit, a few places we want to eat at again. If anyone’s in the area, feel free to stop by and say hey. Maybe, with enough notice we can stop along the way.

We’re also a little nervous because we didn’t exactly plan this out or save up it for it the way we wanted. We got hit hard by some unexpected medical bills beforehand. I think we’ll be able to make the most of it though. It won’t be an extravagant outing, but then again most camping trips aren’t.

It doesn’t matter really. It’ll be our first vacation away with just each other. Plus, it’s 2 weeks away from work and house projects and school. A chance to relax, rest, and get an idea for where we’re at and where we want to go. I am so looking forward to this.

OMG It’s Back!

I had to go in to work this Saturday, which was crappy because 1) it’s work on Saturday and 2) I still need to work on this massive final project for my design class. I went in and brought up Winamp to listen to the mp3’s I have on my computer when I thought, for a lark, I’d try the internet radio stations again. IT WORKED.

EGG RADIO is back on the air. I can’t tell you how excited I was to find out that it was back and that I can still listen to it at work. It’s only up in a beta/test sense, so not all the cool features are back, but that’s fine. I’m just glad to have some nice tunes to listen to while in my cube again.

YEA!

What’s going on with me?

My first semester at the Art Institutes International in Minneapolis is almost finished. I’ve enjoyed my Design class, as challenging as it is, and my Drawing class has shown me that I can draw, even if it didn’t really teach me all that much. When I get pieces back I’ll try to scan them or photo them and post them up, for you amusement.

Work has been going much, much smoother than it did last year. Maybe it just seems more relaxed because of how hectic it was last year. Maybe the weather has been perfect and provided for an evened out year. Maybe everyone has a better understanding of what to do and how to do it and isn’t running around with their heads cut off. Or maybe it’s a long quiet before a big storm. God, I hope not.

Work on our house has started again. Hopefully we can finish it up before not too long and get the rest of that insurance money. David’s been re-doing the deck, which it sorely needed. After that all that’s left is the gutters, I think.

Emily’s been doing really well with her healing. She’s been able to more things and isn’t in constant pain anymore. She’s even lost some weight. She’s become more frustrated with her job though and we have plans to get her a car. She really wants a Fit, but she’s thinking it might take too long to save up for something like that (can’t really find used Fit’s yet), so she might go another route.

We’re both REALLY excited about our planned road/camping trip to Massachusetts at the end of June. We’ve already reserved camping sites and have some loose plans of what we want to do. We might stop and see some people along the way. It hasn’t really been fleshed out that much. This’ll be our first vacation together.

That’s a quick run through of what’s been going on with us, for those that are interested.

Better than Guitar Hero?

Have you heard about this? Harmonix is teaming up with MTV and EA to take the concept of Guitar Hero to the next level. The game is called Rock Band and you can team up with up to 4 friends to create a band: drums, bass guitar, lead guitar, and vocals. You all play simultaneously either on one system or online. That’s all I know about the game so far, but I have to say that I’m down right giddy whenever I think about it. Oh, did I happen to mention that the songs will be done by the actual bands, not just covers. On top of that, there are rumors that bands will release new songs through the game. How awesome is that?

You Tube recoginition

I came across this video one morning and thought nothing of it, until it hit me that this happened at the Gameworks in downtown Minneapolis. I've been there, so I know that the stupid guy must have been hammered.

It's just kinda crazy, you're watching a video and all of sudden it becomes connected to real life. Puts it all in perspective.

Hey, at least we’re moving, right?

Ever feel like things are moving too fast and, yet, not fast enough as well? Yeah, I’ve been feeling that way. There are all these things I’m doing and all these things I want to do and all these things that need to be done. It can get a little overwhelming.

Emily’s getting better, slowly. We recently started following the Schwarzbein diet(?). I wouldn’t really call it a diet, maybe guidelines for a healthy life. Basically it’s all about 1) eating less carbohydrates and balancing meals with fats, vegetables, protein and carbs, and 2) eating more natural foods, anything you can conceivably pull, pick, milk, or hunt out in nature. Honestly, it’s not that hard to follow, as far as rules and guidelines go, discipline’s another story. We actually did this a few years ago and Emily saw some good results out of it then. It sort of fell by the wayside in the passing years, but now she’s more determined to follow it. I think it’ll be good.

Of course, since we just started following it, Emily’s a little morose. Part of it has to do with the fact that she has more cravings that she needs to control than me (coffee and sugar). I’m not perfect either, but from what I’ve gathered she’s having a more difficult time at it so far than me. She’s still going to see the chiropractor and is making progress there. Oh, she’s also gone off of birth control (NO, we are not trying to have a baby) and painkillers because of Schwarzbein as well. All of this hasn’t helped with depression yet though (it will, after a few months or so). She keeps feeling like she isn’t making any progress or being helpful. I’ll admit, she hasn’t been as helpful as she used to be, and she only feels bad about her progress because I’m running around all over the place. I guess my point is that she’s making progress and that’s what counts. Oh, and if you get a chance, show her some love.

I am currently in a holding pattern, or so it seems. The new boss of Southgate feels that we don’t need 3 managers, but we’re good people so we’re not being fired. Vickie (the general manager) does have to work more, I mean a lot more. She’s now working 5 days or 6 shifts; leaving 3 shifts to split between me and David. Suffice it to say, I’m only working 1 shift now, Sundays 11:30 to 6. This just seemed easiest, plus it’s consistent so that will help with planning and budgeting. My schooling doesn’t start until April and the agricultural business doesn’t pick-up until March. I have this free time now, but I know that it won’t last too long. At least I can get a few more songs done in Guitar Hero, right?

I’ll sleep when I’m retired, maybe.

As some of you might know, I have a lot on my plate right now and just recently, I’ve had a few more helpings piled on.

In the short term, we’ve decided to throw another Anti-Super Bowl party. I guess that’ll make this our 2nd Annual Anti-Super Bowl Party. Last year’s was a fairly small affair, and there was one attendee who seemed to be unaware that we weren’t going to watch the Super Bowl, but it was fun. This year we seem to have a few more possible guests than last year and so far no one’s confused about whether the game will be on or not. Of course, this means we’ll have to clean the house, which we’ve been doing at a very slow pace. This is partly due to the fact that Emily’s been going to a chiropractor about her back, so she’s in that whole “new pain” stage of recovery. This leaves the cleaning up to me until she can start moving again. Hopefully that’ll be this weekend. I’m sure we’ll pull it off though.

I’ve also begun somewhat of a fitness regimen. At 5:30 in the morning, every day, I get up and go to the gym to workout for a half hour to an hour. It cuts out some of my sleeping time, but it’s the only time I’ve been able to workout. True, this past week I couldn’t get to the gym every day due to my having to start visiting a chiropractor at Emily’s request, but I’m still waking up around 5:30.

In the long term, I recently applied to the Art Institute in Minnesota for a degree in Interactive Media Design. I’m pretty excited about it. It’s all about the design of, well, anything technical, whether it’s websites, or video games, or business software, or even peripherals. The classes all seem interesting and about things I’ve wanted to learn more about. I think this will be a good move in the long run. Plus, IMD majors are in demand right now, ideally allowing me to get a job doing something I like, or at least don’t feel ashamed about.

Of course, this will just eat up the rest of the small amount of free time I have now. I haven’t gone over the numbers yet, but I should be able to quit my job at Southgate (at the very least cut my hours back dramatically). The other problem that needs addressing is transportation. With me taking classes in Minneapolis, it’s not really feasible for us to only have 1 car anymore. I mean, I’m not sure if it’ll actually happen, but I could conceive of a few nights in the future where it would be smarter and just safer for me to crash at Cherish’s instead of driving all the way home, leaving Emily stranded without the use of a car for 2 days. Luckily, we’ve been paying off a lot of our bills, which has freed up some money. I just hope it’s enough. Although, with a fixed back and a car all to herself, Emily at least would have the possibility of getting a job that paid a little better.

Thinking’s an Important Part of Reading

Everybody gets joke email at work (if you don’t then you must not have any friends). The other day at work I was sent this email:

Weather bulletin; Denver

Hear!...Hear!....Good reading....Are you listening.....NEW ORLEANS.?........Take a lesson from the good citizens of Colorado.

From one of my former comrads who lives in Denver. A great example of the lack of human whining by people who have learned how to handle the weather where they choose to live. WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here, in the "Mile-Hi City", we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands, cancelled over 2000 flights which stranded thousands of passengers in the airport.

FYI:

George Bush did not come.

FEMA did nothing.

No one howled for the government.

No one blamed the government.

No one even uttered an expletive on TV.

Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.

Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.

Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.

CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm. Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.

No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.

No one looted.

Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.

Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.

No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.

No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.

Nope, we just melted the snow for water.

Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.

The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.

Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it

to the snowbound families.

Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.

We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.

We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".

We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

"In my many t ravels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."

It does seem that way, at least to me.

I hope this gets passed on.

Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living.

Emails like this just annoy me. Here are some issues I have with this email.

• The part where FEMA didn’t help, I don’t think that’s a good thing, especially if you’re going to compare it to Katrina. Shouldn’t the government help when a catastrophe happens?
• I’m pretty sure that the news did report on the blizzard. They might not have been as extensive as the Katrina reports, but that’s probably because it was as a big of a catastrophe. Also probably why there wasn’t a big celebrity outcry.
• So no one looted. How are they supposed to loot when the snow has effectively barricade everybody?
• Great, you melted the snow and drank it, not exactly the same as distilling raw sewage into drinking water though.
• Pulling people out of snowbanks and asking for no money, weren’t there people boating around New Orleans, pulling people off their roof for no money?
• Stuck in a house surround by snow is no picnic, but I’d prefer that over being surrounded by toxic water with no house or protection from the wind or sun. Must also be nice to have kitchens that don’t require scuba gear to use so that you can provide food for local families in need.
• Oh yeah, and people did know that a category 5 hurricane was coming, it was just decided to be too costly to prepare for such a thing.

Don’t get me wrong, the Denver Christmas Blizzard of 2006 was horrible and many people were put through hardships and some even died because of it. It just wasn’t as bad as Katrina. Hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands of people lost their homes, across numerous states. The lasting effects are still being felt. Denver, however, is up and running again, especially when you compare it to the condition New Orleans.

Just don’t compare the two, especially when you’re trying to push your anti-entitlement agenda off on people. Sometimes, through no fault of their own, people need help. They’re not lazy, or greedy, or spoiled, or anything like that. They’re just in need of help. Either give them a helping hand or don’t, but don’t try to act righteous for not helping them.

What happened?

It’s been a while, so let me get you up to date. Christmas was good. We spent a little more then we should have, but not more than we could afford, which is good for us. We like to get people gifts. For Christmas/Birthday I gave Emily 26 days of presents, a present for each letter of the alphabet.
Apple Wine
BT Macenworth chocolates
Chartreuse liquor
Dryer balls (she wanted them)
Eiffel Tower lamp
Fancy pen (quite the stretch I know)
Godiva 2007 tin
Hangers (of the wooden variety)
Iron skillet (and coincidentally Internet)
Jewelry case
Knife (a quality paring one)
Lane Bryant clothes
Massager (handheld kind)
Northfield Arts Guild ceramic studio card
Origins ginger relaxation kit
Pillow (a full body one)
Queen size quilt
Robe
Silicon Strainer (folds up for storage)
T-shirts (Mossimo from Target, her favorites)
Utne subscription
Vest (fleece)
Wall clock (a really big one at that)
X-Men graphic novels (the 2 by Joss Whedon)
Yellow Jar: A collection of Japanese folk tales
Zen (Creative Zen mp3 player)
I started on Dec.3 and ended on Dec. 28 (her birthday). I think it was big hit.

We rearranged the bedroom and organized our clothes, eliminating another couple of bags worth. Oh Emily got me this sweet flat screen TV that we put in the bedroom, we got cable install there and I can now convince Emily to go to bed around 9 (since she can watch TV down there). We had some friends over (Salwa, Erica, David, and Hannah) during the holidays. I broke a shelf on our book case while rocking out to Guitar Hero 2, superstar style. Oh, and New Years, which we were promptly in bed by 11. We watched the countdown on the new TV. We were a little sad that we didn’t get our Conan O’Brien Midwest Countdown though. Maybe next year.
Happy Holidays and all that jazz.