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[Jun. 29th, 2009|01:43 pm] |
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My friend is, to the best of my knowledge, no longer in imminent danger of death. Let me tell you, nothing perks you up on a sunday afternoon like hearing a buddy is NOT going to die! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 27th, 2009|01:44 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  melancholy | ] |
One of the players on my ExaltedMUSH is suffering liver and kidney failure. He is being transferred to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville VA, where there is a liver transplant clinic. They have no idea when they will have a bed opened up for him, or if he will be given a transplant. But he is very sick.
I'm unhappy and angry at the transience of existence.
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 24th, 2009|09:38 pm] |
Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.
Words from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) pyat :
( Read more... )
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 23rd, 2009|10:18 pm] |
If you're on Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & paste & pass it on. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 24th, 2009|01:08 am] |
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I have decided that that whole thing was a bad idea. Not going to quit my job. |
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| Job |
[Apr. 20th, 2009|08:17 pm] |
I made the decision today - pretty much irrevocably, though not rudely - to find a new job. I could talk about why for ages, but it wouldn't be productive. At this point, second-guessing would tear me apart.
And yet that's really what's driving me nuts right now. Did I make the right decision? Should I have stuck with it? Did I make a mountain out of a molehill? I don't know. And I'll never know. The conditions were just ambiguously terrible enough for me to be unsure.
We can't ever know if we're making the right decision, and if someone thinks they know - that they truly, absolutely, are assuredly correct in their decision - they're more likely to be confident from ignorance than competence.
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| Finances |
[Mar. 22nd, 2009|01:55 pm] |
I've been on a 20$ a day budget for... I dunno, maybe 4 weeks now. This budget includes does not include my rent, my medication, my commute expenses, my utilities - anything that's a regular expense that I've incorporated in to my larger budget. I've been keeping track of my expenses pretty thoroughly on my computer.
It's interesting. I get a lot of satisfaction out of saving money (although I'm uncomfortably aware that I'm not saving money for anything in particular) and a lot of irritation out of spending it. I was so riled up by the expense of purchasing new clothes for my job that I had to move it to a 'one-off expenses' account to avoid being constantly enraged by how deep in the red it sent me. Happiness through creative accounting? |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 21st, 2009|11:03 pm] |
Quick summary of my life:- Joined a gym, plus actually working out at said gym. Am astonishingly out of shape, yet I look like an athlete. Conversely, my room-mate looks like a fatto, but can out-run, out-endure, out-lift, and out-fight me with contemptuous ease. Genes lie.
- Work is going smoothly. There were some bumps but they were minor - they only seemed big because frankly I fall to pieces at the drop of a hat when it comes to freaky stressful scenarios. suffice to say, I am my khakis, and it turns out they're really comfortable.
- I recently beat all three PRince of Persia Sands of Time games. The second one was surprisingly fun given it's reputation and I'd recommend it without hesitation to anyone who can laugh at the juvenile dialogue. The third one ends on a sublime note that reconciles the virtues of the first and second game beautifully.
- I recently picked up a copy of Persona 4. It's quite good, and as a friend of mine noted, linking progression to time instead of space makes everything feel way more urgent than it does in space-oriented games where time only progresses if you travel across the world map. Bitch incinerated me. >:C
That's all.
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| The Hughes Report |
[Mar. 7th, 2009|06:00 pm] |
So, how am I doing?
Financially I'm back on my feet. I have employment with a temp agency called Addison Search. Since I am an employee of theirs, I don't have to worry about self employment taxes and I will get health benefits, though not for another month or so. Addison is paid by a company called Edison Mission Marketing & Trading to provide them with temps. I work at Edison Mission Marketing & Trading for enough money that I can live in a way I find pretty pleasant, doing a job that I find interesting enough to engage my brain. The commute is pretty nice too. So I'm happy there.
I've decided I need to get more exercise, and frankly I always got the best results at a gym, because I am extremely boring and not a big fan of outdoor activities. (Sorry mom.) I'm planning to check out a local club called Planet Fitness - it's affordable, it's got a monthly option instead of a yearly option, and importantly, it will always, always be on my commute, because it's at the Government Center Mall and I'm at the Lechmere end of the Green line.
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| Recent Developments |
[Feb. 13th, 2009|08:09 pm] |
I have a new job. I am... A TEMP!
Which would be more degrading if one of my fellow temps didn't have a Ph.D., and if I didn't get benefits from the temp agency after a couple months. However, this job will require some serious adjustment from me, in that I have to learn to do a 9-to-5 routine and not use the internet for personal things during those hours.
I know, I know. I'm doomed. But somehow I'll defy my own nature and behave appropriately.
I actually set up a budget, did some thinking. Each month, I've got $750 for rent, around ~$150 (that's a very high estimate) for electricity and gas, and $80 for phone and internet. So that's ~$1K per month, or ~$12K yearly. I put some thought in to it and realized that if I spent $20 on food, snacks, entertainment, etc. - every day - I'd be adding ~$7K to my yearly budget. So, total is ~$19K yearly for living expenses plus discretionary food and toys.
By linking my 'food' budget to my 'fun' budget, I hope to encourage myself to eat at home more and learn to cook.
I plan to take everything I don't spend and put it in a saving's account, perhaps in my retirement fund, and try to donate a decent chunk of money to Doctors Without Borders, who are basically what I would be doing with my life if I had any cojones. |
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| continuing the prior entry |
[Feb. 5th, 2009|05:05 pm] |
When I was in college, during my second year, my mother - who is an alumnus from that same college - was going to give a speech to the alumni foundation. It was in the early morning, but I promised to attend.
I slept through my alarm. She didn't forgive me for almost a year.
Every time I'm late for something, every time my lazy sleep-in bullshit comes back to get me, I feel like she's there, and she knows. And I'm ashamed.
--------
I have an appointment tomorrow at 12:30 at Addison Search to look in to the possibility of a six month 9-to-5 contract with Edison Mission Marketing & Trading to clean up and upgrade their Python code-base. As a contract job, I'd have to pay self employment taxes, I wouldn't have as many (if any) benefits, and my employment after the contract... eh, maybe they'd hire me, maybe they wouldn't. Additionally, I'd probably need to pick up a lot of my skills on the job, and I wouldn't be part of a team - I'd be an outsider, a mercenary. I wouldn't have as many people to turn to for guidance or advice during the shaky first few days.
But the commute is easily an hour shorter each way. That's important. It gives me time. |
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| That was fast. |
[Feb. 5th, 2009|04:00 pm] |
On tuesday two weeks ago, I interviewed at TripAdvisor's Newton office.
On wednesday last week, I received a job offer which I accepted.
On friday last week, I came in and met my co-workers and set up my cubicle.
On tuesday this week, I was an hour late.
On wednesday this week, I met with human resources to review the benefits package, my insurance, etc, and finally got my programming environment up and working. I was excited and eager.
On thursday this week, I slept through my alarm, was four hours late, and was politely fired.
I'm so ashamed. |
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