Employee day: 43

It's a very odd feeling.  We finished the title that we were all working very hard on and got it out the door....last month.  I've been given nothing to do as they do not want me testing anything currently.  So I'm just staying up to date on the project that the artists/designers/programmers are working on in case they need me for something.  But it all feels like I could be doing something more.  Everyone I ask says that I'm doing a great job, which says more about what my predecessor DIDN'T do as opposed to what I'm doing currently.
I was asked a few weeks ago how to better capture my QA sessions, what equipment was needed? how much it would cost? etc.  I had three answers in as many days and the costs to implement them.  I demonstrated the ideas or discussed how they would work if equipment was still needed.  "Wow great job!  We really appreciate all the work you're doing."  Again, I keep getting told I'm doing great/amazing work but I still don't feel like I'm doing enough.
I want to, eventually, get out of a solely QA role and maybe work my way towards designing.  I DID email some of the top guys a quick and dirty idea I had for an iPhone game.  Got some good responses as well and some nice feedback.  But most of my days I spend just sitting waiting for someone to ask me to check something out or they have a standard related question.
I dunno.  Maybe I'm feeling a bit lonely out here.  Moving 700+ miles away from damn near everyone and everything to which you'd grown accustomed will put a strain on anybody.  It's only been a little over a month so I suppose it's to be expected.  I'll try and update a little more often now that I have all this "free time" :P

Ok so I know this happens a LOT :P

Good afternoon y'all ^_^
I know I haven't posted in a while but I've had a lot going on.  I left my job at EA in Baton Rouge, LA and got hired on for a 3 month contract at Firebrand Games which is also in Baton Rouge.  Well I did my best and worked my ass off and now I'm still working at Firebrand Games, but I moved to Merritt Island, FL :P  They offered me a salary position and benefits, the whole lot.  It's pretty awesome here I have to say.
So the focus of this blog will be shifting to not classics but rather the game industry.
What I'm going to try and do is to give people ideas on how to get in the industry but will more often than not just be me talking about what I see going on in video games today.
Maybe I'll throw in a video review sometimes but I may leave that to Ryan on his blog ^_^  You can catch him over at Deranged Gamer.  Yeah that's what I've got going on.
Later gamers, also....order pie today

On losing one's temper...

As most people who know me have heard, I lived in Florida for a few years.  Specifically, I lived in the Winter Park section of Orlando.  If I chose to, I could write a book on the horrors of living there, but that’s not for this book.  I will simply write of a few instances that occurred while I lived there.  The first of which is one of the very few times I have lost my temper.  I was living in a two bedroom apartment with four other guys, one of whom had graduated the school we were all attending.  One would expect this guy, hitherto referred to as “The Slacker”, to find a job and, perhaps, contribute to the apartment so the rest of us did not have to carry him.  This was not the case however, he simply would mooch off our money, our food, and us.  One day, his actions came to a head and I had to move out for my own sanity. 

It started out simply enough, I was cooking dinner.  I asked if anyone else wanted any: one said he wasn’t hungry, the slacker wasn’t paying attention, but one DID ask for food.  So I cooked enough food for myself and the hungry one.  When the slacker comes to me and asks where HIS food is.  I reply that I made none for him because he said he wasn’t hungry but the stuff is out if you want to cook it yourself.  He then replied to this very kind and VERY reasonable offer as follows: “Whatever bitch just cook my fucking dinner.”  Bear in mind, the slacker (approximately 5’5” and weighing about 180 pounds) is telling ME (6’3” and 285 pounds) to make him his “fucking dinner.”  This is point in the story where I become quite upset with him.  You will be able to tell how mad I am by the next course of action I followed.  I grabbed this little man and threw him against the far wall, about 15’ away, and into the sliding glass door.  The door didn’t break however so I had to slide it open in order to kick him out onto the balcony.  I grabbed him by the belt and dangled him off the edge of the balcony.  I have neglected to mention up to this point that our apartment was on the third floor of the building where we lived.  The normal crying and screaming happened as when someone believes their life to be in the hands of a madman.  It was at this point that I informed him that if he ever so much as talked to me without my permission again I would make him a grease stain in the sidewalk.  He was coherent enough to nod as I threw him back into the apartment’s living room.

Normally, I’m a very calm person.  It takes a lot for me to get past “Upset” on my scale of things.  There are only a few people in this world who have ever actually seen me “Angry.”  I don’t like doing it, but if it is necessary.  Moral of THAT story: Think about what you are going to say before you piss off the giant Viking with which you live. 

On road trips....

When I lived in Florida, I always drove back home whenever I had time off.  The trek that was involved in this was a 13 to 14 hour drive, depending on traffic.  Also, I would get off at VERY late hours, sometimes around one in the morning or six in the afternoon.  I found various methods of staying awake: loud metal music, screaming really loud, no cruise control, windows down, to name a few.  However, my favorite method was talking.  My favorite conversationalist was a man who drove a giant and very purple Mack truck on his route down I-10 through the Florida pan-handle.  We found each other one night driving at around two A.M. and I was just attempting to stay awake so I would pass him.  In return he would pass me, like a giant game of leap frog at 75 mph.  Before one of my breaks where I thought I might run into him; I purchased a megaphone.  Upon happen chance, I DID run into him and rejoiced as my recent purchase was in the backseat.  I then screamed at him, “YOU SHOULD BUY ONE SO WE CAN STAY AWAKE WHILE WE DRIVE!”  I could SEE him shaking with what I hoped was laughter and not a stroke at the hilarity of what I had just done.  He then pulls his CB out and screams through the megaphone he already has hooked up IN HIS TRUCK.  So we talk about various things, mostly where we had been and where we were from, and ended up where you usually end up after a few pints, “What songs do you know?!”  So we sang a few old bits back and forth, but then the story took an interesting turn as he yells “Do you know Greensleeves?!”   As I do know the song, so began the blaring of it down the interstate at 75 mph.  Enter the funny.

There was a certain portion of that interstate where one of the local roads went over the interstate.  I always noticed two cops that always perched there looking for speeders.  How did they react to the spectacle?  Passed them, lights went up, me and my singing partner each had a black and white on our tail.  I expected to hear, “Pull your vehicle over and shut off the engine,” what we got was, “You fucked up that last line.”  The only thing I can think of in response to this is, “Alright, wise ass, how DOES the line go?!”  And if you were up, and the wind was right, you could hear all four of us, as we sang into the night across county lines.  I didn’t feel as though I was a part of some larger thing or befriend random people.  It was fun and we stayed awake so that we did not die.  But the story remains and I’m happy to retell it.

Here's the short version

Alright, so my last post was in 2009. Not much has been going on since then. Went back to school in the fall and graduated with a BA in Latin and minors in History and Classical Civilizations. So off into the world I went, got a job in town. I had the job til December of 2010 when I was laid off. I didn't really have a problem with it until I found out WHY I was laid off. They put people on what they call "tenure" which is hilarious because it's actually the exact OPPOSITE of what tenure is. You go on your tenure after a year and they hire you back in 3 months. Why is this?
It's so that they don't have to give you a raise (7.50 an hour) or give you full benefits. So I was laid off in December. It is now currently day 44 of unemployment and I'm not enjoying it.

I've applied to so many positions at so many places and I very rarely hear back from anybody. I just keep putting them out there and hope I get something. At least something over 7.50 an hour. Different states have even received my resumes. Everyone has been really helpful as well. Giving me a heads up when work is available and such and I've got a roof over my head and food in the pantry, for which I am thankful.

I keep toying with the idea of moving to Seattle with Bart and Spivey to open a restaurant. Just toying with the idea is pretty exciting. Maybe then I could grow my beard back. Yes, the sad sad day came when after 5 years I had to shave off my beard. Only to reveal the GIANT baby face underneath.

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy my afternoon. Have a good one y'all!

haaaaaaaaaaaaaate

Alright, I've been going through some shit since about Wednesday, and here's why.
I need one class to graduate, a 4000 lvl Latin course, which I was taking....up until Wednesday. I got an email from my prof saying he'd been put on administrative leave; I won't go into the details as to why but he is nevertheless not teaching my class anymore. I wrote an email to the chair of my department, begging her to let the class count if I were to meet him off campus. She hadn't responded so I went up to her office Thursday morning. She was on her way out to teach a class but said she'd email me when she got back. I waited till 11:30 then went back where she just simply told me "No." Then suggested that I get another teacher to take the spot and if that couldn't happen then I was, paraphrasing, well and truly fucked and would have to come back in the fall. So I had to inform her that I kinda have a job lined up in August that banks on me being a graduate. She then tells me that I could finish with correspondence courses.
So far I've asked 2 other profs who have both said no as well, I'm currently waiting on one to respond and there's ONE other prof I can ask. If I don't get the job in Seattle, I'll be back at LSU in the fall. This is a thought that fills me with quite a large amount of rage and helplessness. I was always under the impression that your department was supposed to help you with things like this? I just need this ONE fucking class and no one, who has said they will always go to bat for me, is helping me. They all claim that they're too busy to teach it. IT DOESN'T INVOLVE TEACHING! YOU JUST HAVE TO BE THERE TO CORRECT ME IN MY TRANSLATION IF I'M WRONG! THE ONLY THING YOU HAVE TO DO IS WRITE UP A MIDTERM AND A FINAL AND READ A PAPER! I'm so fucking angry with my department right now. It seems the only one who gives a damn and actually WANTED me to succeed was MY prof who can no longer teach the DAMN CLASS.

Ok I'm done

New developments

I wasn't really sure what I should write for my first post, so I'm just gonna go with this.
I got a job at KLSU, my college radio station, as a DJ for the summer semester.
I'll have my OWN show from 9pm to midnight, dunno the day just yet, once a week.
I won't be getting paid but I doing it for fun and experience.
If you'd like to listen to the show but don't live around LSU, check this link and you can hit the "Listen Now" button to stream it from the blogoblag/interwebs/pain train
http://www.klsuradio.fm/

Not much else happening, check back here for more updates on the show ^_^

OH and also, somethin for the boss ^_^