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| Thursday, April 13th, 2006 | | 3:02 pm |
I'm wearing a hat!
As I looked over everyone else's blogs, I realized that I hadn't done anything with mine in a while, so here goes. The new place(Bryan's old place) is working out very well for me. I need a few more things on the walls, but overall the place looks like home. Also, I was able to furnish the living room for ~$220 at Salvation Army, and the stuff even looks pretty good. The chairs and couch smelled a little musty, so my parents came up yesterday and cleaned them for me. They also got rid of the three stains left over from when the other, more incompetent carpet cleaners, cleaned the carpet. Bryan, if you're reading this, I'd like to know what that little green stain in the bedroom is. Kool-Aid? In other news, I recently started a different job, and it eats a bag of dicks. Manpower no longer does business with 3M, so I decided to see what was available that was only 1st shift. I started at Sauer Danfoss two weeks ago, and the work is hot, yucky(oil is everywhere) and it hurts my hands. Also, we're working 9 hour days this week, and that makes Ben sad. And pissed. Yeah, mostly pissed. So anyway, I went to Manpower a couple days ago and told them that I'm interested in office jobs in Des Moines, since there aren't any in Ames. I took a few tests, which were all silly easy, and just now called the Manpower office in Des Moines, so I expect something in a few days. I mean, I got Exceptional on all the tests and I'm a Master User(not sure what that exactly means) of Excel and Word. I'd be very surprised if I don't get a job offer soon. Peace out, ya'll! Current Music: Galvanize | | Wednesday, March 29th, 2006 | | 10:54 pm |
Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.
I just talked with one of my high school friends, and he told me that he's never seen any Indiana Jones movies. I didn't know what to say. I'd just assumed that everyone has seen all of them at least once. :) So I finally know what my job is going to be next week. For those of you that haven't heard, 3M terminated their relationship with Manpower, so I've been reassigned to Sauer Danfoss. I in no way intend to work in a factory for my whole life(I have plans to re-enter college to get a degree in Elementary Education), but SD will pay the bills for the moment, and I understand that there is a very good chance that after 2-3 months of not totally sucking, they'll hire me on full-time. This is very good, as a new employee starts at $15/hour plus benefits. With that kind of money, I could get very many things taken care of, and then live very well. Heck, I could see myself taking classes while I work there. I've been given to understand that SD will pay for the classes you take as long as you get certain grades - 100% for A's and B's, 80% for C's and nothing for D's and F's. I had applied at Nikkel and Associates, a electrical/telecommunication company in Ames, recently. I did get a job offer, but it wasn't for quite as much money as I'd hoped, and I'd be stationed in Spencer for at least a few weeks. I had no idea where Spencer is, and when I asked, I was told that it is 3-4 hours away. This means that I'd effectively need to live in a motel in Spencer until the job is done. Thanks but no thanks. I'd actually been looking forward to getting this job, but I wanted something either in Ames or near Ames. I'd been told that the jobs weren't farther than 60 miles from Ames, so I don't know where this Spencer thing came from. Oh well, I'll keep looking and if I don't find anything, I can just stay at Sauer Danfoss and hope I get hired full-time. | | Sunday, March 26th, 2006 | | 11:53 am |
I'm the Juggernaut, *****!
Again. On Saturday, I'll be moving into Bryan's old place, 407 S. 5th St. Apt 137(adds up to eleven). I really can't wait. This little loft has been nice enough to me, but I've reached the point where it just can't hold(effectively) all of my stuff. I'm not really that dirty of a person, but my things just tend to pile. I think it's mostly because there's no good place to put any of it. This week is going to be mostly cleaning and whatnot, until I can get the boxes I need from Mayhem on Wednesday. I'm notoriously...lazy, I guess the word is, about packing. My parents are coming up on Saturday to lend me the pickup truck, and dear mother intimated horrible things for me if everything's not ready to go by the time they get here. I'm playing X-Men Legends 2 at the moment. The gameplay and story themselves are fun, but I'm afraid that what really keeps me coming back is the same thing that kept me coming back to Diablo 2 - namely, leveling up, watching my numbers get larger and collecting new pieces of equipment. I realize that most games I play(Magic, Vs., some board games, assorted video games) can really be broken down into an Excel spreadsheet, but a really good game is one that makes you forget that, or else one that just makes you not care. X-Men Legends 2 is one of those. Also, the Juggernaut is really big and he smashes stuff really hard. So cool. Current Music: Salva Nos - Noir Soundtrack | | Saturday, March 25th, 2006 | | 11:38 pm |
Peer pressure
Today my friend Bryan messaged me and asked me where my blog is. See, I technically have one(you know this if you're reading this), but I can't typically keep myself interested in posting. We'll see how this works. I'll going to try to make at least one entry per week. Most will probably be pointless fluff, but whatever! | | Wednesday, April 27th, 2005 | | 12:08 am |
Symphony of the Night
The location of the Power of the Mist always escapes me when I play SotN. I usually have no trouble finding everything else, but I always seem to have to reference a FAQ to find the Mist. Irritating. | | Friday, April 22nd, 2005 | | 3:41 pm |
Do you ever get the feeling that if you can't just stop and have 2-3 hours to yourself that you're going to pop? I just picked up a few more hours at Mayhem, so my schedule looks like this: Monday(all Mayhem): 9-11, 12-5, 5-10 Tuesday(Kingland): 9-6 Wednesday: 9-12(Mayhem), 1-7(Kingland), 7-10(Mayhem) Thursday: 9-6(Kingland) Friday: 9-11(Mayhem), 12-6(Kingland) Saturday(all Mayhem): 9-11, 12-5 Sunday: 9-11(Mayhem) Dave Corey told me that if my new hours go well, they might try to 'pry' me away from Kingland. I hope to god they 'try' to do that soon. I work too much, and there isn't a single day that I can sleep in past 8 am anymore. If I don't get a full-time job at Mayhem, I'm going to have to go back to school. Specifically I'm talking about the Political Science graduate program at ISU. I don't really want to go back to school at all, but I can't do anything with a Bachelors in PS(not that I've really looked, to be honest), so I'm left with few options. I could follow Pete's lead and go to law school, but the though of being a lawyer for the rest of my life my my stomach loop like the thought of programming for the rest of my life used to. I'm trying to keep jogging/walking. Walking is fine, but jogging kills me. If it makes me stop looking like I'm pregnant, though, I'll stick with it. Right now I'm trying jogging for 4-5 minutes then walking for 4-5 minutes, and keeping the whole thing up for 30. I hope it doesn't take forever for me to see some results. I'm also going to buy a bike. I've wanted one for a while, so I'm just going to get it. It's been years since I've owned one, and once I've moved to Old Thyme Windsore Pointe, it will probably end up being very useful. | | Tuesday, April 12th, 2005 | | 11:12 am |
Real Men of Genius
Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius. Today we salute you, Mr. Compulsive Away Message Checker. While most people are out actually having a fun life, you are at home reading about it on your computer screen. Right mouse click, Get Buddy Info, or the little Info box at the bottom of the Buddy List. You have people on that list you haven't talked to in years, but you still loyally read their away messages every day to see what they're up to. So, crack open an ice cold Bud Light, Marauder of the Mousepad, and don't wander too far from your computer because you never know when someone's away message may change. | | 11:07 am |
Real Men of Genius
Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius. Today we salute you, Mr. Constant Collar Putter Upper. You, bedecked in popped collar, teach us that we no longer have to live with a cold back of the neck. Sure, your pink alligator polo may look feminine to some, but not to the 17 other frat guys wearing the same thing at the bar. Where others may see thoughtless fashion conformity, you preach a higher gospel. You preach of a world where it's okay for a man to go tanning. You ask "why can't we wear make-up, and use shampoo with lavender essence?" So crack open an ice-cold Bud Light, Mr. Abercrombie (or is it Fitch?), because we all know, when we really need a piece of gum, you might have one...in your man purse. | | Saturday, April 9th, 2005 | | 11:51 pm |
Happenings and Goings-on
I took the test to be a Level 2 judge in the Vs. system today. 90%, baby. The test wasn't hard, and I only missed a couple things because one was really tricky and the other, well, I simply let something basic slip my mind. It didn't kill me, though, so I guess I'm fine. However, it was a little awkward when my friend(and boss) Joel Jones didn't receive the necessary 80% to pass. He tried to go too fast, and it bit him in the ass when he misread some of the questions. He knows as much about the rules as I do, I think, but he was overconfident and paid for it. So right now I'm the store's only Level 2 Vs. judge, and Joel has to wait 3-6 months(that's the next time Pastimes will have someone out able to give the test) to take it again. At this point, I'm going to admit to a little bit of schashenfrued. I live my life afraid to be the guy who does the worst at something out of all his friends, so it's nice(I guess) to be the best at something, even if it doesn't mean much in the big picture. I just played my first game of Acquire with Pete, his friend Tom Hanks(no, not that one) and Tom's sister. I'm embarassed to say that I can't remember her name right now. My impression was positive, but that may be tainted by the fact that I won. :) The correct strategy was not apparent early on, but I picked up enough as I went on. I'm still not sure if I could actually give anyone pointers to playing the game well, but I'm willing to say that I could acquit myself honorably in any future playing of said game. West Wing tomorrow! I'm excited to watch Season 4, but I am sad because I know that this is the season where Sam Seaborn, played wonderfully by Rob Lowe, leaves the series. I'm comforted by the fact that he'll be replaced by the actor who portrayed Jeremy on Sports Night(excuse me while I hit IMDB), Joshua Malina. I'll miss Sam, but I think we'll be in good hands. In the end, Josh Lyman, Toby Zeigler and Claudia Jean Craig will still be on the show, so all's right with the world. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to begin weekly posts on the status of the Cubs. They've had a slow start this spring, but the team is talented enough that I'm not going to worry until the season is much farther along. In other sports news, I'm leading the fantasy league that my friends and I created by 16 points. I don't really expect that to last, but my team is performing as I more or less expected(except for David Wells), so I'm confident. Current Mood: accomplished | | Friday, April 8th, 2005 | | 2:32 am |
Cha-ching!
Just so we're clear, I hate this work. I loathe it. I would rather be doing almost anything else. But dammit, cleaning carpets for my parents is so lucrative that I can't turn it down. I made a deal with Dave Cory(part owner of Mayhem Comics) that I'd clean all the carpet in the Des Moines store for $200, or roughly 40% of what my parents would charge. See, I don't have to worry about any overhead, so pretty much everything is profit to me. Essentially, I worked four and a half hours today, and made $200, making my per-hour earnings look truly gaudy: $44.44/hour. Damn. However, I am damn tired. It is 2:30 AM on a Friday morning, and theoretically I have to be at work at 9 am. However, I just emailed my Senior DRA, Rick Wernimont, and told him that I'm sick, still awake at this hour, and plan to come in at noon. So, shhhhh. If you don't tell him, I won't. Current Mood: tired | | Thursday, April 7th, 2005 | | 11:32 am |
No tv and no beer make Homer...something something
So the shower was out of hot water this morning. I usually leave the shower running for 2-3 minutes to get it to warm up all the way, then I get in. This morning, though, it was still as cold as if I'd set the dial all the way to the right. I tried to steel myself and take a full shower, but I could barely breathe in there, so I had to settle for washing my hair. I count on my shower to gradually wake me up on mornings where I got too little sleep the night before, but a cold shower does nothing for me except make me shiver. So while I was cold, at least I was still sleepy. Silver linings, right? So anyway, Pete says the gas company couldn't cash his check, or something, so he's talking to them about it. I'm going to be pissed if I can't take a warm shower tomorrow morning. I went to the Vs. 10k event in Chicago with some friends from Ames(Steve Medanic, Joel Jones and Josh Karau). Interestingly, two of those guys, Joel and Steve, are my bosses at the two jobs I'm currently holding down, Kingland Systems(my rent-paying job) and Mayhem Comics(my fun, hopefully long-term job). These tournaments are fun, but can be unexpectedly brutal. We left Ames at 4 pm on Friday and got to Steve's parents' house around 11. God bless them, by the way. If we'd of had to get a motel, that would have added even more cost to an already expensive trip. Also, thanks to my parents who simply gave me $75 because they're awesome. Anyway, I got up at 6 am(6 hours of sleep) and we got to the tournament site at 9 am, and waited for the tournament to start at 10. I don't really intend to go into depth on how the tournament went, but I went 5-5. Considering all you do is sit around and flip cards over, these long(10 hours+) tournaments can be very draining. By the time we were done, I just wanted to eat dinner and then fall asleep. We had originally planned to play in the PCQ(Pro Circuit Qualifier) the next day, but we figured out that we'd be leaving Chicago by 4-5, and that would mean we would not get home until 2-3 am on Monday. None of wanted that, so we 'slept in' on Sunday(7 hours for me), and then we piled in Mike Horn's van and drove to Iowa City where we then grabbed Josh's car and finished the drive. We got home at a decent hour, but we then went to go see Sin City, and I didn't get back until 12:30, and stayed up until 2 to finish my laundry. I got up at 8 am to go to work.(6 hours of sleep). So yeah, I was tired. I also ended up spending a good deal of time on the floor of Mike's van. He's only got seats for 4 people, and we had 5 in there, and except for me, they're all very large. I'm pretty sure we didn't gain a thing by pooling with Mike, so next time we're just going to tell him that we're driving up there ourselves, and he can drive along himself if he likes. That way, we can be more comfortable, and we won't have to listen to Mike's awful taste in music. I like Henry Rollins's spoken word pieces, but he can't sing any more than I can. I've got other things to say, but I'm at work right now, and I suppose I should do some of that. Y'know, work. Plus, I want to break my thoughts up. If I make two medium-sized updates, they'll be be coherent. I hope. Current Mood: bored | | Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 | | 10:33 pm |
Equilibrium
If it is within your power, go see the movie Equilibrium. It's reminicent of the Matrix, but cooler in many ways. Also, Christian Bale is a huge badass, and will be the best Batman yet by sooooo much. Current Mood: excited | | Sunday, March 27th, 2005 | | 11:57 pm |
File extensions
I have spent hours today messing around with file conversion programs. At this moment, I am running a program to convert .wmv files to .avi, a program to splice the converted files into one large .avi, and a program to covert .avi files to .ifo, the format that Nero needs in order to burn something to DVD. Crazy. Current Mood: accomplished | | Sunday, February 27th, 2005 | | 2:00 am |
 Mike Piazza leads the Mets in a peppy little dance number during Spring Training. | | Friday, February 11th, 2005 | | 12:22 am |
I'm back, I guess.
So I guess I start posting again? My roommate, Pete(PeterG137) just started a LiveJournal, and it sort of made me want to write again. This is more of a 'welcome back me' post, as it's 12:19 AM and I just don't have anything interesting to talk about. As a preview of coming attractions, I expect to talk about what I'm reading, watching and playing in here so that people can continue to not look at my journal for years to come. Also, once baseball starts up again, I'm going to do some sort of weekly journal of the Cubs' continuing quest to accomplish something meaningful, baseball wise. You can also expect some updates on Mayhem, the comic book shop I work at, and someday hope to be assistant manager of, and then open my own Mayhem somewhere in Iowa. I'm going to bed. Current Mood: annoyed | | Saturday, November 13th, 2004 | | 12:01 am |
Incredible
I'll keep this short and sweet. Go see the Incredibles. Now. | | Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004 | | 3:10 am |
Because everyone else is doing it!
Bold what you've played and finished. Italicize what you have played but not finished. Underline what you own but have not played. Add three of your own. 1. Final Fantasy VII -- Playstation 2. Metroid -- NES 3. Fallout -- PC 4. Halo -- Xbox 5. Resident Evil -- GameCube 6. Dark Cloud -- Playstation 2 7. Sonic the Hedgehog -- Sega Genesis 8. Sewer Shark -- Sega CD 9. Super Mario World -- SNES 10. Star Wars Trilogy -- Arcade 11. Final Fantasy IX -- Playstation 12. Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front == Playstation 2 13. Suikoden II - Playstation 14. Inuyasha -- PSone 15. Kingdom Hearts -- PS2 16. Arc the Lad II -- PSone 17. Threads of Fate -- PSX 18. Metroid Prime -- Gamecube 19. Chrono Trigger -- SNES 20. Final Fantasy IV -- SNES 21. Final Fantasy X -- PS2 22. Xenosaga -- PS2 23. Super Smash Bros Melee -- Gamecube 24. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask -- N64 25. Sonic 3 & Knuckles -- Genesis 26. Devil May Cry -- Playstation 2 27. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles -- Gamecube 28. Baldur's Gate II -- PC 29. Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete -- PSone 30. Myst -- PC/Saturn/PSone/DVD 31. NiGHTS into Dreams -- Saturn 32. Illusion of Gaia - SNES 33. Earthbound - SNES 34. Silent Hill - PSone 35. Arcanum (PC) 36. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC/X-Box) 37. Final Fantasy VI (SNES) 38. Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast or GameCube) 39. Legend of Dragoon - PSX 40. Xenogears - PSX 41. Koudelka (PS1) 42. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube) 43. Rise of Nations (PC) 44. Final Fantasy X-2 - PS2 45. Ultima Collection - PC 46. Legend of Legaia 2 - PS2 47. Suikoden III - PS2 48. La Pucelle: Tactics - PS2 49. Vagrant Story - PSX 50. Terranigma - SNES 51. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - PSX 52. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue - Sega CD or PSX 53. Rygar: the Legendary Adventure - PS2 54. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - XBox 55. Shining Force II - Sega Genesis 56. Super Metroid - SNES 57. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - PS1 58. Final Fantasy Tactics - PS1 59. Ico - PS2 60. Silent Hill 2 - PS2/XBox 61. Rez - PS2 62. R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 - PS1 63. Ape Escape - PS1 64. UmJammer Lammy - PS1 65. Shenmue - DC 66. Super Mario Sunshine - GC 67. NBA Street Vol. 2 - XB/PS2/GC 68. Final Fantasy XI - PC/PS2 69. Iron Tank - NES 70. Phantasy Star - SMS 71. Incredible Crisis - PS1 72. Gitaroo-Man - PS2 73. Robot Alchemic Drive - PS2 74. Secret of Mana - SNES 75. Wanderers from Ys III - SNES 76. Sam and Max Hit the Road - PC/Mac 77. Punch-Out! - NES 78. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga - GBA 79. Breath of Fire IV - PSX 80. Samurai Shodown 2 - Neo Geo 81. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - SNES 82. Bionic Commando - NES 83. Klonoa - PSX 84. Buck Rogers and the Planet of Zoom - Adam 85. The Curse of Monkey Island - PC 86. Kid Niki, Radical Ninja - Arcade, NES 87. Ikaruga - DC, GC 88. King's Quest V - PC 89. Uniracers - SNES 90. A Boy and His Blob - NES 91. Dragon Warrior -- NES 92. Duck Tales -- NES 93. Bubble Bobble -- NES 94. Final Fantasy - NES 95. Day of the Tentacle - PC 96. The 7th Guest - PC 97. Tail Concerto - PS1 98. Misadventures of Tron Bonne - PS1 99. Metal Slug 3 - X-Box 100. Bible Adventures - NES 101. Cosmic Fantasy 2 - PC Engine 102. Metal & Lace: Battle of the Robo-babes - PC 103. Beyond Good & Evil - GC/PS2/Xbox 104. Crystalis - NES 105. Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure - PSX | | Thursday, February 19th, 2004 | | 12:30 am |
| | Saturday, December 27th, 2003 | | 1:37 pm |
Boo-yah!
My first four point semester ever. Political Science 340: A Sociology 330: A Stat 101: A Political Science 356: A Man, do I rock, or what? | | Tuesday, December 16th, 2003 | | 6:48 pm |
I have owned my finals like little bitches so far. Two classes, two As for the semester. Provided I own my next two tests the same way, I'll be on the Dean's List again, and my Pol Sci GPA will be approaching 4.0. Not quite, mind, but close. In Magic news, I took my baby(UB control) to a local tournament and was very pleased with the results. Many people congratulated me on such an original build that can actually beat other good decks, so that was gratifying. I'm thinking of writing an article for www.starcitygames.com focusing on it. It's not a huge thing, but if I could get published, I'd be thrilled. It may only be a Magic site, but the editor doesn't post just any old crap there. It's got to be good stuff. Also: Return of the King tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to it. |
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