archived entries for March 2004

Monday, March 29, 2004
bad timing to the Nth degree
It has begun. The rumors, the whispering, the detachment. Signs of the impending layoff are near and I may soon find myself in quite a predicament. During my recruitment into the corporate environment I was sold a bright future and accelerated opportunity. In looking back on the nearly three years since, I have caught barely a glimpse of such portents. What I have witnessed were four bosses, three company-wide “re-orgs”, an acquisition and the sheer soul devouring pointlessness of working with no clear objectives in sight. In all of the upheaval, I have yet to find solid footing on which to begin a career in earnest, which was already handicapped by an aborted mentoring program that pulled me into this social experiment. In any case, it now is becoming clear that I have landed in a position with a manager and a company that has no use for me.

Indeed, I have been lucky all things considered, but luck is often fleeting. And though I was no patron of the environment and tasks bestowed, I did enjoy the idea that I was working towards something more substantial. And yes, there was the financial incentive. However, it is now evident that the effort was for naught and it seems, on both sides, time and resources were wasted.

Now I am faced with some tough decisions, the most depressing being the very real prospect of letting go of the one bright spot in this whole affair, la maison de Roland. That’s a level of sucktitude I’d rather not entertain, but in my brief view of the employment landscape I won’t have a choice. I suppose there’s a chance this could be for the better; you know silver lining and all. Yeah, I’m gonna pretend that’s my sentiment for now. We’ll see how that holds up when the excrement assaults the air circulating apparatus.

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Tuesday, March 23, 2004
the hunted
There is an understanding between myself and arthropods, specifically between insects and arachnids. Though this understanding is largely unilateral, it’s a stance that applies nonetheless since it involves my personal living space. This implicit understanding, made explicit when some fail to follow the rules, is simply if I don’t notice such arthropods then they may go about their business in my domain. However if there is visual confirmation or evidence of their presence in my domain, their immediate removal will commence, usually resulting in severe trauma and/or death. And if there is ever physical contact with my personal being (this is not just limited to my personal living space but wherever I happen to roam) without my expressed permission, that is grounds for instant destruction with prejudice. Absolutely zero tolerance. This may sound harsh and unfair, and I’m pretty sure PETA would frown upon such a treaty but I don’t care. Those things with the beady little eyes, fangs, skinny jointy legs, weird hairy bodies are just too much. And there’s the biting. THERE ARE NO ETHICS WHEN BITING IS INVOLVED! That’s just not cool.

So last night, a brave arachnid thought it was above the rules and ventured out to test my resolve. While conducting my finances I noticed slight movement out of the corner of my eye. I slowly backed away from the computer and focused on the offending party. It stopped and stared back. The classic showdown. A test of wills had begun and it had the upper hand as I was caught unawares and without proper back up. But no, this nickel-sized ball of terror was not going to get the best of me. I briefly retreated to get the hammer and a paper towel (such tussles are inevitably bloody). I was feeling charitable and would have simply displaced the beast in the yard, however the brazen attitude and cavalier conduct displayed left no doubt that a lesson must have been taught. Hubris has no place with me. But upon my return the eight-legged menace was nowhere to be seen. It had made an escape, surely to boast of its adventure and no doubt to recruit others to overthrow my reign. But that was not to happen. Having added a Mag-Lite to my arsenal, the hunt was on.

After twenty minutes of the search and destroy, paranoia had begun to set in. Wild ideas of the great spider escape started to mess with my training. At one point I stripped off my work shirt thinking the spider was cunning enough to hop on the back while I searched other parts of the room. That’s what I would have done then hopped off in another room. But no, the mind games didn’t work. I regained my composure and set about the search again. And there it was. The day planner next to the monitor. Ah yes, it thought it could wait it out. Sure enough as soon as I tossed the planner onto the floor out came the fearsome animal scurrying to escape. But none was nigh. Down came the hammer and !@$# the spider up. I then drank from the cup of triumph and promptly called the pest control company.

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Monday, March 22, 2004
stagnant
It seems moving into a house is a larger project than anticipated. Not so much the actual moving in and stuff, but the necessary tasks of introductory homeownership that come after getting the crap through the door. Yes it's been nearly three weeks, so?

It has become a second job and coupled with my primary one, sadly, this wonderful realm of trifle has become a little stale. And apparently some of you didn't much care for the smell. Perhaps the new spring will help clear out the mustiness. Yet, with such pretty weather on the way and playing fields anew with a bevy of young ladies out to enjoy a soak in the sun, perhaps things here may continue to get old and moldy.

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Wednesday, March 10, 2004
hysterical coupling
I caught the new comedy Significant Others on Bravo last night and it is some funny, funny dryer lint. You've got to check it out. For me, the clincher was the morning breath scene.

No doubt Bravo is re-airing the first two episodes till the cows come home, so if you've got access give the show a viewing. Ethan is hilarious and Bill is kind of a Lester Burnham light, in that acerbically humorous way. I'm a bit curious as to why Alex and Devon where no where to be seen in the first two episodes.

At any rate, give it a go. And while I'm pimping Bravo, you should check out Keen Eddie. Julian Rhind-Tutt is comedic gold. And Rachael Buckley does me in every time. She's the future Mrs. Roland.

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Sunday, March 07, 2004
the new crack
If you’re a new homeowner the last place you want to go to is Lowes or Home Depot. Seriously. Every time I walk in the place I’m buying up things left and right like a fiend. “Oh, I need those!”, or “Yeah, those are nice”… “Yep, could use those for x”. It’s gotten so bad that I can’t bring in my wallet. If I really need to get some thing, I only bring the cash outlay required for said necessary item(s). Those places should come with warning labels or at least there should be some program for new homeowners to go through about avoiding Home Depot or Target. Have mercy if there’s a Super Target near you. I mean, it’s not right to spend that much on light bulbs.

As for the house, it’s so awesome. I really think I scored. All the neighbors rock (met most of them at a club house function this past Friday), and everyday I notice something cool about having a house. For instance, I really like the space I have in the shower area, which allows me to towel off in there so as to keep my “shedding” contained. And heavenly mackerel of St. Thomas! I finally got the home theater system up and running and let me tell you, being able to finally watch the The Fellowship of the Ring in all its surround sound glory without fretting about the neighbors… well, it’s a good thing. Also, being able to crank the stereo full bore while doing house chores is a definite bonus. I knew there was a good reason for making such a purchase.

Yet, I’m still a little freaked about the gas stove so I haven’t had quite the urgency to try it out. But I have a feeling all that will change once I get THE WOK! Oh yeah. Once the stir-frying begins, it’s on. Watch out!

Snap, crackle. Pop!
While happily blogging away, my computer died. Nothing sends shivers down the spine quite like having Rice Krispies® theme song emanating from your computer case. The culprit, a broke-ass power supply. I suppose getting almost five years of work out of the factory supplied PS wasn’t too bad. Having built this machine back in 1999 machine and stoking it with the best parts at the time (not bragging, just a testament to why buying higher grade components is worth it), I am impressed at how well the boxen is holding up. Some minor upgrades to the CPU (capped at 1.2 GHz due to my reluctance to migrate from the current motherboard), memory and hard drives and this baby is still impressive. Well, as long as I don’t venture into Desktop video production or the latest release of Doom. But the new Antec I got makes up for the temporary misery. 100 more wattage over the old power supply and way quieter. Plus the blue glow is cool.

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Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Kerry/McCain 2004!
With Kerry all but officially locking up the Democratic presidential nomination, the fun turns to deliberation on the Vice President. A recent MSNBC article lists some potential running mates. And you know what, if it’s a Kerry/McCain ticket, I’ll sign up right now. Though highly unlikely, how excellent would that be? And I guess if we’re on the subject of wild-ass speculation, I’d like to see Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D, TN-09) put on the ticket. Now that would be most interesting. See, the theme here being less about partisan politics and more about accomplishing what public officers are chartered to do.

But back to reality. I suppose I could live with having Edwards or Richardson as the next V.P. Is it July yet?

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Monday, March 01, 2004
death by a thousand boxes
Moving absolutely sucks. Hard. I spent most of the last seventy-two hours moving and cleaning and I’m just about worn out. I haven’t been this drained since the first week of track practice. The move and scour everything at the last minute strategy did not work out as well as I hoped. I didn’t realize how much crap one could accumulate in a one bedroom apartment. And now all that crap is sprawled all over the house. I figure it’ll take me about a month to get everything put into place. Then I’ll realize that I need even more crap because stuff that fills up a one-bedroom apartment isn’t entirely enough for a house.

Maybe it’s the romance of owning your own living space for the first time but I can’t help smirking to myself as I walk around in the house with the thought, how cool is this. My own garage door opener. My own garage! Refrigerator. Mine. Driveway. Mine. Backyard full of trees. Mine. Not so much the trees, but space in front of them. And since this is my very first house, I’m going to relish everything for as long as I can. Well, until the bills come in.

So ladies and gentlemen, I humbly submit the crowning achievement to the one hundred and ninety-three days of excitement and anxiety (here are the house pics). If you want to see more… well, you’ll just have to visit. And for giggles, you can view my blog entries on the entire process from day one in the archive.

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