Fear the Crab

I’ve been using my bicycle more and more, and have made a couple of journeys of over 12 miles (one way). It takes me approximately an hour and a half to get from my house to the uni.

Speaking of the uni, I seem to be on the cusp of acquiring a full-time job there. I applied and interviewed for a programming job in my old department, and was “recommended for the position.” Apparently, the department staff submits their recommendation for the job to the Board of Regents, who then approves the hire. Since the position I applied for isn’t considered a very important one (to the BoR anyway), Human Resources will make the decision on their behalf.

Everyone tells me this is just a formality, and I’ve pretty much got the job. I don’t like claiming something that’s not true, though, so based on a technicality I really don’t have the job. Who knows? Maybe one of the HR staffers’ daughter’s heart was broken because of me.

I hope to get the job. It’s in the field I studied for, and in the department I used to work for, and it pays me more than any other job I’ve ever had. Plus, it will let me ride my bike on more frequent long-distance journeys.

Anyway, I have peach cobbler, so I’m happy.

Worship the power of bulleted lists!

• Graduated with degree in computer science
• Looking for job
• Continuing to work part-time for dental lab
• Started using a bicycle to get around

Out of all that, I think the bicycle thing is the most exciting. I mean, graduating is fine and good and all things pleasant, yes. The diploma looks nice, too.

But not as nice as my bike!

So far I’ve just been pedaling to and from work, to and from Maile’s house, which is only an area of roughly 4 miles between everything. Already I’ve had two flats, one in each tire. So far things have been good, and I’m able to take the hill up to my house with relative ease (at the lowest gear, of course).

The real challenge will come on Friday, when I will journey far and beyond my norm and head to Ala Moana during morning rush hour. I will brave the traffic congestion of cars, the broken sidewalks, the throngs of bus stops, and the poorly-timed traffic signals, just to get a haircut.

According to MapQuest, the distance is approximately 12 miles. MapQuest also says that the total driving time is 18 minutes, which is correct if one is driving at 3 in the morning and is lucky enough to catch all the green lights. I figure it should take me about 2 hours, give or take 15 minutes, for me to traverse that distance. I’ll probably leave the house 3 hours before my appointment to account for red lights, pedestrians, and minor equipment malfunctions.

Hopefully I’ll survive.

I will never again say that someone in a shit job needs to just go and find another job. Someone in my online class posted that kind of response on the discussion board as we went over the trend towards outsourcing and problems with companies like Wal*Mart. The person who wrote that statement is young, and pursuing a first degree, so it’s a bit understandable to have that perspective. Maybe in ten more years this person will understand a bit more.

This is what I wrote in response:

It’s not that easy to just up and leave one’s job. Maybe because of youth, we feel we have endless possibilities ahead of us. Yet different circumstances apply to different people. A student fresh out of high school may not warrant a high income, but for some the extra income is necessary. I know of people that have had to work full-time in order to afford attending schools like LCC or KCC. They had the crap jobs, they were abused and taken advantage of, but if they didn’t work they couldn’t go to school and wouldn’t get that oh-so-important bachelors.

We continue to think of the US as a land of opportunity, but the freedom to change things often requires a solid support system in back of us, whether it be financially, or emotionally with a strong family. Some people don’t have access to that kind of luxury, and must deal with the lot they’re dealt here and now. One of my best friends lost his parents (one to a murder-robbery), his relatives are unable (or unwilling) to support him, and he is now responsible for paying a mortgage. He can’t afford to attend a community college; he can’t afford to even buy a car. He works in retail, as a waiter, and for a time as a delivery driver just to make ends meet. To deprive him, and others, of at least a fighting chance is hypocritical and callous.

I used to feel that if someone didn’t like their job, they should quit and find another. I was fresh out of college when I thought that. 7 years working in retail taught me just how shallow my perceptions were. I was able to get out because I had support. My friend is still working there. I try to help him out when I can, but there’s only so much that I can, or should, do. Of course, going further into that delves into a different topic (you know, the whole man and fish adage).

Still, it’s something to think about. The next time you see your waiter, say please and thank you. The next time you see the stockboy or sales clerk, say please and thank you. Don’t think that because they’re miserable with their job that they’re just lazy they haven’t found anything else. If anything, you’re the one that made them miserable. Going further into that delves into a different topic (you know, the whole unto and other adage).

For more, visit Waiter Rant. Much credit goes to this writer for forming the words to the concepts many of us can’t seem to express. I know this writer has opened my eyes to a much wider perspective; even though it was always in me, these writings brought it into focus.

The last couple of weeks have been a fucking hell. Not just any kind of hell, a fucking hell, with no protection. And it was all my fault, so that’s why I’m bitter, because I could have prevented it had I exercised a bit more caution, or more appropriately, anal retentiveness.

First it was discovered at the end of March that I had misplaced all my W-2s for the 2003 work year, plus the Form 1099-INTs that the banks send out with all the interest accumulated. I don’t know how I misplaced it, all I know is that it was all together with the Federal 1040 forms and then it disappeared. It used to be on the dining room table, but then my dad says he told me to take it back and hold onto it until he was ready to process them. Unfortunately, I don’t remember if I did take it back or if I left it on the table. So I turn my room inside out, looking through stacks of loose papers and books and other knick-knacks. I look through my old files, my old folders, the closet, my brother’s room, his closet, all the folders and files and books and binders and shelves and even under the bed. Nada.

So I had to do the next best thing. I had to call up all my employers and ask for copies of W-2s. The Office and The Lab were pretty easy, since it seems I’m not the first to lose a W-2, so they had copies readily available. DFS was a bit more stressful, because I had to call the main office in San Francisco to request a W-2, only to discover that I needed to fax my request in. So I had to wait. I didn’t know how long it would take, so I began preparations to file for an extension.

While this was happening, my laptop died. I mean it died. The hard drive failed, I think for a possible number of reasons. I’d been using the laptop every day for the past 2 years, so perhaps it was its time. Laptops are notorious for placing hard drives next to CPUs, so perhaps the high heat output negatively affected the disks. I was downloading and installing Visual Studio .NET (a legitimate copy from school), and I had forgotten to defragment my hard drive prior to that, so perhaps the disk wrote into some bad sectors, and upon boot it failed to read. So many reasons, or perhaps all of them, contributed to my laptop dying.

Ordinarily it wouldn’t be too bad. Unfortunately, the laptop crash occured at a crucial moment in my school life. I use my laptop to do my assignments, where I download applicable software to run my programming assignments. The crash meant that I no longer had a computer to program, and I wasn’t about to try to dload and possibly corrupt my desktop. So I had to scramble around trying to find someone else who either had the software I was using, or was willing to let me install it temporarily.

Needless to say, it’s been a stressful two weeks.

However, at the end of the two weeks, things worked out. The W-2s came in fast, allowing me to file in time and avoid having to submit an extension. Getting a new hard drive was simple, I just had to go to ByteWare and buy one. My professor offered his computer for me to test my programs on, so that went well.

Repairing my computer was a trial. It was the first time I had ever done something to a computer that involved the hard drive, so I didn’t know what to expect. Taking out the old hard drive was deceptively simple, so simple that at first I was trying to do it the hard way. I tried to remove the disks through the keyboard, when in fact all I had to do was open up a side panel and slide the carriage out. Pop the new disk in, and prepare to partition, format and install the OS.

Partitioning was easy. Formatting was easy, albeit long. But installing the OS was tedious. I heard from a reputable source that I couldn’t use my recovery CD that I got from Dell that came with the laptop. So I pulled a copy of WinXP from one of my friends, used the product key, and installed the OS. Then of course, I had to install all the patches, especially Service Pack 1. But after I downloaded it from the update site, it told me that the product key I had was invalid. Apparently MS put in checks to ensure that only legal copies can update their software, by comparing the product key to a known list of copies or pirated versions. So this meant I had a working copy of XP pro, but I couldn’t install any of the security patches needed to cover up the many holes.

I then discovered that my “reputable source” was an idiot. My recovery CD has a legal copy of WinXP Pro specifically for my laptop, and restores it to factory specs. I didn’t even have to enter the product key. But I had to delete the partition, reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS. I had to do this three times. The first time, I saw the message about the bad key. The second time, I figured maybe I entered the key wrong, so I reinstalled, and that didn’t work. The third time was the final, after my enlightenment by more wizened members of the computer community.

Updates were a cinch, although long, since I had a lot to catch up on. I also didn’t want to install them all at once, because sometimes that has nasty side effects. So I was downloading them one by one, installing each after I got them, and rebooting my computer. Took forever. I spent the whole day getting my laptop back on track.

And then I had to reinstall all the programs and files that I had accumulated over the past 2 years. This was a bit easy, and I cannot stress the importance of regular backups. Had I not saved many of my files to CD, I’d be lost. I suppose if there’s nothing important on the computer, backups aren’t necessary. Like I said, though, I use my laptop for my assignments, and I’ve started to make it a practice to save each one to disk for later retrieval, or as it so happened, in the event of a hard drive head crash. Even on my desktop, I’ve saved photos of friends, stuff that I wrote, even certain legal downloaded applications like ZoneAlarm and virus scanners (only because it’s a bitch to search the web to find them again). I’ve thought about saving stuff like the web pages I created, but if RoadRunner’s servers ever crash, it might be an opportunity to simply remake my web page from scratch. I don’t know. Jury’s still out on that one.

Anyway, I just finished getting my laptop back to “normal” level. It’s not quite the same as when I first got it, but that’s good, because after this reinstall, I only have the programs I want on there, not all the bundled software that usually comes out of the box. In fact, I should have done that for my desktop. It’s not too late to try, although it’d take a couple of days to backup current files and reformat/reinstall the discs. I need to check what reinstallation discs I have, though. Don’t want to start formatting and find out I don’t have that DVD player software anymore.

This morning I dreamt that I had a 10-inch fat centipede in my shoe, while my foot was still in it. I felt something inside, so I took my shoe off and emptied it, and this monster of a centipede fell out. It was dead, according to my dream, so I had no fear of being bit, but it was a disturbing sight and I felt very… uncomfortable. Chills and goosebumps, that sort of thing.

It’s been pointed out to me that I haven’t posted here in a long, LONG time. That’s what happens when Animal Crossing and school enter into one’s life.

Found out there have been some layoffs at DFS. None of my friends have been affected, but it’s a scary thought to think that they could be next. Everyone’s been hit hard, though, because their hours have been cut down to 20 a week. As far as my jobs are concerned, it’s been business as usual. I believe I’ve gotten into the groove of things at The Lab, because it’s taking less time for me to make my deliveries. At The Office I’m making progress on my intro project, so much so that I think I’m finished, well before the due date. However, there’s still so much I don’t quite understand, since it’s such new code that I think it works, but I don’t know why. There are a lot of aspects I haven’t even touched yet, either, judging by the looks of what else is out there. In the meantime, I’m doing some light work by helping clean up the list servers, flagging some to be deleted and others to be kept, depending on the owners’ requests. There are over 400 lists to go through, but I’m not the only one working on them.

I’m supposed to start my e-commerce classes from LCC, but the communication from the professor is kinda lacking. I managed to email him and get a reply, which allowed me to set myself up for instruction, but that was only yesterday. We’ll see how these one-month classes go.

I was offered the job as a student programmer, so I took it. I’m now going to resign from duty free, two weeks from Friday. It feels weird. There’s a funny sensation in my stomach, something like nervousness because it’s something new happening in my life. I’ll also be talking to Henry about a part-time position at his dental lab.

Never had many times in my life where there’s been a mix of emotion. There’s delight, because I’m entering a new field, one that I hope to continue after school. There’s nervousness, because I’m entering a new field, one that I’ve never worked in before. There’s also sadness, because I’ll be leaving some very good friends at duty free. I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities to see them later on, but they’re so much a part of my life that it’ll be very difficult when I leave.

It almost sounds like I’ll never see them again. But I know that’s not true.

I have to make some serious decisions. First is whether or not to drop my programming class. The work is do-able, but with my current job situation and the load from my math class, it’s getting kinda overwhelming. Perhaps if it were my sole class, I could tackle it with more enthusiasm, but the way it is now, I’m have difficulties. If I do drop 212, I’ll still have 241 to concentrate on, and since that class is online (and I know a few people I can study with), it shouldn’t be too bad.

The cons: It pushes back the completion of the ICS department considerably; It still means I have to take the class again; I won’t get my tuition money back; I’m a failure in the field I want to succeed in.

The pros: I’ll have more time to concentrate on 241; I can always take it next semester, and likely I’ll have more time to concentrate on it then; I might get better instruction (not to say the current instructor is bad); I won’t stress out so much.

The other problem is whether or not to quit DFS and try to get that student job in ITS that was offered to me. It’s a student job, meaning max 20 hours a week and no benefits, but it’s in the field I want to be in, so I figure that’ll be good for the experience. And as a backup, Maile asked Henry if he would be interested in offering me a part-time job at his dental lab. I’d be a courier for them, and possibly do some office/lab work, but the hours are more flexible than duty free, and I’ll be working part-time. I’ll also get medical and I think I can arrange a 401k with them.

Ideally the situation would be: Mon/Fri/Sat work at the lab from 0600 to 1200, Tue/Wed/Thu work on campus at that student job (don’t know what the hours will be yet, or even if I will get it). Those hours would give me lots of time to focus on my studies. Ideally.

I guess I can make a better decision after tomorrow. I have an interview with the student-job people.

The homework I’m getting is starting to feel a little overwhelming, especially the programming assignments. It feels like I’m in way over my head, and it stresses me out. Even the math sometimes gets to me. It’s almost like I’m the only one that can’t seem to get things going the way they’re supposed to, and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of this tunnel.

I probably get like this because I can’t do any of my work while I’m at work, and when I get home I can’t spend too much time on it because I have to sleep in order to get to work on time. The only opportunities I have to tackle these assignments is on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before class starts, pretty much only three days. And I can only get help from the TA on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I hate having to do all that work in only a few days, as it goes against my philosophy of trying to get things done as soon as possible. It’s very difficult.

I wish I could just take a vacation from work, just so I can concentrate on my studies. I really envy those who don’t have to work while going to school.

I’m slowly getting used to working a long shift. It’s only been one week since the store switched back to a 7-hour day, but after a year of 4-hour days, it sometimes feels so strange. I think what really helps me get through the day is the fact that I can talk with my friends.

Irene was thinking of returning to bangs for her hairstyle. I remember she used to have arcing bangs, if that’s how to describe them. I’ve never been good at describing hair. George mentioned today that his car is messy, and so he drove one that was “less messy.” Had some cute kids running amok in the store; it’s like a trip to the zoo.

After work I went over to Maile’s house, and we played Animal Crossing for a couple of hours. The game is a lot of fun, and it’s even better when you have other friends you can involve. There’s a lot more one can do when there are other towns to visit.

Today’s word(s):
Ineffable
Infalliable

It was another so-so day at work.

The day started out so well, too. Maile stopped by and dropped off some Xmas presents. I’m tempted to open one, but I know I shouldn’t. That just kills the whole spirit.

At work there were people to talk to, though it was still a long day and the end seemed so far away. I didn’t sell that much, but I don’t care because I’m not really a sales clerk. At least Min and Irene were working the same shift, so that made it better.

Tonight feels like another cold night. I wish I were at Maile’s house.