i just gained one level of geek

i'm writing this post on my company laptop while sitting on my couch. setting up the wireless router was more of a pain than it should have been, but the root cause of my frustration seemed to be my inability to actually wait the 3 minutes required for the dhcp addresses to be assigned. if i hadn't gotten an email in the middle of a tech support call that was technically impossible for me to recieve, i'd still be haning upside down from my ceiling shouting curses to acient gods of times forgotten.

today marks one week of the the new couch, and i must say that the couch didn't turn out to be for me at all. the cat has laid a claim to the couch and he seems prepared to defend his right to the couch though pretty much any means. anyone that knows my cat understands the gravity of such a situtation. he is a very nice animal when he wishes to be, but white cat is one furball not to be triffled with.

last night, i had 2 very odd conversations. one was with some random guy that swore he knew me from somewhere. he turned out to be interesting enough, but that didn't drop the awkwardness. the second was at wal-mart last night, when i was getting the modem. i had a chat with some chick that i swear i know from somewhere. i have her narrowed down to 1 of 3, the problem being that the most likely of the 3 (from trying to get a visual match) is the least likely to have been able to identify me. i could tell that she definately knew who i was. so this is confusing enough. i should have just gotten drunk.

today, my quest is to find pajamas. insert your own joke here. then bite me.

i just realized that i haven't given a work update in a little while. it's going well. it's a sink or swim type place, in my first project, i'm working with a few things i've never really used a lot before, such as: jsps, javabeans, ldap, xml, xslt, javascript, and a pear tree. i like pears. in just over a week i'll be boarding an airplane heading to d.c. for training. this will be a hoot. in three days i get my first paycheck. that shout of joy that you hear will be me looking at it and being happy that i can pay my bills.

currently, my cat is sititng on the back of his couch. i look over at the table, and note a stuffed animal of a ferret. the reason i'm bothering to write this is that the two are in the same pose. i don't know who started it.

cruise control though slightly bumpy

at least for the last week. things have been going foreward at that predictable pace that makes you wonder if you are moving at all. i'm settleing into my new job nicely. i guess it was about time that i grew up a bit in the first place. i didn't want to. i still don't. but such is life.

i'm currently taking a break from my current task to try to mix it up a bit at work (and diversify). so they are having me write a developer's guide for a process that i've never actually used myself. up to this point, i wasn't ever sure if i had a limit or not. i'm starting to get the feeling that these people are going to put me to as many tests as my willpower can possibly handle. i don't take failure easily, and i'd rather go mad than give in. so the game is afoot.

to go back a bit in my own train of thought... i'm comming to a few disturbing conclusions. first of all, i'm not getting any younger. secondly, i've been given way too many extra chances from way too many of my friends, who have all been excessivly nice to me over the years. i'm not a serious person. it's a self defence mechanisim... but even that is hardly an excuse. i enjoy my fun, and i don't think there is anything wrong with that. i like the concept of both working hard and playing hard, and i feel it is a good policy since it doesn't leave anything on the table. but i get the feeling that i'm running out of chances, and it scares me. i like to gamble more than the average person, but i'd like to think i used the concept of mitigated risk. i'm quickly reaching the point that i simply don't want to put something on the table when i simply can't afford to lose it. i can't afford to allow myself to be bored... that would put me in far more dangerous of a situtation. perhaps i need to learn to control my idle thoughts. it would be a start, at the very least.

2006 should be a good year for most people i know. actually... all. the cards are simply too good. everyone i know is in a situtation to gain significantly in one way or another. as for myself, i see the path i must follow. i just hope that i have the courage and dicpline to both keep going and not stray.

wow... what a change in tone from my previous posts. sorry about that. if you are even still reading.

tomorrow, i shall breathe

on friday i don't have to wear a tie. and i won't. it's not that i don't like ties, i'd just rather take a break from them for a day. overall, it will take a bit of getting used to.

my new job is going rather smoothly, i'm already doing a bit of work on a project, writing some of the back end functinos to connect to a virtual directory and pull information out in a 'white pages' format. mmmm... jsps and java... how tasty.

after dancing through flaming hoops, i have all of my setup stuffs done in relation to working on the base. i have my id cards, car pass, and lan account. now i just need a company labtop so i can check company mail (and take it home... tee hee). the lan account was by far the most difficult thing to get. it required 3 pints of yak's blood.

i think i'm blending in nicely. everyone i work with is a sarcastic cynic, so my wit fits right in. i'm keeping my more insane aspects of my psyche in check for the time being, no need to scar them. it will come out in time, i'm sure.

in the beginning of february, i'm being sent to an orientation with booz allen in d.c., and might stay an extra week for training on the sun enterprize server (i think). if so, i shall take lots of pretty pictures of all sorts of things. but only if i stay 2 weeks, since i would only have the weekend free to sightsee. my cat is so going to hate me.

to begin again from the beginning

my first day was as can be expected... a fair amount of confusion, lots of papers to fill out, and a good deal of people to meet. overall, not too bad. at least i found out that the coats are not required (just useful when it is cold out). also, when summer rolls around, the ties come off (again, very nice). it will be a chore to get aclimated to a new batch of people... after 4 years, a fair number of the people at anteon could only barely tolerate me. we will see how this one goes. i will keep all updated.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Goodbye

not to you dear reader. the title is directed at my place of employment, which will no longer be so in about 5 more hours. being my last day, things feel very surreal, like i'm floating or something. the anticipation and nervousness is already building for my next job, which kicks up after the weekend. i don't know if this is frying pan -> fire material yet, but i'll be sure to keep everyone informed. i am looking foreward to both oppertunity and change. as i tell a friend of mine too often, 'no guts no glory' and 'fortune goes to the bold'. i guess it's time for me to put up or shut up.

i like debates...

this one is interesting... David Letterman v/s Bill O'Reilly:

http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/01/04/letterman-to-oreilly-60-of-what-you-say-is-crap/

there is a link to the video clip at the bottom of the page (before the comments start).

welcome to the year of the dog

for those of you born this year:

The Dog will never let you down. Born under this sign you are honest, and faithful to those you love. You are plagued by constant worry, a sharp tongue, and a tendency to be a fault finder, however. You would make an excellent businessman, activist, teacher, or secret agent.

however, if you are born this year, and are reading this... wow. anyways, may you wag the year of the dog, and it not wag you.

to catch up over the last week:

new years was good. i saw some of my friends that i only seem to see on a yearly basis. but we are still friends nonetheless, so all is well. drank a lot and had a lot of fun.

now things seem to be in a race to next monday... when my new job starts. i'm trying my best to tie up as many loose ends as possible at work right now, and get things orginized so i can take as much personal data home with me as possible. i'll package things up as best as i can over the next day or so and see what happens. i have a fair amount of books i need to get out of here as well. this is going to be complicated.

i've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how i'm going to handle my finances once things get up and rolling. the next few weeks are going to be rough, since i know it may not be till the end of this month that i see another paycheck. all of my bills can float for the time being, so atleast i'll be able to eat. i have a few hundred comming from my current job still, so things are atleast bearable. anyways, my priorities seem to be the following (once cashflow is re-established):
1. get out of debt
2. washer and dryer
3. elipitical machine
4. sound system for living room
5. plasma or lcd tv
6. ps3

of course, 1 will be continuous, but i refuse to let it take a back seat. and i will be getting new clothes the entire time, probably 2 shirts or 2 ties or a pair of slacks every paycheck (depending on need).

i just hope i don't fuck this all up.