n8te13

Just thoughts

2008-07-13T21:37:03Z

Been a while since I've posted here. But you know this is the place where I can get personal for some reason.
Well, Val has been up in Seattle this weekend and it really sucks. I don't like being by myself and with a few of my friends having recently moved back up north it is kinda lonely down here.

So I quit playing WoW a few months ago and that actually was a big portion of how I stayed in contact with a few people I really enjoyed. I have been thinking about playing again just to chat. Today I was really productive and I got a blog written (two now hehe) over at endithinks.wordpress.com. I also worked out twice, once at the gym and once at Dance Dance Revolution. It is really funny how I like to double work out on some days. It gives a nice rounded feel to the day actually.

So anyway I'm going to really start looking for work in the Seattle area. I have a feeling that this next 6 month lease down here will be our last. I don't know. I like it in Portland, but Seattle is where I want to end up. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Cinco De Mayo

2008-05-04T03:15:38Z

Just had to spread the knowledge about Cinco De Mayo. This website has a nice summary to it. :) Go History!!!!

Huck-a-bee-getting-some-major-boosting!

2007-12-20T04:09:06Z

So we all know the news about Huckabee's rocket like uh...rocket to the top of the Dumb and Dumberer Republican presidential candidates.
Yes what we need in this country is more religion let me tell ya. We need a preacher man.

No World for Tomorrow

2007-10-24T16:00:24Z

Okay so the other day I was feeling a bit down and now I'm better! Yahoo and celebrations will now commence.
I've been really content with my work lately. The new job is really nice and I think that I am actually making a difference. It is a good feeling that because of the work that we are doing together some people may be making positive changes in their life.

It is good to see that people are still alive out there in livejournal land too! Hehe
ZOMG the new Coheed and Cambria album is out today! No World for Tomorrow

Feeling Melancholy

2007-10-23T03:46:48Z

Have you ever just felt that since of Melancholy and you don't know where it came from?
I'm feeling that right about now and I don't know and don't really want to do anything about it.
Heroes is on in a few minutes and that will probably pull me out of it, but I don't really know where it started.

We just got back from working out and I slightly pulled a calf. Leg, not bovine, and I think that that is not helping the situation either.
Oh well. /complain off.

Stuff and Stuff

2007-10-06T04:30:15Z

So I've been really into using my professional blog (endithinks.wordpress.com) and I must say that it is nice to have a forum that actually has people responding and reading.

Tonight we caught up on Desperate Housewives (Thanks Derek for introducing me to that show!) and we drank some pumpkin seasonal beer. Yum.

I'm getting an Oregon Driver's License tomorrow and I hope that it won't be a hassle. I really don't want to have to parallel park again....

Hooray

2007-09-17T00:18:39Z

So,

Tomorow I start a new position at work. I'm moving on up baby!
I'm pretty excited and it is a good opportunity to see if Teaching is what I really want to do.
I have no medical skills beyond CPR, so I'm not teaching anything that involves a scalpel, diastollic pressure or sexy nurses. I'm gonna be teaching Professional Development.

I'm actually pretty suited for it and I already have the weeks activities and dittos (yes I meant to say dittos!) all ready to go. The only problem is that the classes are 3 hours long. When I student taught the classes were 2 hours, so that is gonna be a little stretch of my vocal chords. I mean I am a really quiet person who hardly ever talks so it will be a challenge to get in front of people and blab.

Anyway, I will try to touch bases here on livejournal more often. :)
If you want to see my "professional" blog go to endithinks.wordpress.com

Okay I'm out!

Ikea Blues

2007-08-06T03:50:20Z

So I went to IKEA this Saturday and lo and behold the place was packed. I loved it, however, i was never able to get what I went there for in the first place a desk! I really like this one and they were out of stock. So I hung my head went oh well and then bought some other stuff I didn't need. :)

n8te13 @ 2007-07-23T23:19:00

2007-07-24T06:14:31Z

Monitor woes.

My monitor is starting to die. Yesterday during a routine playing of WoW my monitor began to flicker and bubble sending smoke and pink elephants flying through my head. I was upset and depressed as I had not planned on making a major purchase for a while so that we could finally get a puppy. But that is how life works. I can’t not have a working computer too much of myself is on it.

So I went to Neweff.com and ordered a monitor. It should be here this week. I just hope my monitor holds out until then. I would really be miserable if I didn’t have access this week.

So I’ve been thinking about how much time I spend on a computer and I must say it is pretty disconcerting, but not daunting.

At work I spend the majority of my time sitting behind a computer screen whether sorting, making lists, researching, writing blogs (hi I’m at work!) or IMing with co workers. I spend about eight hours a day and then come home and spend at least two more. So my typing skills have been improving that’s for sure, but I wonder if that is healthy to have that much time staring at a flat electronic field.

On a completely unrelated note I have to put up some words about the situation that is going on in the government.

I wont get into details now because I want to be really detail orientated when I dedicate whole blogs to this travesty that is occurring. Firstly, the law of the land is being broken by those in power and there is no consequence. We are a nation that is under the rule of law not the rule of people in theory. The rule of law is the main reason we have been so successful in this world as a nation. Other nations have corruption on a massive scale that we would find repugnant due to our almost instinctual shunning of graft for grafts sake.

The country is not ideal there are still crimes being commited in our names by our “elected” officials. The war in Iraq is the most blatant deviation from what we want as a whole, yet it still continues. No one has the guts to say to his face “What are you smoking?” That is all it would take. He would wake up from his demented dream and see how much of an asshat he has been since basically the day he entered public service. (I consider the number of killings he has done as proof of asshatery. Not the war killings only, also the record number of people he killed as governor of Texas.) Then he would call off the troops unfortunately Iraq would enter a further civil war than it already is in, but that is a direct result of our interference in the first place.

The amount of Iraqi civilians that have perished is in the tens of thousands depending on the sources you site. That amount is attrocius and for that alone we should be in storming the capitol with flaming pitch forks. The fact that we have also lost nearly 3300 soldiers (at the time of this writing) should point us to the fact that this war is for nothing.

The other day I saw an article that was talking about our flexing over Pakistan.

We have allowed this “protection” of the American people to become the foundation of any number of injustices that we inflict on ourselves and others. Our way of life is being destroyed not by bombs and chemical warfare terrorist attacks, but by the very defenses we are taking to combat these instances. We are losing this war. We as a people are losing our hearts from fear.

n8te13 @ 2007-07-23T23:19:00

2007-07-24T06:13:39Z

Lunchtime

So today was a pretty nice day outside with the sun boiling us alive. Don’t get me wrong I love me some boiling. So anyway I packed a huge lunch today with the leftovers of spaghetti, veggie mini corn dogs, a lemon square (purchased), a large multi vegetable salad with low fat ranch dressing, a protein Oddwalla drink, a bottle of water, and a cereal bar. It was made all the more enjoyable by the company. I went with a colleague to New Seasons grocery for the shopping and it was fun because the drive took longer than my usual walking. Traffic, stop lights, idiots pulling ewewies in intersections and steaming parking lots all lead up to the duration.

It has been a good last few days. I’m getting more familiar with my colleagues and that leads to better productivity, more entertainment and lasting happiness.

On a related note, I want to throw out a few things I’ve noticed about job satisfaction.

Most people who are really happy in their line of work are happy because of three main factors: pay, attractiveness to the work itself, and friendly co-working relationships.

These three factors are not equally stacked in most people. People stack them based on their own personal judgments about what matters.

Anyone who knows me knows that the last of the three is probably tied for importance with the second one. In fact the working relationships can actually keep me in a bad situation ala La Petite. I stayed at that particular location for way too long. It was not a very healthy place for me, but because I had developed a good working relationship with a few of the employees who were there through the storm with me I stayed in a bad situation that wasn’t healthy for me. It was a spiritual wasteland.

So, this place is forcing me to do some things I haven’t done in a while and that is be by myself.

I haven’t had an extended period of pseudo isolation in a while. The library is a place that is quiet all the time (much to my chagrin) and because of the way the classes are set up here in blocked out periods of time there are times when the library is utterly empty. I busy myself with research into teaching techniques, studying skills, librarianship, the peer tutoring program, and other things, but my interaction with students is relatively low (much to my chagrin yet again). I really hope that by stepping up my cooperation with the student services that I will put my face out there. I ever realized how much prejudice against “librarians” there was. Sometimes people slink into the Library with their necks down shoulders hunched and plastered smiles on their faces asking if they could use a computer. If they had tails they would be tucked between their legs. I always try to be super nice and smile, but I’m up against a legacy of shushing and ego.

Another thing that I have really started to notice again in a personal way is the amount of retraining and effort someone from outside this country has to go through in order to make it.

Take for example a gentleman who came into the library looking for help on his resume. This man was in his early forties and had emigrated from Pakistan about ten years ago. He had a degree from a university in some sort of advanced science and he was a graduate from Cambridge in the Medical Assistant program.

He had been working the last ten years in various odd jobs and part time work since for some reason (racial, linguistic?) he could not gain a step into his area of expertise in all his years. The closest he came was as a care giver in a nursing home (the type of place that wants a high school diploma or a GED).

This man was obviously smart and talented but for some unforeseen reasons (see above) he was denied the chance to flourish.

Now first of all, there is nothing wrong with being a Medical Assistant. They make good wages and are an integral part of any healthcare facility. They are irreplaceable and needed. However, with his educational background he should have been able to fin something that was much more prestigious.

Another example of a person from overseas being discriminated against came in this morning. She had a university degree from the Iran State school in Tehran. She had a degree in English and had just now graduated from the Dental Assisting program. Once again see above. I’m not trying to disparage the assisting health care profession, after al what am I doing right now but being an assistant of sorts, but the fact of the matter is that she had to take a step back from what she is qualified to do.

I wonder how many times this happens in this country? Is it strictly a Middle Eastern/ African/Latino thing? Or do folks from Europe/Russia have to deal with the same type of prejudice when it comes to higher education?

Lunchtime

2007-07-14T01:38:32Z

Lunchtime

It has been a good last few days. I’m getting more familiar with my colleagues and that leads to better productivity, more entertainment and lasting happiness.

On a related note, I want to throw out a few things I’ve noticed about job satisfaction.

Most people who are really happy in their line of work are happy because of three main factors: pay, attractiveness to the work itself, and friendly co-working relationships.

These three factors are not equally stacked in most people. People stack them based on their own personal judgments about what matters.

So, this place is forcing me to do some things I haven’t done in a while and that is be by myself.

Another thing that I have really started to notice again in a personal way is the amount of retraining and effort someone from outside this country has to go through in order to make it.

This man was obviously smart and talented but for some unforeseen reasons (see above) he was denied the chance to flourish.

Virtual Touch

2007-06-13T04:37:49Z

Hereby all ye who read this,
know that you are loved and you are light,
from above to below,
air in and feelings out,
expressed as one together whenever we are apart,
one another,
under the sun.

On deficiencies

2007-05-23T04:31:44Z

I'm starting to be real concerned over my health again. Lately the phantom of my leg ache has started to resurface and it is getting a bit scary. I have to change my eating habits to habitual and not slamming protein shakes and Bandaids like I have been doing in the past.

So my new job is pretty cool and the potential in it is really high, but I'm not there yet. I'm still in "research" mode eighty percent of the time and that makes me feel like they are not getting their moneys worth out of me. Now everyone there thinks I'm doing a great job and pacing well and all that; it is something that I feel about myself. I'm a hard worker and when the job is not evident in the full eight hours that I am working I feel like a slacker even if I haven't gone to any websites that didn't have reasonable application to my work. I've done well in that aspect.

However, I'm not sure how much longer that is going to last. The allure of the net is so tempting and my internet button calls to me at work to go check my livejournal, or go check out some web-comics or what have you. I haven't and I know I won't since all the stuff I do is trackable, but damn it I need more interaction than what I'm getting so far.

Anyway enough complaining. I'm picking up my final paycheck from Starbucks some time this week and I should be getting paid this Friday. That is going to be huge. More later. I will try to post at least a few times a week here. I'm a bit more active on myspace for some reason.

Today is the First day

2007-04-25T05:02:32Z

So I just put in my notice at my job at Starbucks.
No I'm not crazy; I actually have another job waiting for me. It is that job that I applied for a while back and due to corporations and bureacracies the time of application and acceptance was considerably longer than I thought it would be.
So it is with great joy and a twinge of melancholy that I go to this new job. I know it is the right thing for me to do, but I hate quitting jobs. I always feel like I'm leaving the others hanging, like I'm letting them down.

Anyway I start on the seventh of May and I must say this should do a lot to ease some of the financial and spiritual issues I've been having lately. I will be able to contribute to the experiment of living with Val in the financial sack (hehe) and I won't feel like I'm doing a fun, yet not spiritually rewarding job. This new job will be part bookkeeper, part counselor, part tutor and part motivational speaker. I think that I have the chutzpah to pull all those tasks off. I'm looking forward to it.

Too much myspace bloggin :)

2007-04-13T19:25:50Z

I feel that I have been a non entity on this site so I will now post a blog! Yippee and salutations to all.

Okay today's topic is one of my main hated ones...money. I lack it. I have big bills coming up in two weeks and I have to pay taxes this year (grrrrr I need to start keeping receipts of my donations!) and I have one month of rent to pay up north.

So I have been working at Starbucks for the past two weeks, but due to their payment cycle, yeah haven't received any pay yet. So I'm stressing a little about how I am going to afford my bills.

Ugh. Anyway enough about that bs. Val and I are still looking for a pet and I think we will get one around when summer starts. I'm looking forward to it.

Okay i have to go eat and then off to work.

Ciao!

Looking for a .....cat

2007-04-01T02:29:24Z

Val and I want a cat. We have been looking at different animal shelters around the interweb and in actual person! We met this cat that we really liked, but it wasn't a good match for the type of cat we are looking for.

We need a cat that is nice, sweet, and cuddly. We need one that will be chill and non aggressive. So we are having a tough time finding one. Another snag in the plan is that the start up cost of getting a companion is going to be pretty high. For instance the apartment we live at now has a 300 dollar non refundable pet deposit as well as a 200 refundable deposit and a monthly pet fee. That is ridiculous and annoying, but it is a price we are willing to pay.

I start work on Monday at Starbucks and I am so excited about that! Yay! Being unemployed is a dish I do not want to be served again. Anyway I'm out more later if I feel the need.

/emo addendum

2007-03-26T23:57:38Z

So I just wrote a "poor me" entry on myspace and now I feel the need to write a few more additional topics of note.
But I don't want to. I just want to do something for a while. I'm going to go write my story for the contest I'm entering. More later if the mood strikes me.

Needed to post this :)

2007-03-19T05:59:03Z

http://superdickery.com/seduction/3.htm

Yeah My mad linking skillz are down. So just copy and paste :P

ZugZug

2007-03-15T14:48:28Z

Yesterday afternoon I got two calls for potential jobs.
One of them was with an organization called ACORN which is a residential empowerment non profit organization. The other call was from a different chapter of the Banfield pet hospital.

ACORN is a great organization and the work they do is really important, but I do not want to be that guy again. Their work is all about grass roots ala knocking on people's doors and trying to get them involved in their community. I would be Mr. Freeze there is no warming up process its just knock and go! I've done the street campaigner thing before and I lasted one week before I realized it wasn't for me. I quit after five days, the shortest employment I had ever had. Standing on the street and stopping people was hard enough and made me ashamed that I was bothering people when they had things to do. This job would take that annoyance factor to a higher level. Ding! I'm in your base annoying your spouse. No thank you Mr. Squirrel you can take that job and bury it.

The banfield job is actually really cool, unfortuanately it will not be paying much. Benefits are included such as dental, health, 401k and whatnot even eyes, but the pay rate is on the similiar scale to La Petite. Ugh. I have an interview today and I'm going and I may still take it for now. I need a position and getting an in to someplace in this area would be good for me I believe.

So today is laundry day! Hooray! Gonna go grab some Washingtons and get my washing on! Anyway more later.

Daylight Savings Crime!

2007-03-13T06:56:59Z

So what's worse than Y2K? I give you daylight savings time! Businesses around the country were hampered in their efforts today to reestablish programs such as Microsoft Outlook and other spreadsheet type programs.
The problem was the daylight savings push up. I like to call it Spring Forward Now Biatch*s! The government pushed up the daylight savings by three weeks and our computers who can calculate hyperspace jumps from here to Andromeda couldn't figure out how to push the time forward by sixty minutes.

Anyway more to come tomorrow morning. Sleepy time it be.

Riding the Writing Wave of Consumer Based Services

2007-03-11T22:19:38Z

I've been looking at the technical writing market. I am in Portland the land of Intel and Nike and numerous other companies that specialize in technically charged writing and products. The last few days I've been looking at the technical side of writing and how I may fit in to that side of the creative process. I am doing research on the effectiveness and efficacy of said writing and reading reading reading.

I've been researching using Cnet.com, digg.com and various other techinical sites such as Intel and the like. It is a good living being a technical writer. I would be doing research and giving my thoughts and the specifics of said research.

I have a busy day tomorrow. I have a few companies that I have applied to that I need to call and start harassing in order to get the nod.

In other unrelated news I put together the coffee table today. Ikea makes it so simple. It is a nice looking coffee table and the house is really starting to look like a place of residence thanks to Val's stellar efforts to put things away, organize and clean. She is really talented. I cleaned the bathroom :) I'm contributing as much as I can to the house and the relationship without the use of money. It is a real challenge let me tell ya. There are so many things that I want to do and the cost of them is keeping me down. I always have to think about where the spending is coming from and that is a process that just invites stress. Stress and I have a very intimate relationship. He comes over for drinks and a movie almost every day. Friends are talking, people are talking, talking about people. The rumors are flying around, the grape vine hasn't seen this much action since Jesus stole their monopoly on wine production.

That being said, I have really enjoyed my time with Val. We are getting along great and we are having fun and becoming closer than ever before. I really love her and when I have a job, a career that I can be proud of I will be able to show her even more of me. Anyway I'm off to buy a vacuum cleaner. I will write more later maybe. Lately I've been using myspace to blog as I have a larger list of readers there. :)

Making a Wave

2007-03-08T08:23:22Z

My hands hurt. I've been on this computer too much today. I need to take a break but almost every form of entertainment and informational gathering is derived from this non moving box. So what am I supposed to do when the only way to be connected is through this machine, and my fingers hurt.

I'm actually complaining for no reason. I' just sleepy and tired. Anyway on to the news.

Today I made a stew in the rice cooker that was really yummy. I took two cups of rice, a can of minestrone soup, and some frozen mixed veggies and threw them all into the rice cooker. I then let it cook while I did something completely unrelated. Then after about 40 minutes the stew was done. I garnished it with pepper, soy sauce and a hint of parmesan cheese. It tasted very very good. So I put the rest in the fridge and Val and I had it for dinner along with some veggie bites.

I'm really enjoying living with Val. It is nice to see her everyday and spend time with here. When I am working it will be back to the seperating a bit since the job I'm most likely going to take involves an hour commute. So I may be the one getting home late as it was before. That isn't cool, but I need to work.

I'm feeling like I should have gone to bed earlier and I'm feeling like I'm happy. That is a nice feeling. Anyway, I will write tomorrow when I'm not dead tired.

A good luck Charm

2007-03-06T06:45:14Z

I am going to recite a spell that I am making up. I will make it a blessing usuable by all. (Be prepared for poor rhymes as all spells must rhyme don't you know)

Goodenesia
Joy and luck will follow well,
a touch of light, a truth to tell,
riches be gone, but goodness abounds,
imbibe in tea and have luck of three,
a shower of extra long and the clouds will flee,
Repeat this thrice:Goodenesia! Alight burn Bright!
and your wish will be true in three minutes of ten.

Now that I've got the silliness out it if time for a serious entry. Let's see. Oh everyone check your finances. Some idiot hacked into a friend of mine's bank account and messed around with their credit cards. It was corrected but be careful with your records. A shredder is a good investment. I am no fear monger, but it is good to be prepared.

Oh and taxes are coming up fast. Get those done ahead of time and you can relax. :) Maybe I will actually do them this year.
Anyway more later. :)

That spell works btw I just saved 100 percent on my car insurance with it!

Bookshelves and Broomsticks

2007-03-05T06:32:35Z

Today we got ourselves the two bookshelves that will house most of Val and I's books. We have quite a bit and that I think is a great sign! I love to read and it is good to see old friends out from the boxes and standing tall again.

So we have organized the bookshelves thematically and the genre with the most books? Classics! Woohoo we are total liternerds!

So a list is in order. :P It is time for the Classics list with comments of the works included. Be prepared to be stunned.

Huck Finn--Twain
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maitenance--Pirsig
Last of the Mohicans--Cooper
Great Expectations--Dickens
Portrait of a Lady--James
Heart of Darkness--Conrad
Light in August--Falkner
Count of Monte Cristo--Dumas
Lord of the Rings--Tolkien
Chronicles of Narnia--Lewis
Complete works of Shakespeare
Angela's Ashes--McCourt
Democracy in America--Tocqueville
Grapes of Wrath--Steinback
Bless me Ultima--Anaya
On War--Clausewitz
Fountainhead--Rand
War and Peace--Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment--Dostoyevsky
The Prince--Machiavelli

That is not the complete list. However these titles are amazing reads. I highly recommend any of them.
Okay I'm tired now, I am going to play for a bit then off to bed. Peace Foos!

One Week since you looked at me.

2007-03-03T18:48:25Z

It has been one week since the move to Portland. I am still loving it and I have another interview this Tuesday with a pet hospital! I'm so excited about it I think I would be a fantastic pet nurse. I hope I get to wear those oh so sexy nursing uniforms. :P

Today is a day of buying more things for the house. We are going to a outlet mall for dishes, pots , pans and hopefully buy some food so we can start cooking and stop eating out everyday. I miss cooking. I can't wait to start preparing food for us with my own hands. There is something so fullfiling about feeding the one you love through your own labor and devices.

Last night we went and got some snowcap and rented Desperate Housewives. We burned through the entire DVD in one sitting. I love that show although I avoided it like the taxman for years. It is really good, the writing is actually clever and witty. And the attractive people don't hurt either.

Anyway more later. I'm about to clean up a bit and then head out shopping.