Category: Uncategorized

Well, adaptations are being made.

It’s actually turning out really well. It is sucking away my time like nobody’s business. I was given an excel assignment which could be done the easy but tedious way. I took it as a challenge to automate. I used visual basic for the first time. It is now far less tedious. I suspect I’ll also be finished with it faster than they expected. *pat self on back* But my skeptical wariness of the whole situation is fading. No, I don’t like the cube farm aspect, but it’s tolerable. It helps that the cube farm here involves smaller, more separated clusters, rather than the giant open prairie at motorola. It also helps that I’m not working and living in suburban hell. And, as much as I can tell from a day and a half of work distinctly unlike most of the work I’ll be doing, the works not too bad. My coworkers are reasonable and strike me as unlikely to vote for someone “because the other guy sounds boring.”

But it’s definitely not just a different job situation. I’ve changed significantly in the past 4 years. A little older, a little wiser, a little more worn. I’m more patient and less allergic to small talk. *shrug*

My poverty is on its way towards alleviation. Yay for mom mailing a check. Yay for living in a town where the mail gets to quickly. Yay for an atm that takes deposits for my bank within easy walking distance. Also, I have cash. Albeit, the cash is intended to cover my food and transportation monday, tuesday, and wednesday. Well, okay.

Oh yeah. I’m at le chateau d’ in DC for training that starts on monday. I have plans to check out the native american museum with my sister & brother-in-law tomorrow, visit pangea and size myself for vegan dress shoes that I’ll probably have to mail order. I think the training largely relates to writing standards at the gao, and an opportunity to meet my fellow interns as well as some headquarters staff.

ETA: It’s also the first time in a looong time that I’ve shaved for 4 consecutive days.

Well, more like tuesday, but, whatever. It turns out that one of my two fellow interns was my stats partner 1st semester. Neither one of us knew until we got in on Tuesday. =)

When my free month of WoW runs out, I almost certainly won’t have the money to pay for it. Even if I went with a one month renewal. Shit. Well, there’s a cure for mmorpg addiction. Jesus I’m a financial moron.

Would someone please put me up in dc (or the nearby area) on saturday and/or sunday evening? I ask no more than indoor floor space reachable by public transit (though I admit I’d certainly appreciate more ;).

Inspired by comments in an old entry by a new subscription

Not all private organizations are solely profit motivated. Some of the worst modern american for profit corporations fit your bill, but that’s hardly the be all and end all of private organizations. The ACLU, food not bombs, EFF, etc, are all private organizations.

Furthermore, alot of private businesses do not have a corporate motto of ‘damn compassion, profit or death.’ Particularly small businesses, family businesses, whatever. Sometimes people set up businesses to do what they love doing. I suspect a minority of corporations are the poluting, unsafe child labor using, political boundary rearranging bastards we all love to hate.

Government organizations are not inherently less efficient than market organizations. Particularly not when you consider the risks of monopolistic competition, barriers to entry, and externalities and every other market failure. The market being defined and its rules being enforced by the government, the government is a great source of efficiency.

This view of “Private organizations are greedy, evil bastards, but ruthlessly good at what they do, while public organizations are bureaucratic and inefficient, well-intentioned, but ineffective, money hemmoraging behemoths,” is simplification well beyond the point of deception.

Every time you commute to work, every time you log on and read your journal, every time you pay for anything, and every time you walk or drive safely along the city streets without fear of mugging or murder, think of the government, and tell me how useless it is.

Working 9-5 means that I don’t get livejournal. More than 50 entries to scan through when I get a chance to log on. It’s terrible. I don’t want to cut my subscriptions, but I do want to have a life outside work and lj. I demand compensation for this. Fortunately, I may be getting it at the end of june rather than mid-july. Unfortunately, I won’t know whether or not I will until it has passed the ‘mom mails scu a check for july rent’ deadline. Grrr.

But the things I want to do in Chicago include: game with & friends at least once or twice; go to gymnastics classes at one of two studios found on adult gymnastics; get into a regular gym habit, most likely at the Y near the whole foods, probably before work a few times per week. All of these cost $$. (admittedly vague) gaming plans cost metra fare money (and much time). The others have more obvious fees. All expenses for my plans to attend green tech u stuff, however, would be include in prepaid transit benefits.

Learning to juggle the various work trip expenses and the intricacies of their proposal, credit cards, cash advances, travel and lodging arrangements, etc, took most of today. I expect it will go smoothly. Current task for work is database recoding (well, spreadsheet revamping). Should be tedious, but not difficult.

So, lessee,

I’m scheduled to be out in DC next week. monday morning – wed afternoon. I may see how possible it is to fly out there saturday morning if interesting monsters are available for socializing.

Good news: It seems my first pay check will be direct deposited.
Bad news: It seems my first pay check will be arriving in mid-July.

Transit benefits were provided for the entire internship on the first day. I previously asked if we’d be getting fare cards, or checks or what. I assumed they didn’t trust us. But she said checks, and I assumed checks made out to the recipients of the transit benefits (ie, me). Wrong. They are form checks, sheet printed and perforated. When I explained that I had already purchased my transit foo, the nice hr lady recommended I sell the checks to friends who needed them (if you buy transit passes in chicago, could you help a brother out? $75 in checks of mixed denominations are available). Right, so, we don’t trust you, so we’ll give you these checks, then we’ll turn around in a heartbeat and recommend you resell them.

Crackheads. The lot of them.

Oh, and apparently, the very idea of some alternative keyboard layout nearly gave the IT lady an apoplectic fit. She was pretty clearly following the script and became lost the moment some item in her script failed. I did it quietly, didn’t make dvorak the default or anything. Hopefully they won’t notice.

The work itself seems like it may be of some interest. Will try to remember not to do at home. The cube farm effect isn’t quite as horrific as motorola’s was. I am reserving judgement, it’s only the first day. But I’m giving them the hairy eyeball.

How long does it typically take for a phone post to show up?

‘cept I’m not really that drunk. Even my light-weight-ness can take a margarita, two beers and a long island, over the course of 6 hours without missing the typos. And I have sobered up a bit. Still, I think I doubled my alcohol intake this year.

Okay, now on to the fun stuff. I saw and that was yay. I know it’s been months, though I do not recall how many, since last I saw him. He teased me over dinner, and it was good. I got to meet and his ability to keep the energy flowing impressed me. is as hot as his highly accurate pics, and has a gentle, friendly, wry sarcasm and aware detachment that has much to recommend him on top of his looks. He is much as his lj represents him. was not curmudgeonly at all, and had interesting stuff to share, though I do not regret my allocation of time, I wish I’d had more time to chat with him. made a very favorable impression of self-posession and friendliness. I hope I see more of him in my time in chicago. was friendly and fun despite his self consciousness. Alas, I spent next to no time talking with , , and ‘s roommate, but the more the merrier, & all that. =)

I was positively vibrating most of the evening. I climbed lamp posts, supported myself on parking meters, and danced to anything with a halfway reasonable beat. Cesar’s, then Roscoe’s, then Hydrate, and finally Berlin. I called it quits earlier than I optimally wanted to, but sleep schedules that bear some resemblance to something reasonable are quite worthwhile. I had a great time, lovely meeting you all, and thanks for the chicago welcome.