So, I'll be posting a bunch of crappy photos I take of the eclipse here. Enjoy.
Book Recommendation: Heaven's Forgotten
11 years ago
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Schedule for Week Ending 12/26
Monday - 11:00 to 20:30 (9.5 hours)
Tuesday - 14:00 to 17:00 (12.5 hours)
Wednesday - 09:00 to 20:00 (23.5 hours)
Thursday - 09:00 to 17:30 (32 hours)
Friday - HOLIDAY (40 hours)
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Weeble Wobble
So in the midst of this week, I'm quite happy with work all the sudden. The shift in gears that made me arrive here? Probably the fact that I'm extremely busy this week, and that comes with perks.
1) Being busy allows time to pass much more quickly when I'm at work. I'm all for having a boring day, but that usually involves me finding something that I'm able to do at work that's enjoyable and takes several hours. Usually this is difficult to do, considering the fact that at work I'm cut off from pretty much everything I enjoy.
2) Being busy allows me the luxury of feeling like I'm doing something positive at work. Sitting in the lab and running consoles during tests, or even (as I did today) being the test director for a portion of testing, provides me with a feeling of accomplishment.
3) Business provides me with structure. A lot of the time it's hard for me to figure out when I'm going to come in for work, and a lot of the time I don't have anything time-sensitive to do. I rather like having to come in for specific things.
Anyway, the recent blitz of official and semi-official testing has been helping quite a bit with my work-esteem. Additionally, I've been familiarizing myself with the system to a degree which makes me feel confident in my abilities. Hooray for progress!
I recently got a very good review, which goes a long way in advancing my satisfaction at work. Hopefully early next year, I'll do well on the ship, do well in my new assignments/baselines, and get my promotion. Things are looking up!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Schedule for Week Ending 12/19
Monday - 14:00 to 20:48 (6.8 hours)
Tuesday - 06:42 to 16:00 (16 hours)
Wednesday - 01:00 to 08:00 and 16:00 to 24:00 (31 hours)
Tuesday - 08:00 to 20:12 (19 hours)
Wednesday - 00:00 to 04:00 and 14:00 to 24:00 (33 hours)
Thursday - 11:00 to 18:00 (40 hours)
Friday - 12:00 to 17:00 (45 hours)
Tuesday - 08:00 to 20:12 (19 hours)
Wednesday - 00:00 to 04:00 and 14:00 to 24:00 (33 hours)
Thursday - 11:00 to 18:00 (40 hours)
Friday - 12:00 to 17:00 (45 hours)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Top Gear
Lately, I've been quite obsessed with the BBC show Top Gear. Tony has been a fan for years, but for whatever reason it just caught on with me. I never saw it as any more than a "hey look at that car" show, but it's quite hilarious.
If you're not familiar, the show features Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May in their automotive adventures. They test out various cars and have various challenges which test not only the cars, but the hosts themselves. I've heard from various sources that Top Gear is one of the most accurate and fair shows in terms of their car reviews, and in watching quite a few episodes over the past couple weeks, it certainly seems to be true.
Each of the hosts seems to have their own preferences when it comes to cars. Hammond seems to be the only one that truly loves motorbikes, May seems to prefer taking his time and is the one of the three most likely to prioritize handling and comfort over speed, and Clarkson who likes things fast.
Aside from reviews of both regular and super cars, many of the challenges the three are faced with involve purchasing a car for less than a set amount and going on a road trip. For example, one challenge involved the trio buying cars for less than $1,000 in southern Florida and heading over to New Orleans. Breakdowns abound, but they made it in a reasonable amount of time, giving their cars away in post-Katrina New Orleans. At the end of the road trip, the thirty second summary made you realize exactly how much the cars had been through and how close a person can get to a motor vehicle in just a few days.
Anyway, the comedy is why I came, but the sheer power of some of the cars the hosts drive is mind-bogglingly. Some people, undoubtedly, are attracted to the show by the cars and stay for the comedy; I've undoubtedly been the other way around.
If you're not familiar, the show features Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May in their automotive adventures. They test out various cars and have various challenges which test not only the cars, but the hosts themselves. I've heard from various sources that Top Gear is one of the most accurate and fair shows in terms of their car reviews, and in watching quite a few episodes over the past couple weeks, it certainly seems to be true.
Each of the hosts seems to have their own preferences when it comes to cars. Hammond seems to be the only one that truly loves motorbikes, May seems to prefer taking his time and is the one of the three most likely to prioritize handling and comfort over speed, and Clarkson who likes things fast.
Aside from reviews of both regular and super cars, many of the challenges the three are faced with involve purchasing a car for less than a set amount and going on a road trip. For example, one challenge involved the trio buying cars for less than $1,000 in southern Florida and heading over to New Orleans. Breakdowns abound, but they made it in a reasonable amount of time, giving their cars away in post-Katrina New Orleans. At the end of the road trip, the thirty second summary made you realize exactly how much the cars had been through and how close a person can get to a motor vehicle in just a few days.
Anyway, the comedy is why I came, but the sheer power of some of the cars the hosts drive is mind-bogglingly. Some people, undoubtedly, are attracted to the show by the cars and stay for the comedy; I've undoubtedly been the other way around.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sick Day
Bluh. I called in to work today; it seems that I have a pretty bad cold out of nowhere. I have a full nose and my throat is a bit sore, but more than that, I didn't get to sleep until extremely late last night. At a certain point when I have trouble sleeping, I want to say "screw it" and do something productive for a bit; last night that productive thing was driving my check to the apartment office for December rent. Then I came home and crashed.
But it also gives me time to figure out my schedule for next week. Hooray.
Monday - Sick Day (8 hours)
Tuesday - 10:00 to 18:00 (16 hours)
Wednesday - 10:00 to 18:00 (24 hours)
Thursday - 08:00 to 16:00 (32 hours)
Friday - 12:00 to 20:00 (40 hours)
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Celebration, Florida
The idea of a modern-day Pleasantville really creeps me out.
It all relates back to the fact that denial of the truths of humanity is futile in my eyes. No, that doesn't mean that the entirety of society should just give up on making people more empathetic and kind to each other, but to pretend that people already are empathetic enough is self-defeating. In order to properly fix the problems of society as a whole, one needs to recognize that problems exist.
Celebration, Florida is Disney's take on how a town should work. Its population crested ten thousand sometime in the last ten years, and it has always been blessed with a low crime rate. However, for the first time since the town's inception, a murder was committed within Celebration. This reminds me, and I hope it reminds others who idolize the "Disney Town," that as much as we want to live in a pretend world, we don't. We have a world with problems that need solving, with good people who want to do the right thing and bad people who don't.
I'm not happy the murder happened, but willful ignorance and pretending that plugging our ears and shouting will make the world any better just bother the hell out of me. Yes, it can be painful to look at the truth behind your and other people's motivations, but it's necessary. You can't fight the bad parts of human nature without knowing what they are. It really reminds me of this RSA Animate presentation done by Barbara Ehrenreich about the dangers of optimism, entitled "Smile or Die":
It all relates back to the fact that denial of the truths of humanity is futile in my eyes. No, that doesn't mean that the entirety of society should just give up on making people more empathetic and kind to each other, but to pretend that people already are empathetic enough is self-defeating. In order to properly fix the problems of society as a whole, one needs to recognize that problems exist.
Celebration, Florida is Disney's take on how a town should work. Its population crested ten thousand sometime in the last ten years, and it has always been blessed with a low crime rate. However, for the first time since the town's inception, a murder was committed within Celebration. This reminds me, and I hope it reminds others who idolize the "Disney Town," that as much as we want to live in a pretend world, we don't. We have a world with problems that need solving, with good people who want to do the right thing and bad people who don't.
I'm not happy the murder happened, but willful ignorance and pretending that plugging our ears and shouting will make the world any better just bother the hell out of me. Yes, it can be painful to look at the truth behind your and other people's motivations, but it's necessary. You can't fight the bad parts of human nature without knowing what they are. It really reminds me of this RSA Animate presentation done by Barbara Ehrenreich about the dangers of optimism, entitled "Smile or Die":
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