Insanely Awe-dical

I get a little angry when I see my gross pay next to my net pay. I suppose it's almost AMERICAN to complain about taxes and how much the government gouges my bi-weekly check (moment of neurotic clarity: that's once every two weeks, not twice a week. I totally agree with Sheldon from Big Bang Theory - the term bi-weekly is ambiguous). I'm just doing my duty as a loyal/faithful citizen of this glorious country.

However, I suppose I should be happy that my taxes "only" take away 20% of my check, and not much more. I suppose a bit of dutiful math can help someone reading this determine what my salary IS, but that person has to be very curious, nosey, and decent at math (or google). Of course, there's the whole x-factor of how much I contribute to my 401(k), my medical/dental insurance, and my flexible spending account, which all comes out before taxes. That should effectively throw off any math that anyone reading this may or may not be capable of doing with or without the help of google. At the best, someone can come up with some range that includes my salary, all of which makes this incredibly moot.

Labels: at the office, neurotic

Sometimes at the end of the day, the bathroom lights get turned off. It's not on some timer - there's a classic light switch in there, flipped to the off position. It seems like the perfect time for me to get murdered by the guy hiding in the dark. I flip the lights and it's usually fine though.

On a side note, we have those paper towel dispensers that have motion sensors. Sometimes when I'm in there by myself, I hear some the motion sensors click and some paper towel dispense. I suppose in movies that would be when an attacker is sneaking up on the protagonist, but something unsuspected (the motion sensor) tips off the hero in time to defend himself. I'm sure I'll be fine, but I need to remember to be alert next time that happens.

Labels: at the office, neurotic

So I went to South Point to go bowling the other night, and needed to hit the bathroom. This is a casino, mind you, readily designed to handle a large amount of traffic - including bathroom traffic.

It's close to midnight, so the casino is fairly empty, HENCE - the bathroom was empty as well. Against standard urinal rules, I decided to pick the first urinal I found. I'm not sure if people are aware of the standard urinal rules, the heart of the rules is: pee at a urinal where you have space to both your left and right, with a preference of one urinal open between a wall or another person.

Apparently, the guy that entered after me had no idea of this standard of rules. He had the option of about 10 stalls and about 15 urinals, and decides to trap me and take the urinal next to me.

All of a sudden, that song by the Police started playing in my head - "Don't stand - Don't stand - Don't stand so close to me"

Gah - damn you - there are tons of other urinals.

Whatever - zip, wash, get the fuck out of there.

Labels: neurotic

One thing I've learned about professional life is there is a Friday culture. A constant throughout the week is the desire for the week to be over, no matter who or what you do. People don't necessarily hate their jobs - just prefer the times away from the job. Who doesn't?

The point is that Friday tends to have it's own sort of of culture. I even feel it on Thursdays - the excitement that Friday is just around the corner. Friday signs the end of the week, and thus the beginning of the weekend - the time where you can have fun and GSD (get shit done). When you are at your job, and you think "If I could do anything now, what would I be doing?" - that is what you do over the weekend. That's when you listen to music, sit on the couch, eat dinner, take a nap, run errands, cook, clean the kitchen, enjoy a movie, sleep early, or stay out late. I feel like sleeping early during the week sucks - it's like what precious time I have between work ends and work starts again has been "wasted" on sleep.

Either way, Friday culture is all the more prominent on a Friday before a 3-day weekend. Thursday becomes Friday when people take Friday off, and it's sort of amazing how the office becomes a lot more tolerable and enjoyable.

Enjoy your three day weekend! I'll leave you with these words from Greenskeepers. The song is called Vagabond, and it's the song from the Grand Theft Auto 4 commercial:

"If the truth be told, I'm in love with this city and I'm out of control, I'm out of control, But I live in this city and I'm out of control, I'm out of control.
But I live in this city and I'm out of control."

Labels: at the office

Thomas: what up B
me: http://www.fandango.com/indianajonesandthekingdomofthecrystalskull_85983/movietimes?location=89178
Thomas: midnight showing? im down
me: 2 hr movie means we'd be home and out around 3 or so
me: ha imma take a nap when i get home
Thomas: dude
Thomas: fucking fire alarm
Thomas: gotta go
Thomas: haha
me: k lates
Thomas: later man

Labels: ims

I spent some time weighing these two in my head, and I feel like sharing the comparisons.

It seems I have a knack for temporary obsession - when I was deciding between receivers for my stereo system, I made no less than 3-4 panicked emails to family and friends, comparing the two down the the wire. This comparison did not leave me with as many late nights of searching and feverish comparisons, but granted, I'm more familiar with what I do with a cell phone than what I do with a HTS receiver.

Key elements for me

• Calendar: Both calendars are straight-forward ports of Outlook - appointment time w/recurrences, reminders, notes. Centro has a slight edge since it has a touch-screen and can take advantage a little bit more.


• Text Messages: Palm presents texts in a conversation format, keeping related messages to a contact together in one item in your inbox. As new items arrive, they are added to the bottom, as in a chat in an instant messenger client. In the Curve, text messages are like e-mail - one line per received item, and new info is added to the top, like an email thread. This is particularly annoying when text messages are long, and are split between two, resulting in the second part of the text appearing above the first.


• Contacts: Just like the calendar, this mimics Outlook very well, with multiple phone numbers, details, address info, etc. Pretty much even since touchscreen isn't as much as an advantage here.


• Navigation: Palm has touch screen, and a 4-way directional pad with center button. The center is really a large round button with a rim that represents the directions. Can make mistakes there. Blackberry's trackball works wonders in all directions.


• Keyboard: Blackberry by a long shot - a wide, spacious keyboard with intelligent things like double space adds periods and autocorrect. Centro's keyboard is packed and has room for error (IMO a big step down from Treo's keyboard)
  

I don't do any web browsing or any e-mail to phone, so those were not considerations. However, any review will tell you that e-mail is Blackberry's bread-and-butter. Even though they are perfectly viable solutions on Palm, if you do any e-mail on your phone, the decision is a no-brainer.

I was really leaning towards the Palm for a couple of reasons - the Palm OS is open, which means lots more software for it. Palm OS also feels very responsive in it's simplicity. I enjoyed the touch screen and the texting interface, as well as the audio recorder that allows me to record my own ringtones and sound effects

However, I ended up going with the Blackberry. The keyboard was a BIG factor for me, as well as being a little more future-proof. Palm OS seems to be losing every battle it fights, while Pocket PC and RIM OS being the dominant handheld operating systems. I would have actually been more inclined to go for Palm, were it a Treo 700p with a larger keyboard.

My limited experience with the Blackberry so far has been great - discovering where every thing is, organizing my contacts, using the full PDA functionality.

UPDATE: An additional factor to consider - Palm will lock it's keys fairly easily (and automatically after a few moments of idle), while a BB uses the holster system, which automatically turns off screen and locks keys, until it is unholstered, and automatically accessible. Sort of a nice feature that BB's utilize that others do not.

I've used the phrases "task item" and "progress report" today. I went to a meeting where we said something along the lines of "adjust this version, and push that to the next release." I am sending a report to somebody who reports to someone else. Yes, I work in an office, and that is what happens in an office. The only sounds I hear at the moment is the hum of a copier machine, the rattling keys of surrounding laptops/keyboards, someone mumbling about email and support, while well-dressed people discuss at a nearby conference room.

Labels: at the office

So I went to the bathroom after lunch only only to realize the my fly was already down. Panic swept in as I thought about how long my fly was down. At the longest, it was since the last time I had gone to the bathroom, hours earlier.

Luckily, I wear large shirts and keep them untucked. The front flaps of my shirt prevent the world from getting a glimpse of my patterned drawers. I'm not sure if this is a happy or a sad moment, but amusing enough for me to post, so it can't be that bad.

Labels: at the office

I was listening to my freshly discovered 20GB iPod on shuffle mode and it shuffled to a classic track called "Searching for Friends" from the Final Fantasy 6 OST. It's the song that plays when you enter your airship, and I've never been disappointed by those tracks. I can even remember in Final Fantasy 1, 4, 7, 8 and 9 - I've enjoyed the track because it has always given me the same feeling of discovery and freedom. Of course, obtaining the airship in each game is usually at least 10 or so hours into the game, at which you finally have the chance to explore the world at your discretion.

Well, I heard the song, and I felt myself fly a little bit. Only a handful of other gamers would actually know the song I'm referring to, but to you 2 people out there, I urge you to revisit your FF4 and FF6 OSTs (I know you have them somewhere).

UPDATE: Check out the youtube video of the scene where Setzer gets the Falcon - a great scene, that culminates in the song described above Link

Today's sad moment is brought to you by Konami's coffee system. 

There are two ways for me to get coffee at the office: the single-cup auto-brewer, which dispenses a single cup of black goodness, and the traditional pump thermos.  The thermos is normally not available, so I decide to get a pump from it to fire up my system today.  I depress the pump to a half cup before it starts sputtering. 

Yes, the thermos is empty.  Yes, my cup is half-full.  Yes, my only other source of coffee is auto-brewer that will dispense one full cup - exactly 1/2 cup more than my current cup can accomodate.

I sadly add cream and sugar (half the amount) to my half cup of coffee.  Yay Mondays.

Labels: at the office, neurotic