Today was the first day of my new job, and I am pleasantly surprised. It is a strange concept for me to be employed by a techie and working with other techies. Everything I learned about the operation today made perfect sense to me, and came directly from perfectly logical reasoning.

What a concept!

Sure, there are still a couple of illogical things (most of the techs are anti-AMD for some stupid reason…), but it was very nice to be able to simply step into a job role and be able to go almost directly to work.

No world is perfect though, I suppose. The first task set before me today was to call Symantec’s support line. It seems they have had a problem with their authentication code database, as several brand-new retail packages of theirs have come up with invalid authentication codes. I spent almost two hours on the phone with some jackass in India trying to get him to give me a new code or fix the one I had. His response, of course, was that he could ship me a new copy.

Uhm, fuck off? We retail your product, and you want my customer to wait another three days to get their computer back because you had an internal security problem? I don’t think so. No, you had better re-think that position, or I’ll see if MacAffee has actual Americans on the support line.

So how did my new year start? Rather grogily, as a friend from far away called me just as I was dropping off to sleep to wish me a Happy New Year. It’s ok, dear lady, I won’t hold you in violation of the usual “you had better be bleeding” rule ;)

I was awoken again several hours later with some disturbing news: BtFR called to ask me for a ride home – he had been on his way to go skiing with a friend when he had run afoul of a patch of ice and put his truck in the ditch. The bad news: truck is totaled. The good news: nothing worse than a bruise on either one of them, despite the fact he disobeyed the “shiny side up” rule. Three cheers for American safety engineering! Sure, he’s out some cash, but none of it will be spent on medical bills.

The rest of the day was just your typical routine – watched some cartoons with Pookie, read her a book or two, quick trip to the store for dinner fixin’s, spent some time in a book of my own while she played on the computer. All in all, not a bad day.

Tomorrow will be a bit of anticipation for me, as I start my new job on Monday, and I tend to spend the day before going through all the stuff I think I may need so as to not show up unprepared. Of course, I’ve been doing that for several months now, so this will mostly amount to ironing a shirt and re-checking everything else. Almost everything I will need already exists in my backpack: multi-bit screwdriver, software diagnostics kit, pen and paper for taking notes on their processes at the shop.

The pen and paper will get the most use, since the eventual point of hiring me is to get someone to mind the new store. So, they will be teching me the process they use for tagging incoming equipment to service, billing rates and practices and other administrivia. Then I leave at 1:30 or so for a 2:00 appointment with their HR outsourcer to sign all the paperwork and set up the drug screening (which I will pass).

The hardest part of the day will probably be getting to work less than a half-hour early – good thing I have a book to read ;)

The New Year is fast approaching, and it seems a likely time to sit down and look back at what has shaped my life this past year.

The Bad
Lost my job.
Major breakup.
War.
My brother got wounded in said war.
My fellow Americans not only re-elected an idiot, the idiocy went further to add discriminatory language to my State’s Constitution.
I was forced to go on public assistance to feed my kids.

The Good
Built a decent relationship with a great woman.
My brother was only wounded, not killed.
My kids are healthy and happy and not doing stupid things.
I got by financially, despite everything, with nothing worse than a couple late fees.
I got an “11th hour” job.
I still live in a nice house, in a neighborhood where I don’t feel the need to bring weapons with me when I walk the street.
I know for a fact that my son has learned to handle himself in tense situations and come home in one piece.
My ex didn’t move herself and my daughter 6 hours away.

At this point, the good numerically outnumbers the bad, so I feel I can safely say it was a good year. This next year will be off to a rocky start for me, but should even out into something better by summer time. Now for the tricky part:

Resolutions
In the coming year, I resolve to get at least the CompTIA A+ and Microshaft MCP certifications, the lack of which severely hampered my job-search for the past 9 months.

This past year has reminded me how to live well on a slim budget. In the coming year, I resolve to remember this and make better use of my surplus income by developing a savings plan of some sort to defend against the possible repeat of last year.

I resolve to be less selfish.

I resolve to learn something new whenever possible.

(Ok, that last one is kind of a cop-out…give a guy a break, eh?)

End last post of 2004.

For those of you that weren’t there, you missed out. Big-time. Three words:

Trans
Siberian
Orchestra

Some 7,600 close friends and I trooped on down to the Rose Quarter for what should be for all a Christmas tradition. Most people enjoy classical, but tend to listen to rock. This band lets you do both, in tremendous style. Many of the songs are original compositions, but they also bring new life to old favorites by combining an orchestra with a rock band.

It doesn’t stop there though – they blend musical styles from all over the world. There are chunks of gospel, blues, heavy metal, country and at one point I could have sworn I was listenning to ABBA. Add to that a full-on rock concert lighting and pyrotechnics show and you’re left stunned, saddened, uplifted and amazed. Bethoven himself would have weeped. I know I did.

All of the performers are truly top-notch, but some things stand out more than others:

Al Pitrelli is truly a great guitarist, and it’s a shame he doesn’t get more press. While his own style is distinctive and well-developed, he is also able to emulate with great effect the styles of other greats in his field. Throughout the concert, you hear snippets of Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Alex Lifeson and others I couldn’t name. Not riffs lifted from their work, but rather their style suited to Al’s music. I swear he was channeling them.

Guy LeMonnier is an operetic-trained baritone the likes of which you rarely hear next to screaming guitars, and it’s something the world needs more of. Even stranger is his ability to sing in other ranges – last year they broke into a few bars of “Stairway to Heaven” for kicks and brought the house to it’s feet.

One of the female vocalists (her name escapes me) is petite to the point of being tiny. She comes out on stage, and as she walks by one of the guitarists you get perspective and see just how small she is – on the outside, anyway. Her voice absolutely filled that arena to the rafters, and not just because of the amplifiers – they just added a little wind for those wings to soar on.

Anna Phoebe is probably the World’s Sexiest Viloinist. Unlike classical violinists, nobody ever taught her to sit still while she plays, and she puts all of her emotion into her art. Keeping her in her chair would be impossible. She doesn’t just wander around the stage though – she stalks it like a Valkyrie, all the while wringing every last note from her instrument with a seldom seen fire. Her style is infectious, too – the rest of the orchestra (Our own Portland Strings) got into the swing of things and cut loose a bit. The cellist was even playing his instrument over his head during a couple of the more powerful songs.

Did I say powerful? That is a bit of an understatement for this show. The encore included a favorite of mine, and probably yours as well. I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the piece, but it’s been used in any number of scary movies and even a commercial – the one with the people on the subway singing it. In any case, mein gott do they pull that one off. The music hits you from all sides, the vocals punch you right on the gut, and to top it all off, the fireballs from the back of the stage blast heat all the way to the back wall of the arena.

If I were the Devil, it would be my theme song.

As of 3:40pm Pacific, I am once again gainfully employed! Pardon me while I do the Cabbage Patch of Joy for a few minutes…

Okay, enough of that.

The new job will be running a computer repair shop over on the East side. The company is expanding from a rather small shop over in Raleigh Hills, and needs someone to deal with customers face-to-face, intake new work, do repairs and occasionally do some field work. All things I am rather a bit qualified for, as it happens :)

The second interview for the position this morning was tough. The Lead Tech has an uncanny ability to come up with situations that I have not dealt with, and I wasn’t doing as well answering his questions as I had hoped, but was still running in the right direction. It was enough, apparently. Being able to talk Linux helped – he’s been using it about as long as I have, and I was able to ask some pointed questions about his choice of distro and demonstrate a good knowledge of Knoppix, one of his favorite diagnostic tools.

Score one for the furry guy :)

Good news and bad news:

Good: My anti-spam strategy is currently working flawlessly. Analyzing the log files shows that there have been hundreds of attempts and no successes to spam my site.

Bad: Those hundreds of attempts account for about 2/3 of my total traffic. Of course, it’s not like I’ve actually posted anything worth reading in a while. So, on with the content.

Not happy content, but I never promised you that.

The Holiday this year was another good / bad day for me. It was good to see my daughter really loved what I got her this year, but it was a bummer to see her get burried up to her eyebrows in loot from so many other sources – it should have been me spoiling her rotten, damnit! I can’t hold grudges, though, since a large percentage of said loot came from her extended tree of grandparents. What with my parents, the EMC’s biological and actual sets and her husband’s, she’s got quite the coterie going. No suprise she got so many gifts.

The worst part, I suppose, was going home after the frenzy to an empty house. The EMC took Pookie over to see her in-laws, and the Ratboy is off with his mom, so it was just me, the cats and the hamster for a good chunk of the day trying desperately to find something to take my mind off the fact that being unemployed over the holidays really sucks. Thankfully, the roomie came home and saved me by virtue of Age of Mythology: Titans. Nothing like building an army to stomp on the Greeks to take your mind off of things for a while.

Jobsearch this week (and most of last week) has so far been damned fruitless, due to the vacation days obviously being spent. Very few new jobs have been posted, and trying to either cold-call new contacts or check up on old ones has been mostly futile. Lights are on, but nobody’s home. Or in the office, in this case. Oh, and I got a letter from a job I had high hopes for – one telling me thanks, but no thanks. At least there was a hand-written note on it from the recruiter and not just a form letter.

But there is some hope in Stumptown – I interviewed last week for an entry-level position with a company doing some expansion that may pan out. They hadn’t advertised for anyone, but I had been pestering their HR people and they realised it might be a good idea to actually hire some staff for their new office here on the East side. They interviewer seemed impressed after our 1 1/2 hour conversation, and said he would be getting back with me early this week to let me know how the process was working out. I was the first candidate, which can be both good and bad. Hopefully, I set the bar high enough that no-one else will clear it.

The starting wages for the position suck, but that may help out in the end, as the over-qualifieds should turn their noses up at such paltry wages. The owner of the business promised that numbers would improve quickly should I be hired, so that’s what I have to hope for.

OregonLive.com: NewsFlash – Man shot to death outside Portland department store

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man was shot to death outside a busy downtown department store Thursday in front of horrified holiday shoppers and a suspect was quickly arrested, police said.

In other news, my son The Ratboy was almost mugged after walking a friend of his home early this morning.

A man jumped out of the shadows at him, brandished a knife and proclaimed “Give me your wallet!” Ratboy, being 16 and indestructable, said “Fuck you!” and clobbered the guy.

Ratboy has had lessons from experienced people in the fine art of clobbering, and the guy went down, but recovered quickly enough to score a kick to Ratboy’s stomach. He was prepared for it though, and went through with his goal of stomping on the assailant’s knife hand. Crunchy noises were heard, and he dropped the knife. Ratboy finished up with a kick to his assailant’s head, then beat feet home.

Aside from adrenaline after-affects and a sore belly, he appears to be ok. Didn’t even break his hand, despite a solid punch to the man’s face.

Well, one of two things has ocurred since the last entry: either I have not had a single attempt to spam my comments (unlikely) or I have managed to defeat the spammers for the moment. The latter, I think, is the more likely.

The job search continues, with some interesting leads in the fire – one is with a telco company that another former US OnLine employee works at, so I may have an ‘in’ as it were. We’ll see how that goes, but hope for another thaat sounds really promising – one of the tech support outsourcers in town is setting up a new office and needs to staff it. I picked a good time to cal lthem out of the blue.

For those of you looking for a really good boot disc to use in triaging broken Windoze installations, Knoppix is up to version 3.7 on the mirrors. Booting from a Knoppix cd gets you into a complete Linux system with access to the entire hard drive and the peripherals. This lets you delete, replace or repair infected files or access the cd burner to recover data before doing a nuke-n-pave.

Mmmm…nuke-n-pave…

Okay, that’s enough for right now. Maybe you’ll get real content tomorrow.

New spam-fighting techniques are now in effect. post a comment or two to test for me, sil vous plait.

Ok, shit has gone wrong somewhere, and I can’t find it. When you post a comment, it throws an error. A huge one. Grrrrr.

Final update: There are two anti-spam plugins currently operational,along with my spamwords blacklist. If your comment goes to moderation, it will be deleted, however I will still get notification via email so I can adjust as necessary.

Comment away, folks!

For all of you truly stupid spammers out there, I have now completely blacklisted the entire .info domain. Knock it the fuck off already.

Or better yet, you can pay me for ad space. Reasonable rates available.