It's a strange feeling to know I'm doing something useful. Last week I found out that a national-level working group in my industry is using a program I wrote to validate their work and check for errors. Very weird and somewhat terrifying.

On the bright side, should I get fired or can't stand this place anymore, now I've got a foot in the door with most any other company that does this sort of work.

"Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by an Imperial court for a crime they didn't commit. These people promptly escaped from a maximum security penal colony to the Spinward Marches underground. Today, still wanted by the Imperium, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...

The Alpha Team."

codrus posted recently about his idea for an Imperial Mission Force game set in Traveller using Spirit of the Century. Some random conversation today clicked with that idea. Maybe I'll even get to run it some time if I can get out of this gaming slump.

A few days ago I was sitting in a resturaunt near the office eating lunch, and overheard some guys at the table discussing how to cheat on a test.

An ethics test.

This time for fun. Bayou Wars is this weekend. It should be interesting.

I don't like to go do stuff by myself.

In order to meet people, I have to go do stuff.


Feh.

Stupid snow, with its not waiting for me to get home before starting up. So now, 4 hours from the end of my 13 hour drive, I'm in a hotel in Oklahoma City waiting the storm out.

I guess I should have taken Friday off. Ah well.

Note there is a difference between "to" and "into". I forgot that around here, "Opens at 8am" actually means "Opens maybe before noon, if you're lucky."

On the other hand, I walked there over lunch break (about a quarter mile from the office) a couple times, and got a phone-cam picture that gamehawk probably doesn't have: ( image behind the cut. )

Or at least, a hole in my mouth, where a tooth used to be. Been having occasional toothaches for a while now, but this past week they've become almost unbearably painful. Went to the dentist today, who said "Yep, that wisdom tooth has to come out" and sent me to an oral surgeon. Oral surgeon took it out. It's very disconcerting when the doctor says "Just a minute, I need to get an assistant and a pair of pliers." But, it came out with no problem ("Easiest tooth I've pulled all day," which makes me feel sorry for the people who needed more than an assistant and pliers) and now, 6 hours afterward, the local has worn off and there is just a very mild ache.

We'll see if this lasts to tomorrow. If not, I have a happy bottle of Lorcet in the cabinet now.

Finally, after six months of nothing, I'm gaming again. A friend is running a game of Paranoia XP every other Monday via IRC. Last session left off with a grenade about to detonate; the GM has since said that we probably will all be going to our second clones next session.

I have also started up another Spirit of the Century game, also on IRC. Three players, character creation took about three hours across two sessions. I expected there to be some problems with it, but I didn't realize what those problems would be. My advice for character creation via IRC: provide online a very clear, concise outline of the steps that need to be followed to create a character. Provide a simple, easy to reference (well-hyperlinked) document that has all the information needed to complete each step. And keep asking the players where they are. Offer suggestions even if they don't say they are stuck. Keep nudging them along.

Hopefully I learned enough from the game I (very poorly) ran before I moved that this game will go a lot better.

This meme is either the best thing to happen to Career Cruising, or the worst.
Go to Career Cruising, www.careercruising.com
Put in Username: nycareers and Password: landmark.
Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
Post the top twenty results
Put the careers you have seriously considered in bold
( list behind the cut )
I'm noticing a little bit of a trend here. I can't say I've ever considered any of those as a career (maybe Aerospace Engineer, a little bit) but a lot of my hobbies consist of "design and build X."

And, of course, my actual career:
28. Electrical Engineer

... and I must say that it sucks.

Normally when I'm working on a project, I have a kind of mental image or map of what I'm doing. It's all there, like a sculpture, a mobile of little pieces all tied together. All I have to do is write the code that each of those pieces and ties represents, and the project is done. Easy as eating pancakes.

I've got an ear infection, and one of the drugs the doctor put me on affects concentration. And that sculpture is gone. The parts are all there, but I can't see how the parts go together. I can't figure out how to build the parts, so I can't get any work done.

So, I'm off to sleep, and I'm off that medication (it was optional, a decongestant that should have reduced the fluid in my ear but doesn't seem to be doing that at all anyway), and hopefully when I wake up in the morning I won't be normal anymore.

So, I had a business trip up to Chattanooga. Drove up there Wednesday, came back today (Friday). I had tentative plans to travel out east a ways and visit someone, but something came up and they were canceled. It turns out this was a good thing.

I'm almost home, cruising along and listening to a cd, and the cd starts cutting out. I find that strange and annoying, but it's an old cd and could be scratched. I put a new one in, and it doesn't play at all. Now I'm annoyed, switch to the radio. Radio's choppy too. Then some idiot lights come on, and finally I notice the battery gauge. It's sitting down at the bottom of "normal" and falling quickly. By the time I'm pulling into the apartment complex, every idiot light that can turn on has, my tach claims the engine isn't turning, and even though the engine _is_ turning it's sputtering so badly it can barely help the truck roll downhill.

This has happened twice, and both times I had to replace the alternator. Last time was this past winter, Novemberish. I don't think I've driven 10k miles since then. With the traveling I have to do for this job, that kind of reliability is unacceptable. So I guess I'll find a ride to the parts store tomorrow morning, replace the alternator (thank Autozone for lifetime parts warranties) and then see what kind of trade-in I can get on it for a PT Cruiser or something. I've been thinking about getting something more fuel-efficient than a Ranger anyway. but, it'll suck to lose the cargo carrying ability of my truck.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/laugh

I didn't think people actually laughed like that.

Ok, I rarely echo links from other LJs, but this CG short film is just too cool.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1qw98_codeguardian

As some of you know, I graduated from university with an electrical engineering degree. I'm now doing transmission system modeling for a large US power company. Or, at least, that's what I thought I was hired for. All I've been doing for the last two weeks is teaching myself how to program in Python; nobody bothered to mention until well after I started working there that they hired me in large part due to the computer science experience I got from my abortive first attempt at college. In addition to doing the modeling work, I'm also going to be writing code to automate everything I can to make it easier to do that modeling work.

Hired due to a degree that I not only didn't complete, but flunked out of. Ten years ago. Huh.

I enjoy programming, but I don't want to be a full-time code monkey, so this is probably perfect for me. I just didn't expect to do serious coding as part of this job.

The movers got everything from my apartment yesterday. Today, I finished cleaning the place up, broke my lease, and gave the office my keys. Tonight I crash at my parents again, and tomorrow I drive down to Jackson, MS and stay in a hotel. Hopefully I'll find an apartment quickly, but for now I have no home. It's strange, but kind of freeing; I don't have anything to worry about any more, just myself and my truck.

Maybe that's the massive head cold that's had a grip on me since Wednesday talking.



(This post brought to you by Panera Bread's free wireless. :)

I remember, back in the day when it was time to move all it took was some friends, a truck, and some booze. Somehow that changed. Now it's a two-week long affair with consultants, pre-meeting meetings, inspections, and planning to plan for the necessary planning so that everyone's ready to plan.

I'm of half a mind to sell off everything but the essentials, tell my boss I'm starting Monday, load up a truck and just drive.

Let the histrionics, blame-laying, and name-calling begin.

Edit: Wait, no, other problems. The inevitable complaining will have to wait.

I'll be moving in a couple weeks, so the SotC game is over (at least we finally finished that adventure :p) and the Star Wars game I was planning won't be happening at all. Maybe I'll pick it up as an IRC game once life settles down, or maybe I'll be lucky enough to find a new group after I move.