June 25
From my brain
Contents |
2009
Me 13:52, 25 June 2009 (EDT)
I just posted on my Facebook page that I've "just realized {I'm} getting old. I'm reading / watching far more political related items than I've ever done before." I posted that with a link to a video about the conservatism vs. liberalism, and I dug further in the comments for that vid...and it got me to thinking about the comments he made in the vid about welfare.
I've heard lots of arguments against the "state of welfare" and how it enslaves people, how it makes them depend on "the state". True, the "enslaves people" thing is specifically brought up keeping the black community in mind, but it's often a generality too. Having watched that vid above and a few others while trying to write this post, I've realized I'm seeing it first-hand.
I made a fair chunk of money at ThePit; far more than anyone without a college degree, and even moreso someone without a managerial position really should have. Still, I wasn't happy. It wasn't the money, I just wasn't fulfilled in life working there. Money is good, lots of money is good too, but happiness is key. Cooking made me happy, the bread business from over six years ago made me very happy, but as I've said to many a friend, you don't quit making what I made at ThePit to go to culinary school and become a chef someday.
However, the decision was made for me now, and I'm free (to a certain extent) to pursue that happiness. The head-games I could play with myself about how decisions and events in my life have chained and snowballed are well documented in this blog, so I won't go into that. What I will say though is that for the first time ever in my life, I'm content with sitting on unemployment -- welfare -- and riding it out through school.
I'm going to be pulling a fair chunk of change through unemployment; so much so that there is no conceivable way for me to find a part time job and make a similar wage. Even finding a full-time job to reach that amount of money would be near-impossible, and to find one for that amount of money, I would most likely not be able to focus on school because work would be too involved.
So instead...I'm going to sit on welfare. Perhaps that last sentence should really have a question mark after it. That's the enslavement that's talked about for sure. Why would anyone work if they could just comfortably sit on welfare? Sure, apply to the jobs, but make damn certain somehow that you don't get them...just to get your check. Hell, I'm even looking at now to go an apprentice to a baker -- for free -- just so I can get my check still. I never thought my mind would ever accept something like that.
It's now almost 2pm. I have a long list of stuff to do before Wifey and the kids come home on Saturday. Hell, I haven't even eaten yet today. Not having someone around to say, "I'm hungry" does that to you.
Me 14:26, 25 June 2009 (EDT)
And before I forget, so yesterday after I went out to lunch with Mom, she accompanied me as I went to look at apartments. The one I was going to see was again on the far east side of town, and was the one I was intending to see actually. I asked the woman at the first apartment, "Isn't this in Blacklick schools?" She said no, it was Whitehall, which left me confused (almost as much as Whitehall not being a spelling error in Firefox). That's because all the apartments I'd been looking at had gelled in my head!
Anyway, with Mom in tow (well, in the passenger seat), we get to the apartment. The office was backed up against a rather large-sized pool (larger than the one at MIL and FIL's at least). The kids there seemed well behaved and lots of parents were there to watch them. After talking to the guy, I find that there are a myriad number of styles in the place, but three stuck out at me:
- the 3BDR townhouse: $649 (including non-attached garage)
- the 3BDR garden: $619 (including non-attached garage)
- ...and the 3BDR house...for rent: $795
The townhouse, he only had a 2BDR to show me, but it wasn't bad. The bedrooms (obviously) were smaller, but with only one bath (no master) upstairs, if it came down to it, I'd have the kids take the larger room and we'd take the smaller since they have to share. The living room / dining area was a good bit larger than what we have right now, so probably both my desk as well as Wifey's would be down there along with living room stuff.
The garden apartment was rather nice as well. Bigger apartment than the 2BDR obviously, but still a generous living area, and 2.5 baths...connected by a doorway. Very odd setup that. Was a really good feeling though seeing that one because it wouldn't shortcut our space needs by all that much.
For both it and the townhouse, the garage would be non-attached, but it does have electricity in it. We could still hook up the freezer in there at least and run things, or we could just keep the freezer (somewhere) in the apartment. The main negative on the garden is that we'd have to have a ground floor one for both FIL and Stepdad's knee. Neither of them would make the climb up those stairs (Mom barely did), and Wifey with her bad back wouldn't have an easy time of it either.
Now, for the big one: the house rental. I honestly had no idea that a commercial property management company rented houses around here. There's a rather huge neighborhood that this place runs between the main apartment community and the house community just around the block. Still though, looking at the place absolutely floored me.
It was...a house. I mean, a real house, not a condo, no shared walls. There was a yard. Hell, the yard is even tended by the property management company. No mowing! To boot...it's got a two car garage. Absolutely no need to worry about storage unit because that garage was easily the size of the one at our old house, and the driveway still had enough room for both of our cars. The house was still even a 3BDR. My heart was racing just thinking about the place.
The tough bit though is that in order to qualify, you have to make at least 3x the monthly rent. Referenced above, I'm making a good chunk from unemployment, but I'm not making $2400 a month. However, Wifey getting a part time job should easily get us over that hump. It still then just comes down to seeing if we can fit a near-$800 rent into the budget.
I full-on told the guy that I'm pulling unemployment, and that my wife isn't working, but as soon as we figure out where we'd be wanting to live, she'd work on getting a job. The horrors of the catch-22 are just obscene. However, now we at least know the order: we may have to get the job first, then get the apartment. If that "3x monthly rent" is an industry standard (which although not said by others, I will assume so), then we have to figure out what we're going to do in that regard.
And still...that list of mine looms...
2008
Me 09:58, 25 June 2008 (EDT)
Had to get some stuff out of the house last night. Moved a sectional couch out of the basement (had it since meh college days), and also a desk. By the time we were done with that, my back was in agony. I then laid down on the large ottoman that we're also selling for the garage sale and just stayed there while Wifey talked to the neighbors.
I'm getting better with being in the house. The detachment is getting easier. As I lay there wincing in pain, I was staring at the garage ceiling and my mind started thinking about everything. The pain helped keep it at bay I think, but time may be working too. It did start to try to overtake me though, and I called Wifey back from the neighbor and we proceeded to finish things off...shoulder be damned.
By the end of the evening though, the shoulder took it's revenge. I grabbed a hold of my new girlfriend the ice pack -- damn she's cool to be with; I love how she just leans on my shoulder -- and just sat in the chair while the kids had snack. Then, after we put them to bed, we just sat and watched a movie.
By the time we turned out the lights though, I couldn't get comfortable. Tossed and turned for awhile; laying on my back or left side was just straight pain, and laying on my right made my whole arm go numb. I went back down, put the ice pack back on, and then played WoW until after midnight. It was still painful, but at least I was so tired I didn't care.
I'm iced again as I'm typing this. Chiro appointment again today. Mind you, my lower back recovered FAR faster yesterday than it ever has...but now that we're working on my shoulder to strengthen it, it's bound to be stressed. I'm working muscles that are severely weak. Hopefully today's appointment will fix it more.
Me 10:52, 25 June 2008 (EDT)
- Dear SAPDude,
- It was a flood of information yesterday, but I liked having a look at what's coming down the pipe.
- With regards to the Front-end Developer position, I obviously don't have those skills now, but how realistic do you think it would be to fulfill the requirements for it with the training you mentioned? Would that training alone be enough, or is there something else necessary?
- Also, while I just put the cart way ahead of the horse right there...what exactly does the job entail? We got our conference room shanghaied on us so we never got down to the brass tacks on that part of our discussion. As I mentioned, while I wear both a developer and an analyst hat, the former is by far the prettier one to me. On the surface, the description of this role seems like it would lean heavily in that direction, but I want to make sure.
- Let me know your thoughts on the above. If you have time and feel it'll be easier in-person, let me know. My schedule is fairly open.
- Love & Kisses,
- Me
OK, I didn't really sign it like that.
The info yesterday was all about the system. How it works. How much zomgcoolstuff it's gonna do. The neat and nifty things people will be able to make it do. I got schematics, I got diagrams, I got a crapton of TLAs and ETLAs, and a little bullet-point sheet on the job requirements...but never talked directly about the job.
Before I start talking to BossMan, I wanna make sure this is something I really, wholly, and truly want though. No sense in getting anyone's hopes up. (Especially mine.)
Me 10:54, 25 June 2008 (EDT)
And in the process of posting the above I get...
- Hey,
- Drop by and snag me anytime today. We'll commandeer a room of our own.
w00tness
Me 14:06, 25 June 2008 (EDT)
Holy Flurking Schnit!
Me want.
Me want.
Me want!
More later after talking to BossMan.
Me 14:20, 25 June 2008 (EDT)
BossMan supports it. "Well, you know I fully support this. What do I need to do?"
He's just gotta work it out with ITDude and then...it's all starting.
- SAP BI Front-end Developer
- 1-2 years of in-depth technical experience in SAP Business Warehouse (BW) and/or Business Intelligence (BI) front-end reporting, analytical, and web tools (BEx Query Designer, BEx Analyzer, BEx Web Analyzer, Web Application Designer, and Report Designer)
- SAP Visual Composer, ABAP Dynpro, and BI 7.0 experience a plus
- Ability to understand data delivery from BI Infosources (InfoCubes, Multiproviders, InfoSets, and Master Data)
- Experience in RRI, iViews, Value Sets, CKF, RKF, Jump Queries, Replacement Path Variable, Dashboards, Information Broadcasting, and complex workbook query content
- Ability to debug an dmonitory query performance (BI statistics and RSRT)
- Experience in analyzing user data requirements and developing successful data delivery applications
- Ability to construc SAP centric Technical Design Document from user developed Functional Documents
- Work closely with business users responsible for requirements gathering and analysis
- Work closely with ABAP staff and BI data architects in ensuring accurate data content in data delivery
- Excellent communication, problem resolution, and customer service skills required
Have your eyes glazed over yet? Hell, mine did too. However, if all the cards play out properly, I'll be sent off for the training to get a good head start on all the abilities above. Sure, I'll be a grunt, but I'll be a grunt with knowledge of the business too.
New tools.
Real-world skills.
/faint
Me 16:19, 25 June 2008 (EDT)
So, I get this from my mother:
- Donald E. Wildmon
- Founder and Chairman
- Heinz ad pushes gay marriage and family, features homosexuals kissing
- June 24, 2008
- Dear David,
- I thought you might be interested in seeing the Heinz ad featuring a homosexual family and two homosexuals kissing.
- Watch the ad.
- The ad features a 'homosexual family,' referring to one of the men as 'Mum.' We suggest you forward this to all your family and friends letting them know of the push for homosexual marriage by Heinz. This ad is currently running in England, but no doubt can be expected in the U.S. soon. It is the kind of ad which we can expect to see in California as they prepare to vote on homosexual marriage. Homosexual marriage is illegal in England.
- Take Action!
- Send an email letter to Heinz. Feel free to add your own comments to the prepared letter.
- Make a phone call to Heinz. Their corporate headquarters' phone number is 412-456-5700 and their toll-free number is 800-255-5750.
- Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?
- Sincerely,
- Donald E. Wildmon,
- Founder and Chairman
- American Family Association
So, unlike my mother who (no doubt) just blindly forwarded it on to me, I watched it. I watched it without sound at first, and found it a little funny...but it didn't really strike me as ZOMG! THEY ARE TEH GHEY!
So then, I watched it again...with sound.
/facepalm My own mother.
I then sent her the following:
- Seriously Mom. Did you actually WATCH the video or are you so quick to jump on something like this that you'll just pass it around?
- That's the video. They're not gay. Yes, that's two men kissing at the end, but the point is that this is A MOTHER making a sandwich for her kids. She's using Heinz's new sauces that are "New York Deli Style". Just look at the guy who everyone is calling "mum" and "hon". He's dressed 100% like, and talks EXACTLY like a NY deli guy.
- On top of it...the ad has already been pulled. As it was, this NEVER appeared in the US. Only in the UK. Heinz says specifically that it was a joke.
- Some people need to learn to listen to a joke and not start running around screaming about Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Love,
- Me
Now, I'm not about to march in a pride parade. I disagree with gay marriage. I don't believe in any sort of higher gay rights either. I also don't however believe in persecuting anyone for their lives. I certainly have my own things in life (and interesting slip in my own near-typo of "thing sin life") that are not according to what God would want...I shouldn't be condemning anyone for their own choices.
But seriously...get a grip people. It's a joke. Sheesh.
