Thursday, January 31, 2002

I found something new. I haven't taken it yet, but I will.

Try it!

Hey. All hell broke loose today at work. But first:

My name is Olo Burrows of Tuckborough.

I also noticed that there have been eleven people at my little blogger as of the writing on this. I can't tell you how strangely exciting that is. I guess my little experiment in public thought is chugging right along.

First, good news about work. It looks like the lead designer liked what I turned in and I'll be moving over to the design department soon. I have a new project due by next week, so I'm going to spend some time here this weekend working on that. I'm not sure exactly when this changeover will take place, but it seems like it'll be soon. 'Kay, now some bad news about that. Apparently I have a really bad rep with most of upper management due to the way I was hired, my boss, and the mass of poor communication that surrounded me when I first started.

Briefly, my boss is hated by one of the other Executives here. Who also happens to be the wife of the owner. They've had screaming matches in the office. Fun. Anyway, he fired the guy who had my job before me, hired me without really letting the other Execs know, and is generally a very gruff and bullying guy. When I got here he said he and the Wife would give me direction on my ads and I would execute them. Fine. I do that, they hate it because they don't like each other's ideas and I have to rewrite -- all the time. I can't win. She finally gets sick of my incompetence and goes the the other Execs and says, "He's useless, he doesn't add anything to the company, why is he here?" Then, by chance, I have a quick brainstorming meeting with her and a cool guy here and she figures out I have a brain and can be creative. Thus I luck out and save my hide even though I didn't know it was on the line.

And today, I found out that my future boss actually had to go to bat for me to get me moved over to his department because the other Execs think I'm useless. Nice. It makes me feel good.

Okay, no, really it pisses me off.

Second, my boss -- the gruff, bullying one, not the new one -- is disliked by everyone here. And it looks like he may not be long for the company. He's apparently lied to people, changed things without consulting others that know better, and been an all-around ass.

Now, do I have any sort of loyalty to the guy? Hmmm, sure he got me the job, and he deserves something for that -- but he's really shown himself to be untrustworthy and really, pretty lame. I like him well enougn on a superficial level, but I think beyond that I don't have much interest in knowing him. He's staunchly conservative, overconfident, a liar -- and a bad one --, a manipulator -- again, a bad one --, and, apparently, really bad for my career. On top of that, I think he makes bad decisions and is really bad for the company. So, I guess I'm against him being here.

Boy, that really helped to work out what was going on in my head. I guess something good can come of this...

So that was my day. Fun, eh?

I'm gonna have to work like hell to prove myself in this new position.

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

I forgot to mention yesterday something that happened on Monday night.

I went to the gym for my regular work out and had the, ugh, pleasure of having my measurements taken. But it was actually pretty cool, becuase although my measurements aren't down a lot since last time, my % body fat was down 5%. That was pretty freakin' cool! I'm apparently gettin' some muscles!

Woohoo!

I am mighty!

I think I've managed to add a site counter to Nothing good can come of this. . .

Kewl.

Tuesday, January 29, 2002

Three days. I can't believe how easy it is to let this thing for for a while. I'm trying to get back and update regularly, but work has kept me busy and I'm trying to stay offline during the day. So you see how that might crimp my surfing style.

I took this test the other day. How very exciting. Here's me:

Keirsey Temperament Description
The Idealist Portrait All Idealists (NFs) share the following core characteristics: Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom. Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic. Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials. Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders. Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self--always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials. Idealists are rare, making up no more than 8 to 10 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.
Excerpted from Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey Copyrighted © 1998-2001, all rights reserved

Let me know if this matches what you think of me. I'm sure it's a lot like interpreting your Zodiacal sign.

I haven't heard anything about the new job, but I keep getting hints that it went well. Hopefully I'll find out more tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll be able to tell you more soon. I swear I'll try to update more often.

Saturday, January 26, 2002

Well, it's good to see my home state make the news. And it's even a cool, science thing.

I spent many a late night at work this week putting together a proposal for a new job. I think I had three or four nights of about five hours of sleep. So, why, you may ask, am I still at work at 12:01 on Friday night? I have no clue. I think it's basically because I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to go to bed -- and regardless -- I'll make it bed before I have the last couple of nights.

Anyway, the guy that asked me to submit some ideas really liked what I gave him. He made a couple of suggested changes, which I made right away, and then he gave a copy to the owner of the company to evaluate. Hopefully something will happen with this. I'd be excited to get into design work. I'llo update more as I find it out.

Other than that...I'm tired. Tomorrow I have a full day of: the gym, board games at my bosses (yes, Seth, board games), dinner with workmates (I really need friends outside of work), and then a party at a friend of one of my workmate's house. It should be fun. But I need sleep to make it though the late night tomorrow.

Sunday -- I sleep in!

Wednesday, January 23, 2002

I'm at work late again to work on a different set of rules that will hopefully get me a cool, new job as a game designer. I'm still very excited by the prospect of it and I'm going to have to crank to get everything done. But maybe I'm misestimating the time the rules will take and I'll get done tonight. Yeah, right.

One of my plants is dying because my houseguest over the weekend accidently pulled it out of the soil when one of its leaves got snagged by a CD case he picked up. Oh, well. If it actually dies I'll have to pick up a new one. And I'm amazed by what plants add to the apartment. They really do help to liven things up.

I've been doing a good job of watching a lot of the DVDs I've had for a while, but hadn't gotten around to watching. Recently I watched all ten volumes of The Prisoner, all six volumes of Cowboy Bepop, The Hire collection, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Galaxy Quest, Mystery Men, Blade, and tonight Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The problem is; I still have about 20 DVDs that I own, but have never watched. I typically a movie watched every other day, so I figure I can put off getting cable for at least a month and a half -- assuming I don't pick up anything new in that time. And some of those DVDs will probably be watched with commentary at least once, plus any extras. Whew! Who knew that DVDs saved money!?

I still have stuff in an email that I want to post here, but I'm pretty tired and I still have a lot of rules writing to do yet tonight, so I think I'm going to get to that.

Yes, yes, I know. I haven't updated again for a while. So, I suck.

It's very late and I'm wrapping up writing some rules for a new Marvel game we're working on. If they like it I may be able to design full time. Right now it's just extra work -- but it's more fun than my normal work, so that's good.

Last weekend my friend, Brian, from Tampa came to town for an interview. He stayed with me and it was awfully good to see him. He's been officially unemployed for over a year, but he's been doing a lot of freelancing and substitute teaching so he's keeping busy. He and his wife are a bit concerned because he doesn't seem to be really interested in anything. Nothing he's passionate about. I really can't understand that. There are so many things I get excited about. I would hate to be in his position. We talked about it a bit and he really seems to be...adrift, I guess. I hope he gets things in order and can find a muse.

I'm going to be very tired tomorrow and I have a lot of work to do, so I better get rolling. Time for bed.

Oh, I'll be updating soon with some things I saved in an e-mail for this here little blog. I don't even remember what they are right now, but I'm sure they're damn interesting.
I'm listening to Pat McCurdy's Fainting With Happiness CD right now. Fun.

Thursday, January 17, 2002

Oh, yeah. I forgot about this.


What Video Game Character Are You? I am a Defender-ship.I am a Defender-ship.


I am fiercely protective of my friends and loved ones, and unforgiving of any who would hurt them. Speed and foresight are my strengths, at the cost of a little clumsiness. I'm most comfortable with a few friends, but sometimes particularly enjoy spending time in larger groups. What Video Game Character Are You?


Thanks, Seth!

Two updates within minutes. I'm not sure I can keep this rate up.

Okay, once again I am a total slacker. It's now been over a week since I updated this site. I don't want you to feel like I'm neglecting you, but I've really been concentrating on work lately, so I don't get much time during the day to screw around.

The apartment continues to shape up. I have almost everything unpacked, put together and organized. I went out last night and bought a multimedia storage rack (Target, $24.99) because my collection had grown beyond the space I had to store it. Happily, I also picked up some plants! Yes, I seem excited about that -- and really, I can't tell you why. I think somewhere in my head I beleive that a house isn't a living place until it has plants in it. Every day when I walked in I felt like there was something missing. I'll find out tonight if plants really add that "something."

Cool thing! I just had a short meeting with the lead designer here at the office and he said, "So, you've said in the past that you were interested in design work; we're looking for someone to manage the Marvel line. Interested?" HA! Am I interested!? Hell, yes, was my response. So I need to get him a resume/C.V. and a cover letter by the end of the day today or tomorrow. So, yeah. I'm pretty jazzed. I'm not sure if I'll get it, but it's very possible due to my passing familiarity with comics.

Woohoo!

Tuesday, January 08, 2002

Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted anything since last week. I've been a total slacker. Although, really, not much has been happening here.

I went out Friday night with a women whose personal I answered online. She's nice enough, but I don't think I'm interested. Everything is a competition to her and she generalizes a lot. That seems like a weird thing to say but it started to get on my nerves and I thought, "I'd rather be at home, than here with her." That wasn't a good sign. So anyway, now I have to tell her to go away. Luckily Joanna is back from England and I hope to go out with her sometime soon. I'm going to call her tonight. I've also been talking/corresponding with a woman who responded to my personals ad. She seems nice and I think we're going to meet this week for drinks. We get along well over the phone, we'll see how it goes when we're in proximity to each other.

Other than that, last weekend consisted of working out (the trainer kicked my ass), playing board games at my boss' house, and working.

Tonight I'm going home to do laundry, have dinner, and put some empty boxes (and not-so-empty boxes) in the basement storage unit.

Wish me luck.

Thursday, January 03, 2002

I just went out at lunch, and because it was such a nice, sunny, and farily warm day, I stopped by a used CD/DVD store and picked up Blade, Mystery Men, Strange Days, and Galaxy Quest for a total of $60. The first of my Christmas money is officially spent! I made a list of the other stuff I want and I have to say, I'm gonna have a good time spending money in the next couple of weeks! I may even pick up my PS2 some time soon.

Work is still crazy busy, so posts will be few. *Sigh*

Whew! That was a hell of a long break! Well, now I'm back from my holiday vacation in good ol' Madison, Wisconsin. I had an excellent time and I'll write more about it later. Right now I just wanted to check in and post something. Work is incredibly busy as I catch up on all the work that piled up while I was gone.