Tempestuous Fury

I should say something here, because it’s been awhile.

So the investment thing is going, but I’m still learning. I had a brief and fascinating flirt with high profitability for a couple months there–very nice. That’s honestly never happened before; I reckon I might be maybe 60% of the way to full viability. Very exciting indeed.

So, right now I have to get some kind of job. Turns out it was a good idea to hedge the bets; I’m now employed doing as an income tax preparer with Jackson Hewitt. Unfortunately, the local franchise owners are dishonest and misleading; they mislead Mom and I about the size of our end of season bonus and how it’s figured, and then lied to me about letting me work 40 hours. Basically, I started this last Monday on the schedule with 40 hours to work, and that very day word came down that I had been cut to 20. Not cool. And with an hourly rate of $7, not doable at all. I had wanted this job to be a springboard and intro to the financial services sector, but these people just flat suck and won’t pay for anything. So, I’ve applied with Amscot, and we’ll see what kind of answer I get. That was Tuesday, and the ad said they’d reply within the next week. They’ve also got a recruiting thing on this Tuesday at the local Brandon location, which I’ll skip out of work to attend. I’ve already decided what I’m going to say to the Jackson Hewitt manager when asked why I quit: I had too much time on my hands and used it to find a better job, one that pays $12-$15/hr at 40 hrs. a week. So it’s peak this week, when everyone gets their W-2s? Wow, what a coincidence! I have a better job offer at this time too! Amazing how these things line up. Good luck!

Or so I hope. We shall see. I’m quite optimistic about the Amscot ad because it said they’d take no experience types, claimed they were opening a new location roughly every 12 days on average, and good credit rating was a job requirement because they don’t want to hire deadbeats who’ll steal out of the cash drawer. That last isn’t exactly what the online ad said (”the odd late payment isn’t a problem, but…”), but you can see that message if you read carefully between the lines. I’ve got a good credit rating and a college degree, and they keep running a duplicate of this ad every Sunday in the local newspaper, so it looks good for now.

I got a copy of UT3 over Christmas; there isn’t even a Linux client out yet. I’m waiting for that before I even try to play it; with my hardware specs, I’m barely in the limit for the game. I don’t dare try it on Windows XP; I’ll need every bit of processing power I have to play that, and that means 64 bit architecture in Linux, not 32 bit Windows. I already have issues playing Halo 2 in XP when I turn it onto Legendary. I suspect the difference in AI between Heroic and Legendary is just enough to start causing conniptions with processing power. Either that or it’s the fact that I only have 512 MBs of RAM. Oh well; I’m not upgrading.

There’s a new computer shop in Brandon. Their bread and butter seems to be service diagnostics, probably meaning the purging of spyware and such from Windows boxes, but they also do custom computer builds for a flat fee of $60, which strikes me as cheap insurance. Sorry Pug, but I only watched you applying that gunk/bondo heat conducting paste once to a processor, and then attaching the fan somehow. It’s all rather foggy now, and if I get an AMD processor I’d be afraid to do it wrong and fry the thing. Maybe they’ll let me watch though… I am seriously thinking about getting a new system within the next year or two. Trouble has served well, and will probably continue to do so as a file server and router box with suitable hardware modifications, but if I want to keep gaming, it’ll be time to get something with a bit more oomph to it soonish.

I don’t know if I’ll head back to BTSR for this summer. Most of the senior staff and directors were pissed off at the camp director when we left in ‘07 because of his moronic management practices, trying to pack the camp as hard with paying campers as possible. One director told me in an email that I might be one of the few experienced hands returning, and as such, I might get tapped as a program director myself. All I can say to that is, “Hell no!” While it’s very flattering, I’d have to be paid quite well to put up with the stupidity of the the camp director, at a rate that could be best described as “profitable.” It’d be more like work than fun, and I’d have to get paid appropriately. Unless I could get assurances from other senior staffers who’d hire on as directors over me, and I could reach certain agreements with them, particularly regarding requisition forms. See, one of the important departments that got pissed was the kitchen staff. I’ve got to ensure that I’ve got good food for the weekends if the kitchen staff old timers rebel and don’t show up, which means operating outside of the normal channels and making certain oddball food requests on requisition forms as program supplies. Since the director signs off on his/her forms, they’ll have to be in on it. Maybe if I give them a share of the food..?

If I do return, I’m considering pranks again of course. The current one under consideration is the most audacious yet in terms of technical expertise: wiring the camp PA to an office computer’s unused sound card output, thus permitting the playing of arbitrary digital music files over the PA at any time via the shiny new 802.11 wireless network. The camp director would probably think the thing was possessed if I did it right; he’s not an A/V nerd and staff doesn’t have any others that are around regularly willing to help him. Ideas up for consideration are old classics like Tom Lehrer’s Be Prepared, more modern pieces like Barbie Girl (for the joke on our camp director) and The Macarena, and an audio rendition of All Your Base Are Belong To Us for after he reads the riot act to the staff about playing with the PA, because nothing says “screw you” like that badly translated classic. I am also considering playing Blue Moon during some random night after campfire, but before lights out, preferably on a night with a full moon of course. I’ll have to get a copy of that one, as well as the Macarena. I’ve still got Barbie Girl on Sky I think…

Does anyone know of a plug-in FM radio that has a squelch option? I need an FM radio to constantly receive on one wavelength, but not broadcast any static, just any signal strong enough to punch through the squelch, such as one from, say, a small FM transmitter running off a nearby wall outlet. And the plug-in, of course, to eliminate the need to change batteries.

Also, assuming the line-in is a standard 1/8 inch jack, would a Y or T splitter permit both the PA speaker and the radio to talk to the stereo system? This is an extremely important question. I’ll have to figure that one out. Fortunately, I’ll have the Internet and a local Radio Shack at my disposal on site.

EDIT: A new idea for pranks: Playing the audio of the first of Rejected’s cartoons: “my spoon is too big.” Because hearing a canyon PA system tell you its spoon is too big is really screwed up. And don’t forget the looks that it’ll get when it tells everyone it’s a banana.