Ben

Jan. 30th, 2008

06:05 pm - Aaaaand... we're back

So after getting raises, quitting a decent job, taking a fun-but-low-paying job, moving to a craptastic-but-high-paying job, I have finally arrived back where I started. Today I accepted an offer at what will be (at least) a decent job at the very same starting pay that I got when I finished college.

Aaaaaah irony, how I love thee.

The new place is called Powercode, you can look at them here:
http://www.powercode.com
Basically, they make a back-end management system for ISPs, and they specifically market to wireless ISPs. It's a fairly new startup, not even a year old yet, so it will be exciting, to say the least.

From what I've heard I think I'll like it a lot. I know I don't have a driving, entrepreneurial spirit; I'll leave that to the president and sales folks. What I like is innovation. Change is good, and I think I'll get to make a lot of things change. I'm starting out doing data migration (which is something I have a lot of background in) and some customer support (which is less interesting but hey, no better way to get to know the product, right?).

What's really odd is that I'm not at all nervous about it. I guess that's a good sign, right?

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Oct. 17th, 2007

12:43 pm - sweating bullets

Well, on Friday I will officially be a home owner. I went in to the title company today (today and yesterday are my days off) and signed about an inch-thick stack of papers. The seller is going in later today, and then everything gets processed.

On one hand, it's kind of weird to be getting a mortgage and everything. On the other hand, most of my friends have been home owners for years (and have three kids, but whatever). So even though it's a big change and I know I should be nervous, I haven't really been.

It helps that I got lucky on almost every aspect of the whole deal. I bought the condo for $1,000 under its appraisal value, and my interest rate for the loan is 5.625%. I had a personal friend who set up the loan for me, and the seller and I settled without a realtor, which kept the price down. All in all, I feel pretty comfortable with everything.

I feel even more comfortable with finally having my own place and not having to worry about roommates. For a long time I thought it would be weird to live alone, but now I can't wait.

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Oct. 2nd, 2007

06:50 pm - there's a lot of paperwork

I'm filling out paperwork to buy a condo. Guess that means I give up on getting out of Utah. Oh well.

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Sep. 6th, 2007

03:41 pm - I am employed

I start training for work on Monday. It's just tech support, but it's Unix tech support and pays pretty well, all things considered. Still, I'll be working in a call center. I suppose it's my punishment for getting all uppity and leaving Verio. Oh well.

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Jul. 25th, 2007

11:12 am - La bohème no more

It's been coming for a while, but recent changes at Wahoo made the timing very easy. Once again I find myself in the world of the unemployed.

Video games are fun, generally speaking. But the lifestyle of creating video games... well, it's just as "starving artist" as you might expect it to be. And although I enjoyed some aspects of it, I definitely discovered that I don't love video games enough to live that bohemian lifestyle.

So here I am, again pondering my options. I'm fortunate to have enough backup money to not be in any hurry. I took a break last summer, and it was great. But this time I don't really feel like I need a break. I need something I *want* to do. It's just that the object of my occupational desire continues to elude me.

The weather sure was accomodating today. Darkly overcast, with only a hint of showers. Not enough rain to make it downright dreary, but cold and wet enough to make the day pensive, maybe even a little angsty. What a perfect day to quit your job and wonder what you're going to do with your life.

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Jun. 19th, 2007

08:32 am - Gypsy blood

My family's been pretty good at doing geneology. Not me, just some of the older folks. We're an unsurprising mix of European descent; Norway, England, Germany, Denmark, etc. No gypsies as far as I can tell.

And yet I have to wonder if there isn't some gypsy blood in there somewhere. Both my grandfather and uncle on my dad's side were practically nomads. They moved phyically and employment-wise all the time. My dad was more stable, but even he's been a 5th grade teacher, a photographer, and a programmer. Not exactly related professions.

So whether it's a hidden streak of gypsy ancestry or just my own wanderlust, I occasionally feel the pull to just go. Go somewhere else, do something else. I haven't ever given in to it yet (you can tell, I'm *still* in Utah after 9 years). The closest I came was last summer, when I just up and quit my decent paying job at an internet company to take a massive pay cut to work in video games.

Now that interest is wearing off. Yesterday's 16-hour work-a-thon didn't help either, especially since I didn't have anything game-breaking to do and was told to stay "just in case." Ah well, I have today off, right?

Anyway, that familiar pull is stronger than ever this year. Sometimes I wish I were irresponsible enough to just follow the wind and see where it took me. Good thing Dad instilled some stability in his kids, I guess.

At any rate, if anyone knows of anything available for someone with a random smattering of technical, programming, and management background, drop me a line.

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Mar. 12th, 2007

11:17 am - You're never too old... to get hit on by teenagers

Thirty years old. It sounds so old to me. Maybe that's because I've been in my 20s for the past ten years. Maybe it's because I'm living in an area surrounded by young college students.

This last weekend Blake (my roommate) and I went to a friend's wedding. Some lady walked over to our table, as we were chatting with some friends, and asked if she could talk to me. Not everyone at the table, just me. She said there was a girl in the hall who'd like to meet me. Well, just a few minutes earlier I'd been joking about how the only girls I flirt with these days are around a decade younger than I am. So one of my friends at the table jokes, "Hey, if you're lucky it's another 20-year old." So I look at the lady and ask, "Um, is she 20?" Her fantastic response, "Oh, not quite 20, I think."

Yeah, I tell the lady I'm 30, so whoever the girl is, she's a bit young. She agrees and goes off to tell the girl. Everyone at the table has a good laugh at my expense (including myself, I mean, it was funny). The funniest part was that the lady came back a few minutes later. She said she told the girl I was 30, and the girl's response was, "Well, is he single?" The lady had to tell her, "He's TOO OLD for you." Also, turns out the girl was 18.

Now seriously, what kind of 18-year old girl is told some guy she's checking out is THIRTY, and responds with, "Well, is he single?"

At least I have the comfort of knowing that if I can't get married, I can at least have flings with 18-year olds.

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Mar. 2nd, 2007

11:14 am

I've decided that the funniest things get said during gaming sessions. Last night during D&D, courtesy of Dan:
"Ben doesn't like a lot of things other people like. Cheese, ice cream, steady relationships..."

Why must you hurt the ones you love, Dan? Why?

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Jan. 6th, 2007

03:48 pm

There comes a time in every bachelor's life when he needs to ask himself the all-important question:
"Am I a space whore?"

( le cuteoux )

Current Mood:

sick

Current Music: Spookshow Baby (Rammstein remix)

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Oct. 15th, 2006

12:10 pm - Only because I said I would

So, a couple of my friends made me promise to post about my blind date on Saturday. It was pretty uninteresting, I suppose, but hey, I said I would.

Anyway, a little background. As my sister Sara and I were driving to Idaho last weekend, she was talking about this Math Ed class she has. She thinks it's a great class, and the grad-student teacher is very cool. Also, she's cute and single. So jokingly, I told Sara to set me up with her. I was a little surprised when Sara called to tel me her teacher was up for it, but hey, why not, right?

To even things out, I set Sara up with a friend of mine named Zach. Since I was kind of imposing on Zach, I didn't want to make him pay for anything too expensive, and we just decided to do a dinner at my place and play some games afterward. So I went to our local foreign food store and picked up a bunch of German foods: knoedel, spaetzle, weisswurst, senf (a delicious mustard), and kindereggs for desert.

Zach drove down to my place, then we hopped in my car to pick up Sara and my date, Kellyn. I can only imagine how bizarre it must have been for my sister to be doubling with one of her teachers. The thought kept me laughing inside all night.

Trying to make dinner with four people was a little silly, but hopefully it was fun for everyone. Personally I thought it tasted great, but I'm biased. And for Sara's sake I didn't even cook up the sauerkraut. Oh well, there's plenty of left-overs, so I can still use it. After dinner we tried a little Robo Rally. Kellyn managed to kill herself twice in the first ten minutes, which made me worry she'd probably hate the game. I started out ahead, but then Sara caught up to me and we fought it out for a few roudns. In the mean time, Kellyn and Zach zoomed past us, and Kellyn ended up winning the game before I even got to the first flag. I guess she just had to get into it.

After the game we sat around and chatted for a bit, and since we were talking about Spanish culture stuff, naturally I had to bring out Skippyjon Jones and read it to everyone. I'd never read a kids book to an audience before, so it was a little weird. Still, it's such an awesome book, so even though I stumbled in a few parts, it was still fun.

By that point it was 10:30ish, so Zach and I took our dates home, and there you have it. I admittedly don't think Kellyin is my type (also, probably a bit young for me)

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Oct. 2nd, 2006

11:49 am - Stepping blindly

Well, I accepted a job offer today. I'm going to be a level designer at Wahoo Studios. Their big game right now is Cloning Clyde, for you Xbox 360 Arcade fans.

It sounds like an interesting job. Actually, though, I'm not taking it because it's level design, I'm mostly taking it because it's game industry experience. Oh yeah, and the pay? I'll be making less than half of what I made at my last job.

I think it'll be worth it though. For so long I've had game ideas floating around in my head, but whenever I've tried to create them myself, the task is just too overwhelming. Maybe now, if things go well, I'll be in a position to propose them and take part in the creation process. Or at least be in a position to get into a position to do that. Gotta climb the old corporate ladder, ya know. But if my last job taught me anything, it's that I'm a good climber.

Current Mood:

thoughtful

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Jun. 2nd, 2006

04:56 pm - It's been 5 years

http://www.slummites.org/

R.I.P.

According to the registrar, I registered the domain on September 11, 2001. I don't remember doing anything but watching TV on that day, but that's what they say. Huh.

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Apr. 24th, 2006

01:18 pm - Don't ask me what I'm going to do next

So, I quit my job today. More accurately, I gave notice to my boss. We worked out that my last work day will be May 16, and my last "official" day will be June 2. I have over 5 weeks of paid time-off. Sheesh. Some of that will get paid out, but I need to play hookey more.

I've been at Verio for over 5 years. I've been a support guy, a programmer, a "technician" (whatever that means), and a project manager. It's been interesting. I can honestly say that I know more about how the internet works than probably 95% of the rest of the world. I don't know that I want to get back into the internet industry, but we'll see what happens.

On that note, no, I don't have anything else lined up now. I'm just going to chill for a while and look into some other opportunities.

Current Mood:

complacent

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Nov. 29th, 2005

01:53 pm - work ethic

So today I had to take my car to get washed (travelling to Idaho puts a LOT of snow salt on your car), so I afterward I was eating lunch alone. I stopped in some burger joint and got a simple combo meal. As I was sitting there eating, I noticed one of the employees leaning next to a disposal bin in the dining area, staring out at the lunch crowd intently.

Just from looking, I could kinda tell this guy was on the lower end of the IQ scale. Not necessarily mentally handicapped (at least from what I could see), but definitely lacking in social and analytical skills, probably due to a learning disability. He mumbled to himself occasionally as he scanned the dining area. What caught my attention, though, was the intensity in his eyes. It was a little freaky until I realized he wasn't looking at any of the people, he was looking at the floor.

Right about then he walked past my table and picked up some straw wrapping that had falled off a nearby table. He got all the pieces and continued around the other walkways. He picked up a few more things, then dumped them in the garbage bin that was his watchpost, and got back to watching his floor. I tell you, this guy wasn't just keeping the area clean, he was zealously guarding the floor to keep it free of dining detritus. He was IN CHARGE of a clean eating environment, and he wasn't relaxing his iron grip on sanitation for a second.

Simple minds have simple pleasures, right? Yeah well, in my jaded and satirical world, I can't remember the last time I did ANYTHING with that kind of fervor, let alone my job. Sadly he was making another round when I got up to leave, so I couldn't thank him for his excellent work. Shame.

Current Music: Project Majestic Mix - Anxious Heart

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Nov. 21st, 2005

10:34 am - windshield chandelier

So this morning when I got in my car, my windows were all frosted over. This isn't unusual, since I live in Utah, and I've gotten in the habit of starting the car, turning on all the defrosters, then moving the car just enough so that it faces the sun. This helps the front windshield clear off faster.

For some reason, this morning the ice crystals on the windshield had formed into a really cool lattice. Maybe it's like that every morning, I'm not sure. But anyway, when I turned the car to face the sun, I got this dazzling crystal display right in front of me. Every color of the rainbow glittered over the windshield, far more intricately than any chandelier I've ever seen.

Mother nature rocks.

Current Music: Three Doors Down - Changes

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Nov. 17th, 2005

01:49 pm - comedy of driving errors

Last night I had an interesting experience. I was playing Civ4, preparing to crush the Russian empire with my Indian war elephants, when I get a call from my friend's wife, Dawn. Dan (said friend, her husband), blew a tire on the way home from work. He always takes these abondoned backroads to avoid rush hour traffic, so I knew he was okay. I'll admit I found that mildly amusing, but then the conversation turned roughly thus:
"He says it's been years since he changed a tire, could you go find him and see if you can help?"
"Well, I haven't *ever* changed a tire, I don't know what good I'd be."
"Oh, do you think you could go out there anyway?"
"I suppose so, where is he? Does he have a cell phone on him?"
"He's just barely left from work, by the new animal shelter that isn't open yet. No, he doesn't have the cell phone."
"Does he know I'm coming?"
"He called from a nearby business and asked me to call you and see if you'd help."
"Is he waiting for me to come before he puts the tire on?"
"No, he says he'll try it now but he thinks it'll take a long time."
"So he doesn't actually know I'm coming and isn't waiting for me to get there. It's the middle of rush hour traffic, and I might not find him before he gets done. And if he gets the tire changed and takes off, there's no way for me to know."
"Yeah, I guess. Can you go out there anyway?"
"I suppose so.

Of course, I also tried to avoid the highway, and ended up going WAY around any sort of direct path there, and then it was dark and I took the wrong road when I got there. And because there's construction on every freaking road going that direction, it was slow despite my circumvention. Eventually I called Dawn and got better directions, and by the time I found where he supposedly was, he was gone. So instead of going home I found a place to eat dinner, so I ate alone at some fast food joint and watched someone else's cute little kids eat french fries.

Anyway, the whole thing was just a comedy of errors, and I couldn't help thinking about it as I ate my mushroom swiss burger. The thing is, Dan and Dawn have been married for 5 or 6 years, and I think Dawn is just used to having support when things go wrong. To me, it was weird to ask someone to go find her husband and give him moral support, or whatever, because I sure wasn't any good at changing tires. But I'm single and have been for a long time, so I do everything alone. But for someone who's been married for years, it's just natural to need someone else there for support. And since Dawn couldn't go out and be there, she asked someone else to, nevermind the fact that it was utterly impractical for me to go out there.

Current Music: Just Tonight - Jimmy Eat World

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Nov. 8th, 2005

02:00 pm - Airports

Yesterday my roommate Brandon needed me to pick him up from the airport. He said he'd be coming in around 5:30, and I got there at 5:40, so I figured I'd park in short term (first 30 min are free) and check the terminals for him. It took me like an hour to find him, since we both kept moving in and our cell phone reception, and he was waiting outside. Anyway, as I wandered around for an hour, I remembered that I really love airports. Not only that, I realized *why* I love airports. It's the tremendous amount of energy that's there due to the hustle and bustle of the people.

Any time you get a large number of people together, there's going to be high energy. Sporting events, concerts, civil demonstrations, anything like that. But the energy at all of those things is focused. It's all pointed at the stage, or where ever else it's supposed to be. At an airport, it's focused in as many directions as there are people. Every single person is there for a reason, and his or her focus is on accomplishing that. Even the tired businessman reading a magazing at the coffee shop; his focus is on waiting for his flight's boarding call. Sometimes the people who are together have different focuses, too. I saw a family pass me, and the two young girls were fighting over who got to hold the welcome sign, the mother was trying to get them to settle down, and the father was watching the exit gate. I saw them right as I was pondering how diffuse and chaotic the energy at an airport it, and it kind of proved the point to me.

Anyway, there you have it, that's why I love airports.

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