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[ummmkay]

dear internet, i really hate not being 21 when literally ALL of my friends already are. it sucks to be sitting in your apartment by yourself because all your friends are downtown and you can't get into any of the bars. my birthday is in a little over six weeks and it can't come soon enough. whine whine complain complain i'm being self-indulgent

[tania]

i have managed to get over my rather silly and irrational fear of driving. i feel accomplished!

i finally did this last week too! about five years too late, granted, but hurray for bring told by the government you are legally allowed to drive on your own even though in my case i really probably shouldn't be!

[Barmymoo]

Guys what the hell am I doing going to university to take a ridiculously expensive law degree when all I actually want is to become a PA, and there are much cheaper courses for that? I mean seriously I'm having a huge crisis now, I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do with a law degree even if it's from Cambridge because all you need to be a PA is good GCSEs and communication skills and shit, I already have those and also I have four and a half grand and in three years the only part of that which will still be true is the first part and I don't want to go into a massive amount of debt just to come out of it and take a qualification equivalent to the ones I'd been sitting six years before.

I mean. Hell. Why did I go to a poncey school where the careers advice was "do you want to be a lawyer or a doctor? Take your pick!". If someone had sat down with me and actually talked through my skillset and my ambitions I would probably never even have taken A levels, I would have taken a BTEC or got an apprenticeship or something.

Bloody hell. Time for bed.

Also: Jimor, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and your family. Also thanks for the Philadelphia information, OWW.

[20 jazz funk greats]

i have managed to get over my rather silly and irrational fear of driving. i feel accomplished!

i finally did this last week too! about five years too late, granted, but hurray for bring told by the government you are legally allowed to drive on your own even though in my case i really probably shouldn't be!

i'm not at the actually being allowed to drive on my own legally stage yet. but i should be soon! i am a quick learner and have a lot of time to practice since i'm not doing much this summer. nevertheless, i feel like i should give you a high five. mainly for making me feel like i am not a freak and a late bloomer for not having gotten my license much earlier.

[JimmyJazz]

So I am transferring to college in D.C. this year because my old college was expensive and full of pricks and I really like the new one and it's much more focused on want I want to major in, plus when I visited D.C. for the first time in a while last summer it was awesome. Anyone here a resident of the area who knows of awesome places to check out besides the obvious ones? Last time I checked out all the usual landmarks, museums and some pretty cool clubs/restaurants, but I want info on lesser-known spots ahead of time so I can scope out a run-through of the city when I transfer this fall.

[Patrick]

I can't remember where it is but the Aveda Institute is a great place to get a damn good and inexpensive (considering the cut quality and the service) haircut, because it is where they train their stylists. Just be sure to tip well. Especially if they are really nice, which they are pretty much without fail.

See also: EVERY PUNK VENUE EVER

[MrBlu]

Popular Livermore activities include ghostriding the whip, scraping, going dumb, and repping the hyphy.

Wait, what? Prepare a couch for me.

[a pack of wolves]

Guys what the hell am I doing going to university to take a ridiculously expensive law degree when all I actually want is to become a PA, and there are much cheaper courses for that? I mean seriously I'm having a huge crisis now, I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do with a law degree even if it's from Cambridge because all you need to be a PA is good GCSEs and communication skills and shit, I already have those and also I have four and a half grand and in three years the only part of that which will still be true is the first part and I don't want to go into a massive amount of debt just to come out of it and take a qualification equivalent to the ones I'd been sitting six years before.

I mean. Hell. Why did I go to a poncey school where the careers advice was "do you want to be a lawyer or a doctor? Take your pick!". If someone had sat down with me and actually talked through my skillset and my ambitions I would probably never even have taken A levels, I would have taken a BTEC or got an apprenticeship or something.

Bloody hell. Time for bed.

You can always defer. Once you're in somewhere it's usually pretty easy to just change the start date of a course (I can imagine Cambridge being an exception though). Or you can take a break after starting, say finish your first year and then not go any further if you don't want to. That way you aren't in insane amounts of debt but you can always go back if you later decide finishing the degree is something you want to do. It's only three years of your life if you decide it to be, just starting a degree doesn't keep you locked into it and dropping out doesn't stop you finishing some other time, or even in some other subject. I first went to uni to do psychology in Manchester seven years ago, but in a couple of weeks Leeds are giving me a nice bit of paper for English Language And Literature (which is ridiculous since I have never taken a single language module) despite dropping out from there once as well.

[Zingoleb]

Hi Blaggy

I am feeling very tense, very angry, very impatient with everyone and everything. I do not know why but I am trying very hard to bite my tongue and be polite to people when I want them to go away.

Fuck.

Edit: Which all ended as soon as I had a seizure, awesome.

[David_Dovey]

Popular Livermore activities include ghostriding the whip, scraping, going dumb, and repping the hyphy.

Wait, what? Prepare a couch for me.

Yeah man I fail to see anything wrong with this at all

[Johnny C]

i thought scene kids just drank like, bright-colored shit

bright purple drank

[nobo]

my former college roomie just called me and we spent the last 2 hours talking about the good ol' times. His wedding is in 2.5 weeks and I will be driving up to DC for it, so you can expect some tux pictures at the end of the month

[tania]

i started my second job last monday and everything seemed to be going pretty awesome, i was given my work uniform and lots of training and shown around the store and given a big manual to read and then told that i'd be called back and informed when my next shift would be. it's eight days later and i haven't heard anything back yet. is it appropriate for me to call them at this point to figure out what's going on? i really didn't get any kind of vibe that they didn't want me to work there on my first day and they have both a mobile and home phone number to contact me at. it's probably a lot more likely that they are disorganized (they are pretty disorganized) and forgot to call me rather than that i got fired and they forgot to tell me, but ever since being fired from my other part time job last month i am kind of irrational and paranoid about it happening again. also i am still really fucking broke and constantly trying not to panic about that. i know this post is really dumb, too, mostly i am writing it because i am hell of bad at being calm and patient in the situations that need it most. i should really try to work on that.

[Jimor]

Thank you everybody, everything is going as well as can be expected right now. I'm a lot less worried about long term prospects now that the tests are done. 

Tania, it's perfectly appropriate to give them a call to ask what's up. Sometimes after training, it's more a matter of finding a slot in the schedule or regular payroll hours, since training/orientation hours are often "off budget". Good luck with it!

[Drill King]

job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting job hunting fuck.

[David_Dovey]

Another pretty cool day, Work in the morning, skipped out early, came home and did a 2-hour Skype date with the lady, shower, shave (good one today! Truefitt & Hill West Indian Limes cream + slightly mellowed blade), now listening to The History of Rome podcast and rolling a joint, gonna blaze it and play Guitar Hero: Metallica.

[Zingoleb]

So when you are done job hunting you fuck?

Also: Jimor: This could just be a warning of, "Hey, live healthier!" My grandfather had a minor heart attack, but he was fine afterwards. However, he was a major smoker and drinker and did not change his lifestyle and ended up having several more heart attacks and dying in the hospital.

Not trying to scare you, just saying...could be a wake-up call.

[LittleKey]

Everyone seems to be driving now and I am no exception! I'm starting my first day of real driving tomorrow, meaning I'll be driving on actual streets and stuff, not just parking lots. This is because I just started Behind the Wheel, which for those of you who don't remember/ have different rules for this kind of thing, is three 2 hour sessions of one on one training with an instructor, that has to be done in the 6th month time period in-between getting your permit and taking your license test. I also need to drive 50 hours with parents: 40 at day and 10 at night. I'm not really nervous about driving tomorrow, it'll actually be cool. Wish me luck guys!

[snalin]

Dear blaggy, I just heard a thunder outside. That's the same outside I'm going to fight* in today. Woo fucking whoo. Also, since it's summer and I have too much time on my hands, I've taken up tribalwars again. I used to be addicted, I remember why now.

[Thomas Edison]

When I read through that the first time I thought you were some kind of backyard boxer or something, Snalin.

Now I realize you're just gonna' go see some band.

You let my hopes down.

[McTaggart]

I didn't pay nearly as much tax as I thought I did. That means not getting nearly the tax return I thought I would. Welp.

[Joseph]

  So, Florence is pretty much one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to.  Everything, right down to the language, is lovely.  My Italian is coming along nicely, though I still don't feel all too confident when I'm holding a conversation that extends beyond a few phrases.  Thankfully, I have nearly three weeks left, and considering only a week and a half has gone by, I've learned a ton.

  Unfortunately, my apartment mates are not the sort of people I tend to befriend, and I have a lot of trouble holding a conversation with any of them for more than a few minutes at a time.  They are almost all finance/management students, and are generally really into consumerism and things I think are kind of shallow (this is not helped by the fact that I've been reading a bunch of Baudrillard, Debord, and Perec recently).  Thankfully, going to museums alone is absolutely fine by me.  And most of my apartment mates are nice folks, at least, even if we don't have much in common.  There is one guy, one of my roommates for the month, who I do get along well with though, and it's been nice to have the occasional conversation/dinner with him.

  Basically, I'm really happy with my choices for the summer.  I'm going to go to Rome this weekend, and am pretty excited about that, and I'm starting to juggle ideas for where I'll travel once my course is over.  Life is pretty grand.

[pen]

I woke up at 3 this morning to my daughter climbing in my bed.  My window was open and it was raining really hard, so I fell asleep again.  Somewhere after I fell asleep, I am convinced the kid shut off my alarm clock.  Today was a TERRIBLE day to run late for work.  I have been working on a project for months for a program being implemented and this is the first week.  I had a conference to be at at 7:30.  It takes me an hour and change to get to work, and I woke up at 6:02 on my own.  I hadn't yet chosen what I was going to wear, and I also had preschool duty this morning.  I am SO impressed with how I managed to get myself dressed, my kid awake and dressed and managed to leave the house only a few min later than usual.  Work status: on time.  How the heck did I do it?  I skipped hair-brushing and tooth-brushing and all of my relax time.  I feel disgusting, but my boss was super impressed with me and my fast driving skills. Time for coffee coffee coffee...

[MrBlu]

Listerine is VERY handy in such situations.

[Joseph]

I spent my afternoon browsing the Uffizi, listening to Steve Reich and Rachel's.  It was pretty much the most wonderful thing.

[Gemmwah]

I'm in my new house and aside from the fact that i've not finished unpacking, i can't connect to the internet, the kitchen is a state even though there's only other person here, and my ceiling fan won't turn off when i've got the light on, it's not bad.


edit: THE INTERNET IS MIIIIINEEEE

edit again: 1000 posts yeeeeeeeah!

[Liz]

Jens I am so excited to meet you. You have no idea.

[Will]

I cleaned a bit in my apartment today, did the dishes, vanquished all the caked-on grease on my stove, and bought some new silverware. I feel accomplished because of this...

In an hour or so, I'll be rehearsing a bit for tour next month. I have exactly 30 days until I leave!

[Hat]

drank a reasonable proportion of a 1.5 litre bottle of Belvedere last night as well as a bunch of margaritas and gin fizzes and shit and now have the harsh reality of my living room to deal with so I am approaching this the way I do a lot of challenges in life I feel are unreasonable for the moment, by smoking pot and listening to down tempo breaks until I don't want to throw up and die

[Zingoleb]

Had part one of my psychiatric evaluation today. The therapist started asking me about my guitars, told me about his, and mentioned how he really likes Daft Punk (without any mention of them on my part).

I like this guy.

The test I took felt a bit...puritanical. Some of the questions seemed a bit outdated, such as, "Do you believe women should have equal sexual freedom?" The copyright was marked 1970something and the booklet was falling apart. Oh, well. It was interesting.

Edit: And goddamn I am addicted to frying potatoes.

[David_Dovey]

I superglued a cut closed today. Badass

[Hat]

cut a slice into my hand between my index and thumb once and sealed it with a silicon gun before going to hospital to get 5 stitches

superglue is actually considerably more badass though when you think about it

[est]

I just wasted $50 I probably shouldn't have been spending anyway on a VMWare certification book that I will never take the test for due to it being 275 fucking dollars.  I know it's my own fault for expecting it to be more kind-of-reasonable like the $180 MS certs, but Jesus fucking Christ who charges $275 for a certification in goddamn fucking VMWare.

Like, when I saw the price I was disgusted/disappointed enough that I threw the book across the room.  Maybe I'll do the study and just not take the exam or something, I don't know.  I need to know more about the kinds of virtualisation technologies people are starting to run these days and ideally I would like to be able to put the cert on my resume, but not quite that badly.

[Jimmy the Squid]

Do you want me to come over and give you another hug?

[pwhodges]

Books and certifications aren't about technologies anyway, they're about implementations.  Once you've got your head around the idea, virtualisation isn't hard to understand.  All the elaborate ways that processes can be controlled (Vmotion, etc) take a little explaining, but they're not inherently hard - it's just about the products not any principles.  It's not to the credit of recruiters that they don't realise this.

I got my Linux certification in my 50s, when learning is slower than for the young.  I had never used Linux, but did a four-day course and a day of exams (3 of 2 hours).  Easy-peasy, really, once you have the base concepts of an OS in your mind.

Blog blog blog...
Last night, I recorded a concert, for money, for someone I've never met before.  It's the first time I've done this; and I was dead scared, as it put my judgement on the line - a pro had pushed the job over to me because he felt he couldn't handle it and Google told him I could.  I think it went OK.  I'm very tired, though, as I stayed up in London really late to do the processing and editing, and delivered the CD copies before coming home.

[snalin]

Yesterday, I got vacation money from the job I had last year. 2k NOK. Which is.... I dunno 250ish dollars. I wasn't expecting them at all. This is awesome and nice and everything. I havez moneyz.

Now I'm wondering what to spend them on. I've been thinking about getting a new PC, and together with working three weeks with my father to fix up some computers at his workplace (we'll have to remove and replace 70 of them, and then install them), I think I'll have the money I need to get a proper one. YAY! The best part is that since my father is the IT-guy, he has full looting-rights on anything that's not going to be used by his company. And guess what, he bought some awesome gaming graphic cards for the x-ray section there (when dentists take x-rays, they want to see them in HIGH resolution). They turned out to be too big to fit into the computers they had, so now they are just laying around. Yes yes yes.

[Jimor]

I superglued a cut closed today. Badass

That's what it was invented for.

[Will]

Yeah, there's very little difference chemically speaking between superglue and the medical glue they use at hospitals for the same thing. Superglue just isn't as sterile.

Superglue is not particularly effective when you cut open the webbing 'twixt your forefinger and thumb; that will require stictches. Be they the kind put in by a medical professional, or the kind put in by yourself in the bathroom of a WalMart with a travel sewing kit sterilized by rubbing alchohol and a cigarette lighter to the needle. Not that I have ever done such a thing...

I superglued a cut closed today. Badass

You, sir, are still badass. I will not dispute that.

[est]

Books and certifications aren't about technologies anyway, they're about implementations.  Once you've got your head around the idea, virtualisation isn't hard to understand.

I am thinking about reading through it anyway to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.  I have used the low-level VMWare products and know the theory behind the server-level stuff, I was just looking to put a "VCP" stamp on my CV to make up for the obvious lack of VMWare experience on the thing.  We're in the same job vacancy slump that I expect is happening the world over at the moment, so I am finding it hard to get back into a job, otherwise I wouldn't be quite so annoyed by it.

also,

Do you want me to come over and give you another hug?

Not just yet, thanks.  Let's see how I go at finding a job before I run out of savings, then perhaps I will require another hug!

[David_Dovey]

Holy shit Will.

[allison]

Dovey: <3
Will: <3

In other news, holy shitfucks I am doing the most boring of training. It is a step-by-step introduction to a new customer care and account management program and the web training session has been designed for people who are entirely computer illiterate. I have been clicking through mind-numbing help bubbles for an hour and a half and I have not learned anything that isn't simple common sense. Please grant me the strength to refrain from throwing my monitor across the room.

[Jimor]

I don't suppose turning it into a drinking game would go over too well...

[pen]

So this week, there are a bunch of tall ships right outside my window for this:  http://www.sailboston.com/home.html  It's so beautiful.  I get off the T and it give me something pleasant to look at immediately and makes my day better.  I want to be on a ship.  I want to be a pirate! That's what they make me think of, though it probably helps that I was reading a book with pirates in it the other day when I first saw these.  It was great. 

[McTaggart]

Dear blog thread it is 12:43 am and we are 223/1 chasing like 438 in the first innings? I am going to bed, I don't think I need to worry about Australia being in a bad position tomorrow.

[Joseph]

Three of my apartment mates were just talking about how awesome the Wayan brother's movies are.  In particular, 'White Chicks'.  I tried to change the subject, mentioning my favourite contemporary comedy, 'The Big Lebowski'.

"Oh, that movie is retarded."

I decided that the internet was a better place to be.

(I also went wine tasting in Chianti today and it was awesome)

[Gemmwah]

My new room!
Excuse the mess, I'm still not entirely sure where everything's going so it's a bit of a state. It'll be better once I get some more furniture in.






Massive bay window! Yesssss.

[Metope]

Hey guys I'm back home from my big European Adventure! It was amazing and I miss it already! Gonna tell more soon and show you pics when Facebook stops being an ass.

[J-cob9000]

Sam, those plates and that silverware is almost identical to my aunt's.
Crazy.


I have these awesome rice snack things. they are ranch flavored.

[Verergoca]

Whoooo! I passed my driverslicence test! Now the `lets just take the car and go see europe for a few days` holidayplan can go through! Huzzah!

Also, i just ordered myself a new compootah!

Life is pretty awesome

[Jace]

Holy shit Will.

Holy shit, Will.

Also, I have closed so many cuts with superglue I can't even count them all. That's the fun of being a hobbyist.