With a potential move in our future, Amy and I have decided to kick our remodeling projects into high gear. We have an appointment this Saturday to discuss the remodeling of our kitchen and we're also going to start looking around for some new carpet for the two upper floors of the house. Plus, I'd like to finish painting the upstairs hallway and bedrooms as soon as possible. Finally, we'd also like to lay down new sod in the front yard while removing all of the rocks from the back yard around the deck to replace them with grass. We're not sure if all of these ideas will be feasible for us, but we'll be trying to do as many of them as our liquid assets will allow.
Currently, I still don't know if we'll be moving or staying in the area. No offers have been made. But, even if things don't work out with the job offer, we now have a fine list of improvements that can be made to our house in the near future. To me, it seems very much like a win-win situation. If we stay, we get to enjoy living in our improved home. If we go, the improvements that we make before leaving will hopefully net a decent return on our investment, which will enable us to afford something even better.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Baby Steps
My interview at Rosetta Stone is over and I believe that it went well. Two of the other audio engineers asked me some questions before Paul, the audio director and my ex-PIL coworker, came in to help wrap things up. I shouldn't judge the guys too harshly because they may have been a bit inexperienced at giving interviews, but they were two of the coldest interviewers with which I have ever spoken. It was actually rather entertaining how incredibly stern they were. I'm pretty sure that they don't act that way normally. At least I hope not.
The building that houses the software developer is an old granary or something of the sort. It reminded me of a barn with six floors, an elevator, and free snacks. It's located in downtown Harrisonburg which is actually the most interesting area of the city. Many of the buildings are quite old and are either products or direct descendants of the revolutionary-era architectural roots of the town. The streets are small, extremely narrow pathways that were obviously born of horse paths of the past. Once away from the downtown area, though, the rest of the city is suburban sprawl, Wal-Marts and Applebees as far as the eye can see. In its defense, there are apparently a good number of unique eateries that aren't corporate behemoths that people suggested before Paul and I left for lunch. I'm sure that it would just be a matter of exploration to discover the gems in the muck.
While I was in the interview, Amy took some time to explore the area via the traveller's information center. She told me that she found many items of interest in the area that we might enjoy, but I haven't looked at any of the paraphenalia yet. I'm hoping to do that this evening to get a better idea of what Harrisonburg has to offer in terms of things that we didn't have time to see in under three hours.
In the end, nothing solid was determined. There was no talk of salary, benefits, or other icky things like that. I need to provide them with some references now and once those references respond to their questions, I believe that the application process will move forward to the meat of the issue. In the end, while the area didn't do as much as I'd hoped to convince me to move there, I'm hoping that their offer will. Basically, that's all I'm waiting for at this point.
The building that houses the software developer is an old granary or something of the sort. It reminded me of a barn with six floors, an elevator, and free snacks. It's located in downtown Harrisonburg which is actually the most interesting area of the city. Many of the buildings are quite old and are either products or direct descendants of the revolutionary-era architectural roots of the town. The streets are small, extremely narrow pathways that were obviously born of horse paths of the past. Once away from the downtown area, though, the rest of the city is suburban sprawl, Wal-Marts and Applebees as far as the eye can see. In its defense, there are apparently a good number of unique eateries that aren't corporate behemoths that people suggested before Paul and I left for lunch. I'm sure that it would just be a matter of exploration to discover the gems in the muck.
While I was in the interview, Amy took some time to explore the area via the traveller's information center. She told me that she found many items of interest in the area that we might enjoy, but I haven't looked at any of the paraphenalia yet. I'm hoping to do that this evening to get a better idea of what Harrisonburg has to offer in terms of things that we didn't have time to see in under three hours.
In the end, nothing solid was determined. There was no talk of salary, benefits, or other icky things like that. I need to provide them with some references now and once those references respond to their questions, I believe that the application process will move forward to the meat of the issue. In the end, while the area didn't do as much as I'd hoped to convince me to move there, I'm hoping that their offer will. Basically, that's all I'm waiting for at this point.
Monday, March 13, 2006
INFORMation
So far, giving up playing video games in a solitary setting has been fun. Yes, I've been able to fill that time with chores and the like, but I've also had time for various endeavors that I always find myself thinking about but never actually doing.
For instance, I've started to rediscover programming text adventures in the Inform language. I first learned about Inform in a computer game design class that I took while in graduate school, now a seemingly distant four years prior. When I took the course, I enjoyed immersing myself in the language, which I would describe as object-oriented with a generous dash of syntactical verbosity a la BASIC, but due to the ugly fact that I had a deadline for a project, I couldn't spend time learning how to elegantly implement some of the interesting ideas that I had.
Now that I have no pressure to complete an assignment, I have been able to spend more time learning the basics of the language using the Inform Beginner's Guide. This guide did not exist in its current state when I took the game design course and if I had had the opportunity (or the time) to read through it before starting my project, I could have saved myself from a few headaches. I've already learned more about Inform by reading the Beginner's Guide than I did in three weeks of sporadic coding and begging classmates in the class newsgroup for tips and advice.
Also, the pleasantly warm weather on Saturday gave me the opportunity to get the bikes out of the shed so that Amy and I could go on a ride. It made me excited to be able to ride my bike to and from work again, but Amy did not hesitate to offer a reminder of my excitement in August when I'm sick to death of it and want nothing more than to take the bus. Viva la difference, I say!
On the job front, there is no further news to report. I sent them answers to their written, pre-interview questions, which they have probably reviewed by now. I expect to hear from them in the next couple of days if they are indeed interested.
For instance, I've started to rediscover programming text adventures in the Inform language. I first learned about Inform in a computer game design class that I took while in graduate school, now a seemingly distant four years prior. When I took the course, I enjoyed immersing myself in the language, which I would describe as object-oriented with a generous dash of syntactical verbosity a la BASIC, but due to the ugly fact that I had a deadline for a project, I couldn't spend time learning how to elegantly implement some of the interesting ideas that I had.
Now that I have no pressure to complete an assignment, I have been able to spend more time learning the basics of the language using the Inform Beginner's Guide. This guide did not exist in its current state when I took the game design course and if I had had the opportunity (or the time) to read through it before starting my project, I could have saved myself from a few headaches. I've already learned more about Inform by reading the Beginner's Guide than I did in three weeks of sporadic coding and begging classmates in the class newsgroup for tips and advice.
Also, the pleasantly warm weather on Saturday gave me the opportunity to get the bikes out of the shed so that Amy and I could go on a ride. It made me excited to be able to ride my bike to and from work again, but Amy did not hesitate to offer a reminder of my excitement in August when I'm sick to death of it and want nothing more than to take the bus. Viva la difference, I say!
On the job front, there is no further news to report. I sent them answers to their written, pre-interview questions, which they have probably reviewed by now. I expect to hear from them in the next couple of days if they are indeed interested.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Quote Unquote
There are two poems I have posted on my bulletin board at work. Both of them were written by two classmates of mine from high school in a creative writing course. This stuff predates the web and anime forum poetry, but it's where I got my first taste of this level of poetic entertainment. The first poem is one of my favorites!
Poetry
Poetry is like a gun
being unloaded on a
target, which is quick
and gets right to the point.
As the bullet hits the target,
a strong emotion towards
that quick little period of time
is shot in a person's head for a long time.
Wow. No kidding! And rhyming time with time: Priceless.
end:
The end of time soon will come,
when will it happen? no one can tell.
but I'm sure when that day will finally arrive,
I'll see you in the firey pits of hell.
I'm sure in our lives we've all done something
that just wasn't right.
like drink, cuss, smoke, or provoke a fight.
I can't wait to see you all,
burning in the firey furnace called hell.
I don't care where I go, I need a tan so hell is swell.
I want to see your faces as you watch each other fry.
I know I'll see you all in hell,
everyone has told a lie.
so sit and ponder this coming day,
when you'll feel the heat greater than 10 million
sun rays.
The misused punctuation combined with an erratic use of capital letters in an off-kilter, arhythmic Hallmark-esque style singularly accentuate the duality of his fragile psyche. On one hand, the author is impassioned enough to wish that everyone burn in hell, yet he himself is so ambivalent about the idea that his attention turns to getting a tan. Genius, I say.
One for the road:
"I meant to be a serious actor with a beard who wore a lot of black and wanted to share his misery with you." --Stehpen Colbert
Poetry
Poetry is like a gun
being unloaded on a
target, which is quick
and gets right to the point.
As the bullet hits the target,
a strong emotion towards
that quick little period of time
is shot in a person's head for a long time.
Wow. No kidding! And rhyming time with time: Priceless.
end:
The end of time soon will come,
when will it happen? no one can tell.
but I'm sure when that day will finally arrive,
I'll see you in the firey pits of hell.
I'm sure in our lives we've all done something
that just wasn't right.
like drink, cuss, smoke, or provoke a fight.
I can't wait to see you all,
burning in the firey furnace called hell.
I don't care where I go, I need a tan so hell is swell.
I want to see your faces as you watch each other fry.
I know I'll see you all in hell,
everyone has told a lie.
so sit and ponder this coming day,
when you'll feel the heat greater than 10 million
sun rays.
The misused punctuation combined with an erratic use of capital letters in an off-kilter, arhythmic Hallmark-esque style singularly accentuate the duality of his fragile psyche. On one hand, the author is impassioned enough to wish that everyone burn in hell, yet he himself is so ambivalent about the idea that his attention turns to getting a tan. Genius, I say.
One for the road:
"I meant to be a serious actor with a beard who wore a lot of black and wanted to share his misery with you." --Stehpen Colbert
High Tension, Indeed
I have made a Lenten sacrifice this year that could be a real challenge for me. I have given up playing video games. The only exception to that rule is when the purpose for playing the game is a social one. Basically, my game nights with Evan will remain scheduled and I have already played Dance Dance Revolution with Jordan and Jeannie when Amy and I went to visit them over the weekend. Those events aren't as much about playing the game as they are about getting together with friends. But I will not play a game by myself for a while. I will not use them to fill time.
Every once in a while I need to purge my hobby. Even though it isn't one, gaming feels like it becomes an addiction and I can sense my surroundings becoming more chaotic when that occurs. I don't clean up after myself as much, exercising becomes a "maybe" thing, and generally I just feel like I need a jumpstart. Plus, with all the potential for change waiting around the corner, I might not have much time for games anyway. The willful intention of my sacrifice might be moot due to schedule constraints.
Speaking of which, I briefly spoke with Paul again yesterday evening via e-mail. He has already had my materials delivered to him and he only needs to show Rosetta Stone that he has no non-competition agreement with PIL. I've never heard of such a thing in the multimedia industry before, a market in which people seem to change jobs almost as often as they change clothes, but perhaps there is something of which I am unaware.
In unrelated news, I saw High Tension last night. It's a good slasher movie from France. There were a few events from the rising action portion of the plot that didn't make any sense to me at the end of the movie, but mostly, it was very good. The director did a great job keeping to mostly tight, hand-held shots that prevented the audience from seeing the monster around the corner. There's one rather silly kill scene, but otherwise, once it gets going, the violence and gore (and tension, duh) is generally believeable and steadily ramps up until the end with some scenes that had me wincing. For the record, the inconsistencies that are created in the third act, while irritating, didn't ruin this movie for me like they apparently did for 6 out of 10 critics. If you like horror movies, don't pay attention to those people and see this movie.
Every once in a while I need to purge my hobby. Even though it isn't one, gaming feels like it becomes an addiction and I can sense my surroundings becoming more chaotic when that occurs. I don't clean up after myself as much, exercising becomes a "maybe" thing, and generally I just feel like I need a jumpstart. Plus, with all the potential for change waiting around the corner, I might not have much time for games anyway. The willful intention of my sacrifice might be moot due to schedule constraints.
Speaking of which, I briefly spoke with Paul again yesterday evening via e-mail. He has already had my materials delivered to him and he only needs to show Rosetta Stone that he has no non-competition agreement with PIL. I've never heard of such a thing in the multimedia industry before, a market in which people seem to change jobs almost as often as they change clothes, but perhaps there is something of which I am unaware.
In unrelated news, I saw High Tension last night. It's a good slasher movie from France. There were a few events from the rising action portion of the plot that didn't make any sense to me at the end of the movie, but mostly, it was very good. The director did a great job keeping to mostly tight, hand-held shots that prevented the audience from seeing the monster around the corner. There's one rather silly kill scene, but otherwise, once it gets going, the violence and gore (and tension, duh) is generally believeable and steadily ramps up until the end with some scenes that had me wincing. For the record, the inconsistencies that are created in the third act, while irritating, didn't ruin this movie for me like they apparently did for 6 out of 10 critics. If you like horror movies, don't pay attention to those people and see this movie.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Great Exepectations
I never expected that I'd be thinking about moving again so soon. Nothing is solid yet at all, but I put in an application this weekend to work as an audio engineer for Rosetta Stone, which, if you haven't followed the link yet, is located in the western portion of the state of Virginia. Paul Heitsch, an ex-coworker of mine from PIL, recently signed on as the audio director there and has said that he is willing to go as far as he can go without circumventing their HR department to offer me the position. From my position, if they make an offer that's attractive enough for me to uproot and move again, I'll do it. From what Paul tells me, I could be earning more compared to my current position. And in a smaller town like Harrisonburg, the bang for my buck will be greater in terms of the cost of living.
But let me make it clear. I like working here at PIL well enough, but it's no secret that they don't pay their creative employees what they're worth. The initial offer they made me was actually a little offensive. But, when given the choice between the potential to earn the money they were offering versus nothing per year, who wouldn't turn them down? I believe that their methodology (in general) is to hire nothing but new graduates, people who are desperate to get a job, pay them as little as possible, then let them go in a couple of years when the new grad finally has some experience to find a better job.
In their defense, it seems that if you show that you're committed to the company by hanging around for a while, I think they'll eventually give you enough in annual salary increases to make up the discrepency between their initial offer and industry averages. But, from my estimates based on my own salary, that would take a decade or more, which from where I stand, seems like too much time because between now and then, I'm not earning anywhere near industry averages. And anyway, those "catch-up" raises are not guaranteed. It could be nothing but a carrot on a stick.
Basically, if Rosetta Stone makes me an attractive offer, I will give PIL a chance to keep me if they want to do so. All I have to do is present the offer in writing. But if they don't feel that they need me, I'm more than happy to bail on them. I would miss some of my coworkers. They are fun people. I like the fact that I can get together with my boss and hang out now and again. But, unfortunately, I have to grab the golden ring when I can, and I'm not talking about Sonic.
But let me make it clear. I like working here at PIL well enough, but it's no secret that they don't pay their creative employees what they're worth. The initial offer they made me was actually a little offensive. But, when given the choice between the potential to earn the money they were offering versus nothing per year, who wouldn't turn them down? I believe that their methodology (in general) is to hire nothing but new graduates, people who are desperate to get a job, pay them as little as possible, then let them go in a couple of years when the new grad finally has some experience to find a better job.
In their defense, it seems that if you show that you're committed to the company by hanging around for a while, I think they'll eventually give you enough in annual salary increases to make up the discrepency between their initial offer and industry averages. But, from my estimates based on my own salary, that would take a decade or more, which from where I stand, seems like too much time because between now and then, I'm not earning anywhere near industry averages. And anyway, those "catch-up" raises are not guaranteed. It could be nothing but a carrot on a stick.
Basically, if Rosetta Stone makes me an attractive offer, I will give PIL a chance to keep me if they want to do so. All I have to do is present the offer in writing. But if they don't feel that they need me, I'm more than happy to bail on them. I would miss some of my coworkers. They are fun people. I like the fact that I can get together with my boss and hang out now and again. But, unfortunately, I have to grab the golden ring when I can, and I'm not talking about Sonic.
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