On the job again.

Made a last visit to HQ today to drop off my laptop (after extracting all my personal data to a DVD) and say my good-byes. Everyone was very nice and obviously upset by my departure - one reason being that there is the possibility they won't be far behind! Dave was encouraging by saying he'd had two interviews last month - no job but at least people are willing to talk. It's a positive spin on things.


Home now, had some lunch, loaded the dishwasher, and now I'm doing the job search/sending resumes thing. Working in the bedroom so I can be with MLM while she games on her laptop and watches Last Exile - probably our favorite anime overall. I think I've discussed it previously. You can Wiki it for an excellent review and detailed info. It's worth it!

Oh, and Father's Day is coming up! I just got two cards from Kelly: one really sweet and sentimental and a funny one with a check! Yea! Thank you, Kelly! The check is much appreciated as you can imagine. It's a personal check so I can't use it directly, of course, since I don't have a checking or savings account, but I can sign it over to pay a bill, so that will be a big help!

Onward, to Better Things...

I crossed the Loop in a bus to the train station. Awesome to see all the giant buildings there erected by and designed to service this concentration of humanity. It’s glorious! I miss it so. It is very empowering – one feels anything is possible in the midst of such vibrant endeavor. Riding the train home now – that’s always fun. The ride is so different now than I remember from my youth, or even 10 years ago here. It is a very smooth ride now and relatively quiet. All the lines here have upgraded their track to welded rail – so now each rail is a continuous band of steel for hundreds or thousands of feet between physical joints. Hence the traditional clickity-clack as the trucks passed over the joints is no more to be heard. The only time you hear something like that is when we pass through a turnout or hammer the diamonds. Makes for an even more pleasant ride!

Just downloaded a fansub of a popular anime call ef – a tale of memories. It is based on a Japanese visual novel (so-called, it might more be called a role-playing game with a definite plot pattern based on choices the player makes). The anime is just beautiful! The animation is some of the prettiest I’ve seen with lush backgrounds, stunning lighting effects, and vibrant characters. The music rivals any I’ve heard as well. I’m just getting into it so I’ll provide a more detailed evaluation later. Basically, though, it’s a shoujo romance series with three or four high-school-age couples learning to get along, make friends and enemies, and find their true love. Yeah, I’m a pushover for this crap. Deal. Reminds me of my H.S. days I guess, only with cute uniforms!

If you want a couple of recommendations for kids in high school series that are top drawer humor, I give you Azumanga Daioh, and School Rumble. Azumanga Daioh was born as a manga and focuses on the three years of high school for a half-dozen very different girls and their teacher. It’s pretty much slice-of-life style episodes that also veers off into the surreal from time to time for hilarious effect!

School Rumble is just a high-school sit-com with really great characters and situations. Each of these series offer a close look at what I assume is typical Japanese high school life (at least it is according to my research on Wikipedia) with all its festivals, sports days, culture days, etc, etc. They are primarily fun to watch and will amuse and delight you. Check ‘em out.

Found quite a few new job postings on Career Builder this morning – so local to where I live so I will jump on them and make the big score!! Hahahaha!

To Dub or Not to Dub? ... Dub!!

So, I saw Clannad has been released on DVD here in the states. It’s a wonderful anime series that I watched last year as a fansub. I was disappointed to learn that the US release has not been dubbed in English, just subtitled. I’m seeing this more and more lately as the US distributors are trying to get the discs to market as quickly as possible and so they forego the dubbing process, which I agree is very expensive and bit of a gamble if the DVD doesn’t sell well. I think the idea is, if they make a good profit with subtitles they’ll come back and dub it later for a second release.
Now, this doesn’t make a lot of sense for a series like Clannad, which is wildly popular and regarded as one of the best anime series ever – which appraisal I agree with. It’s gone through two seasons and a movie and I think they’re planning a live-action film and more anime series or OVAs. This is a series that should have been dubbed for its US release! On a more personal note, it is now almost impossible for MLM to follow a subtitled presentation. Now, your purist anime fans say they always want to watch their anime with the original Japanese soundtrack and follow along with the subtitles. MLM and I used to do that too, up until a couple years ago. Also, a lot of the English dubbing is pretty hit or miss; with some excellent work and some crappy. Usually you could count on really good voice-acting in the original Japanese, and even though you may not understand it, the emotion definitely comes through. Again our problem now is that MLM just cannot see and concentrate well enough to make a subtitled anime enjoyable anymore. So, come on people; Dub ‘em!!

You want fries with that?

Monday morning; on the train to Chicago one last time. No user support required today, my part of that is done and Ted will be handling from now on (Ted’ll probably be gone after Wednesday). I just have to package as many PCs for shipping that I can today. All the old or replacement hardware has to be sent back to Ohio for re-use. They came to us one at a time so we’re sending them back one at a time. Tomorrow I’ll swing down to HQ in Downers Grove to drop off my laptop & phone and pick up some paperwork; then it’s home until I get another job.

Saw a sign at the Wal-Mart nearby that they’re doing a big store renovation and they’re looking for full-time help. Not sure why the renovation needs more people, although I was at another store doing renovations on Saturday and it looked like the staff was keeping pretty busy moving displays from one location to another, keeping just ahead of the remod work. So maybe that’s it. At least full-time there I’d get medical and a discount on purchases. Apple just announced the new iPhone 3G that’s lots cheaper than the first iPhone with more features so I could get that there for MLM. This looks like the perfect phone for her since it’s all touch panel and programmable and you move stuff around with your fingers and it uses voice-recognition etc. MLM really has a hard time using her regular cell these days – the small buttons and scrolling for numbers and trying to program it are almost impossible for her. I just hope I can get a job soon enough to get her that for her birthday the end of July. *sigh*

So I will check that out and the movie theater gig too, since there’s so little demand for IT these days. I got one call on my Dice update but it was in Des Moines! Just gotta keep working it I guess! ;-)

WHOA! SHOE!!

Well, the waiting is over. I’m laid off. Again! Monday in Chicago will be my last day, apart from a quick trip Tuesday morning from the house to HQ in Downers Grove to drop off my stuff. I was feeling pretty hopeful since we all got an e-mail from the boss saying he was going to be out of town on vacation all next week and who to contact about what in his absence etc. etc. So, I thought, well at least I won’t be de-head-counted next week! Then he called me this afternoon with the bad news. He tried to be as hopeful as possible; saying that they are pushing to get Phase 2 of the project going asap, and that if I was available and interested he’d be pleased to bring me back on board – said it might even be within a week. The plans and schedules keep changing. I’m kind of relieved, ‘cause at least now I know. The not knowing was really getting on my nerves I think; I mean my intestines have been in turmoil the last couple of months – my lower abdomen must look like the Somme. Maybe that’s why I’ve been losing weight; who knows.

MLM called shortly after I got the news. Said she just wanted to make sure I was okay – she’s good isn’t she? Totally psyched into her hubby. I was impressed. Anyway, I gave her the news and she was pretty calm about it. I mean, we discussed the possibility last night for some time so we pretty much were expecting it sometime soon and had our heads in a good place about it. Nothing like a life filled with challenges make losing a job seem like no big deal. Keeps things in perspective y’know?

So, heading home on the train now and am planning to spend a very nice weekend with my Sweetie! Let’s watch some new Anime and cuddle! Yea! And, of course, I’ll also be looking full-time for a new job. Wish me luck!

We Few, We Happy Few, We Band of Hackers!

Yesterday was a total drag. The night migration guy got laid off. Was told his part of Phase 1 was finished so he’s gone. I got a call from the supervisor requesting I collect his badges and PC. Apparently they’re doing some re-thinking about the scheduling and Phase 2 won’t start for another couple of months (it was supposed to pick up right after Phase 1, but that’s two-week-old news). So Michael dropped by the Chicago office where we worked the last two weeks to pick up his stuff and get his misc. off his hard drive. Wished him luck out there and we commiserated with each other for a while. We’re all old guys there – Ted, the other day tech, is about my age too – so we recognize that we’re a new Band of Brothers; IT guys who qualify for AARP. I really need to say IT persons to avoid being sexist as there are plenty of women in the same boat. My manager at Sara Lee three years ago got laid off when I was and she was out of work for over a year-and-a-half, and she had just received her master’s degree in telecommunications! So, need a gender-neutral term for this: Band of Geezers? Band of Geeks? Band of Hackers? I think I like the last one. Also includes reference to an old hack; hack-writer; and so forth. ;-)

Of course, the scary part here is that my position may be reaching the end of its useful life! I have been told that my last day in Chicago will be today, and I will be back at HQ in Downers Grove next week. But what if they don’t plan on me coming back to HQ? I’m told they are no longer doing migrations there, but that we are supporting the next-day effort for all the small remote office sites, and that should keep us busy. But I don’t know how many of us are really needed for that. So, I may be in the same boat as Michael by the end of the day. Soon as I heard about this yesterday I jumped on the job boards and updated my info – doing that makes your listing float to the top for a few days so hopefully something will come from that.

The age thing makes it doubly tough when looking for work. IT is still looked at as a youthful field even after all these years. Management may be 50 or 60 but they think they need young guys to do the work. There are two reasons for this: one – the conventional wisdom is that the young turks will be skilled in all the latest technologies, and two – younger employees will qualify for and accept less pay than their more experienced senpai. Reason one is a crock – we had a gaggle of 20-somethings on this project and I spent as much time coaching them as anything else. I know the main reason is the second one – in fact, in this economy the employers are taking advantage of all the IT people out of work by cutting the pay overall. This job is paying me half what I was making two years ago. And the ads I apply for reflect about 30% cut in pay from two years ago for the same job. I think it’s time to change fields again. I will have to see what the SQL certification gets me. Failing that, a friend in the church just got promoted to general manager at the movie theater he’s been working at for years, and he said he’d be glad to get me on as a part-timer. Maybe I should look at full-time instead! ;-)

Anyway, wish me luck today. I’ll report on what, if anything, happens.

Same Ol' View

Time for an update I’d say. Still working the temp job on the project for Sara Lee. Very glad about that since the project was supposed to be completed in May but it looks like the end will be delayed for another couple of months at least. I’m told they expect more work after that, but they also offer no commitments beyond this project. And as a temp I get no benefits apart from a 401k, and they can let me go without cause or warning – even had me sign a paper to that effect when I was hired. This means I can leave with the same carte blanch, but I search the job boards every day and the pickings are slim. It’s hard to maintain a degree of excitement about the job when you know all they see you as is head-count. Ah, well, it’s definitely better than nothing, and I do enjoy the work.

MLM still hasn’t had that dental work done; each time we had an appointment she was too ill to travel that day. Hopefully we’ll get it done this month. My knees are really killing me some days because I need a new Synvisc® injection but without health insurance there’s just no way – the meds alone are a grand for each knee plus the physician’s charge for shooting me up – and I just don’t have the cash for that. So I get by with Tylenol and Advil and wear my patella straps when it gets too bad. The fun never ends.

I’m studying SQL which is Microsoft’s database management server tool. Much demand for this skill and not much demand for the skills I currently possess. So after going through the books and online tutorials I will take a certification exam and hopefully get that big-paying job I’ve always dreamed of.

Back on the health topic: I have had a weird thing going on for a while now – I’m losing weight. And I’m not even trying. Since the first of the year I’ve lost a little over 50 pounds! Now recall I have Type II Diabetes and you’ll see why this is odd – I mean the big D made it really hard to keep from gaining weight – besides which I’ve had a “weight problem” my whole life, so this is quite a change. All that’s happened is I got the job in December and it requires quite a bit of walking (in a big building and everyone’s spread out), and I am eating more regular and less amounts than when I was unemployed, so maybe that’s all there is to it. MLM of course thinks I have cancer or some other wasting disease – probably should check it but that would require a doctor visit which, again, I can’t afford. So for now I will just enjoy the phenomenon – it’s a great blessing to my knees let me tell you! The only very real problem with this is that my clothes don’t fit anymore! All my pants keep falling down (I’ve had to punch two more holes in my belt so far) and most of my shirts look like I got them from the Goodwill and they were allll out of everything except extra-husky sizes! I plan to get a new pair of Dockers with this paycheck at least.

Been working a lot of overtime the past couple of months which is really helping us catch up with some things (not everything – still making payments the bankruptcy attorney) which means I’m pretty tired most of the time. However, looks like that might be ending for a while as they complete one phase of the project and get ready for the next. It’s actually a bit of a relief – MLM and I seem to spend almost no time together and I hate that. Trouble is, I work a 12-hour day, get home late, make dinner, and then just want crash. Sucks! So I will be finished with my stint in Chicago the end of this week, then back to Downers Grove and a shorter commute. Then I resolve to bring a sense of order to my house. Mmmm, sounds good!