Cleaning up

So. One day left after today. I've already checked out.

Today is also the last day I will have to wear a tie for who knows how long. That in itself is cause for celebration.

I have been slowly cleaning up. My desk has never before been this crap-free. I still have a little more to do, but mostly things are in order, and I've already taken all my personal stuff home.

This morning I backed up a bunch of files onto CD - now I'm using a file shredding utility to make sure they're unrecoverable from my hard drive. I just might run a defrag after this...

I highly anticipate doing a whole lot of nothing tomorrow. Not that that's different from most days, of course.

My goodbye lunch is set for a nearby restaurant at 11:30 tomorrow. I've already gotten a going-away gift - an artificial knee. Don't ask.

The allergies were really bad yesterday, and I could barely breathe this morning. I took one of those Claritin dissolving tabs, which seems to be working pretty well. The coughing has been greatly reduced this morning, at least. I really want the symptoms to be gone for my first day.

Yeah... I'm bored. Maybe I'll write more after lunch.

Back on the sauce

If you have read half of one entry on this blog that I'm something of a pop-culture junkie. Movies, games, magazines, books - I eat that shit up.

So I'm always really excited in the fall, with the start of the new TV season. It's like having Christmas a few months early: what new joy awaits inside the glowing box?

Last night Fox got the party started early. I know a lot of people love it, but I don't really give a shit about Prison Break. In fact, anything involving prisons kind of freaks me out a little, and gives me nightmares about being somebody's bitch. So I tend to steer clear of such things.

I did, however, check out Vanished. My verdict: meh. It could be interesting, I suppose, but so far this falls squarely into the category of "trying too hard". It felt like they were attempting to set up way too much in that first hour - it didn't feel organic, as it does in the best examples of the serialized drama, such as Lost. The acting was generally mediocre and the transitions between scenes got on my nerves a bit.

From what I've heard about the rest of the season, they're aiming to position the show as something of a 24-DaVinci Code hybrid, a mash-up I'm still trying to gauge my enthusiasm for, especially considering how disappointed I was with the last season of 24. I'm going to give this one another couple of weeks to grab me before I give it up in favor of Monday Night Football.

Life imitates art!

The Quote of the Day(tm):

"That to me is very scary," herpetological association representative Tom Whiting said. "I would hate to be watching a movie about snakes and have a rattlesnake bite me."

Because in any other circumstances he'd be okay with it, I guess.

When I hear "Hitler", I automatically think "curry".

I don't know what to make of this.

Who thought this would be a good idea?

Now, even though I'm fairly liberal, I really don't like being overly politically correct; I am not going to censor myself simply because some people might be offended, especially where religion is concerned. I was, for example, 100% behind the idea of U.S. newspapers reprinting the Mohammed cartoons, and think every religion should be satirized in a similar manner. When it comes to this, there should truly be no sacred cows.

However, a man who was one of the most notorious mass-murderers of the last century is not someone to be idolized, or used to market a product, even ironically. Even disregarding the horror of the Holocaust (which is tough to do, I know), Hitler's megalomania was responsible for millions of deaths and untold suffering - is that really an association you want people to draw when they think of your restaurant?

Weekend: movies, games, and persistent coughing

This fucking cough won't go away. So I have been forced to break out the big guns. I hope this will alleviate the post-nasal drip or whatever the hell it is. I want this to be over by the time I start the new job.

Movies.

SOAP: In a word, excellent. It was everything I hoped for, and more. Saw it on Friday night with a rowdy (though thankfully not obnoxiously so) crowd in a pretty full theatre. Sam Jackson rules, completely and absolutely. It's too bad all the internet buzz didn't translate into BO.

The "worst" thing about the movie is that when people ask me about it, there really isn't much to say other than "It's about snakes. On a plane." Therein lies the genius of the title - it's truth in advertising at its most pure. Now if we could only get Radiohead to collectively re-name their last three albums "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle", we'd really have something.

I decided against Accepted - if I really feel the urge to see it... well, that's what Netflix is for, ja?
I went to see The Illusionist instead. And it was pretty fantastic. Edward Norton didn't bug as much as usual, and I thought the beard suited him (it almost made me want to grow one myself). And I was rather shocked to learn that Jessica Biel can actually sorta-kinda act. And now I'm filled with the urge to jet off to Vienna, or at least Prague (where the movie was shot).

So, two movies, and thumbs up for both.

I also finally got around to watching Akira, which was extremely well-done as far as anime goes. I know a lot of people love anime (some way too much) - I'm generally not one of them. I know it's potentially damaging to my nerd-cred, but anime has just never gotten its hooks into me; I think a big part of that is due to the fact that most anime makes no sense whatsoever. Akira does, to a certain extent, and in any event is beautifully executed. I can see why it's so highly regarded.

Looking ahead, there is a shit-ton of movies coming out this fall I can't wait to see (most of them are smaller, indie-type pictures). This weekend I might go see Invincible, pending the reviews; I love a good football movie (though perhaps not enough to see anything starring "The Rock"), but I'm worried that since it's a Walt Disney movie, I might choke to death on schmaltz. Well, if I don't go see it, I'm not too worried, as there is plenty of football, both real and fictional, to slake my thirst.

And with that brilliantly constructed segue, let's talk Madden. It's the big gaming story this week, as it inevitably is every August. People take off work on the day of release to play. It is akin to religion for some. Despite my love of both football and games, I'm not one of them. My allegiances lie elsewhere.

Madden is the source of no small amount of controversy. First, the argument that gets repeated every year is that EA should stop producing the game on an annual basis; rather they should provide roster updates for an "off year" and come back every two years with some substantial improvements to the game engine. There is some merit to this, but unfortunately it falls apart due to economic reality - there is no reason for EA to let the franchise lay fallow when it's guaranteed to move millions of units no matter what.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, is the issue of exclusivity. A few years ago EA cut a deal with the NFL and players' assocation, granting them exclusive rights to use the team names, stadiums, and players' names and likenesses in a game. This left other franchises, like 2K Sports' ESPN NFL 2K series (which many considered to be superior to Madden, especially the 2k5 edition) out in the cold. Again, this argument stems from the concern that the lack of competition will breed complacence and result in a failure to innovate. Unfortunately, there's not much that can be done on this point, either.

I suppose the one good thing about this year's Madden is that EA seems to be partnering with Microsoft to push the Xbox 360 version of the game, which can only be good for my chosen console.

Movies + other

Before we get into it, a little bit of related fun.

Now: Hell yes, I'm going to be seeing SOA(MF)P. I would argue that we all have an obligation to see this movie.

Please don't let the fact that it wasn't screened for critics put you off. Ordinarily I would agree that a failure to preview indicates an absolute stinker. But I don't think that's the case here. To wit: the movie in question is called Snakes on a Plane. Of course it's going to be bad. But it's also going to be a whole lot of fun. This movie, moreso than any I can think of (and I do pay close attention to things of this sort), belongs to us - the fans, the plugged-in, the blogosphere, the whatever-you-want-to-call-us. This movie was democratically made; it is of the people, by the people, and most especially for the people. So the critics can, quite frankly, suck it. Addendum: It would appear the critics don't hate it as much as I though they would. They can still suck it, though.

There are a couple of other movies coming out that I'm interested in. One, I simply cannot explain my affinity for; the other, I think has an intriguing premise, so I'll probably go see it despite my distaste for Ed Norton. I've also got this sitting next to my TV from Netflix. Needless to say, I probably won't get to all of these this weekend.

Other stuff: the cold/allergies are still here but seem to be getting better - hopefully it will be completely gone by the time I start the new job, as I'd rather not be having coughing fits when being introduced to my new co-workers. I have been slowly cleaning up my mess of a desk throughout the week, so I don't have to do it all on my last day. People have been coming by and e-mailing saying they're sorry to see me go. The Deputy CFO talked to me when she got back from Convention, and told me they're close to re-organizing the department, which doesn't exactly help me - I'm not sure if that was a subtle pitch to try and get me to stay or what.

Just 5.5 more business days till this chapter ends. I'll miss working here because everyone is really nice, but I'll be happy to be ensconced in a higher concentration of my people. Plus, I'm extremely frustrated with the food court I eat lunch at - the service is mediocre at best (as is the food) and I really want to strangle all the gorram tourists. It's definitely time to move on.

I go, and it is done.

I gave my two weeks' notice this morning.

I was nervous the whole weekend, but thankfully it was pretty painless. My boss (well, she's two levels up - my immediate supervisor is out this week) was very understanding, and gave me props for seeking out new opportunities. Everyone is pretty surprised, but they all say they're happy for me.

Of course, the department bigwigs (deputy CFO, CFO, and Controller) are all away at the annual Convention, so they don't know yet. We'll see how they react...

That was the last big hurdle. Now I'm fucking excited, yo.

Afternoon snippet

From a phone conversation with my mother:

Her: I don't suppose you want these suppositories that expired in 2002?

Me: Those might be worth something on eBay, actually.

I didn't even have to use my AK

Today is, in fact, shaping up to be a good day.

1) We finally have a release date for the next game in my all-time favorite franchise, Splinter Cell.

2) Yesterday I was informed that the offer letter from the video game company should be arriving via FedEx today. The headhunter(s) also said they're anticipating an offer being extended from the gas co. Guess which one I'm going to take?

3) The sick is not totally gone, but it's definitely getting better. Maybe even enough that I might actually be able to work out later this week.

4) The 360 has returned (actually, they sent me a new unit). I downloaded a bunch of free trials from XBLA, plus the demo of Table Tennis last night.

I can't imagine what might happen next. Maybe I'll discover the ability to orgasm through willpower alone.

Morning snippet

Of an e-mail conversation between me and my sister.

Me: why do you refuse to see that Philly is about 90% ghetto?

Her: Why do *you* refuse to see that it's at least 10% awesome?

What I've been waiting for

So, interview 2 yesterday.

I really, really want that job.

It's the perfect meshing of my off-time interests and my professional skill set. I'd be working more with the operations side (game developers) than with the finance people. And it could potentially open up all sorts of other doors into the industry.

If they come back with a reasonable offer (i.e., anything more than I'm making now, which, let's face it, wouldn't be too hard), I'm going to accept.

They gently mocked me a little bit for being overdressed. I was in a suit (which I looked rather dashing in, if I do say - don't even try to step when I'm flashing glen plaid, bitches!). I knew that was probably overkill, but I figured why not, you know? Still, I think I managed to sufficiently communicate my geekiness, which I hope will help land me the job. I met with the controller, CFO, and COO, and got to tour the facilities, mainly the ultra-secure underground production area, which was very cool.

The headhunter that sent me on the first interview yesterday wants to send me on another one next week. She said the interview is typically about four hours long, and involves two tests. It's like, hey - knock it off. You're a property management company, not the fucking CIA. If you can't tell that I can do the stupid job from my resume, maybe I don't want to work for you in the first place...

I'm still coughing, dammit. I hope this goes away over the weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, it's going to be movie-tastic (as they so often are). Right now it's looking like I'll be seeing Little Miss Sunshine, Talladega Nights, and (on DVD) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

And hopefully I'll be able to not worry too much about when I'll hear back.

Oh, and I'm getting a haircut tomorrow. That should be something.

"I hold with those who favor fire"

Fuck me, I nearly boiled alive out there. Walking around in the mid-day sun in long sleeves, a tie, and pants would be enough to make me question the existence of a kind and loving God if I weren't already an atheist.

As for the interview, it went approximately how I thought it would. I'm sure it's a good opportunity, but the place seemed very dry (in fact, the one guy who interviewed me said their corporate culture was a bit staid when I asked what they'd like to change about the place).

I need to shower. Badly. Then chill (literally - the A/C is going full blast) until my next interview.

Leaving at noon

I've got two job interviews today.

The first is at 1, not too far from my current place of employ. This one came through a headhunter I've been talking to off and on since January. I'm not particularly enthused about it.

The second is at 6, up 270 a bit (I'll be going with rush hour traffic, which will make getting there a bitch and a half). It's at the same place I blogged about before... It's true they took down the two jobs I was qualified for, but I went ahead and applied for "the big one" I had no chance of getting (sort of like how I applied to Harvard way back when). Well, they contacted me and suggested a different position which hadn't been posted yet. I responded positively to the idea. A few days later they contacted me again and said they might have something that's an even better fit, and that's the job I'll be interviewing for today. It's a new position (they apparently don't even have a title for it yet) and the HR person I've been e-mailing was sort of vauge about the responsibilities. But I'll be meeting with both the controller and CFO (not sure how big their finance/accounting staff is at this point).

While I'm very excited about the second interview, I still feel like shit, like I'm betraying my current employer (or rather, the group I work with). They've been nothing but nice to me, and seem to respect me, and if I do get a new job I'll probably be leaving just as things start to ramp up for the next budget pass. I don't like leaving people in the clutch like that.

That said, I know I have to do something to move forward, otherwise I could be stuck here for who knows how long. People here tend not to leave, so the ability to advance, especially in my department, is somewhat limited. And anyway, it feels like I've done all I can - everything after this is going to be pure repetition. New challenges will be nice, and the possibility of working with "my people" fills me with delight. (I'd be lying if I said more money wouldn't hurt, either - we get paid a pittance in the non-profit world.)

So yeah, I'm ready for the later interview. I know that stuff cold. I hope they'll be impressed.

My only source of worry is the references section of the app they asked me to fill out. I've left it blank. I've always hated asking people for references (that is, asking for a favor we both know I'll probably never be in a position to return), but in this case it's even stickier - I've lost track of most of the people I've worked with in the past, due to turnover (which tends to be especially high in public accounting). They asked for "personal references" but I don't think that means my friends... So I'm going to give them a selection of evaluations I've received from my current and past jobs, and hopefully they'll accept those and that my lack of "formal" references won't kill me from consideration.

Oh, and I'm still sick - I'm really worried that I'm going to have some kind of coughing fit in the middle of one of the interviews...

Lazy Sunday (and Saturday, and Friday...)

So, yeah, weekend.

It was nice and relaxing (and hot, of course - yes, that picture above is the current state of things here - 97/107 - but it was still pretty nasty up in PA over the weekend).

I managed to get done pretty much everything I wanted to get done, at least. Except for golf, as I mentioned previously. And I’m sure my mom will not be overly pleased with the job I did cleaning my room, but most of the old crap is gone or at least better organized, and I managed to extract all the porn without incident, which is what really matters.

None of my friends was around so it was just me all by my lonesome. Plus three fuzzy puppies. The dogs generally behaved themselves, but Miss Molly was chewing everything she could get her little paws on (because the house is relatively dog-proofed, it was dog toys mostly, but she kept managing to tip over the trash can in my bathroom – I will never understand why she loves chewing used q-tips so much). And Beau kept trying to eat Peaches’ turds. Damn disgusting dog. I had to take Peaches and Beau (both large golden retrievers) to get groomed on Friday – getting them from the car into the grooming area of Petsmart was like trying to wrangle the hounds of hell. Peaches couldn’t manage the slick linoleum floor, and kept skidding, and barked incessantly while I was talking to the groomer to get them checked in.

Aside from trying to recover from this stupid weird lite sick I’ve still got going on (I’m convinced that the dust kicked up while I was cleaning has exacerbated, or at least prolonged, the condition), this weekend was all about media of every stripe. Went to see Clerks II and Miami Vice (reviews later, maybe) and watched the (utterly crappy and still unnamed) Netflix DVD (up next: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). Bought Meteos and X-Men Legends II, and played a bit of both. I also used a 15% off coupon at B&N and got two graphic novels (or trade paperbacks, for the nitpickers out there) which I have only started to read. So yeah, I really kind of geeked out. Just a lil' bit.

Oh, and I also watched a couple episodes of Entourage (my parents get HBO – I don’t). It was okay, but not quite as great as I’d been lead to believe. Maybe I need to see it from the beginning (hello, Netflix queue). In any case, it was a good deal better than the truly wretched fare HBO has vomited up in the recent past (“So… it’s about three prostitutes and their mother?”).

I'm melllllltinnnnnng...

Well, the folks out west are done baking. Now it's our turn.

It is really, really bad outside. And it's going to continue for the better part of the week. According to weather.com, it's 93, but feels like 103. Ick.

Thank god for A/C, is all I can say. I think I'll be staying indoors as much as possible these next few days...

I'll post more about my incredibly uneventful weekend later, but it was about as hot there as it was here - I had wanted to play golf, or at least hit the range, but not in that heat, sir.