zrath

There's been no word from the French Consulate about the job I interviewed for.
I've sent some more resumes out for various jobs, including a QA Lead position at 2K Games.
Nothing new on the grandmother thing. I expect this will take forever.
A wire transfer popped up in my bank account a couple of days ago. It wasn't much, but it was enough to
take care of a couple of problems that would have made me unable to pay my October rent on time.
The transfer was from the SACEM, so looks like the paperwork has finally gone through.
I've decided to sell the 3 Lego Classic Space bases from The Tub after all. I need the money.
I still have a bunch of sets and minifigures on eBay, including the new Power Miners mini-sets right here.
There's a big LUGOLA meeting this Saturday, near Legoland Carlsbad. It's a joint meeting with SANDLUG,
the San Diego Lego User Group, so that should be interesting. And a bit of a drive.
I just completed a new Lego MOC (My Own Creation) for the meeting and I'm happy with it. I'll be bringing
it along with the SCAP strike package, Weapon M, the Agents flying sub, and the big scary Mega Bloks ship.
There will be pictures on Flickr some time in the future.
My sleep schedule is totally screwed up. I woke up at 6pm, did some computer and eBay stuff until 10pm,
then showered and dressed and went out to get dinner. Then I came back and ate dinner while watching
two Season 7 episodes of "Smallville". Damn, Brainiac is an asshole. Then I cracked open Volume 4 of
"Batman: The Animated Series" and watched Disc 1 while finishing my Lego MOC for the Saturday meeting.
Volume 4 contains the post-redesign episodes, were Joker suddenly has "Genesis Cooke reverse eyeballs"
(black eyes with white pupils), Bruce Wayne looks like Clark Kent from "Superman: TAS" but with blue eyes
and black hair, Poison Ivy looks elfin and unhealthy, and Catwoman lost all definition. Grrrrrr...
The Scarecrow did look scarier though, what with the noose and the Leatherface mask and the preacher's rags.
And the writing is still there, which is the most important part.
It's now approaching 6am and I'm going to try to get some sleep and return some normalcy to my schedule.
Good morning!

Well, my bew job didn't waste any time putting me to work!
I started Thursday and found myself going home after 11 hours!
Friday was more normal, and I put in 8.5 hours.
And I was back Saturday at 8pm until 2am.
Yes, I got home an hour ago. :)
Sunday is off, then back on Monday.
We got dinner on Thursday: Numero Uno pizza, which is a damn sight better than Pizza Slut or D'oh!Minos!
And we got fed tonight with Ono Hawaiian BBQ redneck Japanese goodness! :D
So far so good.
We don't know whether we're getting overtime or not though.
The local people don't know, and my e-mail to corporate got there too late for anyone to answer it.
I guess we'll know Monday whether the company use the cool or not-cool method.
Cool Method = Anything over 8 hours in one shift is time-and-a-half.
Weekend work is automatically time-and-a-half.
Not-Cool Method = Anything over 40 hours in a week is time-and-a-half.
And since my coworker and I started on Thursday, the Not-Cool Method would bone us.
We shall see...


Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the new "Star Wars: Clone Wars" toys have been released today.
There are action figures, toy ships, make your own lightsaber kits, clone trooper helmets, and LEGOS!!
I took a quick look at TRU today and saw the new shiny Republic Attack Gunship.
It's just as faboo as I thought it would be, and it's loaded with stuff!
And it better be because it costs double the price of the original, simpler Gunship released in 2002.
The original "Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones" Republic Gunship Lego set cost $60 in 2002.
This new one costs $120. Yes, more expensive than the minifig ISD, MTT, or Republic Cruiser.
I never got the first one, so I really want this one.
If work holds out, it will wind up in my sharp-clawed hands before Xmas '08.
But still, $120! Oh the pain, the pain...
Also out are the AT-TE Walker, the V-19 Torrent fighter, the Magnaguard Starfighter, and the Separatist Spider Droid.
(And I am dismayed to notice that TRU seems to be charging an extra $5 for the Spider Droid. Naughty naughty!)
I didn't see the Droid Gunship, but I'm sure it will turn up later.


And finally, it seems that Disney is making good on their threat to release a movie sequel to "TRON".
They previewed a trailer at Insane Diego Commiecon and somebody snagged it on camcorder.
That footage has been pulled, but someone posted a rotated and zoomed version.
It's a little wonky because of the source footage, but what can be seen makes me drool.
Just click HERE to see why I've already made an icon for "TR2N"!!

End of line...

EDIT: DAMMIT! The TR2N video has been pulled. Both regular and rotated/zoomed.
Well, let's hope Disney posts it somewhere for all to see some time this year.

REDIT: Gizmodo is hosting the original swivelcam footage HERE!
Hopefully, it will stay up longer.

Doop-dee-doo...

Got a letter from EDD on Thursday. I've been approved for extended unemployment benefits.
That's rockin' news! I'll get almost enough for paying August's rent!
My EDD benefits ran out some time back in February '08.
Also received a mystery package at my PO box. It was long and narrow, like a pipe bomb.
The return address was a PO box in Huntington Beach and was handwritten. Curiouser and curiouser.
I went home and removed the package's wrapping. It revealed a box with words on it.
The words said "The Grave Keeper" in ornate font. Well now, that's a little strange.
I opened the box, pulled out the styrofoam box inside of it and opened it.
And this was inside:

( Shock! Horror! All behind this cut! )

Talked to a prospective employer on Friday and got an interview for Monday (today) at 11am.
The interview went well and I should hear back some time tomorrow.
I can't talk about it because I've signed an NDA.
All I can say is that it's game testing and not terribly far from where I live.
The pay is on the lower end of my scale, but work is work, and I need work.


So I saw "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" on Saturday night at The Bridge Cinema.
Go go gadget discount coupon! That was my last one, too.
I was joined by the Incredible Spino (dcotelessa) and spouse.
We had a funky bitchin' disco time and thought Johann Krauss was awesome.
Wearing a scaphander makes for a quite unique fashion statement. :D
Horrific stuff, humor, ass-kicking, and weird-ass critters. Yup, it's Hellboy!
Next target, "The Dark Knight"!


On Sunday, I woke up bright and early to go to Sylmar and help a friend of a friend's roommate
put up drywall on her garage's ceilings. I had never done this before, so I was glad that one of
the two other people working on this little project was a contractor and knew how to do it.
We were there for most of the day and got drinks and lunch, plus some cash for our efforts.
Pretty cool! And I got to play with Linus, the awesome miniature pinscher you see here!



Linus is 10 month-old and rules the house! Well, sometimes. He's very rambunctious though.
I'm lucky he was still long enough for me to take some snapshots.


Today, I went to my 11am job interview (mentioned previously in this post).
Then I put $20 in gas in the Fnord Stranger at the cheapest gas station in Western L.A.:
an Arco station dispensing regular at $4.33 9/10th a gallon.
California pays for all your sins, you Other Staters! Repent! :D
Then I went to Shakey's for lunch. Hmmmmmmmm, thin and crunchy pizza...
Then I went home, got there at 2pm, and my cellphone rang as soon as walked in the door.
It was girlfmkitty calling about our trip to the veterinarirarian to pick up her new kitteh!
I had agreed to take her into the wilds of Pacific Palisades to retrieve her newest feline companion.
His name is Wilfred John Smith, or Wilf for short. It's a Doctor Who thing. :)
I picked her up at 3pm and off we went. The trip was smooth and the kitteh was retrieved, huzzah!
He's a cutie and he's got CLAWS! Long ones! I think there's a trim in his future. :)
I dropped the kitty and her proud mom at home, and got some gas money and homemade blueberry bars. Yum!
A quick trip to Ralphs for water and other potables, and then back to the Kzinti Freehold.
And now, here I sit, typing this words.

Let's see what tomorrow brings...

DAMMIT!!

I went in to my new employer today to fill out all the paperwork (and boy, there was a lot!).
We (me and the other 12 new guys) got a tour of the office, were shown the timeclock and how it works
(it's a hand reader! Holy biometrics, Batman!), and got our parking validated.
I drove homeward and stopped at Del Taco for my one meal of the day.
While there, I got a phone call from work.
The project I was slated to be put on was placed on hold.
I'm not starting tomorrow.
I'm on hold until they call me and tell me the project is back on track.

In the immortal words of Darkman, "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!"

So now, I wait until I get a call. I was told it wouldn't be more than a week.
I will continue job-hunting.
The cool place I interviewed at a couple of weeks ago, which is called Genex by the way, has still
not gotten back to me with a "yay" or "nay". I e-mailed the guy yesterday, and no reply so far.

"Faith manages."

A few minutes ago, gizmoelf came by to visit for a bit.
He went to Anime Expo over the weekend and apparently picked up a little something for me.
"And it looks a little something like this. HIT IT!"



It's a plushie Tachikoma from "Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig"!
It's almost a foot across! It's currently sprawled on the mixing board in the living room.
PlushiTachi! :D
Thanks Gizmo for raising my spirits!