Author: Karel Kerezman

More Motivation

Y’all should know better than to encourage me, you know.

Rehabilitation is anime-themed, but I don’t think you don’t need to be an “otaku” to get a laugh out of it.

Mementos is based, oddly enough, on a serious bit of rumination.

Obsession may go over some folks’ heads. Suffice to say that I used to take my music collecting very seriously.

I have the sick, sad feeling that I’m not done yet. I should also get off my lazy kiester and put these into the gallery where they belong… if I do, I’ll redact this and the other entry accordingly. (Edit: Done! Thumbnails! Woo-hoo!)

29 June, 2006
I’m enthusiastic. How about you?

Take one down-and-out computer geek, add one good-quality image from one of his current favorite anime series, mix using an all-too-cool online tool, and what do you get?

I don’t know about you, but I’m enthusiastic about the results.

Okay. It’s your turn now… you know you wanna.

(Edited to add: One more before bedtime.)

(Probably more to follow during the next few days. You’ve been warned.)

28 June, 2006
Can’t write. Too hot.

I have stuff to post. I certainly do. There’s some geeky humor, an online toy to tinker with, thoughts to convey about recent family events, and an update on how life’s treating me.

But not today. Today I spent downstairs, hiding from my furnace-like bedroom and (thus) the computer(s), which I left turned off for 95% of the time. (I had to check mail and at least glance at the ~~nonexistent~~ job listings. I have responsibilities, dammit.)

I hate 100-degree heat. Hell, I hate anything above 90, but having 100 degrees sprung on me all of a sudden is just plain cruelty on the part of the universe. Mind you, “I take great comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe.”

Maybe I’ll write something more interesting tomorrow. Or the day after. Hang in there, and stay cool. Drink lots of fluids. Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Stupid heat.

26 June, 2006
On second thought, I’ll stay home.

After planning my week around it, at the last minute I decided not to attend the Pacific NW Tech Career Fair. Why, you ask?

Because I finally looked closely at the list of represented companies and what jobs they’re offering. It’s not pretty, folks, not for an all-purpose computer geek like myself. Almost all of the companies represented are “high-tech,” meaning they’re looking for engineers and programmers and such. I’m not a silicon wafer designer, for instance. Of the non-“tech” companies represented, I’ve already spoken to one and put in an application with another. That leaves the FBI and another couple of outfits I’m either not suited for or wholly uninterested in. Primping, preening, printing out resumes and taking a two hour commute each direction only to talk to (maybe) one recruiter seems like an awful waste of resources, especially when one isn’t entirely certain said recruiter is offering the kind of job that one would actually want.

I want to work, yes. I also don’t want to waste an entire day of my own time, let alone most of an hour of someone else’s. It’s for the best, truly.

This gives me more time to prepare for the weekend’s festivities which I just found out are starting sooner than I expected. As in, “I leave for Albany tomorrow afternoon.” The family (or such of it as can and will assemble) is throwing a kind of wake for Grandpa Gene; I’m riding down with Sis and her baby. I’ll be home some time Sunday. Wish me luck, or some-such.

22 June, 2006
Frankly, my dear, I want this!

Maybe I’m just a big ol’ geek, but I simply can’t get over the idea of owning the Mixed-Up Movie Lines magnetic poetry set. “I love the smell of the Force in the morning.” Bwahahaha.

There are other sets on that site that I wouldn’t mind owning, but it’s best if I don’t link them directly. Children might be reading this, after all…

19 June, 2006
All platforms, eh?

Craigslist, usually a treasure trove of job postings, is almost a dry well this week. One of the very few recent entries in the main category I check even turned out to be, let’s say, miscategorized. (“Work from home! Type things for us!” Er, no.)

And then we have what might have looked to be an interesting job opportunity…

Part of the technical support team for a state-wide data communications network connecting WAN to LANs.

Been there, done that. It’s a contract gig, but if that’s what it takes to put food on the table…

The team is responsible for network security, disaster and recovery, video, voice and data communications, protocols, software and hardware products and peripherals…

Neat. Sounds like a well-rounded JOAT kind of gig. Just what I’m looking for!

…that run on all platforms including Mainframe,…

You don’t capitalize that, sir. It’s not a proper name, it’s a generic noun. So what type of platform is it? Inquiring ~~minds~~ jobseekers want to know.

…Microsoft Exchange,…

This is correctly named in the posting, but whether it’s a “platform” is a ~~flamewar~~ discussion best left to people with more idle time than myself.

…Microsoft Windows XP…

Also correctly named, this is only a “platform” at the desktop level. Consider this not so much a boneheaded selection but more as a part of the pattern to be revealed.

…and Microsoft Server 2000.

Aha! I now know their definition of “platform.” It’s “anything with an M at the start of its name.” Problem is, they named this wrong. It’s Windows 2000 Server.

Here’s the thing. If you’re advertising “all platforms,” you might want to include concrete examples of platforms that don’t originate in Redmond, Washington. No UNIX or variants and derivatives are listed, no Mac, nothing but the mysterious “Mainframe”…

Duties: […] Configure client software, i.e. ODBC drivers, Outlook and Exchange e-mail access, protocols, adapters, and TN3270 host emulation.

…which I suspect is an IBM AS/400 (great merciful heavens, why not just say so?) based on that TN3270 emulation notation. This makes me wonder why they’re not using 5250 instead, though.

Of course I’ll never know, because…

This position requires a valid driver’s license. Travel throughout the state may be required.

In this instance, I think it’s for the best. Don’t you?

16 June, 2006