Screwed again!!!

Well, it happened again. With 7 days to go until the release of GoW2, my xbox died. The last time it died was the Monday night before Halo3 released. In hindsight, that wasn't as much of a tragedy as I thought it would be since I didn't really like the game. But Gears of War?? Not only is it in my top 2 games of all time, it's my clan's title game. Woe is me. Not to mention my cheap plantronics headset died day before yesterday (1 year and 2 months after purchase). The good news (sort of) is the box is still under warranty from the last repair. The official word from MS is still 2 to 3 weeks for repair, although I've heard recently that the time has come down significantly. So to all of you that are going to stand in line to buy GoW, and took the next day as vacation or "cough, cough" a sick day, I hate you. Green is the color of choice in the Fart household until my xbox gets back. Just for my piece of mind, somebody frag mrs. meatshield a couple of times and tell her Bama told you to. I'm going to miss the pep talk.

Posted by alabama_old_fart @ 3:32 pm EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Changes in latitude

Well, I'm still doing the contract work, only now with a twist.  For the last 3 weeks, and for 2 more weeks, I'm installing some equipment in ampitheaters.  Part of the job is to monitor an "event".  In the last3 weeks I've seen Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley with their opening acts, Miranda Lambert and Jewel respectively.  I was supposed to see 3 Doors Down but they have canceled their tour.  Both were good concerts, but Chesney was in St. Louis and Paisley was West Palm Beach.  I thought the crowd wasgood in St. Louis.  Never seen more halter tops, denim miniskirts or short, short shorts and boots in my life.  The Copenhagen girl in the chaps and bikini bottoms was my favorite.  Then West Palm.  Bandanas as shirts, ass cheeks everywhere, and more boob jobs than a strip bar.  Tattoos, guys in jeans and no shirts, and camo overalls of all things.  This was by far the sluttiest place I've ever been, both male and female.  I have 2 more places to compare, somewhere in PA and Irvine, CA.  PA is Martina McBride and Irvine is some sort of comedy festival. 

Posted by alabama_old_fart @ 10:05 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

Job found!! Sort of...

Well, after 2 months and 3 days, I finally found a job. Sort of. I fly out Sunday to do some contract work for a point of sale vendor in the new Carolina Hurricanes arena. The pay isn't all that great, but before taxes won't be bad and since taxes were taken out of my severance pay it shouldn't affect the bottom line. The company called me today and told me as soon as I get back (6/20) they have another job at 100 ampitheaters across the country and they want me to be the point man on that. Things are looking up a little, but I'm not really comfortable working as a sub contractor. The wife has benefits so that isn't a problem, and I can let my 401k stay where it is until I find something better to put it in, I just don't think it's my cup of tea. There is a very good possibility that a very good position will open up in the next couple of months and I've been all but guaranteed a position when it does. That's very good.(Sorry, couldn't resist the very good very good).  The really down side to the contract work or the other job is I'm going to have to travel, probably 2 weeks at a time.  That's going to cut into my gaming time.  Good thing I already got my gold cross.

I just wanted to thank everyone who has expressed concern and sympathy during this time. Not to get too sappy, but it meant a lot to have people share their stories so I didn't feel like the Lone Ranger.

Posted by alabama_old_fart @ 3:29 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Job Hunting sucks

All right, here's the deal.  I've worked for the same company for over 15 years.  In all that time, I hadn't even submitted an application anywhere else because I have loved my job and the people I work with, and made a decent living without having the boss looming over my shoulder.  I set my own schedule, pretty much, had a new car every 18 months I could use for personal use for $160 a month, and the work was challenging and fun.  Yes, fun.  About a year and a half ago, the company was bought out and taken private.  The new owner is egomaniacal, secretive, and a, well let's just say he believes a contract is written in stone and the stone don't break.  So I'm not real happy with the change, but the job is still fun.  A week ago, I get a call from my supervisor at 8:00 in the morning.  The exact wording has become a blur, but the gist was this is your last day with the company, I spent the night in your town and I'm coming to your house to pick up your stuff.  Well, now, over the years the line between my stuff and the company stuff has become a bit blurred so I tell him a need some time to seperate it.  I get one hour.  After 15 years, I get one hour.  The company let go 17 people in the field, most of them with as many or more years of service than I had.

It's not all bad.  The severance package will tide me over for about 3 months, and if I find a job shortly, I can replace the company car with no problem.  The thing is, I"m spending about 3 hours a day job hunting.  I'm sending resumes to everything, from wildly overqualified to wildly underqualified, trying to get an interview, or just some response.  So far, nothing except one very nice guy who said I was wildly underqualified.  About one more week of this, I'm going to get a complex.

Sorry, nothing profound here, just needed to write it down somewhere and I know many of you have gone through this before and I knew you'd understand.  On the plus side, that gold cross in CoD4 has never seemed closer.

Posted by alabama_old_fart @ 11:45 am EDT | Permalink | 9 Comments

CoD4 a unifying game???

I haven't had a chance or the will to blog lately, terrified of the new owner of my company, but I have been playing a lot of CoD4 (M$ crap not withstanding).  Even with 5 days of my internet going haywire, I've probably gotten in a lot more gaming than normal over the holidays.  I've got to say, I've never played a game that has brought so many 2o2p gamers together in the same game.  I've played with more new people from different clans in the last week than at any other time in the year I've been around on Live.  I have loved it.  I've met some of the PMS women (Em's cool), 2old4duty folks, and more clans that I can remember right now.  Don't get me wrong, playing with my clan has made the Live experience for me, I probably would have dropped down to a silver by now if it weren't for AoW, but talking to some of the other folks has been great.  Every time I get in a room with Timmies now I'm reminded how much more fun it is to play with people from this site, and since I don't have Kracker's or iuney's or Ewok's skills I can't really just own and leave, I have to put up with the catcalls and questions about my heritage.
Speaking of Timmies, most of them have a fascination with my gamertag.  I get "How old are you?" and "That's the coolest tag" and "Are you a pedophile?"  Ok, the last one is the most common, but then when I speak (evidently, I have a distinctive voice) for the most part the attitude changes and "I wish my dad would play with me" is the frequent response.  I know, we all complain about playing with kids but I think most of them are ok, it's just the knowledge that you can say anything and you're anonymous on Live that encourages most of them to talk trash.  I guess my point is as adults, we need to set the example and for the most part the kids will respond likewise.  That being said, I've made a New Years resolution that when I'm in a room with 2old2play'rs, I'm going to talk more trash.  I'll never rival Pearl's level (Queen Pearl?), but I've always read your reach should exceed your grasp.  Or is it your grasp should exceed your reach?  Or maybe you should move closer to your grasp???

Posted by alabama_old_fart @ 11:43 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments