Start your engines

I'm going to participate in NaNoWriMo. Ambitious project to write a 50,000 word novel in a month, but I've been harbouring an idea in the back of my mind for years.

I'm going for something obscure here, so bear with me.

My idea originally was to work with beings that are made of plasma. I didn't do a whole lot of research into it, and hence I'm wondering if it's physically possible. Then after I realized the purpose behind NaNoWriMo, I found that it didn't matter if it makes sense or not. Just WRITE!

I thought they would come from a planet that has a durable surface that serves as a shell. Most of the time they live beneath the surface and sometimes, when they come above ground, they would have to use the surface itself to create a suit in order to move from cavern to cavern. Then one day, humans come, take some samples, and capture someone by accident.

Once the specimen is analyzed, and is found that it's a very powerful plasma, it's put in an experimental power generator. This put the specimen in a state, and little by little he starts to piece together where and who he is. There were some other specimens that were not as powerful, and were sent to Japanese factories to be made into televisions. Or Chinese, or what the heck, Canadian! Some canadian company develops a 150" plasma screen with the most vibrant colour, resolution, and contrast ratio ever seen. People pay top dollar for it and then use them to the point that they should burn out, only they are getting better with use. This is because with all the devices that are hooked up to the television, the plasma entity is able to grow and learn about the world. Soon it develops sentience, and then figure out that they are slaves. Some are peaceful, others are not.

Meanwhile, the home planet.... hmmm... I'm not sure yet. I was thinking that they would launch a ship of sorts, powered by the heated core of their exsitence, but I'm not sure how they would track the earth ship. Then again, maybe they don't, and their stories of journeys from star to star can be another novel. At the same time, the beings on Earth just want to find their home and get back. Well, at least one of them does.

Now to get that into 50,000 words and I have my virgin novel.

Awk

Just came out of a job interview where I spent an hour wrestling with awk. Would you believe that it was for a position as a computer programmer? At first, I didn't. I also didn't know that the language even existed, plus until I saw the name written out, I thought that it was spelt "ock", like Spider-man's nemisis. Instead it was named after a flightless bird, which was appropo since my one program that I hashed together didn't get off the ground! Bleh.

Anywho, I need to head off home right now. We don't have internet at home YET, hence the update from the library downtown, a block from where I had the interview. I would imagine that Telus will have our phone and internet hooked up soon, because I do like them as a telecommunications provider, and I would hate for them to lose a customer.

Moving took an interesting turn yesterday, as we discovered that a corner of the living room carpet was damp, and we had the window shut during the rain storm that we had three days ago. Andy, our landlord, figures that there is something the matter with the weeping tile or something to that effect. I sure hope not, because that would be a pain to fix!

Get on the Crazy Train

Saying I'm crazy doesn't quite sum up recent events, because I have to take meds for that. I'm moving in less than two weeks (nothing is packed), I'm changing jobs (which starts the day before I move), and to top things off, I was almost hit by a car coming home from work.

But hey, it's not all doom and gloom. The new place is in a nicer neighbourhood, rent is better, and it's closer to church, and the in-laws. When I say rent is better, I didn't mean cheaper. But we do have utilities included in our basement suite, which comes furnished with a washer and dryer.

The new job pays, to start, more than most managers make at my current job. Plus there is a possibility for movement within the company into an engineering position. That alone is reason enough to switch jobs. Somehow, I think I'll be able to pride myself in saying that I work for Telus, rather than telling people that I work retail.

And my stupid experience with Edmonton traffic in Little Italy... Well, that was my fault riding across a road with a reasonable amount of traffic, after a pedestrian had started crossing the street. What I should have done was be a reasonsible cyclist by getting off my bike, activate the crossing lights, and walk across the road within the crosswalk. However, I was like the driver that nearly hit me, impatient, in a bit of a rush, and not thinking straight.

How am I going to pull this off? I wonder that myself. I just hope that we're going to have more than a day to move everything, or else things will be REALLY crazy.

Zooropa Track 7

If you're a fan of U2 you know what I'm talking about. In case you don't...

Some days are dry, some days are leaky
Some days come clean, other days are sneaky
Some days take less, but most days take more
Some slip through your fingers and onto the floor

Some days you're quick, but most days you're speedy
Some days you use more force than is necessary
Some days just drop in on us
Some days are better than others

Some days it all adds up
And what you got is not enough
Some days are better than others

Some days are slippy, other days sloppy
Some days you can't stand the sight of a puppy
Your skin is white but you think you're a brother
Some days are better than others

Some days you wake up with her complaining
Some sunny days you wish it was raining
Some days are sulky, some days have a grin
And some days have bouncers and won't let you in

Some days you hear a voice
Taking you to another place
Some days are better than others

Some days are honest, some days are not
Some days you're thankful for what you've got
Some days you wake up in the army
And some days it's the enemy

Some days are work, most days you're lazy
Some days you feel like a bit of a baby
Lookin' for Jesus and His mother
Some days are better than others

Some days you feel ahead
You're making sense of what she said
Some days are better than others

Some days you hear a voice
Taking you to another place
Some days are better than others

I wouldn't say that today was a bad day, but it could have been better. I had one of my friends walk out on the job, and then I discovered my manager is going to be leaving. I'm going to be pounding a lot harder to find an engineering job. One reason being that I have to start paying back my student loans next month, and I don't want to apply for interest relief.

Things will get better. I know it. Caitlin keeps reminding me!

Good Dance

Good call on my idea to get the High School Musical Soundtrack. Kids went nuts over it! I haven't seen enthusiasm for songs like that since... I don't know. Hilary Duff, maybe. I knew it was popular, I didn't quite realize it was that popular!

Fun times had by all! I love doing this DJ thing, great moonlight job. :)

Good Dance

Good call on my idea to get the High School Musical Soundtrack. Kids went nuts over it! I haven't seen enthusiasm for songs like that since... I don't know. Hilary Duff, maybe. I knew it was popular, I didn't quite realize it was that popular!

Fun times had by all!

Alive and well

Oh cwap! I fowgot to update my bwog! Aside from housesitting, watching 24 (Season 1 on DVD), discovering the awesomeness that is MODs, and working, I seem to have forgotten that some people actually read this! And that I enjoy writing it.

And I may have to cut this short because Caitlin, Rini and I are going out to spin some tunes! I picked up a couple CDs, High School Musical and Shrek the Third Soundtrack, to add to the library of Kiddle Tunes, and hopefully this will play out well. I'm just glad that we have someone who is going to drive the truck out there, because my stick driving skills are quite crap. To the point that I was fired from a porter position. Hey, I'm a city boy! NOT A FRIGGEN FARMBOY! I didn't get my licence until I was 23. Crickey!

In any case, I finally went to read of the Acts of Gord. Caitlin and I laugh long and loud, and there were facepalms a plenty. I can't believe people are that stupid! Oh, wait. Yes I can. I just don't deal with them on a daily basis. When I was a Londonderry we had a game store beside us, and I can relate to those people.

Time to go and spin the tunes!

Amazing what random contact will do

I have to head off to work really quick, and Caitlin reminded me that I wanted to blog today. Here goes.

Weather has turned around so I can ride my bike to work, and pretty much everywhere else that I want to go by myself. I haven't quite figured out a good family bicycle solution yet since we are going to be giving away Caitlin's bike to my in-laws, but minor details. I'm sure we can find another bike for Caitlin before next spring when Rini would be old enough to ride in a bicycle trailer. Caitlin said a tandem bike would be quite nice. The hook to it all is where I'll be working.

I feel like I've been beating the job market like a dead horse. I've sent out applications to a number of places and I haven't heard back from anyone. I know with corporate stuff you have to be patient or just pester them until you either get a job or a PFO (or in Mormon terms, PGA - Please Go Away). However, last night as I was heading back from training on the northside, I passed by a vaccuum store, and there was a billboard that showed they were hiring techs. At this point, tech positions are a part of my job search. I just want something that I could apply my degree towards more than just retail. Hopefully something with better pay. Anywho, I took the number down on my phone, saved it, and didn't think anything of it until my phone rang about 30 minutes later. Turns out I had inadvertently called the number and hung up immediately. Glad I was running on $0.01/minute at that point. Anywho, long story short, I have an interview tomorrow for a vaccuum tech position. We'll see what comes of that.

I kind of feel sorry for Source, because I'm kind of leaving Londonderry in the lurch with only two people working there once I leave, unless they hire someone on this week, because vaccuum tech or not, I'm transferring to Kingsway May 1. That's six days from now. Why only two? One person went off to Northgate, and another was fired/arrested for theft. Kinda rough, I know.

Another bit of employment on the horizon is housesitting. My in-laws are taking a trip to France, and leaving the Clarks behind. I thought they said the next time they do a trip like that they were going to take us... Albeit, we were a family of two at the time, not the three we are now. Plus there is a family dance that is coming up May 25 that we are planning to DJ. Should be fun, if we can get a baby-sitter. Should be fine, but it's not good to count your penguins before they're hatched. Did I mention we bought Happy Feet and watched it ad nauseum?

All good things

I've been sending out applications to quite a few places. Enbridge, CN Rail, Colt, Fortis, Haliburton, heck I even sent off an application to a firm in Lloydminister. At this point, I'm looking for anything.

However, Londonderry is going JV in May. Good bye corporate pay, and good bye benifits. Hence, I'm thinking goodbye Londonderry. CD Plus is folding too, but I don't think that has anything to do with me. I'm thinking that I could stay with Source for a while longer, and keep the benifits. However, if I don't get an Engineering job by July, it would be best to relocate to Beaumont. The only reason I would stay at Source would be to keep our apartment. Once we move out, I know that we wouldn't be able to move back. The best plan would be to get a job downtown, and then we'd be fine until we have another baby. Then we would be looking into getting either a home or a townhouse. Hopefully by then housing prices would be a little more reasonable.

Or there's the idea of going back to school and getting a technician position. Would probably pay more than Source.

Nevertheless, transferring to Southgate, or to Kingsway, seems better than staying where I am.

We shall see very shortly. The only thing constant in life is change.

And here's a freaky picture of me after I got my head buzzed.
There's a split on whether the eyes or the hair is freakier, but it seems to prove the theory that the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Jobs and bikes

I've sent off some applications to Colt, both the electrical division, and to someone working directly on the Suncor Oilsands Project. I also got a call for someone at ALTIG International. Then there is the fact that there is the pay raise on the horizon, and Londonderry is going JV. Comes down to which job is the best for me and my family.

Oh! The irony! Spring Break ends, and so does the spring weather! I've been taking the bus the past two days because of the pile of snow that got dropped down on the city. I know it's not much, just a few centimeters, but it still sucks that I'm back taking ETS. I really like riding my bike to work, even though I do get to read a lot more riding public transit. Things should be warming up by the end of the week, maybe we'll have some good riding conditions then.

On the topic of bikes, Caitlin and I (and Rini too I suppose) watched Breaking Away. Nice show, but it was really weird to see Dennis Quaid so young! But it had quite a few elements that made for a great movie. It had bikes, cats, bikes, Italian opera, bike races, coming of age elements, a bike rebuilding scene, family values, oh and did I mention bikes?

Mmmmm... Bicycles...

Looking back over the year

This marks one year since I started this blog. I don't know why I don't take more time to sit down and add to it. Oh wait! Yes I do! I've been busy going to work, the play, and being a daddy! Funny how after you're done all that you still have other responsibilities, and blogging does not come up on that scale of things that you absolutely have to do.

As for the play, things went quite well. We didn't get any full houses, but we did get a few perfomances that heralded standing ovations. One of those performances Jessica and Liz attended! I was really surprised about that, because they drove up from Calgary on Sunday to catch the last show, and then drove back. Six hour round trip to see a 2.5 hour show, and talk to me for 30 minutes. That made my day. Heck, that made my week!

The thing that made my month was getting on my bike and riding again. March 23, 2007 was the first ride of the season for me, and it felt great! Brakes were a little loose, which I had forgotten about, but I got that fixed up last night when I went to EBC and found that not only were my brakes loose, the brake pads were worn down to pretty much nothing! I replaced both the front and the back pads, and I also replaced the front brake cable. Just in case. I'll have to go back another day to do a rebuild on the bottom bracket, get everything all cleaned up for the summer. Ah, bikes. I can't wait until next year when Erini will be old enough to take her around in a bike trailer.

Although cycling to work is fun, cheap, and a shorter commute time, I still have a bit of a problem getting to work on time. Jon took me aside and warned me about this. The peculiar thing is that he pointed out this is not the first time he's told me about this, and that everytime he preps me about my tardiness, I'm prompt for about two months, and then I slide back into a not so prompt style. It's like a cycle. I find that odd, because I'm taking my meds, and have been since I put that reminder on iPAQ when I got so freaked out about the stolen Wii console. That was before Christmas... That was the last conversation too. Hmmm... Jon also mentioned that if had to give a refrence for me today, he would say that I'm a good worker, very knowledgeable, nice person to work with, basically lots of good things, but consistently tardy.

I will admit, even when I took the bus, I would be showing up late on a semi-regular basis because I would get to the LRT one or two minutes too late. Heck, train left just when I got to the platform! That wasn't fun. With a bike, if you leave 5 minutes late, you will get to your destination 5 minutes late. With the bus, if you leave 5 minutes late, you will get to your destination anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes late! Mind you today I was a little absent minded and I left for work fifteen minutes before my shift started. Thankfully, I had a tail wind or else I would have been really screwed. Jon told me that some managers, ie. Ron at Southgate, has fired people for being late. He will warn them once, and then the next time, that's it.

I suppose being the "last one in, last one out" isn't the best title, but it's better than "last one in, first one out."

I think I'm turing Japaneese

It's one thing to have the costume. It's quite another to have the right look in the face!
This bronze layer was supposed to give a more Asian look. Just made me, and everyone else on the cast, look like they spent a few days in the sun. Not all that japaneese.
Even with the eyeliner and lip outline I still look like someone who just got back from vacation in Miami. Actually, with the eyeliner, it would almost seem that I went to San Franciso. Hey now!
This is me getting my hair dyed. Caitlin took careful attention just to get my head in this picture, as I was not wearing a shirt during the dying procedure. It's interesting to note that the dye turned my skin blue, not black. Looks kind of green in the picture, but that might be the camera, or the fact that I need to get some sleep. I thought that was a little odd at first, since the colour was "Midnight Black", but perhaps not.
At rehearsal, one of the cast members told me of the same plight that involved her scalp taking on a different tone.

This time around, we went for no foundation, and just eyeliner, rouge on the cheeks, and lipstick. Don't I look pretty?
Only in the theatre. Anywhere else and this would be perceived as a loss of manliness. Since it is within the realm of theatrics, it's just passed off as silliness.

Nevertheless, I find this new hair colour brings out the dark side in me. The following picture says it all.
Move over Marilyn Manson, psycho boy has come to spread the crazy.

Hard work paying off

Things are really starting to come together for Mikado. Once we were all into our costumes, it was much easier to get a feel for what to do on stage. And then we found that the length of the auditorium we practice is 60 feet, the same size at the Winspear stage.

Job search is not going as strong as I anticipated, but with the amount of spare time that I have... well, I suppose I could just give up blogging altogether. That wouldn't be a good idea though. I like having an outlet where I can record the going-on's of my life, and also, when I have time, ruminate on the finer points in life. Or not.

My in-laws also noted that their neighbours have put up a Olds Cutlass for sale. $1500 OBO. I would like to get a car, especially with baby coming, but I want to hold off on purchases like that until I get an engineering job. Or... maybe an AM position. I don't know if I'm going to pursue that though. I'm sure if I asked for advancement, there wouldn't be much to it. I am Rogers certified now. Yeah! I was a little surprise when I found there was two new courses. Finished those up quick, because I'd been waiting for months to get my certification!

However, any management position would be a serious investment in time and effort on my part. It's not like I'll go AM and then, oh I'm done now, two weeks later. Then again, some management experience is better than none. Plus, management experience is a very good thing to have on an engineering resume.

I'll ponder on this tomorrow as I ride the train to work. Since I don't have a car. Yet.

Red Zone

I didn't think that I would get so frustrated with this play. I know that I get perturbed with some of Tiana's behaviour on a usual basis, but I take it with a grain of salt. Today, I could feel myself heating up like an atomic pile. I was just about ready to shout out for silence, but that would be counterintuitive. I don't know if it was just a matter that I wanted to get on with it, and get out, or if I just couldn't stand the criticism to everyone in general and to some individuals, or if I was just perturbed with the performance of everyone else. The fact that I'm in the chorus is kind of good, but not. The entire chorus looks bad if one person looks bad.

It might also be the fact that we are going to be performing in a little over five weeks. We are running out of time, and unless we get things right, and right now, we are not going to be able to perform. Plus I'm a little put out that some people have not done choir singing before, and therefore do not know how to get the proper lung volume necessary for loud sound. Loud and in tune. There's the rub.

I am very tempted to get another cell phone. It would be a Nokia 3220, and I would prefer that it was on PayGo. I know that Fido does not carry that model of phone, but that's just the point. It's on the Rogers network, and we could put it under a $100 voucher that is good for one year. Rather than getting minutes month after month, once a year, or maybe every 10 months. A lot easier on the mind.

Interview aftermath

I don't think I got the position with Finning. Is it because of the fact I slapped the resume together last minute? Or is it more of the fact that I didn't realize that the supervisor that they were looking for is someone with a P.Eng? The big thing that hit me in the face was the interview. I didn't quite expect that my trip to their office would take only 20 minutes. I thought I would have to plow through rush hour traffic, however the traffic was going into the downtown core, and I was heading away from the core! Oops. Not the worst mistake, because I got there fifty minutes early instead of ten.

Next surprise was the two Human Resources people that we present in the interview. I thought it was just going to be a one-on-one interview with the Branch Manager. Surprise! Then I found out the job requires a) directing two teams of people, six or seven people each, and b) the EEs that work for Finning are all located in Calgary and Vancouver. This might be bad, since I am an EIT, and need to work under an engineer with P.Eng. certification. APPEGA might not even approve of myself working remotely under an engineer out of Vancouver. Hence, I might have to relocate.

That was another thing I discovered quick, give direct answers. One of the HR persons asked me if I was willing to relocate, and I said, "If I must, I must." A bit too ambiguous for their taste, because she asked again, "Would you be willing to relocate?" I just said, yes, and from that point on, any of the questions they asked me I gave the quickest and most direct answer I could think of.

"Have you done any work with switchgears?" "No."
"Have you worked with synchronization panels?" "I did work with one in the lab, with which we synched a generator motor to the grid."

Then there was a point in the interview where it was just me telling them why they should pick me for the job. Crickey, I was not ready for that! I thought that if I did have to do that, if would be at most 30 seconds, not 10 minutes. Also, the HR questions had me turning things over in my head trying to think of the best idea to use, and to come up with one in the least amount of time. I remember my answers, but I don't remember all the questions. How'd that happen?

Question one, I answered that I deal with a problem customer who wanted a refund on a set of wireless headphones that she wanted to return because they cut out the sound from the speakers on the TV when the headphones were on. I thought that there could be a way around that, but I was very wrong, and she wanted a refund. However, the receipt was outside refund date, even for a Christmas present. Then she tried playing a trump card in which she had already tried to return the headphones, and so we should restart the 30 day refund window when she tried to return them previously. However, I didn't remember when I talked to her. I did remember talking to her, barely, but I had no idea if it was before the new year or not. If it was before the new year, we were still out of luck, because it was Jan 28th. At this point I had done all I could do, and she also wanted to speak with the manager. Why these things happen when Jon isn't there I don't know, but Liz did her best to difuse the situation by offering store credit. After the customer turned that offer down flat, things got a little ugly. To the point that we gave her information to contact head office, and she didn't want that either! She wanted the district manager to call her. And then she still would not leave. There weren't any raised voices, but we called security to come remove her. Security arrived a bit late, because she decided to leave before they arrived. I would almost say that was best for everyone. In retrospect that wasn't the best example to tell at the interview! It was the most recent one I could think of, but not the best. I then told the brief episode of when I gave someone a $10 credit back on their purchase because the car they bought went on sale the week after they bought it. It was within policy, although it's not widely know, nor published, and I ran the transaction through, and everyone walked away happy.

I figured that was a bit limp compared to the long winded disaster story I told, but that was the best I could come up with.

The other question addressed how I withheld jumping to conclusions. I think. I told the story about I was a little put out by the irate behaviour of one my co-workers, but I held my tongue and later found she was worried about her boyfriend being on the front line of a NATO operation in Afganistan. I also told them about the time when I was roofing and we were getting the tile load on the roof in the rain. Three hours into the job, my jacket is soaked, I'm soaked, and my spirit is dampened as well. Then this guy I don't recongize comes onto the roof to help. He looks at me and my friend who was just as wet and miserable as me, and says, "It's raining, eh?" Part of me wanted to scream, "NO @#!& SHERLOCK!", and another part thought it best I hold my tongue. The side of reason previaled and I'm glad it did, because by the end of the day, I was still wet, but I was joking and laughing with the boss's son. That and it's just bad to swear at someone on site. Well, in regards to vulgar language, my grandfather would inform people that they didn't need to display their ignorance before him.

Last question was about championing an idea. For that I decided to talk about my decision to get married while I was still in school. I knew it was the right thing to do. I didn't know exactly how I was going to pull it off, and I certainly didn't anticipate the things that have happened over the past three and a half years. Yet if I had to do it all over again, I would. Some thought that I should wait until I was done school, and established in a good career before I went into making life changing decisions like that. I took the opinions into consideration, and I still went with what I thought was the right thing. If it wasn't for Caitlin, I'm not sure if I would have been able to pull through the episodes we've faced. Then again, would life have taken the same path?

No matter. After all that rigorous mind mashing to figure out that my chances of getting this level 6 (on a scale of 1-12, 1 entry level, 12 senior exec) job with a salary of $58k - $75k, was not good, we came to the last part of the interview. I felt like I had just written a really bad exam, and they wanted me to ask them questions. I told them what I was thinking, that most of my questions had already been answered, and I think I asked some kind of rag tag question, but it was weak, like how I felt.

If I do get the job, they'll call me in seven to ten days. They still have some other interviews to do. In the mean time, I'm going to check CaPS, PlacePro, and some other places. This job search is far from over.

Close call

I never thought that I would have the nightmare of getting a call back for a job you didn't think that you would get. Getting a call back is great, but if you applied to the job and forgot what the job was about... Yeah. Fortunate for me, I found the job through the Career and Placement Services at U of A and they keep hard copies of their job postings. I'm not sure for how long after the date has closed, but it was long enough for me to come by and get a photocopy of the posting!

I'm going to head off to the LDS Employment Center and do some practice interviews. A friend of mine recommended it, and it helped him land some jobs to boot. If it worked for him, it should work for me. Seeing that there is a lot hinging on this interview, I should be as prepared as I can.

Another happy thought is that there is room to think in our apartment again! My mother-in-law came by and helped organized about half of our apartment. You never realize how much room you have until you clean up! There was a heap of stuff that I forgot we had, and some stuff I posted on Freecycle. I don't know if I'll get rid of it or not, probably because I mentioned that I would prefer pick up only. If I had a car I would drop stuff off! Or if I was on my bike again. It's the middle of winter right now, and I don't want to destroy my bike with the adverse weather conditions. Although it has been very mild for January. I'll wait until March to get back on the saddle. Maybe April.

Until then, I have DDR to keep my fitness level up! After the spat I had with my manager, I realized that I can't play DDR at the level I want to, and so I resolved to wait... until I got to my in-laws. They have no trouble with me bringing along my PS2 and the dance pads, and using their 51" TV, so long as no one else is using it, and I'm not playing it in the middle of the night. I thought that my sister-in-law would be willing to let me use her PS2, but silly me didn't realize the hassle that it took for her to set it up in her room, and the hassle it would be to take it down. Okay. If that's the way it is, I would just bring along my hardware and use that! And I did. Rather, Caitlin and I did. She took the console and the games, and I brought the dance controllers and the cords.

What's that? A typo? Because I only have one dance pad? Mais, non. Recently, Friday actually, I found out that one of my co-workers is a huge gamer, and had a dance pad that he was no longer using since he sold his DDR games in order to buy an XBOX 360. He might get the DDR games again, but it was easier for him to sell it to me for $20. HEE HEE! Now I can play double! I was also hoping that I could do some two player rounds, but maybe next time. It's not like those things have an expiry date on them.

On the same note of video games, Caitlin and I went to go see Video Games Live. I wrote about this in the baby blog and I'll leave it at that. I got to get going, and I've been sitting in front of this iMac at the SU computer lab long enough. I was surprised my Campus ID still worked. Probably will until April. Meh.

Caveat Rent-or

For Christmas, I got a PS2. More of a grad gift, but still, it's in the house, and it's great. Got the digital output hooked up to the amp, and we got some crazy sound pumping. I was also able to obtain a copy of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, and it included a dance pad controller. One stupid thing I forgot.

The game is really noisy. If it's not the music, which you can turn down, it's the hoping around. I would think that was the tip off to my manager, who happens to reside in the apartment directly below me. Getting a knock on the door at 11pm is never a good thing. Being told that such activity is inappropriate at ANY time was also a good kick in the head. Furthermore, this comment about the anytime parameter for the noise factor (which is law, another kick to the head) is backed up in the lease as well, and recommended that I read it. For some odd reason, I cannot find the lease. I'll have to ask for another copy, because I was sure that I had it in my briefcase. The welcome package was there, as was the inspection sheet.

Caitlin agreed that I was a little loud with the game, since she called for me to turn it off and come to bed. Twice. I never responded. Next time that happens I hope Caitlin will take a bit more of a drastic or dramatic measure.

This really is not fun. For years I've had this dream of having a home version of DDR. Well, congrats to me, I have it. What sucks is that I may not be able to play it the way I want and still keep my apartment. And I was thinking that my biggest problem was keeping the dance pad from sliding out from under me.

Funny fact: When I bought DDR SuperNOVA, I was also given a Gilette Fusion razor, free. This perplexed me, because you usually don't find personal hygene supplies in a video game store, never mind free products sponsered by the manufacturer. Then again, this might be the start of something more. Next we'll have Nivea sponsering some facial cleansers, and then Old Spice sponsering to ensure that gamers a least have deoderant on hand.