Whatafreak – The Blog

So, here I am in San Ramon, waiting for the humiliation to begin. The competition starts at 4pm and is supposed to last for a couple of hours. I really can’t wait for this thing to be over with. I like to think that I am pretty good at thinking on my feet, improvising and adapting easily to rapidly changing situations. I have absolutely no idea where I am supposed to go or even if I need to register somewhere and there are fewer than 30 minutes until the competition starts. I don’t mind doing the actual competition, but I really loathe knowing almost nothing about what I need to do or where to be.

Oh well, I am sure I will get informed at the last possible second. I’ll post again later tonight with news of my spectacular failure in the competition.

* Edit *

Okay, so I ended up not being as monumental a failure as I originally intended to be. I ended up getting 2nd place in the Cable Jeapordy competition, and 1st place in Meter Reading. I blew the other participants way out of the water in Meter Reading, and I knew it after I had finished. The next closest person to be 100% correct was over a minute slower than me. We had 5 minutes to complete the task, and I was done in under 90 seconds. Booyah!

I thought that I had made a good showing with those two awards, but seeing a couple of the other guys get 3 or 4 medals in the individual events caused me to discount myself as a possible contender in the “Overall” category. It was surreal when they announced my name as 1st place overall. I was blindsided, didn’t expect it at all. I am now in the running to receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Philadelphia for the national SCTE Expo and accompanied Cable Games. It’s not a sure thing yet, but there are a total of 4 of these competitions in this district. I have won 1st place overall in 2 of them so far, lol. They will compare my scores with the overall winners from the remaining 2 competitions to determine who gets to go to the expo. I hope that I get selected, it would be a fun trip.

That’s it for this post, I just wanted to get the information out there.

I just got out of the shower in a futile attempt to stave off sickness for just a little longer. I feel crappy. I don’t know if it was the thing Sean had or if it was the one my Dad had for 3 weeks. In the long run, I guess that doesn’t really matter. I want to be okay to work tomorrow so I don’t look like a total hypocrite. I am an outspoken advocate for the non-Sunday call-in-sick day. There are only a few of us that work on Sundays, so it hurts us pretty bad if someone calls in sick on that day. I don’t want to be that person tomorrow…

If it isn’t already apparent, I have decided to change the theme I am using for my blog. I don’t know if this is going to be the theme I end up using, but I like it for now and am giving it a trial run.

Interestingly enough, I have been accepted to George Fox University against all my prior expectations. I am awaiting some correspondence from the university that should get the ball rolling. Currently, the ball is moving at a glacial pace. I was beginning to become concerned about my application status, but a quick email to my admissions adviser resulted in a phone call from the same informing of my acceptance status. Good news, to be sure. (I wonder if my email resulted in a review of my application or if it was just some happy coincidence that the two happened nearly simultaneously?) I would be daft if I said I was not excited. Knowing that my time here is now on “limited” status is appealing to say the least.

Working for Comcast has been a financial boon for me, but I hate the job. No really, I do. I am hesitant to state this due to the possibility that someone might come across this and my career would be ended shortly. I feel like I need to get this off my chest though and my family has heard enough from me, I am sure. I don’t want to sound like a whiner as I know most people hate their jobs as well, but the endless promises of change with resulting total inaction from superiors is depressing at the least and maddening at the most. We are constantly reminded not to get overtime if at all possible, and yet are expected to complete 8 or more hours of work (as estimated by Comcast itself!) in 6 hours or less. If we get off of work on time, chances are that we haven’t done 8 hours worth of work. If we complete 8 hours of work, chances are that we got overtime. It’s a frustrating circle to be a part of. Both situations can result in a comment or two from supervisors or a full-blown “coaching” in an office with the door closed.

A quick note, I am currently working on a few small projects. I have purchased and built a small computer to act as a media center. I have it working right now, but not with all the features I eventually want. I still have to install the TV tuner card and tweak a few things in order for it to become the DVR/Media PC of my imagination. I also just ordered a slew of things to construct an electronics workshop of sorts. I am getting a new soldering iron, flux, solder, and various cleaning materials to begin experimentation and dabbling in electronics. I will probably start with some pre-made kits to get the ball rolling and move on from there. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to suggest in the comments.