just to clear up any misunderstandings; the apple store job is part time. it`s supposed to supplement my income although i`m really not sure how much i`m going to take home.
i have been planning on getting a new machine to work on at home. i haven`t really been chasing freelance work because as much as i love that laptop it`s 5 years old and there are days when it shows it.
i`ve spent the last couple of days reworking my resume, partially as a pre-emptive strike, partially because i need to feel like i`m doing something productive with my life. as i was reorganising my resume i realised, degree or not, i`ve got skills and i deserve better. i suppose i knew that all the time but sometimes it good to see in black and white.
as much as i`d like to make the apple store job full time, the simple truth is that it doesn`t pay enough. we couldn`t survive. i`m not thrilled with what i`m getting paid now but it does pay the bills, keeps us fed and we`re pretty debt free; at least in the sense we`re not incurring any more. i really just wish i were making that little extra so we wouldn`t have weeks like this one and could build a bit of a cushion.
well part time at least.
i am the newest part-time Apple Specialist at Green Hills Mall.
i`m getting paid to do something i love with a discount, hopefully i`ll have a pay cheque to take home.
when i started in the advertising business, i had the fortune and misfortune to work at a firm that had my last name in the title. people assumed i was related to one of the principals and expected me to coast on my name. that was so far from the truth it`s scary. when i started working i had my mother`s work ethos stuck in my head; give the job 150% because there is someone else that can do your job just as well.
i learned the hard way when you give 150% all employers do is take advantage of you so i revised my work ethos; find a job that you like, do it well and when it ceases to be fun, it`s time to move on. it seems a little fickle, but life is too short. as long as you`re working for someone you`re prostituting yourself; i hold no illusions about that; it`s about how badly you want to be screwed for what you`re getting paid. i enjoy what i do, i work hard, but i`d rather not have sodomy with a barbed wire and sandpaper condom as part of the daily ritual.
so here i am 13 years later, older and somewhat wiser. and these are this i`ve learned; i have realised that even with all that experience; that`s also apparently scaring people off; without a degree people don`t seem willing to give you a second glance or if they do, not pay you anywhere near market value. experience outside the US; where the quality of work, in my humble opinion, is higher; also doesn`t count for squat.
i`m bitter and upset about how things are going with my job. it will pass and if it doesn`t i`ll have to suck it up and do my job because that`s the kind of person i am anyway. at the end of the day, the work i produce is an extension of me and i`d at least like it to be positive.
there seems to be a common misconception that being alone is a bad thing. i`m not saying that you don`t need to interact with people but this marketing ideal that unless you have a life partner or in a committed relationship you`re less of a person. being single is not a crime and if more people would take the time to enjoy being on their own there would be a lot less heartbreak.
we are so conditioned to seek out a relationship, we seemed to have lost the ability to enjoy and appreciate being on our own. i was a serial monogamist; for close to a decade i went from one long term relationship straight into another. all those relationships were fine but at no point did i stop to deal with the shit i was carrying from one to another.
it took a while but i realised that you don`t need a relationship to make you happy actually, to the contrary, if you`re not happy with yourself then all your relationships are doomed to failure from day one. we`ve gotten so caught up in trying to find someone one who makes us happy that we seemed to have forgotten that we need to be responsible for our own happiness too.
we need to learn to enjoy our own company; be comfortable in our own skin as it were; be content with and by ourselves and then we can truly appreciate the happiness being with someone else brings.
and for anyone wondering, vic and i are not having problems, it`s just a thought that has been occurring to me based on conversations i`ve been having.
edit: i got a request to fill out my initial post and submit it as a review, damned editors.
On Tuesday night we were fortunate enough to catch a preview screening of the Hitch Hiker`s Guide to the Galaxy. There are not enough words for me to express how pleased I am with this movie. After many false starts, the big budget, Hollywood version is finally here and it doesn`t seem any worse for wear, but it is a mostly British production from a screenplay started by the late Douglas Adams.
As with all other versions of HHGTG; radio play, BBC mini series, book; a consistent idiosyncrasy is a the extension of story lines that for that particular medium. The movie is no different and expands Arthur`s love of Trillian, as well as the development of the Humma Kavula storyline.
The cast is amazing and features voice talents of Alan Rickman as Marvin the Paranoid Android, Helen Mirren as Deep Thought and Stephen Fry as the Guide. Rapper turned actor Mos Def stars as Ford Prefect, Sam Rockwell; in another over the top performance; as President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox and British character actor, Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent. The actual Guide entries; developed British animation firm Shynola; stole the show with every appearance, if you`re one of those people who leaves immediately as the credits start to roll, i suggest you stick around, there`s one last Guide entry as the credits roll. Die hard HHGTG fans will be amused by a couple of special asides, including the BBC mini series` Marvin, as well as the Douglas Adams planet from Starship Titanic game.
The movie is CGI intensive but not to the point of abuse and my favourite scene is the Heart of Gold; the ship our erstwhile heroes end up on; going through infinite probabilities to arrive at a destination, including one probability where the entire ship and crew are turned into yarn. The movie is billed as a comedy but there are a lot of touching moments, that are genuine and uncontrived. One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is an almost childlike innocence and joy that seemed to characterise Douglas Adams. This is helped by an almost completely British production that understand how to be funny without resorting to blatant stupidity as evidenced by the So Long and Thanks for all the Fish song over the opening credits.
At the end of of the film as the Heart of Gold phases through infinite probabilities, there is a brief flash of Adams` face before the credits start rolling with the words `For Douglas`. This movie is a faithful interpretation of a beloved book and is sure to make long time fans happy and create a new generation of fans.
Remember to walk with your towels.
when i was 14 i expressed an interesting in joining the priesthood. the priest i expressed that desire to, said the day i became a priest the earth would open up and swallow my parish.
i suppose i should quantify his response, before i expressed my desire to join the priesthood, i was commenting on what a cushy gig it seemed like; your choice of the ladies, free room and board and a car; i was thinking practically. some years later he and i had an opportunity to converse and he asked me if i was still interested in joining the clergy, but by that time i was completely disenchanted with the church. strangely, `our` new pope leaves me with the same bitter aftertaste i had when i abandoned the church.
growing up in Trinidad, i got a radically different perspective on Catholicism. i grew with a local archbishop and mass in English, even the hymnal was filled with songs written for us, by us. there wasn`t a church choir worth its salt without a pannist and a rhythm section. the church was us and we were the church and part of that was the fact we lived in a plural society.
our nation`s motto is every creed and race find an equal place and at least on the surface it applies. there are Christians of every denomination, Muslims, Hindus and if at no other time, we appreciate each other for the holidays. we celebrate, Christmas, Divali and Eid off the top, plus a bunch of others in between. we don`t have a large Jewish community otherwise they would be in the mix as well.
my point in all of this; the new thrust of the papacy seems geared towards extremism and exclusion which will continue to push more and more people away from the church.
this has been a long, painful and exhausting week for me.
i`ve managed to leave work late almost everyday this week, i haven`t been to bed before 11 any night this week and one of my wisdom teeth is making my jaw sing and as with all other drugs, i seem to have developed a tolerance to both the lortab and the ibuprofen that i was taking.
ever so often for the last five years my wisdom teeth make an appearance that usually involves excruciating pain and they cut through my gums. i have spoken to my dentists about it, but they all recommend surgery. which seems like a good idea, except any dental procedures i need to have done, have to two hours or less in duration, as i said before i have a really high tolerance for narcotics. two hours is maximum amount of time that painkillers usually last for me. i`m loathe to think about some dentist rooting around in my mouth when the painkillers wear off; every scenario ends badly for us both.
work wise, i`m incredibly frustrated with my job this week with yesterday being the culmination of all my frustrations. i`m just going to leave it at that, because i`m slowly learning that sometimes, discretion is the better part of valour. i do however have an interview next week for a part time job which should make my summer, entertaining if nothing else.
Somewhat liberal, inter-racial, couple with children seek like minded individuals to form community in remote, easily-defended, arable location.
Must be articulate, well read, willing to fight for personal freedoms. Preference will be give to people with extensive and diverse libraries, as well as those with woodsman, farming or maintenance skills.
Property should be remote with arable land and fresh water supply and room to grow.
the boychick begins his week of standardised testing that is TCAP today. it`s funny i had recently arrived when he was doing it last year and the girls had their own batch of equivalency examinations.
in Trinidad at the end of elementary school system you take an examination that determines your choice of high school education based on how well you do. in my days it was called the Common Entrance exam and the higher your total score the better your chances of attending a prestigious parochial high school. these days it`s called the SEA and the intensity and price of failure is even greater. my elder daughter took it last year and went to the school of her choice and mine, my younger daughter took it about six weeks ago and we`re fairly confident that she`s heading to the same school. this ends their standardised testing on a national level for at least five years until it`s time for their O` Level exams.
the boychick, on the other handm is stuck in this testing rut annually. last year i very nearly pitched a fit when his then teacher marked an essay he work diligently on poorly based on his grammar. according to her and last year`s TCAPs the boychick has problems with sentence structure. which seems kind of odd, see the volume of reading he does, the fact that his mother has a Masters in English and i`m a grammar nazi. in fact it`s not that he has a problem, but they have an issue with the fact that he can construct complex sentences at this grade level. the boychick does not write staccato sentences. they want him to write like this. he was punished for not writing like this.
the joys of standardised testing, if you don`t fit in the box, we`ll force fit you. what`s funny is that at some point someone asked the boychick if he found the TCAPs difficult and he replied, “it can`t be difficult they`re not supposed to leave anyone behind.” and that pretty much sums it up, in order to make sure no one gets left behind they`re hampering the rest of the children.
not all children progress at the same rate, granted, but when you the pace you set is for the slowest child the rest of the children who get what they`re supposed to be working on are going to get bored and distracted while they wait and that`s not going to help them learn anything either.
