Wow, times fly when you're off doing other stuff

Last post July 2013. Been having some adventures since then.

1. Got laid off again.
2. Went to North Myrtle Beach for a week to help Mom and my sister on their annual shopping trip.
3. Went to Myrtle Beach proper for a week. Discovered Murrell's Inlet, Huntington State Park, and Brookgreen Gardens.
4. The Holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
5. Celebrated another birthday.
6. Suffered through a remarkably cold winter for these parts - just after my heater decided to go tits up.
7. Finally got to "play" with my Raspberry Pi. Used it to built an NAS of my very own.
8. Built a Debian based web server on another computer to serve up web pages, keep a local blog, and just generally learn more stuff.
9. Supported a major bathroom remodel project. A remodel project that did NOT include repainting the room. WTF?
10. And am halfway through Learning Python the Hard Way. There is much rejoicing.
11. And several small engine repairs due to ethanol in the gas and these engines being left with gas in them. Hell, I'm just as guilty of doing that as anybody else.

Independence Day - 2013

Another fantastic day. .  Well, at least,  Happy Birthday U.S. of A. Or Happy Inepennence Day!  That's the Southern way of pronouncing it.  It's a Thursday, and silly me, I volunteered to work if needed on Friday. And of course once I had thought I liked the idea of a 4 day weekend, pppphhhht! Something comes up.  
It's ten minutes to ten on a day off, and I'm sitting in front of my computer.  One of my computers. I really need to document my network better so I can keep up with who's where and how to get in touch with them.
My computer network.
I know where my real life friends are, and how to get in touch with them.
It's a relief to see sunlight again.  The last few days have been rain, rain, rain. Though yesterday was quite, ahem, entertaining. Sunlight and blue sky all day.
Then raining cats and dogs for rush hour driving. I call it "liquid stoopid".

So many things change, but some don't really

Did finally move on to a new job.  Still as a contractor. But much better paying. Again with maybe we can hire you, maybe not.  Though things are looking up in that department.

The pay is better.  The benefits are.....well, shit, I have benefits, now, and they are pretty good.

More to do. Not spending all day at the desk. Hands on work. chunkking is much happier.

chunkking abides.  Hope y'all are, too.

Nothing Changes. Everything changes

Still stuck at the same job. Still a contract employee. Little hope of being hired. Though I'm being told by some people that I'm a "shoe-in".

Image.  Politics. Crap. Lies.

Time flies when you're having fun....

or stuck in hell.
So, it's a new year. I got a job back in the last week of Sept. 2011. It's closer to home, it's indoors, and it's Engineering. And accounting. Ah, I'd forgotten what "professional" positions are all about.

Image. Politics. Crap.

And, while it is a regular paycheck, it doesn't pay enough. I was called upon by the contract company I work for to fill in an existing position - at that existing pay scale.

You stay out of work for a couple months and then take a 20% cut in pay. See how comfortable you are in four months.

I've been webified

Geez - I needed a file transfer program - and the add-on I find doesn't work with the version of Firefox that I use - so download a new version of firefox, then download fireftp, then figure out how to use fireftp. Then on to this damn webify thing where it says your email is OPTIONAL - and yet requires you to put in an address to get your results. So I got my results.

Now, what the hell was I doing in the first place? Oh yeah.

Weeks of a Different kind of Hell

Well, there you go....work my ass off for a few weeks only to get laid off, again. The economy is worse, the job market is worse, and the heat is on! So, I'm out looking for jobs again. Am hearing about remarkable success of independent people. AC service guys. General services guy that traces lines/pipes and repairs/resells appliances. Geez. I can do all those things.