YAY FOR ME!!!

I got a job! I'll be a help desk dude doing technical support for hotel patrons. I'll be working for a company called Guest-Tek. They provide 24/7 technical support for hotels and their patrons who have access to high-speed internet in their rooms. (yes, that means rotating shifts, 24/7)
I'll do 3 weeks of training at $12/hr. After those 3 weeks I have to write a big test and then I'll move up to $13.25/hr, which is a decent wage for an entry level tech support position.
It is "technically", from a HR point-of-view, only a part time position, but if I am able to work 35-40 hours a week I will be able to, because they have lots of hours. It is a rapidly expanding and growing company. The guy that interviewed me had only been there 2 years and was doing what I will be when he started. So lots of room for advancement which is what I want. I don't want to be doing phone support for very long (the lady said 6mo-1yr and i'll be out of it)
I'm hoping to get a few more interviews this week, hopefully from Shaw and Telus, but we'll see. I won't be able to do any interviews for the following 3 weeks as I'll be in training and I can't really skip out in the middle of the day during that.
I applied on Thursday morning, received a call that afternoon arranging an appointment for this morning, and received a call offering me a job 2 hours (almost exactly) after the completion of my 10 min interview and 10 min test. :D I' m so excited. This went much better than I had hoped.
Trust in the Lord and He shall provide.
My parents also gave me $200 for a grad present (and my second cousin, who lives in Calgary, and is kinda friends with my parents) gave me $100 for graduating. My parents, as congratulations for finishing school have also told me they will give me $200/mo for payment toward my student loans. This is a real suprise as they've always told me that allowing me to live at home was their contribution to my education, which was really appreciated. So this kinda blew me away, and is going to make paying off these loans (almost 20 grand worth of) much easier.
Today has truly been a wonderful day! Prayer is an amazing thing. You just have to let go of the reins and let God take over. He'll steer you in the right direction. Even if it isn't always what you want. I'm really going to miss going on Crossover, but...

music to check out

Alright, so my buddy Sean has/is in a band called Creature Republic. They play alternative rock kinda stuff. Sean plays lead guitar and is amazing. You should check out the site and listen to the song they have up. (push the play button on the right hand side of the page) They are playing at the Back Alley on thursday night, and I'm gonna have to break my resolution to never go there. But that's okay, i did the same thing when I went to see the Tea Party at Cowboys breaking my resolution to never go there either.
So definately check them out, and if you are in Calgary come and see them (i don't want to go alone).
(sorry for the awful writing this morning)
Oh, and I had my first tech job interview this morning. It went quite well I think, and I am sure i got more than 80% of the test I had to do right. So yay for me. I'll know by friday if they'll hire me, training starts next week.

stupid emotions

I hate when my emotions don't behave themselves. They get all befuddled, and make me over-sensitive. I'm nervous about interviews and finding a job, then moving out, and dealing with all of that. I miss Jo. My bed feels empty, though we've never shared it. I don't have any structure in my life right now, and just want someone to listen and sympathize as selfish as that sounds. Maybe not even sympathize, but just acknowledge that they are listening and continue to listen. Again, selfish I know, but I think I just need that sometimes. I think it would be better if it were someone who didn't know about my life. Or knew about my life but just didn't have any ties to anyone else in my life but me. There would be no overanalyzing, no saying the right thing, none of the things that plague friendships. Just an outsider to talk to. Sympathetic, yet removed.
And I am just rambling now, so I'm going to go to bed.

it's called "kindness/thoughtfullness/considerate" people

I don't understand some people in my class. We have been out of school, have graduated, for over a month, and some of my friends have only sent out a handful of resumes. And by a handful I mean about half a dozen. In my mind, I've handed out a handful, and that's only a couple dozen. I just don't understand. How are you going to get a job, so you can make some money so you don't have to live in your parents basement for the rest of you life unless you get a job?!?
So today alone, I have sent out more resumes than most of my friends have in the past month. And as I'm looking for jobs, and finding potential ad's, I send the links to them. I'll also proof-read their resumes, and give them the list of technical skills I just added to mine. We did the same thing in school, why not share it with them? We are pretty equally qualified in terms of education in this field (even though I'm #2 in my class), so why not let them in on the jobs? They are obviously incapable of finding them for themselves, or else I'm just super fucking amazing, and know all the right places to look (ie. jobbank.ca, workopolis.ca, monster.ca, you know, the obvious ones). So I share with them. And they think this is such a weird thing. Some have even asked if I applied for the jobs I sent them, and when I say yes, they reply "well then i shouldn't apply." Of course you should! The right person for the job should get it. Not me just because I know where to look, or I put the right thing on my resume that you didn't know how to iterate yourself.
This doesn't have to be a dog eat dog world. We are allowed to help one another, as foreign as that concept is to some people. It's called being considerate or kind or thoughtfull. Try it sometime, you'll probably like it.

job prospects looking up

So since I'm not going to Kamloops for this Crossover trip I need to find a job. I sent out 15ish resumes today, and have received 2 responses. One from Dell in Edmonton, saying they will call in the next couple of days to do a pre-interview, and one from a company called Guest-Tek. I did a little pre-interview and have to go for a real interview and write a 40 question test on Monday. They deal with technical support for ppl staying in hotels that are trying to connect to the internet via the connections in the room. So I'm going to have to brush up a bit on my networking basics. I didn't do very wellin that class, so it'll take a little going over.
I've also started looking at places to rent here in Calgary (if i end up with a job in edmonton, then i guess it doesn't matter) but I've found a number of bachelor suites for about $550 which would be nice. So we'll see. Hopefully I hear back from more companies.

...this sucks...

i'm not going to kamloops...
i am going to bed now.
i'll explain tomorrow.
i just wanted to let y'all know.

i'm excellent at financial mismanagement

I don't think life can any longer be about doing what I want. I think life now has to be about goals.
See I am broke. I am more than broke. I'm about 20 grand in debt, what with student loans, my line of credit, my credit card, and what I owe my parents. I did have 3 grandish forgiven off my provincial loan, so that brings in down a little bit, but...
I need to set goals, and work toward achieving them. Things like, I would like to pay off my loans in say max 5 years. I'd like to get a computer job. After having a job for a year, I'd like to purchase a house.
I need to start making life decisions. And the resultant decision needs to enable me to achieve these goals.
Spending 7 weeks on Crossover will not help me achieve these goals. Sure, the discipleship training would be wonderful, and the experiences would teach me lessons I could apply for the rest of my life. It really has my spiritual well being, in mind. But it doesn't have my economic, nor my financia well being or any of those other things that are required to become achieve these goals.
I can no longer just do things because they'll make me "happy". That won't get me anywhere in life.
*sigh* So I don't know what I'm going to do. My parents *might* lend me the additional $1500 (give or take a couple hundred) i'll need to cover expenses while I'm gone (car/phone/creditcard bill/etc...) But do I really want to incur another $1500 debt, plus if I spend more than the $200 they allot me for the 7 weeks it will bury me further. Not to mention the 7 weeks of potential work i'd be missing, plus maybe these next 2 if Autosporter won't hire me back (which is possible).
So i'm at a complete and utter loss. I REALLY want to go. I've been looking forward to it for quite sometime, and am really excited about it. But I also don't want to have this huge financial burden hanging over my head the entire time I'm down there. And if I stay I'm gonna miss it terribly, but it will be helping me move toward my goals...
i don't know what to do. i want to go, but really shouldn't.
I also don't want to leave them stranded 2 weeks before it's supposed to start. I'd feel really bad as it is really not a very nice thing to do.
ARGH!!!

sad day

Today is a sad day. I leave tomorrow morning after spending 3 glorious weeks in Iowa with the love of my life. It's been a wonderful vacation, staying longer than I was intending made it all the better.
But tomorrow morning it ends. I plan on spending the night in Rapid City tomorrow night, checking out Mt. Rushmore the following morning. I'll drive to Montana and probably stay somewhere near Butte and then drive the rest of the way Wednesday. It should only be about 8 hours the last day. 12ish hours of driving tomorrow.
I don't want to leave...

The Star Wars Epidemic

So at 9:30 last night Mama Bean and I lined up at the theater for the midnight showing of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. And let me tell you, it was a geek convention out there. So many ppl dressed up, and I'm not just talking a few here, there were DOZENS of these guys and girls. They were having lightsaber battles and everything. I couldn't believe the number of ppl that were lined up. We got there two and a half hours early, and they had already filled up the lobby with ppl. We were about 25m from the doors. There were about 22 of us in a group (a bunch of ppl that Mama Bean goes to school with)
The line started moving at about eleven, and shortly after we got in the door, we saw this dude waving cash in the air saying "I've got 80 bucks for 2 tickets!" So of course, what do I do? I convince Mama Bean that we should sell our tickets. The only reason she is there is because I convinced her to come, and she has only seen The Return of the Jedi. I don't really care if I see the movie or not; I still haven't seen Episode II. I'm sure it is a good movie but right about then I'd rather go home and sleep.
So we made this dude's night, AND made $62 profit in the process (the tickets were $9 each). How awesome is that? We got to hang out with friends for a few hours, make some money, and go to bed earlier than if we had stayed and watched the movie. I just can't beleive the ppl that showed up for the movie and stood in line for hours. Ppl were out there with camping chairs, eating their Wal-mart-bought snacks, ppl sitting in circles playing cards, everyone just dorking it up really.
There were also quite a few ppl that dressed up, not as Star Wars characters, but as things like Gandalf, and some clowns. I don't quite understand the whole turning it into Halloween, or poking fun or whatever, but ppl did seem to enjoy themselves, and that makes it so much better.
Good times.

I got them!

Absolute sweetness! I am going to see the one, the only, the guys who should have been dead years ago, The Rolling Stones. The first bowl and floor seats are $350, second bowl $160. I am sitting in row 14 of the second bowl beside the stage. It is going to be so awesome. I joined the fan club yesterday just so I would have access to the pre-sale that started this morning. It was $100, but it guarenteed us seats, and an additional $25 per person for guarenteed seats is totally worth it.
So yeah, at the end of October, I'll be one of millions of ppl that have seen the Stones over the past 40ish years. And it will be righteous!

Fuckin' Rights!

The Rolling Stones are coming to Calgary! And I'm gonna be there. Tickets range from $60-$350 (60,99,160,350). If I get a fan club membership for $100, I will have access to presale tickets tomorrow at 9:00 am. So I'm probably going with my parents and my aunt, so that's only an additional $25 per person, and it GUARANTEES us seats. I think we're going for the $160 section, so that's about $200/ticket, hopefully some of which my parents will subsidize as a birthday present (here's hoping). But I absolutely CANNOT miss seeing the stones!

Concert Announcement

Meatloaf is touring this summer/fall! I have to go! I am going! I don't know when, or where, but I have to! So VERY VERY EXCITING!!
On a less happy note, Tegan and Sara with the Killers are sold out...:(

it's official...I'm a Computer Engineering Technologist!

I just received my final marks for this semester:
Peripherals A+
Networks B+
Posix A-
Technical Communications A+
Project management A
Project Design A-

This gives me a 3.76 for this semester, which is the lowest I've ever gotten. (3.78 last semester)
So I graduate with a 3.85, which I guess is okay. Liveable anyway. I progressivly went downhill over the course of my program. Started out with a 4.0, then a 3.85 (amazing what 2 A-'s will do to your mark), then 3.78 and 3.76. But I only got 2 B+'s and 6 A-'s, the rest are A's and A+'s.
What pisses me off is that starting my third semester they dropped the mark required to get an A from 85 to 80 percent, meaning I should have a 4.0 for my second semester. But there is no sense crying over spilled milk. I'm done and that is what matters. No I just have to get a job. Anyone have any connections in the computer industry?

And how many illegal aliens are working in the states with FAR less education than me?

Why do customs/immigration officers think they are hot shit? Why are they so arrogant as to beleive that their country is the best in the world, and that anyone coming into their country "obviously" wants to stay there and get a job, legal or not?
Mama Bean and I were detained at the border for more than an hour on Sunday afternoon on suspicision that upon allowing me to enter this amazing country of theirs, I might just decide to stay down here and get myself a job. Apparently because I just graduated, have no job, no permanent residence (liveing at home doesn't count), and my girlfriend is going to school down here. Now I have never been harassed crossing the border before, granted I've never done it in a car, but still...
They also proceeded to dig through my entire car, including all my clothes (messing them up, and wrinkling everything) I am not sure what they were looking for, or why they were so hell bent on making my life miserable.
I mean seriously, isn't that a little arrogant to think that just because they think I have nothing to go home to I'm going to try and become an illegal alien in their country?
You should have seen the look on the customs lady's face when, after grilling me about getting a job in the states, she asked me why I didn't want to get a job down here, and my subsequent response "Because I don't want to live in the States." It was priceless.
Stupid fucking U.S. Customs officers with nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to harass someone who is driving his girlfriend back to school, and just wants to hang out and visit for a couple of weeks.

Yay!

Tamara and Tyrel got married today.
Mama Bean is here.
We are leaving tomorrow to drive to Iowa.
25 hours of driving in 2 days.
2 glorious weeks I will get to spend with my Jo.
Sleep now. Leave in 7 hours.