Well What the Shit

It's officially official.  I got offered a full time position at my company last week.  Next Monday is my transition date.  I'm getting a 30% pay increase, 401k matching, and the healthcare I will have access to are the same cost as my Obamacare coverage but much better coverage.  Plus Dental.  Which I need, because I have not been to a dentist in a few years.  My schedule turns kind of shitty (12pm-9pm Tues-Sat) but the pay and access to good benefits is pretty worth it.

Needless to say, I've become a fully functioning adult (or close to it), which is fucking crazy. I'm pretty psyched about going permanent, (more due to pay and benefits than the actual work), but another part of me wants to just bleed them dry over the next few months/year and bail.  Continue that cycle of work/unemployment.  But this is more responsible and a better option.  We'll see how it plays out

Not Half Bad

Jesus, it's already May.  Time really flies past you when you sit in an office doing a job that you don't hate.  But the day to day still seems to linger on, but then I wake up today and suddenly we're already halfway through May.  And it barely got above fifty degrees Fahrenheit for most of the week.  Utterly ridiculous.  Winter was supposed to end months ago, but it still wants to remind us of how brutal it was, it's icy talons still gouging away.  We had frost the other night.  Frost.  In May.  Thanks Obama.

But I've still managed to get up everyday and head off to work, driving forty-five minutes to do so.  My only complaint is the commute, really, but that's just because I'm a completely defensive driver and other driver's have a tendency to piss me off to no end by their generally terrible driving.  I don't believe I could live in a city like LA or Chicago; my driving would guarantee that I would never be able to get anywhere.  I don't muscle my way in when merging, I wait for people to let me in. It's a bit of a curse, really.  Then again, no moving accidents or traffic violation in the 12 years that I've been behind the wheel.  Knock on wood.  But I'm still contracting, and my contract was extended all the way to October.  But, there are full time positions opening up soon, and I have a pretty good chance of getting those.  Otherwise, come August, I'll start looking at my options.  I don't want to now, only because I have a few days off in the next several months for important family things and I want to be able to get those days off still.  We'll see how it ends up.  It's such a bizarre feeling, though; I have money and stability, and I don't hate it, but I just want that uncertainty back.  I feel like it kept me honest somehow.  Like I've put on a tie (I actually don't have to wear a tie) and just went to town as another corporate employee.  Such a strange feeling.

Anyways, that's all I got for now.  Peace

Posting from mah smartphone

Finally entered the 21st century and got me a smartphone. Now to figure this new-fangled technology out. Like how to use it to assist in my writing. Bamph!

The November Gauntlet

My current life, at this point, is relatively surprising.  Who would have thought that there would be a point where I would not only no longer wake up dreading going to work, but while at work, kind of like it because there are some pretty solid peeps that I work with.  Definitely not I.  Definitely not I at all.  November was an exciting month for me.  I am now working the phones and splitting duties at work between that and my original job.  It's better than I expected, because the people calling us up at the helpdesk are not customers but sales associates who need help to help the customers.  I haven't had too many negative calls, although it does happen.  Besides that, I served on a jury for a day courtesy of the Dane County Circuit court here in Madison, which was actually a pretty positive experience.  The other jurors were pretty solid people, all of who had a good sense of humor for our stupid "he said, she said" misdemeanor trial.  Nothing serious or exciting, but still pretty positive.

However, there was a daunting accomplishment that I managed to kick some ass on: National Novel Writing month.  Last year, I tried and failed miserably, not even getting past four figures;  However, this year, as of 11-30-13, I met, and slightly exceeded, the challenge which is to write 50,000 words in the month of November.  I wrote 50,074 words in the month of November, writing every single day except for the day that I had jury duty.  It averaged out to a little over 1700 words per day writing.  Some days were less, others more.  But I started a novel, and proved to myself that I have the willpower to set deadlines and meet them with grit and determination.  It's not only not finished, but it's a pretty convoluted, confusing, kind of pretentious piece of crap, but it's my piece of crap.  I feel pretty proud of myself, not going to lie.  I decided to take the week off of writing anything, just chilling and figuring out where to go from here.  Initially, I had some notes on an outline I was following, but lost that about a third of the way through the month as I just lost the time to try and keep my notes going.  That's part of the problem, but it was a pretty unestablished idea at the beginning.  Right now, I'm going to take a little break from it and bust out a short story while I figure out how to finish the novel.  My plan right now is to finish, then not touch it for a while before editing it.  Then after editing it, let it lie fallow again for a while before taking another look at it.  After that, who knows.

MEANWHILE, IN GREG'S BASEMENT!

Oh lord, Blogfriends.  It has been a bit of time, hasn't it?  Sorry, I've been a bit preoccupied with working and such to keep a regular update.  But hey, maybe it's time for a life update?

So, I'm into week six of the two month contract.  During the past couple of weeks, I've usually had one day out of the week where I am sent home early because the workload is nothing for the day.  Which is awesome and not awesome at the same time.  Awesome because I like having extra free time; not awesome because it is not only a long commute, but my paychecks aren't as large as I anticipated, so I'm saving less money.  Oh well.  because out of that, I have found out that I am doing a really good job.  Such a good job that while they are letting other contractors go, I am sticking around as long as the workload continues to be more than the permanent employees can handle on their own.  So who knows what'll happen there.  Maybe good things.  I'm not crazy about the job, but it's better than other gigs.  And less stress.

Anyway, I got a new finished story. Check it out.  Peace!

Whoa-oh!

Well, the long national nightmare is over.  Well, for at least two months.  Managed to get a temp gig with a major communications company, sitting in front of a computer checking customer inquiries for errors and whether or not they meet the style necessary to be submitted to the IT department.  It's only contracted through the next two months, but there is a slight possibility that it could be extended or turn into a permanent gig.  Play it by ear.  At the very least, it'll be two months of a break from uncertainty and two months of experience in an office environment.  I'm Feeling good, especially seeing as my recruiter told me that I was on the top of the list.

Another Day, Another Job Rejection

I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with this shit.