Well, Sunday was fun. I met someone that I am dating at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It is one of my favorite places in Denver. I told her about the hidden gnomes, and at first she didn’t believe me and I couldn’t find them to prove myself. A quick interrogation of a nearby employee yielded a sheet with all the museum’s secrets, some of which I didn’t know about myself.

In case you were wondering
http://www.paleocurrents.com/docs/secrets_of_dioramas.html
has a list and pictures of where they all are. Needless to say, armed with our “cheat sheet” we found most if not all of them. It was a lot of fun to share this secret with someone new. We wandered the entire museum and saw just about everything. One funny note, I got to see how warm blooded I was and how cold blooded she was when we stood in front of a thermal camera. I am bright red all over, and she was green and yellow at best. Interesting how much heat I put out.

Afterward, a “brisk” walk in the park. It was freezing outside, but neither of us cared. We elected to try a restaurant in LoDo, but everything was shut down for some reason. We ended up at Panera. After that, I suggested we partake in another of my passions, laser tag. However, the closest facility was shut down for a private party.

All in all, it was an immensely enjoyable afternoon that I’d gladly repeat again.

Too bad Christmas doesn’t fall on Friday, but here is a Christmas Squirrel

Since I’ve used it so many times in the last week. SNOOPY DANCE:

There is quite a bit for me to dance about. My life is finally going somewhere and I don’t feel like a bum. I have love in my life. I have a good job. Everything is falling into place.

Best wishes to you and yours!

I’m gonna like this job. Not too hard. Mostly just common sense on how to make stuff work. Took 3 calls today in 8 hours.

Well.. it begins. Today we are shadowing calls. Not that I haven’t done technical support before, but this might be different. With the whole “high-value” customer model, it will be nice to actually have a conversation with the customer and not have a boss behind me tapping his/her stopwatch making sure I am finishing the call in a rapid manner. I will be able to be nice to customers for a change. Taking the time to deal with them. I’m still not clear what level I need to provide. I mean.. simple windows issues are fine, but if this is only hardware support, what do I do for more… detailed problems?

I guess I’ll find out.

Well… here begins week two of my new job. Actually, we’ve got a good crew here. We are all a bunch of gamers. Whereas at echostar, the crew wanted to go out and get drunk, this crew wants to go out and have a LAN party… and then get drunk.

Well.. this job has a shelf life. 2-3 years. But it can always lead to something else. So I am not complaining. Best of all. 9-5! So my life won’t be impacted.

And this is what I am supporting:

The United States is in turmoil, although you’d have to have been living under a rock not to know that. Banks lent money to people who could not afford it on their own and then were forced to fold when the economy turned sour. Yes, papa congress was there to bail them out and keep the banks open, but the point is such collapse was inevitable.

My issue isn’t with the bad loans, the spendthrift nature of the average US citizen or even the decisions of said companies. My problem is with this notion that there is no longer a penalty for failure. Companies can fail and the government will bail them out. Now.. in the past, while I don’t agree with it, some industries needed to be bailed out. Off the top of my head, I can think of the airlines and the banks. These companies are integral to the overall health of the US economy. If the banks fail, no one has money. If the airlines fail, business grinds to a halt.

However, in the case of the auto industry, while Ford, GM and Chrysler are good companies and employ thousands of people, they are being choked to death by these big union contracts that force them to pay people for not being at work and drive the costs up for the end consumer. This is perhaps why foriegn car companies have been able to do so well. They have a much more efficient cost structure and are able to produce a much better car at the same price as the “big 3″.

If these companies fail, it has been said the economy would plunge into chaos because owners of said cars could not get parts. This is true, however if there is a demand, someone will fill it. Third parties will begin to produce the parts. Yes they won’t be genuine, but they should suffice. My premise here is that the market will adjust itself.

The other argument is because these companies employ so many people, if they are all suddenly unemployed, this will create a tremendous strain on the unemployment system and by extension, the US economy. This is true. However, companies pay unemployment insurance so that is what that is there for. In a tightening economy, with jobs scarce as is, it will be tough for most of them. Overall, our taxes may increase to compensate for this. But the economy will rise eventually, jobs will be created, and the system will balance out.

No matter what I say though, it seems that congress did indeed give the automakers these “much needed funds” (Source). However I am glad about one aspect of this:

Dodd said the Senate bill is “a far cry from a blank check to the industry.”
“The legislation requires these companies to make painful, fundamental changes if they are going to be competitive internationally and viable in the long term,” he said.

Hopefully they will be able to renegotiate their contracts and eliminate some waste. I’m all for US made cars, but we need to be competitive.

An interesting thing happened this evening. Amidst all the adult ads I get on Skype while just sitting idle, someone approached me with a conference call. After a quick “are you human” confirmation, I joined the chat only to find I was being interviewed about the united states economy and my thoughts on the topic. Apparently, they read my blog and wanted my opinion on it all. I was more then happy to do so. Made my night.

Well.. I am officially sore. I played laser tag most of the afternoon and stretched muscles I didn’t even know I had. The first game I dominated. The second one and the third, I came in second. It was fun though. I got to level 3 which means I now have payback. I haven’t quite mastered how to use it, but I am sure that will come with time.

Still, it’s nice to have laser tag so close.

Had an interview today with a prospective employer. I can only hope right? I thought the interview went well. Apparently, from their personality profile, I am a perfectionist. Well… I guess I can see that.