Five things meme.
I asked audiwulf to tag me for this one, so here are the five things he asked me about, behind this cut tag:
1. Describe your BABE experience
I wrote about this at length on the team's wordpress blog, though wordpress did mangle my formatting horribly, so it looks like one big run-on paragraph. http://blog.rallytucson.com/ for those who want to read the whole shebang.
To sum things up, though. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, definitely in the top 5 most fun things I've done in my life so far. I came out of my shell a bit, I had some adventure. I made some new friends and bonded with some old ones. I saw parts of this great country that I've never seen before, had one of the best damned sandwiches I've ever had. I do chide myself for being lazy and not driving more during the trip, I wish I'd gotten my travel journal updates up real-time, I wish my house had been cleaner when Gog and Archai crashed here, and I wish we'd had more of a chance to hang out with Audiwulf's team, but those are my only regrets, and they're rather small. I definitely will do this crazy banger rally thing again.
2. Talk about your career
Currently, I work in IT. I've been doing this full-time since sometime in 1999. I was studying biology in college, ran out of funding to do so, and came back home. I needed a job, and I have a natural talent for computers, so I fell into IT work. It was originally supposed to be temporary. I still consider it temporary in a way, but it's been a bit longer-term sort of temporary. I started out working phone-support at an ISP, making just above minimum wage. I learned a good bit, left when that company was falling apart, and went to work for a smaller ISP that also did PC repair. That job was a lot of fun in many ways; I really enjoy the hands-on hardware work. Unfortunatly, the promised amount of pay never happened, even after two years, and the company seemed to be going nowhere. From there, I moved to my current employer, an ISP and Hosting company that was formed out of some of the remnants of my -first- IT employer. I started out doing phone support there, too, for considerably fairer pay. Over the next six years, I earned several raises, and a promotion to Network Operations. I still do some phone support due to departmental overlap in such a small company, but a lot of my job is being responsible for monitoring our network and the networks of our customers. Things I like about the job: Decent pay, occasional excitements and challenges, great coworkers, freedom to use my downtime for whatever I want. Things I dislike about the job: Crappy schedule, almost too much downtime, typical corporate political BS. Reason I'll eventually quit: Some people want to do IT work as their lifelong career. I respect those people, but I'm not one of them. In the long run, the IT industry doesn't leave me feeling accomplished or fulfilled on a higher level. It's a paycheck, which is good, but I don't feel anything for it.
3. Discuss your educational plans
I really do enjoy biology. I like systems, and nature's systems are really incredible. For a long time, I put my educational plans on hold for various reasons, with no clear deadline other than 'someday'. I've learned though, that when I do that with things, I tend to use it as an excuse not to be motivated. So, after looking at my finances, and career situation, I sat down and came up with a plan with a more set deadline. Right now, I'm focused on making sure my brother, ketsuki finishes his education. He has between one and two years left, and then he'll have his degree and be ready to make his way in the world. At that point, I'm going to ask my employer to adjust my schedule to accomodate me taking classes. If they refuse, I'll find a new employer. I'm going to start out at the local community college, as it's cheaper. I intend to major in biology again, with a focus on microbiology; and I'm thinking strongly about minoring in criminology, since I watch too much CSI. Once I've knocked out what I can at the community college, I plan on transferring to Lindenwood University, as it's -extremely- local to me, and my brother's enjoyed studying there. So I figure, roughly 5-6 years (including my brother finishing school) and I'll have my degree. That'll make me 35-36, a bit older than I'd intended, but it's never too late to get what you want. Once I have that degree, I'll find a career path that utilizes it. Maybe I'll work for a biotech company, maybe I'll work for the government. We'll see. I've also already thought about continuing college past that one degree, as I -love- going to classes and learning things, but I'll finish -one- before I get too daydreamy about multiples. ;)
4. Expand on pie
Well, too much pie will make you do that. Expand, that is. So, pie. Pie was originally developed as a method to preserve foods and make them easier to transport. It's also exceptionally tasty. I like everything from a good sheperd's pie to a good apple pie.
5. Explain Ref
Some say he oscillates at exactly 5600Hz, and that his pants are shiny enough to be seen from low Earth orbit. All we know, is that he's called, the Jake.
Leave a comment on this post, and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with, and/or ask you 5 questions. Then, post this in your LJ, and expand on the subjects given.
- Turq.
1. Describe your BABE experience
I wrote about this at length on the team's wordpress blog, though wordpress did mangle my formatting horribly, so it looks like one big run-on paragraph. http://blog.rallytucson.com/ for those who want to read the whole shebang.
To sum things up, though. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, definitely in the top 5 most fun things I've done in my life so far. I came out of my shell a bit, I had some adventure. I made some new friends and bonded with some old ones. I saw parts of this great country that I've never seen before, had one of the best damned sandwiches I've ever had. I do chide myself for being lazy and not driving more during the trip, I wish I'd gotten my travel journal updates up real-time, I wish my house had been cleaner when Gog and Archai crashed here, and I wish we'd had more of a chance to hang out with Audiwulf's team, but those are my only regrets, and they're rather small. I definitely will do this crazy banger rally thing again.
2. Talk about your career
Currently, I work in IT. I've been doing this full-time since sometime in 1999. I was studying biology in college, ran out of funding to do so, and came back home. I needed a job, and I have a natural talent for computers, so I fell into IT work. It was originally supposed to be temporary. I still consider it temporary in a way, but it's been a bit longer-term sort of temporary. I started out working phone-support at an ISP, making just above minimum wage. I learned a good bit, left when that company was falling apart, and went to work for a smaller ISP that also did PC repair. That job was a lot of fun in many ways; I really enjoy the hands-on hardware work. Unfortunatly, the promised amount of pay never happened, even after two years, and the company seemed to be going nowhere. From there, I moved to my current employer, an ISP and Hosting company that was formed out of some of the remnants of my -first- IT employer. I started out doing phone support there, too, for considerably fairer pay. Over the next six years, I earned several raises, and a promotion to Network Operations. I still do some phone support due to departmental overlap in such a small company, but a lot of my job is being responsible for monitoring our network and the networks of our customers. Things I like about the job: Decent pay, occasional excitements and challenges, great coworkers, freedom to use my downtime for whatever I want. Things I dislike about the job: Crappy schedule, almost too much downtime, typical corporate political BS. Reason I'll eventually quit: Some people want to do IT work as their lifelong career. I respect those people, but I'm not one of them. In the long run, the IT industry doesn't leave me feeling accomplished or fulfilled on a higher level. It's a paycheck, which is good, but I don't feel anything for it.
3. Discuss your educational plans
I really do enjoy biology. I like systems, and nature's systems are really incredible. For a long time, I put my educational plans on hold for various reasons, with no clear deadline other than 'someday'. I've learned though, that when I do that with things, I tend to use it as an excuse not to be motivated. So, after looking at my finances, and career situation, I sat down and came up with a plan with a more set deadline. Right now, I'm focused on making sure my brother, ketsuki finishes his education. He has between one and two years left, and then he'll have his degree and be ready to make his way in the world. At that point, I'm going to ask my employer to adjust my schedule to accomodate me taking classes. If they refuse, I'll find a new employer. I'm going to start out at the local community college, as it's cheaper. I intend to major in biology again, with a focus on microbiology; and I'm thinking strongly about minoring in criminology, since I watch too much CSI. Once I've knocked out what I can at the community college, I plan on transferring to Lindenwood University, as it's -extremely- local to me, and my brother's enjoyed studying there. So I figure, roughly 5-6 years (including my brother finishing school) and I'll have my degree. That'll make me 35-36, a bit older than I'd intended, but it's never too late to get what you want. Once I have that degree, I'll find a career path that utilizes it. Maybe I'll work for a biotech company, maybe I'll work for the government. We'll see. I've also already thought about continuing college past that one degree, as I -love- going to classes and learning things, but I'll finish -one- before I get too daydreamy about multiples. ;)
4. Expand on pie
Well, too much pie will make you do that. Expand, that is. So, pie. Pie was originally developed as a method to preserve foods and make them easier to transport. It's also exceptionally tasty. I like everything from a good sheperd's pie to a good apple pie.
5. Explain Ref
Some say he oscillates at exactly 5600Hz, and that his pants are shiny enough to be seen from low Earth orbit. All we know, is that he's called, the Jake.
Leave a comment on this post, and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with, and/or ask you 5 questions. Then, post this in your LJ, and expand on the subjects given.
- Turq.