|
|
Monday, May 5th, 2008
| |
4:56 pm - All Proceeds As I Have Forseen
|
|
I easily qualified for the new Daytime project. I will remain employed for another few weeks. Go me.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Sunday, May 4th, 2008
| |
4:53 pm - And On This Nice Sunday...
|
Its beautiful here today. I opened up the windows and let the air into the house. Fresh air flowing into a house filled with natural sunlight really feels nice after the better part of a week of cold, wet and gray-skies blah weather.
I've been online, doing Daily Quests on the Isle of Quel'Danas as well as finally getting the Karazhan quests finished; I am now in position to begin the Trials as I mentioned the other day. My priestess is just about ready for her own series of dungeon runs, starting with Zul'Farrak and going through Maraudon, Sunken Temple, Dire Maul, the Scholomance and Stratholme before she reaches 60th level as well as Skill 300 in her Primary and Secondary skills. (Oh, the Fishing grind that awaits...)
But I won't be playing tonight. Instead, as I switch my work schedule back to full time as well as back to days tomorrow, I will spend this evening preparing for the week through finishing my laundry and making my lunches.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
| |
4:40 pm - A Post About WOW and My Main Character
|
I intend to run Karazhan tonight, and I hope to hit Exalted with the Violet Eye (which gets me a new cloak pattern and a ring upgrade) as well as finish the segments of the Nightbane quest chain that have to be done inside Karazhan prior to actually summoning Nightbane. I now use the same exact model of headphones that Whiting has at his desk, which turned out to be much cheaper than expected, so I got a new thumbdrive with the balance of the budgeted amount (a 2GB stick).
By Sunday I expect to be ready to, at last, begin the Trials of the Naaru with my main character and thus begin the no-longer-required attunement process for Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern. (It's strongly encouraged to earn the title of "Champion of the Naaru", and I agree with this sentiment.) While I run the necessary Heroic dungeon instances required for the Nightbane chain, I can complete one of the Trials; if I can also get in a Heroic Slave Pens run I can also pick up the quest that attunes the questor to SSC (which requires a Nightbane kill) and let these overlapping quests (partially-)complete at the same time. While it is unlikely that I will get any gear upgrades from doing these dungeon runs, the Badges of Justice will add to the stack I'm accumulating towards the purchase of a new piece of gear that will be a significant upgrade to what my main current wears.
In the meantime, I've put in some work on my priestess; she's now 54th level and I'm wanting to do some more work on her in preparation for taking her to Outland at 60. (Yes, 60, not 58; I will not take any character into Outland before they have Journeyman Riding (i.e. Riding 150) and a mount to match.
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Friday, May 2nd, 2008
| |
11:35 pm - Go Payday Go
|
Finally, payday.
Went out and got a new microphone headset for use when playing World of Warcraft; I know that it's been a concern for some time, but now I can fully participate in Ventrilo conversations again and that matters for playing in group and raid situations. Took my mother out for dinner at Applebee's, paid the energy bill, and took care of one other item of concern for me. In total, about half of my paycheck got spent within 24 hours of its deposit into my account. I will now attempt to hold on to the rest for the next two weeks, until I get paid again, despite the habits of my mother and sister to hit me up for cash without warning.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Thursday, May 1st, 2008
| |
4:35 pm - Library Aide Update
|
|
Nothing yet from the Legislative Library, though I expect that I won't hear anything until at least next week as the position isn't due to open until the last week in May.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
| |
6:30 pm - More Job Stuff
|
|
So, I have the rest of the week off. The project I worked on wrapped up last night, so I'm free until next Monday and I switch back to working full-time as well as working Days instead of Evenings. Assuming that I qualify for scoring this next project, I will work days full-time for the next two to three weeks. By then I will know for certain if I will work at the Legislative Library or not, and prepare accordingly. Payday is this Friday, and the folks in my guild online will finally get to hear me speak in our guild's Ventrilo server (after paying some bills).
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
| |
4:32 pm - A Small Regret
|
|
It's most unfortunate that the project I work on is about to end, because I seem to've endeared myself to the women that surrounded me at work, one of whom I find to be quite cute (and, alas, already married). I can only hope that this trend continues when I start the next project next week. I've also seen my shift boss's review of my performance, and it's quite flattering; this will likely be enough to ensure that I get consideration for any "invitation only" projects that the company organizes. (And yes, said boss is one of those I've apparently endeared myself to at work.) It's nothing, really, but I confess that this approval is good for my self-esteem.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Monday, April 28th, 2008
| |
11:21 pm - Interview Update
|
|
I went to my interview today. It went quite well, and it turns out that my previous experience as a scanner monkey is just what the Legislative Library requires. I believe that my odds of getting this position are quite good, and the pay is equal to or better than Pearson's pay rates.
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Sunday, April 27th, 2008
| |
10:07 pm - Today's Birthday Wishes Goes To...
|
|
| Saturday, April 26th, 2008
| |
5:27 pm - Job Update
|
My interview with the Minnesota Legislative Library is now on Monday at 1:00 p.m., and I still think that I will get this position. As much as I appreciate the good income that I receive at Pearson, that company will not fulfil my employment needs for the long term; it's sufficient to get on my feet and moving again towards my goals, and it's good for filling in the gaps, but due to the nature of the work it is not what I think is best for me. I need to make the moves required to get towards the work that I want to do, and this is one such move. In the meantime, as the current project winds down, I am on board to switch back to Days and working full-time on another three-week scoring project; this one is Washington State 8th Grade Science, so it may be the case that I will not quite qualify for this one, but I'll go for it anyway- even if I do fail (and thus get removed from the project, putting me out of work for the duration) it'll still be 20 hours on my next check at the full rate.
That said, I'd rather ride the bus across down to the State Office Building than drive over by Brookdale to go to work.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, April 25th, 2008
| |
5:27 pm - Today's Birthday Wishes Go To...
|
|
...my mother, Janice, who turns 65 today. Happy Birthday, Mom.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
| |
4:09 pm - Today's Birthday Wishes Goes To...
|
|
| Monday, April 21st, 2008
| |
10:37 pm - No, Officer, I Had No Idea I Went That Fast
|
My supervisor at work told me that I averaged 215 papers scored per hour, going so fast that I threatened to throw off the curve and hurt my accuracy. We're suppossed to average 110 papers scored per hour; this is apparently easier to do than I thought.
On a related note, tomorrow I'm expected to receive a call from the MN Legislative Library to schedule an interview for an aide position that starts in June. It's part-time, but also closer to the sort of work I really want to do. I do hope that I get it.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Sunday, April 20th, 2008
| |
10:41 pm - Spring Has Definately Arrvied
|
For the first time this year, we opened up the windows in the house during the day. Getting fresh air into the house and circulating throughout it made my day, especially as I finished up my laundry in preparation for this coming week. People around us are beginning to do likewise, and if this weather (in general) keeps up I expect that we'll soon start converting over from Winter to Summer mode (which means getting the deck in the back uncovered and presentable, as well as the backyard) presently, and that means that Grill Season is nigh.
Time to start making plans to have folks over.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Saturday, April 19th, 2008
| |
1:32 am - [WOW] Zu's Still Brining the Pain to Them
|
My main is now Exalted with the Shattered Sun Offensive. That's a new tabard for the collection, and at last a new shield for her off-spec set of gear as well as a better trinket. I've toyed with the idea of what to do to make Zu viable as a Fury Warrior, but to be honest I much prefer how she works as Arms; for all the hassle, and as much as I screw it up, I actually enjoy the mini-game of timing a Slam action to coincide with a basic attack so that both land on the target at the same time. It's tricky at home due to the vageries of the machines' performances as well as the connection's occassional hiccups, such as during or just after a good rain, but just the same it's more fun to do groups and raids as Arms than as Fury for me; I'd respec to Fury purely to satisfy my curiosity, but I wouldn't stay that way for long. I enjoy Zu's wielding of Gorehowl too much to stay away for long.
On a side note, my Zuraiza is still the only female troll warrior in the whole of North America. All of the others are some other class, and all of them are trolls (with a slim majority being female), with the usual suspects of Hunter and Shaman being most often seen.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, April 18th, 2008
| |
10:28 pm - First Week Done
|
|
This is a three week project. The first week is now done. Two weeks to go. I find it funny that I won't get paid until the week the project ends, and then receive a second check two weeks after this ends, but I certain am not complaining either.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Thursday, April 17th, 2008
| |
1:34 pm - About That Continuing Search For a Better Job...
|
|
The State of Minnesota's Legislative Reference Library sent me a letter inviting me to apply for an upcoming position as a library aide. While the distance is longer, the hours per week are the same and it's at least two months worth of work, starting in June. I'm going for it, and sometime during the day next Tuesday I will get a call to schedule an interview.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
| |
4:08 pm - Work Update
|
|
I am now working evenings, and I shall be working evenings until approximately May 3rd. After that I don't know what my hours will be; it depends upon the project schedule at the office. My phone is shut off while I am at work; should you need to call, don't expect a response before 10pm.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
| |
4:10 pm - But It's Not Really a Good Thing...
|
|
The Department of Education for the state of New Jersey writes better documentation than their counterparts in Virginia. The level of qualification for this project should be close to 100% because most of us can actually make sense of it.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Monday, April 14th, 2008
| |
4:13 pm - New Project Day
|
Pearson Education Measurement, the company I work for, employs scorers on a project-to-project basis. We're required to qualify before we begin scoring, which means that some folks fail to stay on board after the initial training period, and the client--not the company--sets the criteria for qualification. This is the most stressful part of the deal; once we're qualified and move on to scoring it quickly becomes little more than glorified data entry; we read a student's response, apply the client's scoring rubric, refer to what are called "anchor" papers (i.e. samples for every score point in the rubric) as needed, and then click on a number to score it. Click the "submit score" button, move on; lather, rinse, repeat. The only reason we're required to have an undergraduate degree is that the degree stands in for certification on the basic reasoning skills needed for applying the client's criteria; this is really a trained monkey job. (As it pays $12.25/hour, with evenings getting a +10% shift differential, I am not complaining.)
This is also, really, temporary work. While it pays well, there are no benefits and no security. There is not any real opportunities for advancement within the company either; most of us, at best, can look toward becoming squad bosses ("scoring supervisors") which oversee groups of 10-30 employees. The schedule is a highly-regimented one; we work in an open floorplan, with the squad bosses telling us when we can take breaks or go to lunch, due to the need to coordinate space usage (the break room is small for the people at the site), and we're unable to start or stop on our own recognizance due to how the company sets up the local intranet and client concerns about quality control. We can't take more than a day off at a time without endangering our employment for similar reason. Altogether, this means that I'll still be looking for work; I just have something to bring in additional income while I keep looking.
I think I know what's actually viable for me to do now, thanks partially to working here. (When they drill into your head via training what they mean by "scoring" by contrasting it against grading papers, and I'm a lot more inclined to go with said contrast, then I conclude that I really ought to reconsider teaching.)
Oh well...
|
|
(comment on this)
|
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
bcwalker's journal