There's a proposed new bill here in Canada that, to me, makes absolutely no sense. Due to pressure from recording companies the government is trying to pass a bill that makes it a *lot* tougher to put music and video on to mp3 players.
That is to say; impossible. One major example that springs to mind is that they want to make it illegal to rip a cd onto your computer and then upload it onto your iPod. That raises the question; How then, legally, are we to get the music to put on our mp3 players? I don't trust online music paysites and it's my understanding that the iTunes store only works on a Mac.
What bothers me most about the entire thing is that the government was planning on creating and passing the bill in secret. Information about it was leaked and that's how we found out. Is it just me or are the shining beacons of democracy of the world slowly becoming more and more like corrupt dictatorships and police states?
If this bill passes it looks like we're going to have to go back to Walkmen because, lord knows, celebrities like; Gene Simmons and Lars Ulrich are starving in their mansions. Poor them.
There's a happy medium, but affordable music isn't being made readily available and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $25 for a twelve song cd all for one song that I want.
-Wraith
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Stressed to the *max*
Right, so, I'm definitely abusing my position of power, that is to say, my ability to post articles few people will ever read, by using today's rant to vent, mope, and scream at the sky. So maybe I was a tad melodramatic, but I *am* slowly going crazy here... er... crazier.
Put simply I need something to snap and just go right... if I can solve one problem I can solve, or overlook, the others. There's something amiss in all facets of my life and if I could clear up just *one* I'd have an escape to help me cope with the others.
Work;
We are overstaffed. We all get like eight hour work weeks (well, except for those that have worked at the Superstore for like fourteen years and the managers) and I often find myself working with three other people despite the department only needing two people at a time to function properly.
Ready for the interesting part? *Somehow* I always end up the only person actually *in* my freakin department! How does that happen?! Take today for example; I was working with both my managers (we're two departments in one... yet we're the worst paid department. Gotta love how that works) my photolab manager like *never* comes downstairs to electronics because she doesn't feel it's her job... which also kinda bugs me... I mean us peons are all photo/elec, Electronics manager won't touch Photo, Photolab manager won't touch electronics (unless necessary)... Anyway, despite there being little photolab work I saw her for a total of maybe 35 seconds in a four hour shift. My electronics manager wasn't much better. For some reason our store's assistant manager (second in command) can't seem to *breathe* without the Elec manager there to help him, and then there was my buddy Joel. He actually stayed in the department with me. He deserves a medal.
Like, of the... one sec, counting... eleven people that work in my department I can think of four (including myself) that don't just randomly take off for half hour to hour long periods. It's driving me insane that I keep having to do three people's worth of work while everybody else just maxes and relaxes.
So where's the politics in all this? That I don't *blame* my coworkers. We get paid eight bucks an hour to run two departments at once... I don't think any of us *really* care if we do our job well. Well, that's a lie, *I* care, but that's only because I'm crazy. The company doesn't pay us enough to be loyal, we're treated like peons by upper management and "the customer is always right"... What they don't tell you is that nine times out of ten the customer is also an uninformed, angry, drunk mutant that insists it's your fault that an item in the flier that isn't released until tomorrow isn't magically on the shelves when they want it to be. I had four people get pissy with me today because I couldn't sell them a game that doesn't release until tomorrow. How is that my fault?
On top of that upper management seems to have targeted me as a whipping boy (yay). I'm the *only* person that gets reamed out for dress code for minor infractions. My shoes had white on them so I got yelled at, meanwhile my buddy Sparky was wearing his shirt half unbuttoned with a batman shirt prominently displayed underneath, half white shoes, a Pink Floyd belt buckle, and his name tag was on his pocket... He directly spoke to the man that reamed me out dressed as such and not a word was said to him.
Enough about my minimum wage job, at least I have one right?
Entertainment;
I have spent the last 3 weeks fighting with my ISP (Internet Service Provider) because my Internet has been *mega* on the fritz. Now I was born and raised with computers, I practically breathe technology, and yet my ISP comes nowhere close to taking my word for it that the problem is *not* my router. He had me run a gamut of useless tasks (bypassing my new $200 router, turning the computers off in different patterns) before he'd believe me that it wasn't on my end... YET HE STILL INSISTED IT WASN'T ON HIS END. I'm out of things that could be wrong here! I tried it with both computers entirely off and my xbox plugged DIRECTLY into our WiFi router (which is theirs, it runs to my normal router) and it did nothing.
So he finally "fixed" the problem... which made things notably worse. I hold nothing against him, I mean the man has taken his own personal time to try and help with this... however I wish he'd at least listen to what I'm saying seeing as how he owns the business, yeah, that's right, I'm dealing with the freakin CEO.
Friends;
Oh how this one's a doozy. Put simply; Has nobody an ounce of consideration? My two best friends happen to be dating... One of them, my full blown best friend, has also been my less than secret "crush" (for lack of a better term) for the past two years. I hooked them up. I convinced her to give him a chance out of the goodness of my heart. They both knew how I felt. I think he naively believes I moved on at some point but I *know* she knows. So I hang with them right... and they're making out right in front of me... Like that is the *last* thing I want to see. Even if I didn't want to be with her, they know I'm still reeling from Kelly and I don't take relationship stuff well. (I can't even watch love movies)
I don't want them to break up, they're happy, and it's good to see. But a little courtesy to me would be nice. Everybody I've talked to about this tells me I'm wrong however so... Suppose I'm the bad guy for not wanting to see the girl of my dreams (literally) being cute and cuddly with my friend.
Home;
I nearly got kicked out a few weeks ago because I was angry that Mom went behind my back and signed me up for classes I didn't want without warning me or asking me... 'Nuff said.
Stuff just keeps blowing up in my face these past few weeks... I know it's not exactly life or death, however it's taking a huge toll and it's driven me back to a few daemons from my past. I don't want sympathy, I don't want pity, I just want to be heard and respected. I want to be thought of *without* my having to demand it... and I'm just not seeing that.
Thanks for bothering to read 90% of my issues, next post, hopefully, will be more positive,
-Wraith
Put simply I need something to snap and just go right... if I can solve one problem I can solve, or overlook, the others. There's something amiss in all facets of my life and if I could clear up just *one* I'd have an escape to help me cope with the others.
Work;
We are overstaffed. We all get like eight hour work weeks (well, except for those that have worked at the Superstore for like fourteen years and the managers) and I often find myself working with three other people despite the department only needing two people at a time to function properly.
Ready for the interesting part? *Somehow* I always end up the only person actually *in* my freakin department! How does that happen?! Take today for example; I was working with both my managers (we're two departments in one... yet we're the worst paid department. Gotta love how that works) my photolab manager like *never* comes downstairs to electronics because she doesn't feel it's her job... which also kinda bugs me... I mean us peons are all photo/elec, Electronics manager won't touch Photo, Photolab manager won't touch electronics (unless necessary)... Anyway, despite there being little photolab work I saw her for a total of maybe 35 seconds in a four hour shift. My electronics manager wasn't much better. For some reason our store's assistant manager (second in command) can't seem to *breathe* without the Elec manager there to help him, and then there was my buddy Joel. He actually stayed in the department with me. He deserves a medal.
Like, of the... one sec, counting... eleven people that work in my department I can think of four (including myself) that don't just randomly take off for half hour to hour long periods. It's driving me insane that I keep having to do three people's worth of work while everybody else just maxes and relaxes.
So where's the politics in all this? That I don't *blame* my coworkers. We get paid eight bucks an hour to run two departments at once... I don't think any of us *really* care if we do our job well. Well, that's a lie, *I* care, but that's only because I'm crazy. The company doesn't pay us enough to be loyal, we're treated like peons by upper management and "the customer is always right"... What they don't tell you is that nine times out of ten the customer is also an uninformed, angry, drunk mutant that insists it's your fault that an item in the flier that isn't released until tomorrow isn't magically on the shelves when they want it to be. I had four people get pissy with me today because I couldn't sell them a game that doesn't release until tomorrow. How is that my fault?
On top of that upper management seems to have targeted me as a whipping boy (yay). I'm the *only* person that gets reamed out for dress code for minor infractions. My shoes had white on them so I got yelled at, meanwhile my buddy Sparky was wearing his shirt half unbuttoned with a batman shirt prominently displayed underneath, half white shoes, a Pink Floyd belt buckle, and his name tag was on his pocket... He directly spoke to the man that reamed me out dressed as such and not a word was said to him.
Enough about my minimum wage job, at least I have one right?
Entertainment;
I have spent the last 3 weeks fighting with my ISP (Internet Service Provider) because my Internet has been *mega* on the fritz. Now I was born and raised with computers, I practically breathe technology, and yet my ISP comes nowhere close to taking my word for it that the problem is *not* my router. He had me run a gamut of useless tasks (bypassing my new $200 router, turning the computers off in different patterns) before he'd believe me that it wasn't on my end... YET HE STILL INSISTED IT WASN'T ON HIS END. I'm out of things that could be wrong here! I tried it with both computers entirely off and my xbox plugged DIRECTLY into our WiFi router (which is theirs, it runs to my normal router) and it did nothing.
So he finally "fixed" the problem... which made things notably worse. I hold nothing against him, I mean the man has taken his own personal time to try and help with this... however I wish he'd at least listen to what I'm saying seeing as how he owns the business, yeah, that's right, I'm dealing with the freakin CEO.
Friends;
Oh how this one's a doozy. Put simply; Has nobody an ounce of consideration? My two best friends happen to be dating... One of them, my full blown best friend, has also been my less than secret "crush" (for lack of a better term) for the past two years. I hooked them up. I convinced her to give him a chance out of the goodness of my heart. They both knew how I felt. I think he naively believes I moved on at some point but I *know* she knows. So I hang with them right... and they're making out right in front of me... Like that is the *last* thing I want to see. Even if I didn't want to be with her, they know I'm still reeling from Kelly and I don't take relationship stuff well. (I can't even watch love movies)
I don't want them to break up, they're happy, and it's good to see. But a little courtesy to me would be nice. Everybody I've talked to about this tells me I'm wrong however so... Suppose I'm the bad guy for not wanting to see the girl of my dreams (literally) being cute and cuddly with my friend.
Home;
I nearly got kicked out a few weeks ago because I was angry that Mom went behind my back and signed me up for classes I didn't want without warning me or asking me... 'Nuff said.
Stuff just keeps blowing up in my face these past few weeks... I know it's not exactly life or death, however it's taking a huge toll and it's driven me back to a few daemons from my past. I don't want sympathy, I don't want pity, I just want to be heard and respected. I want to be thought of *without* my having to demand it... and I'm just not seeing that.
Thanks for bothering to read 90% of my issues, next post, hopefully, will be more positive,
-Wraith
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I'm back
What can I say? Excessively delayed post? You bet! Did I mysteriously dissappear for a few months? But of course! Do I have an interesting story about government oppression and an army of robot werewolf spies standing between me and this blog? No... not really...
What happened? In a word, life. My job got stupidly busy (with ridiculous hours) and I've been too drained to commit time to my computer (like it's been a $2400 paper weight over the past few months)
Now, that being said, to those that still bother... I'm back.
Not really *too* much to touch on tonight however (and I have work in the morning... on my one day off in eleven days... yeah... that's right... called in on my one day off... I hate my job)
I'ma spread the word that I'm still alive, hope to see you all again,
-Wraith
What happened? In a word, life. My job got stupidly busy (with ridiculous hours) and I've been too drained to commit time to my computer (like it's been a $2400 paper weight over the past few months)
Now, that being said, to those that still bother... I'm back.
Not really *too* much to touch on tonight however (and I have work in the morning... on my one day off in eleven days... yeah... that's right... called in on my one day off... I hate my job)
I'ma spread the word that I'm still alive, hope to see you all again,
-Wraith
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Perception
Here's one that's been on my mind and driving me insane lately because, though I'm sure I'm not, it seems I'm the only person who gets it. I think most people will agree with this, but nobody thinks to practice it; Everybody's perception is different.
It's hard to put this one into words, so you'll have to bear with me, and the best examples, or at least the most relevant, I can think of are personal... so you'll have to bear with that as well. Put most simply; What something means to you is not necessarily what it means to anybody else.
Just because something seems amazing to you, doesn't mean others will agree, and just because something seems insignificant to you, it doesn't mean others will agree. That's the part I'd assume most people would agree upon, but here's where it gets tricky.
I devote my life to cheering others up and making sure my friends are happy, in doing that I've learned that how *I* feel about their situation, or their problems, is irrelevant, because it's hurting *them* and that's what's important. My parents, this is the first example, have never told me they're proud of me in any way, shape, or form, despite my doing my damned hardest to prove myself to them. They believe they *have* shown it, and I told them that their methods don't work... the example I made to Mom the other night is that it's like writing a message in brail and giving it to me to read. Technically the message is there but there's no way in hell I'll be able to interpret it and that's the important bit, that *I* understand it.
Another one, that seems to come up often, is when I'm feeling low because my parents and I are constantly fighting, and I turn to one of my friends. To them my situation is insignificant and *that* is what they act on... they don't see that to me it means *everything*, they simply perceive it as my being selfishly whiney. So in stead of trying to cheer me up, my friends give me lectures about how I'm an emo and how I should be happy with my life because I have this, or that, or some other thing.
Once again, what should be important is how the person stuck in the situation perceives the situation, and not how *you* perceive it. As a broader example, that everybody should be able to recognize, let's talk gifts, or in this case, Christmas gifts. It will be a bit after X-Mas (money is tight for me and the offer *just* arose) but I plan on building Dad a computer that can compete with my own. I know he'll hardly ever use it, and I know it will be, for the better part, a waste of good computer parts that I would rather have *but* I know that to Dad it will mean everything because he's been wanting a computer that can do what mine does.
I find it funny that often when I turn to somebody with my problems, I end up getting a list of their problems and a lecture on how much worse off they have it. In the end it seems I'm doing what I normally do and cheering them up because I recognize how they perceive their problems and I do what I can to help.
I'm sorry if I come off as a bit arrogant, or whiney in this article as this issue has come up several times in the past two weeks for me and I'm finally doing my best to put it all into words. I simply ask of all six of my readers that if you ever find yourself talking to a depressed friend over an issue you find blatantly stupid and insignificant, remember; it's this insignificant issue that has brought your *friend* to tears... so just how insignificant can it be?
-Wraith
It's hard to put this one into words, so you'll have to bear with me, and the best examples, or at least the most relevant, I can think of are personal... so you'll have to bear with that as well. Put most simply; What something means to you is not necessarily what it means to anybody else.
Just because something seems amazing to you, doesn't mean others will agree, and just because something seems insignificant to you, it doesn't mean others will agree. That's the part I'd assume most people would agree upon, but here's where it gets tricky.
I devote my life to cheering others up and making sure my friends are happy, in doing that I've learned that how *I* feel about their situation, or their problems, is irrelevant, because it's hurting *them* and that's what's important. My parents, this is the first example, have never told me they're proud of me in any way, shape, or form, despite my doing my damned hardest to prove myself to them. They believe they *have* shown it, and I told them that their methods don't work... the example I made to Mom the other night is that it's like writing a message in brail and giving it to me to read. Technically the message is there but there's no way in hell I'll be able to interpret it and that's the important bit, that *I* understand it.
Another one, that seems to come up often, is when I'm feeling low because my parents and I are constantly fighting, and I turn to one of my friends. To them my situation is insignificant and *that* is what they act on... they don't see that to me it means *everything*, they simply perceive it as my being selfishly whiney. So in stead of trying to cheer me up, my friends give me lectures about how I'm an emo and how I should be happy with my life because I have this, or that, or some other thing.
Once again, what should be important is how the person stuck in the situation perceives the situation, and not how *you* perceive it. As a broader example, that everybody should be able to recognize, let's talk gifts, or in this case, Christmas gifts. It will be a bit after X-Mas (money is tight for me and the offer *just* arose) but I plan on building Dad a computer that can compete with my own. I know he'll hardly ever use it, and I know it will be, for the better part, a waste of good computer parts that I would rather have *but* I know that to Dad it will mean everything because he's been wanting a computer that can do what mine does.
I find it funny that often when I turn to somebody with my problems, I end up getting a list of their problems and a lecture on how much worse off they have it. In the end it seems I'm doing what I normally do and cheering them up because I recognize how they perceive their problems and I do what I can to help.
I'm sorry if I come off as a bit arrogant, or whiney in this article as this issue has come up several times in the past two weeks for me and I'm finally doing my best to put it all into words. I simply ask of all six of my readers that if you ever find yourself talking to a depressed friend over an issue you find blatantly stupid and insignificant, remember; it's this insignificant issue that has brought your *friend* to tears... so just how insignificant can it be?
-Wraith
Monday, December 10, 2007
Generic Blurb
Sorry my posting has kinda hit the wall... Work has been ridiculously busy, or rather, I go to work then sit on my ass for five hours, get home and do random chores for my parents, then maybe grab five minutes to fix the newest random failure on my computer.
So a quick sampler of my life over the past week or so?
Work; People expect us (the clerks) to know *everything*, like right down to ridiculous shit like; 'Well why isn't Nintendo sending more Wii's to stores?!', and they ask it honestly expecting us to know, or, because the Kodak "self-serve" photo booths crashed, it's somehow *our* fault that equipment we don't even touch isn't working. I know you can't expect the customer to know what all your job entails, but we've all been some kind of clerk (or minimum wage employee) at some point in our lives... you'd think people would show a bit of empathy.
Home; Do something nice for Mom, have it somehow degrade into an argument, give up, go try and fix *insert broken electronic I own here*.
Social Life; Hahahahahahahahahaha... next
Sleep; Haven't been sleeping well... Nightly nightmares for a week straight.
I'm excited about my new job, and like the people I'm working with... but it's driving me insane how I somehow managed to go from way too much free time to absolutely none. I'm not even working that many hours, yet, but it seems I get almost no time to myself anymore. Oh well, welcome to the real world I suppose.
I'll get more political on a later date, not really feeling it tonight,
-Wraith
So a quick sampler of my life over the past week or so?
Work; People expect us (the clerks) to know *everything*, like right down to ridiculous shit like; 'Well why isn't Nintendo sending more Wii's to stores?!', and they ask it honestly expecting us to know, or, because the Kodak "self-serve" photo booths crashed, it's somehow *our* fault that equipment we don't even touch isn't working. I know you can't expect the customer to know what all your job entails, but we've all been some kind of clerk (or minimum wage employee) at some point in our lives... you'd think people would show a bit of empathy.
Home; Do something nice for Mom, have it somehow degrade into an argument, give up, go try and fix *insert broken electronic I own here*.
Social Life; Hahahahahahahahahaha... next
Sleep; Haven't been sleeping well... Nightly nightmares for a week straight.
I'm excited about my new job, and like the people I'm working with... but it's driving me insane how I somehow managed to go from way too much free time to absolutely none. I'm not even working that many hours, yet, but it seems I get almost no time to myself anymore. Oh well, welcome to the real world I suppose.
I'll get more political on a later date, not really feeling it tonight,
-Wraith
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Yet another update lack excuse
Hey all, if you're wondering why I've been AWAL the past few days it's because I got a new job and have been busy training. On top of that it seems when I get home I've got tonnes to do around the house.
Today, for example, I had to situate myself between the wall and a shelf/cabinet in an area with enough room for a powerbar (sitting flat on the floor... that was about the width I had to work with) leaning over the back of the shelfinet trying to change component cables in the dark. I had to disconnect the satellite from the surround sound and directly into the HD TV (which was located on a fireplace... I had to work above me in a blind spot to figure it out) *then* I had to figure out how to plug my xbox 360 where the satellite was.
It was a surprising amount of effort, but Mom and Dad hated having the satellite run surround sound (don't ask me why) and Dad thought he'd have to buy an extra cable... the xbox bit was my taking advantage of the now open cable slots.
Anywho, might have some interesting stories based off my job to share... You'd be surprised how rude people can be to Electronics/Photo clerks,
-Wraith
Today, for example, I had to situate myself between the wall and a shelf/cabinet in an area with enough room for a powerbar (sitting flat on the floor... that was about the width I had to work with) leaning over the back of the shelfinet trying to change component cables in the dark. I had to disconnect the satellite from the surround sound and directly into the HD TV (which was located on a fireplace... I had to work above me in a blind spot to figure it out) *then* I had to figure out how to plug my xbox 360 where the satellite was.
It was a surprising amount of effort, but Mom and Dad hated having the satellite run surround sound (don't ask me why) and Dad thought he'd have to buy an extra cable... the xbox bit was my taking advantage of the now open cable slots.
Anywho, might have some interesting stories based off my job to share... You'd be surprised how rude people can be to Electronics/Photo clerks,
-Wraith
Monday, December 3, 2007
Legal to kill it, illegal to keep it; The injured Hawk
An interesting piece of bureaucracy happened today... Mom and Dad were at their various appointments early this morning as I struggled to fall asleep (didn't catch a wink all night). Anywho, I was on the cusp of sleep when from down the stairs there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter (and that, folks, is why I need a life) as Mom and Dad were bringing in groceries I was told to go check the cat carrier in the van. Inside there was an injured red tailed hawk. We made a few calls and found out the nearest hawk specialized clinic was a good hour away, we climbed into the van and off we went to try and save the poor thing's life.
Well after nearly breaking Dad's GPS (and it malfunctioning twice), then nearly running out of gas, we finally find the place... only to be told he's a young red tailed hawk and his wing is likely broken. If it is they're going to put him to sleep. Mom asked if there was any way they could keep him, and look after him, if his wing was broken, as opposed to putting him to sleep.
Ready for the answer you already know from the title? It's totally illegal to keep a red tailed hawk without a near impossible to acquire special license *but* it's perfectly legal for them to euthanize him. That's right. It's easier, legally, for animal clinics to *kill* endangered animals than it is for them to keep them. Does that strike nobody as wrong?
I can understand putting creatures out of their misery but I think it's unfair to not give them a fighting chance first. Shadow, my cat, was chosen to be the 'poster-cat' for a humane society that doesn't euthanize, but that's a story for another day...
Right now I'm tired and I have work in the morning, so I'm gonna get a drink and catch some sleep,
-Wraith
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter (and that, folks, is why I need a life) as Mom and Dad were bringing in groceries I was told to go check the cat carrier in the van. Inside there was an injured red tailed hawk. We made a few calls and found out the nearest hawk specialized clinic was a good hour away, we climbed into the van and off we went to try and save the poor thing's life.
Well after nearly breaking Dad's GPS (and it malfunctioning twice), then nearly running out of gas, we finally find the place... only to be told he's a young red tailed hawk and his wing is likely broken. If it is they're going to put him to sleep. Mom asked if there was any way they could keep him, and look after him, if his wing was broken, as opposed to putting him to sleep.
Ready for the answer you already know from the title? It's totally illegal to keep a red tailed hawk without a near impossible to acquire special license *but* it's perfectly legal for them to euthanize him. That's right. It's easier, legally, for animal clinics to *kill* endangered animals than it is for them to keep them. Does that strike nobody as wrong?
I can understand putting creatures out of their misery but I think it's unfair to not give them a fighting chance first. Shadow, my cat, was chosen to be the 'poster-cat' for a humane society that doesn't euthanize, but that's a story for another day...
Right now I'm tired and I have work in the morning, so I'm gonna get a drink and catch some sleep,
-Wraith
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