The Daily Jimmy

Ugh

Packing is going terribly. We have so much stuff it's truly astonishing and more than I realized still needs to be crammed into boxes. I am convinced that moving is one of the most traumatic everyday things a person can experience, and every time I move I'm tempted just to leave most of my belongings in boxes so that the next time I move I don't have to go through the experience again.

The good news is that this time around we hired a moving company, so aside from the packing our hands are essentially going to be held for the entire process. Still doesn't make the whole experience any less terrible though.

Tremendously Epic Update

Ok, so here's the deal. I'm not even going to go through the motions of "oh no, I forgot to update for so long." Honestly, I just haven't felt like it and that's all I'm going to say on the matter for now.

Now for the updates:

June 9th: I am moving to Massachusetts with ye olde fiancee, into a bitchin' 2 bed/2 bath apartment in a luxury building. Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances (including dishwasher and washer/dryer!!), electronic security and elevators. How can I afford this?

July 7th: First day of NEW JOB. Between my last doom and gloom update and today's update I was hired as a "Forensic Staff Therapist". For those of you not in *"the biz" this means I will be performing both in-house and outpatient psychotherapy and case management for current and ex-convicts who have serious persistent mental health issues. Hooray!
*nobody actually calls it "the biz"

June 28th: Ye olde fiancee becomes ye new wife. Again, hooray!

June 29th: Week long honeymoon on Cape Cod begins. I will return looking either like an ivory walrus who refused to remove his shirt for the entire trip, an angry red walrus who unfortunately chose to remove his shirt, or a tan walrus who used the correct amount of sunblock. Also, I do not actually look like a walrus but I am overweight and bristly as lately I've been neglecting to shave regularly.

Additional cool news: I may be receiving an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) of Jeffrey Ford's new collection of short stories. As he is hands down one of my favorite authors I'm hoping I'm able to get a copy, and I have promised to blog about it in exchange if I do.

Also, a note to Jeff if he's reading this (I sent him a link to this blog): I love the more reality-based fiction you've written but I'm dying for some fantasy. This fan's plea: bring on some more of the Well-Built City! The ending of the trilogy was satisfying but I feel like there's more story there, and I choose to believe that Cley lived at the end of The Beyond. Let's return to Wenau!

Need Work

As of the end of May of this year I will have graduated from John Jay with a master's degree in forensic psychology. When I first got into the program I was thrilled. I had quickly discovered that a bachelor's degree in psychology was essentially useless when it came to finding a real job, and I figured that a master's degree would not only earn me more money but would help me find employment easily.

How wrong I was.

So wrong!

I'm posting this here in the slim, slim event that someone out there reads this and needs a master's level forensic psychologist, or knows of someone who needs a master's level forensic psychologist, or knows someone who needs an entry level HR guy. I am well trained, I have practical experience, and I am desperate.

I am screaming out into the ether. Please, someone, anyone; help me find a job.

The Kid Stays In The Picture

Alright, so my last "I'm back" comment was a colossal failure. I honestly don't know what's going on with my love/hate affair with blogging. There are times when I'll update five times a day and then months will go by with nary a comment. I guess I'd feel better if I knew people were actually reading this thing. Leave comments and it will encourage me to continue to write!

To inaugurate my return to blogging I will now continue with a new installment of What I Saw Today:. Sorry but this one's only a single observation.

What I Saw Today:
Two little hispanic kids on a bus saying "we're doomed! We're doomed! We're doooooooomed!" in perfect unison.

Data Analysis (Ain't So Bad)

I'm sitting in my data analysis class right now waiting for it to start (the professor just walked in as I was typing this) and I can honestly say that this course isn't so bad. Whereas Intermediate Graduate Statistics was exactly like it sounds, pure statistics, this course teaches how to use computer programs such as SPSS and Excel to process data. While it's not the most thrilling class I like that it all takes place on a computer and it's really not hard at all yet. Time will tell how complicated it will get, but for the moment I'm complacent if not mildly optimistic.

Falsification

So I guess my last blog update was pretty much a total lie, what with the "I'm going to start updating" again business. Just the same, I guess this does count as an update so maybe I'm not a complete liar. I won't promise that I'll update again regularly, but honestly not making that promise probably ensures that I will. Whenever I feel like I'm obligated to write, or that I have to write, is exactly when I completely lose interest in the endeavor. So, no promises, just keep checking back if I haven't bored you all away with the lack of activity.

Back

Alright, so I'm back. The reason for my long, long absense is ridiculous and I'm sorry if I've pissed anyone off with the lack of updates. The simple truth was that I missed updating for a few days and those days turned into a week or two, and from there I both lost interest and felt bad about the lack of updating, which led to even less updating.

Long story short I'm going to do my best to get back to daily posts. Stuff still happens to me, events worth writing about even, and I'm going to get this thing back up to snuff. Stay tuned loyal readers!

Harry Potter Puppet Pals

I've got a big test tomorrow that I haven't studied for enough, so instead of writing an actual post I've embedded a YouTube movie that I think is incredible.

Enjoy!

Gametap

I noticed that the Google Ads on my site are displaying an ad for Gametap, and I realized that not once have I ever talked about the service.

A while ago I subscribed to Gametap for a couple of months and I feel good saying that it's an absolutely fantastic service. Gametap works like this: you download a program onto your computer that allows you access to an extremely large catalog of videogames, and then you use this browser to download the games you want and access them. You can either use Gametap for free and get access to a smaller catalog of games and be exposed to ads, or you can pay a monthly fee and get access to a much larger catalog and have it be ad-free.

I really enjoyed Gametap when I subscribed and would heartily recommend it to anyone who was on the fence. A lot of the games were relatively new, and it was a great way to play old games that won't run on current version of windows due to compatibility issues. In the end the only reason I stopped subscribing was because I simply didn't have the time for the games and it was a waste. If you're looking for cheap access to a bevy of games, definitely consider it.

BYOB Quandry

My parents are going to be visiting soon after Thanksgiving, and I've taken it upon myself to locate the restaurants that we'll be going to. Usually my dad chooses where we're going to be eating but after being here for one and a half years I've got a good idea about where to eat, and this is a good excuse to try some new places I've never been to before.

In particular my dad loves BYOB places. He has this sort of kit that holds a bottle or two of wine, along with a couple of wine glasses, and while I almost never order alcohol when I go out to eat I understand the appeal. My question is this though: when a restaurant says its BYOB then in my mind I always associate BYOB with wine, but since it's "bring your own booze" and not "bring your own wine" then this must apply also to beer and hard liquor.

Socially, where would a restaurant draw the line when it comes to BYOB? There's a chain of restaurants here in the city called Afghan Kebab House that are supposed to be very good and they're BYOB, but kebabs are definitely more of a beer food then a wine food. What's the protocol for bringing beer to a restaurant? I'd feel pretty conspicuous carrying in a brown paper bag with a six pack in it and taking out beers over the course of the meal. Also, does BYOB extend to hard liquor? What would they do if someone ordered a platter of kebabs and started doing whiskey shots with them?

Maybe google will have an answer to whether there's an established social protocol for BYOB places.