Ok, now a new computer

The new computer is set up. I'm still deciding which Linux distro I want to set up on here. I'm torn between Gentoo and Slackware. Debian is still a possibility, but the other two are in the lead for now. I am even wondering which window manager I want to use. I suppose I could experiment with all these variables, but I find research first means the experiments can be much more efficient.

Anyway enough about my new computer and on to a tiny rant. Recently a few people have been making some 'job proposals' to me. These 'jobs' tend to be more like free labor for a doomed project. Now I have no problem working on doomed projects, but not for free. I have heard so many people offer to pay me after the project takes off, or by giving me a percentage of the company itself.

I have said no every single time. It's hard enough getting people with money to pay me what they owe me sometimes. I do not want to deal with people who have no money, but 'the next (youtube, facebook, twitter, digg, etc.)'. Not that I wish for these people ill fortune. If they make it, awesome. I, however, have a desperate urge to eat on a fairly regular basis, and so I prefer to be paid when I am working or when I have finished my work.

If you are wondering what I mean when I say it's hard to get people with money to pay me sometimes, I have had a conversation pretty close to this several times over this past year:

Me: Hello, Kate here.
Employer w/ finished work: Yes hello..
(insert pleasantries and small talk)
Me: (Cutting past the attempt at small talk) So what can I do for you? Is there a problem with (the project)?
Employer: Well yes and no. Everything looks great and works just fine, but there's a small issue...(Pause)
Me: Yes?
Employer: I'm afraid we can't pay you what you're asking.

Now it's at this point I should tell you that any job that this is an issue for, I always give them an exact figure at the start. They have already agreed to pay me the amount in question, signed a contract to that extent, and now wish to cut down the costs. The conversation at this point varies quite a bit. But the jist of it is I try to be somewhat nice. I don't want my reputation to take a nosedive because my employers refused to pay. Still I remain firm on the cost, and if they keep trying to weasel out of it I inform them that they can either pay me in full or they can pay a lawyer to tell them they have to pay me in full, and then go ahead and pay me anyway. But I leave that only for the most stubborn of asshats.

Sometimes it feels good to rant about these things, although doing it at 2:30 am may not be the best time. I am sure my prose has suffered due to how tired I am. Is prose even appropriate there? I feel like it could be, but I'm not sure. Too lazy to look it up.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Seems unlikely, but who knows.

Have fun!

A new computer! Finally!

Well, not yet but soon. I have been a very busy girl lately. I lucked out and got a lot of work over the past month. This sadly meant that I haven't participated in either the /dev/null tournament or NaNoWriMo this month. I wasn't even able to make a costume for Halloween this year! My inner child cried. =(

My computer will be a tower of awesome. It could certainly be better, but I have every intention of upgrading the components as I go on. Naturally I build my own machine. I have build every non-laptop computer of mine since I was 14. (My first computer was an old dos box of unknown origin. Thrown out by someone else.)

Anywho, I'm sure that people have been expecting some scans! Well you shall have some! I promised and here they are:





I hope you all enjoyed those. I have several more, but I don't want to post them all at once.

Thanks for reading and have fun!

A week of boredom

Well I guess it's about time for me to update here again. My life is sadly very boring. I am still scanner-less although that will hopefully change soon. And you'll start seeing updates in graphical form.

I've decided I needed to get back into gaming. Not just computer gaming, that's never really stopped. No I'm talking D&D, shadowrun, GURPS, anything really. The game has never really mattered, I can throw myself into a character and have fun. Yes the pen and paper are calling. Unfortunately all my friends in the local area have either graduated or moved away recently. So I found another way,

rpg.net has a play by post forum and it seems that people also recruit for games over IRC and skype there as well. I just signed up to be either the player or DM in a 3.5 game. I've been making worlds in my free time. I guess I had been hoping for this kind of opportunity. Either way I'll be happy to have some kind of gaming going on. I might even join in another game. I'm in the middle of a few projects right now so I don't want to stretch myself too thin, but I still have plenty of free time. Once I'm finished with the biggest job I should have plenty of money and all the free time I could want.

Well that's my boring life for this week, hopefully within a week or two you'll see the return of the comic journal. I'll try to be more interesting as well.

-I'm pale white, what minority does he think I am?

Here's another (poorly drawn) comic, with work involved. I had to leave the company to get ready to go back to school. I need the break time anyway. I want nothing more than to relax. This is not particularly likely as I have to get ready to move as well, but that can wait for at least another week.

As you can see at least one of the 'wonderful' people I worked with had questioned why I was given my job in IT. It's possible that it may be true others were passed up for me to get the position, but I did that job well. I don't care what anyone says.

I do get irate at people, but I will never raise my voice to them. If someone wants to argue, then they can do all the one sided arguing they want. If they ask me questions, I'll answer them. Calmly and honestly. If they don't like it they can continue to argue and complain, while I sit there. While I do use violence in my comics alot, I am not a violent person. I'm actually rather peaceful in life. Although at times I do have the urge to smack a few people upside the head.

Although it should be noted that sometimes sitting in a wheelchair can be a nice thing. As when someone is yelling at a person in a wheelchair a crowd tends to gather and most of them will take your side. Especially if you're not saying anything stupid back. Most people start to read the crowd then leave. At the same time you can get easily cornered and I can't tell you how many conversations I've wanted avoid but couldn't because the person was blocking the unfortunately narrow hallway.

The guys I worked with were all pretty nice in the IT dept. (Even the guy who never stopped looking at my chest was pretty ok.) The work was pretty dull some days. One day we started a core wars league. (We were programming, so it was kind of like work, or at least looked like work.) I was in third out of five when I left. I wonder how well my bots will stand up over time. (Look here if you're interested in Core Wars.)

I will miss that job...

Well that's all for now.

Arrg, rant time!

I usually love work. It's tiring and at times, and painful at others, but all in all I have few complaints. And all in all my day was quite grand, minus the forty minutes I spent with one particularly annoying fellow (whom I hope never reads this blog). Now as I mentioned before I work desktop support, so I get called around to offices where I either fix their problem or show them how to fix it on their own.

Today I was called to some guy's desk. Now, I suppose I have seen him about, but never really talked to him more than to say Hi. So for all intensive purposes I don't know him at all. I ask him to show me the problem and he does so, but while doing so starts this kind of atheist bashing rant. How they have no moral compass, and how without faith there is no hope, burning in hell, and so on.

Now it's not a fact I advertise to everyone, but I am an atheist. Now how exactly this random guy I work with knows is anyone's guess. Because some of the questions he asks during the rant are aimed specifically at me. Asking how did I decide, and how I should come to his church. It takes some willpower but I avoid opening my mouth at all throughout his tirade. When he paused for some questions I start talking about the computer. I won't be baited into an argument or debate. I finish watching his demonstration and start telling him how to fix his problem.

Unfortunately he is not listening to me at all. He is far too interested in telling me how wrong I am. So I continue to try to explain, and he begins to slowly do as he's told, after having me say each step at least twice. In the end as I'm leaving he asks me out!? I tell him "Sorry, no." and I'm off, with probably the most dumbfounded look on my face ever.

So let it be known that telling me I'm wrong for nearly 30 minutes is not a way to get me to consider you dating material.

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I left out details about who it was and what the problem was in order to keep my job. I hope this is still vague enough to avoid problems.

Thanks for the support whoever is still reading this, and look forward to next time, where I hope I will have something other than a long winded complaint about my day!