Sometimes Ups out-number the Downs, but not often.

The halls are emptier at work, but it's not yet very noticeable. That will change in the coming weeks when the rest of the cuts happen. It is going to change for me sooner, though, as two of my friends have accepted the buyout. It is a strange feeling. I've worked in this company for going on nine years, and most of that time has been in the same job, the same group, and doing the same basic things. Now, in the space of a few months, my position in the company has changed, people I've known for years are leaving, and my job has turned out to be not nearly as safe as it once seemed. It is a very unsettled and unsettling feeling.

Some random thoughts to take my mind off things:

I've finished Dragon Quest 8, and it's fair to say I like it. I am so used to Final Fantasy's style that the different monster designs and old school feel really stand out, but in a good way. I really like the cel-shaded animations on the monsters. The edges are smooth, and don't have the choppy or polygonal feel of some of the earlier FF games. It is pretty to look at.

I love games, as you can probably tell. Casual and free games have made a bit of a buzz with the gaming press lately, and for good reason. Sites like Kongregate and Armor Games have sucked away so much of my free time, and kept me from doing constructive things, that I probably need to have an intervention. Most of the games I really enjoy and keep going back to are by Armor games, and also playable on Kongregate. I recommend the Shift series of games, Hedgehog Launch, and Sonny. Try them, and see how fun free games can be.

Phillip Koller of Rebel FM mentioned Gravity Bone in a podcast, and I downloaded and played it. It is interesting. The game is all of twenty minutes long, if that, but is fun, innovative, and manages to convey a story with no actual dialogue.

More later

The Chopping Block

Tomorrow will be the last day for those at work who took the voluntary buyout. However, that's not the end, oh no, no it's not! INvoluntary terminations will follow shortly thereafter. Yes sir or madam as the case may be, I may not have a job in the next week or so!

I'm nervous, of course. We're all nervous. The total lack of communication, along with the rampant rumors have ruined moral and made everyone paranoid. It has gotten to the point where we all think the ones who have taken the buyout may be the smart/lucky ones.

The consensus is that the company has handled this poorly. I have two co-workers going for MBA's at U of M, and they both said that every class they take says this is "what not to do." Regardless, the circus goes on, and the rumors continue.

To put the icing on the cake, I came home from work to find our dog had messed in his crate. I had leave almost immediately, and didn't have time to clean it, so it is still a mess. I was really disgusted. I don't even like the dog. It was a 'gift' to my wife. She won't clean the crate, however. She gags and throws up if she tries. I find it rather unfair that I have to clean up after a dog I never really wanted, but such is life, I suppose.

In the meantime, GM has announced that they are eliminating 2000 more jobs.

Joy.

Weak-ender

Yesterday, some of my wife's friends, my wife, and I went to see a play at the hillbury. We saw "A Bad Year for Tomatoes" in the studio theater. It was OK. The acting was good, but the play itself... Eh. We went to dinner afterwards at Los Parisas (I don't remember the correct spelling) in Mexican town. We were supposed to be waiting in this roped off area, but we ended up eating there, with seven of us crowded around this table meant for five. It was a decent evening.

Today I made a pot of chili. I tried a new recipe that we got from Nigella Feasts. My wife is a fan of her show. I'm more of an Alton Brown fan, and would like to try his chili, but finding lamb or pork stew meat has been difficult, and I'm too lazy right now to make my own chili powder.

Neither of us really liked the chili. It's a good thing there's so much left over.
Maybe it's one of those things that's better the second day.
I hope.

Chillin' on a friday night.

I mentioned 1UP in a previous post, and mentioned how all the podcasts have resurfaced, but there was one missing. I omitted it not so much because it had not resurfaced, but because it had not officially ended. Obviously, from the fact that I"m bringing it up, things have changed.

Earlier today I listened to the final 1UP Yours podcast. At three and a half hours, it was a whopper, but it was well worth listening too just for the emotion. Garnett Lee, the host of 1UP Yours, has said that the podcast will continue, but with a different name to reflect the changing of the era. I will listen to whatever comes next, but it will be different; Different faces, different format perhaps, different feel, different.

On a different but related note, I'm sitting here alone, because my wife works nights on Fridays. I'm thinking about my friends, whom I miss. I was never very good at making friends, and I don't really have any close ones here in Michigan. I miss my friends. I miss being able to hang out without really needing to speak. I miss bonding through video games.

I was thinking about this as I was listening to the podcast this afternoon. I was listening to Garnett loosing his voice, being overcome with emotion, because these were his friends who he would not see regularly anymore. Going to work with missing faces, and empty desk can't be the easiest thing to do, and I may find out first hand very soon.

I'm missing my wife tonight, and I miss my friends.

...and Breath.

There are few things nicer than a free evening when the seem to be scarce. Some video gaming, a simple dinner with my wife, and the ability to stretch out on the sofa are just a few of the simple pleasures I've been missing lately, but not tonight. Check, check and check.

I've been playing Dragon Quest VIII. I know I'm a few years late, but better late than never. I think it is a pretty decent JRPG. It isn't groundbreaking or mind blowing by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a solid, enjoyable game, which I look forward to finishing. Next on the list is Grandia III. I am a fan of 2, even though the PS2 port has some issues, so I'm looking forward to 3 despite the fact that it did not review well.

100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, 1UP, 1UP, 1UP, 1UP....

I would like to take a moment to talk about 1UP.com . I started reading 1UP because I followed Jeremy Parish's website ToastyFrog (now GameSpite). When Jeremy began working at 1UP, I , being a fan of his writing, eventually followed his work over there as well. Like a gateway drug, this prompted me to read more of the site, and begin following other writers as well. Soon I was listening to three different podcasts, and reading reviews of various writers. The podcasts especially have helped me through many days of work over the past few years.

For those that may not know, shortly after the first of the year 1UP, which was formerly part of Ziff Davis publications, was bought by UGO, and half to two thirds of the editorial staff was let go. This included everyone that was involved in the creation of The 1UP Show, which if you haven't seen, I highly recommend, and the closing of EGM magazine, which was just shy of it's 20th anniversery.

I was down for weeks because of this. I know that I have never actually met any of these people, but after listening to their voices week after week, I feel like I'm watching this happen to my best freinds. Even so, as the former staff themselves said, this is not the end.

The last few confirmations of this have trickled in over the last week:
Philip Koller, Nick Suttner, and Anthony Gallegos have started the site Eat-Sleep-Game, and have reformed the 1UP FM podcast into the Rebel FM podcast.

A plethora of other former 1UP staff members have started the Geekbox podcast at geekbox.net.

Now, the final missing 'cast has resurfaced. All the members formerly involved in The 1UP Show have started Area 5, which has just launched with the new CO-OP videocast. At least for the time being, it is being offered for free.

All of the people involved in these projects are very talented, and their sites and various 'casts most definitely deserve a look. If you are interested in videogames, hardcore gamer or not, give them a listen (or watch).

Not that anyone's reading this...

The presentation went fairly well. I doubt we are going to get the business we are quoting on, but the customer seemed fairly impressed.

The Longest Day

I've had a long day.

My day started with my mother-in-law thinking she had either a stroke or a heart attack (she's fine), continued with me trying desperately to create a presentation on a subject I don't understand, and which I have to present to one of our customers tomorrow, and ended with me teaching first graders, while one of them was giving me some serious lip, and doing whatever he wants.

Now I am dreading the aforementioned presentation, as I still have no idea what I'm talking about.

Joy.

The management apologizes for the quality of the preceding posts.

While writing my first few posts, the writing sounds awkward and disjointed in my head, and I apologize. I realize just how out of practice I am writing anything, being ten years out of school. Unfortunately, only practice will improve my writing, so you will have to suffer more awkward disjointed posts while I get better about putting my thoughts to 'paper'. Hang in there!

How are there Midi-chlorians in a rock?

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? Mmmm. And well you should not. For my ally in the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. It's energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you...me...the tree...the rock...everywhere! Yes, even between this land and that ship!" Yoda

This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while, and I'm sorry that this is a bit geeky. Well, I'm not THAT sorry that it's geeky. I am a geek, after all.

One of the things that's bugged me about the Star Wars prequels, is the way Lucas contradicts himself, and the demeanor of the Jedi. In the above quote, taken from Empire, Yoda speaks of the Force being all around us, not just around the people with Midi-chlorians. It is a unifying, universal thing, not a segregator. The other thing that is contradicted, is the peaceful, almost submissive nature of the Jedi.

"You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses
the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack." Yoda

A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense. In the prequels, the Jedi are constantly shown charging in, lightsabers swinging. How is that passive? How is that defense?

That was what I liked about Timothy Zhan's "Hand of Thrawn" Duology. In those stories, Luke Skywalker find new power and abilities in the Force by NOT using it. He finds that flaunting his power causes fear in those around him, and that using the Force in an overt, even agressive method, stifles his powers, even as great as they are. (The books are set later than most, after Luke as defeated clones of the Emperor, and attained Master status. Basically, he had the ability to rip a ship apart with the force. Makes things a bit too easy, doesn't it?)

Not that my opinions matter, of course. Lucas has already chosen what he wants his 'vision' to be, and I"m just one more "angry geek" that goes a-ravin' at the drop of a hat [/sarcasm]

I guess what it boils down to is: I'm sad that something that instilled such wonder in me as a child went in such a different direction. I realize that the original movies weren't exactly deep, but they hinted at depth that the prequels definitely did not live up to. I suppose that's a selfish bent to take, but there you have it.

And don't get me started about Jar-Jar.

Moshi Moshi

Welcome to the inaugural post of Wheels Will Turn, full of the trials and tribulations of those unfortunate souls that live in South East Michigan, and mistakenly thought that a job in the auto industry meant job security.

Working for an auto supplier, I've been seeing more than my share of competitors filing for bankruptcy, and cuts and terminations from my own employer. More terminations have already been announced. Last round of cuts I was transferred to a new department, and now, being the newest person in the group, and not having the training required for the new position, I'm a bit afraid that my head is on the block.

Regardless of what happens, no matter who goes bankrupt, cars will be built, cars will be sold, and wheels will turn.

Zeus_tfc