Repetition is the key to victory

I keep thinking: there are so many things I need to do each day. Yet, somehow I either forget or choose not to do quite a lot of them. Here's some of the things I need to do more of...

1. Eating
I don't even come close to eating as much as I should. Depending on what I'm doing at work and when I get up, usually my first meal of the day is somewhere around 5pm. Now last time I checked, that's not exactly healthy. Maybe if I wasn't an idiot and spent my nights not sleeping until midnight I'd have an easier time getting up in the morning...

2. Running
I've started playing more soccer and broomball, but for some reason I still think I should be running more than I currently am. Skiing will take its place once there's enough snow, but until then I need to make sure I'm up and moving more often.

3. Sleeping
Speaking of sleeping, that should happen more often as well. I get somewhere between 5-8 hours a night, but I'd like it if that margin was closer to 7-9... Maybe I'll decide that midnight isn't the time to go to bed sometime in the near future.

4. Getting out and doing things
Sure I socialize with people on my floor, but I should get off campus more often and do things with friends. It doesn't even have to be anything huge, but something fun that gets us all together. Bowling seems like a good idea, but last time I organized that I accidentally scheduled us for league night... Whoops.

I guess that's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there's more to be done. I'll just have to find it!

Emergence

Its been a while since I was last on here... I think its been a mix of laziness, business, and not really having the urge to write anything. But I know that I'll come back to it. Its a fun place to just write what I think and give myself a good chance to just sit back and reflect on what I've really been up to.

A lot has gone on since the new school year started. I'm down in Nerland Hall for the year, and honestly its going pretty well. My roommate Matt is pretty cool, Marx and Sam are my neighbors, Ty is right down the hall, and the dorm is really close to both food and parking. How much better could it get? Well... Maybe if the lower floors didn't smell like body odor every once in a while that would be cool, but at least my floor smells decent. I also really like the setup of my room. As long as I don't have a lot of physical writing, I have a great setup for both gaming and working on homework.

My classes are starting to go into full swing as well, but they're a little sub-par for the most part. I just switched into the Network and Systems Administration degree from Computer Science, so I'm taking the basics for that degree, but that's the problem. They're basics. So basic it hurts. Right now I'm in Server Operating Systems and Introduction to Network Administration, but I feel like I'm just drifting along through them. I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, of the other students have never worked in a server or IT environment at all. I'm in one every day. I hear everyone "Oooooooh" and "Aaahhhhh" at things like the OSI layers and basic networking while I sit there and recite it to myself from memory. Its gotten to the point where I'm 2 weeks ahead in BOTH of those classes just for the fact that I have nothing to do in those classes other than show up and do homework because the lecture is just a rambling history lesson. A history I experienced firsthand. Which is whatever, and it might become interesting later on, so I continue to show up and be productive while I'm there.

Socially, everything is great. I don't have a lot of free time during the day with me working 32 hours a week and taking 12 credits, but when I do my friends are great. I've had a lot of fun just sitting around and doing nothing but watch Adventure Time and hanging out in Marx's room (since I'm pretty sure its the new party room).

But even with that being said, I have a lot of fun at work. For the 5 weeks or so I've been out and about away from the Helpdesk working on computers at one of our customer locations. Plus, I really enjoy working. My coworkers are great, my hours are great, the work is great. I really have nothing I could complain about. The only thing I could possibly even try to complain about is the fact that I dress up all professional and whatnot everyday so I can't dress like a bum, but I think that's just part of the deal. Plus, its not even a real complaint. Why should I care if I force myself to dress nice? I even got a personalized nametag and jacket! How cool is that?

The best part of the last month though was my trip yesterday to the Eva Creek Wind Project that GVEA has been putting together for the last while. About 100 miles south of Fairbanks or so they've put up 12 wind turbines and I was lucky enough to get on the tour to go see them! Justina came along with me and it was one of the coolest things I've seen in quite a long time. 

Nostalgia

I've realized that I have this natural instinct to attach music to certain feelings, events, and people. It's never really intentional, but they always stick and I have such an eclectic music taste that I never really get bored of the music that I listen to because its always changing. If you take a look through my music, there are really only two genres of music that I won't listen to: country and rap. Country has a little too much twang and repetition for me while rap just sounds bad. Just... Bad.

But I figure since I've spent the past couple days just reminiscing, I could put a few stories here and their songs. I'll also note that videos aren't really the point of these... I just couldn't think of a better way to post the music... Oh well. Creativity points for me!

1. The Grand Fonic Hymn (from Tales of the Abyss)

This song is probably going to be the first of a few that remind me of all the good times I had hanging out with Katie for hours and hours in Everett. Tales of the Abyss is just one of the many games that we played to DEATH. I really miss a lot of the people in Everett and I swear I'm still trying to visit... But expenses and free time don't always line up so nice and neat. But here's the first of a few to my best friend in Everett. Katie, you're awesome. Also, I still have that Samus picture you drew for me hanging on my wall :D

2. Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) - Lady Gaga

Heh, this song still makes me laugh. Why? I remember that before we were dating, and I really liked her, my first girlfriend really liked this song when it first came out. So what did I do? I asked her to prom and spent the entire week prior to prom listening to this song on repeat trying to learn the lyrics. Silly? Sure. But that's how I do just about everything. So I did just that. I learned all the lyrics in less than a week and felt pretty proud and silly that I did it. Now I just laugh at exactly how ridiculous that sounds.

3. Cry For You - September

When its 2am and I'm writing a sit rep, this was the song I would play on repeat in order to keep myself awake and focused on the writing at hand. Because they were so long... And so boring... And so ugh. Go go being an RA.

4. Rewrite - Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Here's the second one for Katie. The person who introduced me to the world of anime, manga, and the Japanese culture. I think this was my first anime and we used to joke that Izumi and Ed were just like the two of us. Going back and forth and back and forth. I think I still have my #7 DVD of the series around here somewhere...

5. Mad World - Gary Jules & Dead Island Trailer - Giles Lamb

Whenever I get really bummed out about whatever, I seem to listen to these two songs. It probably just makes things worse, but they're really pretty and I do what I think is my best thinking while just deciding to contemplate everything at once while listening to them. I should stop doing that. Thinking is hard.

6. Lon Lon Ranch (Orchestrated) - Koji Kondo

Its true, I am a huge Zelda fan. I've got the Hylian Crest basically splattered over about everything I can from my keys to my computer. But more than just that, this song is really mellow. Its well orchestrated and it kinda makes me feel comfortable and calm no matter what the situation. If you listen closely in the hallways, you might even hear it going as I pass by.

7. Around the World - ATC

This song first came out back when I lived in Virginia. Man that was a long time ago... I can remember I used to listen to it all the time with my Cub Scout buddies (especially John) and I still remember some of those times to this day. That's also why I no longer eat dry noodles. They tasted awful then and they probably still taste awful today.

8. It's the End of the World As We Know It - R.E.M

Here's a great example of bus music for the VHS Ski Team. Kasey and I would sit in the back and harmonize and sing all trip long every trip. I loved that ski team and being captain my senior year was pretty cool too until I hurt my shoulder and then basically became useless for the entire end of the season... Not skiing with poles for 3 weeks will do that to you...

9. A Song for the King of Kings - Kitomu Miyaza

All of my yes. Just. Yes. Another song for the wonderful Katie and our terrifying neural link that we had while playing this game. I swear, we played it enough that we could predict each other's moves in advance and move the katamari fluidly without any change in speed (unless we were reversing or boosting of course). It was great. "Everyday, everynight, something something on the rainbow. I leave no messages!"

10. Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's

This song is sad time o' clock. Nuff said.

So that's kind of a quick list of some of my recent nostalgia... The good, the bad, and the silly. Its all right there.

Just Around the Riverbend

So I just finished a float trip down the Chena river earlier this morning. Sure it wasn't anything major, but it was so much fun. Some of my coworkers and I entered ourselves in the Red Green Regatta here in Fairbanks and made our own raft and then floated it for about 2 hours and just let the current do its thing (we paddled when it looked like the bank was creeping up a little too close to us though).

The whole thing was awesome though. There were over 70 entries in the regatta as well, so seeing everyone with their own homemade rafts was quite the spectacle. Really it was a big water fight that just so happened to take place on a river on rafts, but you know, it was still fun nonetheless. My friend Noah was part of a boat that had a grill on it and gave hot dogs to other passing rafts. I mean, how cool is that?

On to the bad news though...

So Res Life may have messed up my housing. And by may have, I really mean "They did. For sure. Damn it." Normally, when you apply for housing, you get to make three choices for hall and room type and they assign you a room based on that information. Previously, I was slated to be a Resident Assistant again, so my room assignment was totally covered. However, they had me turn in an application anyways so I just put down the hall I was going to be working in without a room type. Here's the kicker. Now that I'm not being a RA, they decided to use that application anyways. Now I have a roommate (which is no bueno) and I'm working on getting that fixed.

I'm sure there's other stuff going on in my mind, but maybe its best to leave it be for now. Thinking is hard.

There's a time for speed... But that isn't now.

One of my favorite things to do with older video games is to come back to them after years of playing and test myself with them. I could do 100% completion, see if I can do it without dying, or any number of modifiers and it makes the game new again. Yet, the best modifier (in my opinion) is and forever will be "Just how fast can I beat this game?"

I mean, sure not dying for an entire game seems pretty interesting, but it doesn't really give me anything to compare against. By doing a speedrun of a game, I can say "Hey, I've been able to do it this fast. Can you?" because it sets a definitive level of accomplishment for the game. Plus, I've done it with quite a few games over the years like:

Super Mario 64 - 2:06:36
Super Mario Sunshine - 2:37:12
Banjo Kazooie - 4:56:22

And then I know, I've done it with games like Halo 3, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Bayonetta, and Metroid Prime but I don't have those times offhand....

But this week I realized that there are two types of game that I just can't bring myself to do a speedrun of. There are those games that are built entirely off of timed events (like racing games or fighting games) and then there are games that it would just be considered a disgrace to rush through.

What would Final Fantasy be like if you never took the time to power level? What would Zelda games be like if you never did a single side-quest? What would Just Cause 2 be like if you chose not to explore anywhere? Its games like these that it just hurts to even try. On the 4th I wanted to spend my day speeding my way through Windwaker like a champ and see how fast I could do it, but it soon dawned on me that I was just missing out on all of the fun that the game had to offer. Sure I can teleport using cyclones to just about anywhere on the Great Sea, but isn't it more satisfying to just cruise along on the King of Red Lions and listen to the ocean theme play? Sure I could power my way through the plot of the game, but never entering any secret dungeons, never getting any Pieces of Heart, never taking the time to seek out Great Fairies ended up just not being fun. Sure I could say "I finished Windwaker in 10 hours and XX minutes" (that's about how long it would have taken me if I didn't just give up) but instead I'd rather dick around in my boat and see what the game has to offer. Hell, I might even do that ridiculously long trading side-quest from Windfall and have highly redundant armor even though I rarely take damage anyways.

But yeah, there will always be those games that I can never and will never attempt to speedrun. Heck, after about 40 hours of play time I think I've only done 3 plot missions in Skyrim. Because why plot when I can run around and crouch to pretend I'm not there and steal the clothes off of ordinary citizens without them knowing?

I'll leave the speed to Sonic, expansive RPGs are meant to be enjoyed.

Success!

So work has been going pretty well so far. By pretty well, I mean freaking amazing.

I really enjoy where I work. I wake up in the morning (early enough to call myself a normal person), eat some breakfast, shower if I didn't the night before, and then make the 10-15 minute commute downtown to work. When I get there, I sit down and say my good mornings before just getting to work. For those who don't know, I do tech support for Golden Valley Electric Association/AlasConnect over the phone and I really find it to be one of the most rewarding jobs that I've ever had. I basically spend all day working with a great group of people and helping others with their computer problems. And that's just it, its fun. I'm there doing what I love to do, doing well at it, and learning in the process.

I just had my 30 day evaluation the other day too and even that went really well. So occasionally I come into work with my shirts being a little too wrinkly and sometimes I socialize too much, but I'm still doing well and having fun. It's also nice to hear that they like me working there as well. So much, in fact, that I got my level 3 security clearance 5 months earlier than I was supposed to. Now I can get into my part of the office without someone having to let me in! I work in the NOC, or Network Operations Center, which has quite a lot of information and responsibility in there so it requires a level 3 clearance to get in. So does our massive Data Center, but unless I'm escorting I don't really have a reason to be up in there. Plus its cold. Stupid cold for how warm the Fairbanks summer is.

Now to just keep up what I've been doing and continue enjoying myself there all the while.

A Whirwind of events

I feel like its been too long since I've had time to be on here... I guess that means I've just been busy though. So some fun things have been going on recently, so I really think that this summer is going to be INFINITELY better than last summer... (We don't talk about last summer anymore...).

So first things first, a couple weeks ago I had the chance to go back to Valdez to see my brother's graduation and my family which was pretty nice. I don't get to see them all that often now that they've moved to Ohio. But I didn't just sit around while I was there. I arrived in Valdez (just barely due to weather) on Thursday night and the first thing I did was visit Doug and Kasey. Why? Because Iunno. The next day I spent the entire day helping with graduation setup for the live streaming that the tech department does and helping the band practice for Pomp and Circumstance. Yep, I played with the high school band again! Then that night at graduation I played with the band and had a surprise solo... Because I had agreed to sightread their piece that they chose to play before Pomp and Circumstance and I quickly found out that the horn part had a solo halfway through the song as I was playing it.... Oh well, I didn't really mind and I didn't screw it up so pluses all around! The rest of the weekend was spent with family and friends around town until I left Sunday afternoon.

But then the fun REALLY started. Because a couple weeks ago on a Tuesday morning I started work at Golden Valley Electric Association as a Computer Student Intern - Helpdesk. I think I enjoy this job the most out of any job I've had in the past. Basically what I do is I answer phones, help our customers with whatever issues they have, and occasionally escort people into our Data Centers at work (which, by the way, are super awesome). Sadly enough, I can't take pictures of it to show anyone (its Data Center policy) but take my word for it when I say its totally worth seeing if you ever had the chance. For me it was my first view of a REAL server room. ANYWAYS, I really think this job has made me happier than any job I've had in the past. I get to do tech work, be social all day, work with a great group of people, and I really feel like I'm appreciated with the work that I do. Maybe they'll let me stay during the school year.... But that's a question for later.

As for the rest of the summer, its really good to still have some free time in which I can hang out with my friends. Some of them I barely saw during the school year, so its really nice to be able to see them now. And other than that I just kind of relax. Its nice having little to no stress over deadlines or homework during the summer. I actually feel like I have a break.

Summer is a great thing.