Last month i finished my Solaris 10 sysadmin cert and started looking for work. Slowly but surely, i've been working my way down a list of headhunters with various levels of success. Volt, Manpower, Modis, Teksystems, and most recently Robert Half. Out of all of them, only two seem to actually care about the people they are representing and work towards getting you employment, and only 1 (the most recent) is really active about it (including the only one to return calls promptly). All in all, it's looking slightly better now and i am starting to hear back from several of the inquiries about various job postings that i've submitted. As things currently stand, it looks to be about a 50/50 chance between me ending up in Dallas or Denver, which suits me just fine. If back in Dallas, i got several good friends and already have a nice, cheap apartment setup that i totally love. Denver, well, i got a couple of friends and finding a good apartment will be interesting to say the least. Overall, the process hasn't been too much of a headache, just quite time consuming and at times very annoying. Recently, i had to take some assessment tests, to which i scored either somewhere slightly above average (solaris) or way beyond average (pc hardware, networks, etc). This was a pleasant surprise considering i haven't really been focusing on sharpening my knowledge over the past month. I've broadened my search from just solaris/unix jr admin to include help desk with some admin responsibilities with either windows or unix. I can't say i'm particularly pleased with a pure windows environment job, but if nothing else it'll get me some basic admin exp and exposure to industry stuff. At the very least, it will give me some experience to put down on the resume (to which i'm sorely lacking) and the money to continue training on my own.
To my dismay (putting things very lightly), as i pulled up to the parking lot yesterday afternoon for my interview, my happy little honda decided to spew out mass amounts of white steam/smoke and my heart sunk as i looked down at the rapidly raising temp gauge. I checked under the hood to find coolant sprayed everywhere along one side of the radiator. Hoses were dry, connections were fine, and there was a ton of what seemed to be my car's lifeblood pouring out of the top of the radiator. So, after my interview i called my stepfather as there was no way i was going to be able to make the ~2 hour drive home with my car. It took 3 cooling off breaks to make it from the business park to the fry's parking lot 2 exits down the freeway. I did get to have a ben and jerry's shake along the way, which was overpriced but pretty tasty. Thankfully, there was a mechanic's shop in the same parking lot as Fry's, sadly it was Firestone. Now don't get me wrong, i've never been displeased with the quality of parts or work of Firestone, however they do tend to be one of the most expensive options. Up to that point, my car hadn't overheated (which in itself was a blessing) and the cost to tow it to any decent mechanic + that mechanic's charges for repair would prolly be close to just going to Firestone. So, after a bit of consideration i decided i would have to bite the bullet and use them. Quite unexpectantly, they were able to get it done that day (i brought it in just before 16:00). I twitched a little when i found out it was going to be just under $700 for the radiator, total coolant flush of the engine and replacement of the thermostat. I had been meaning to get the radiator replaced for about a week and all things considered, it's much better for it to happen yesterday than on the road to denver or the first day of a new job.
Between everything else, i've been picking up a few games here and there and working on my japanese cooking. I've went through the book i have and need more. As far as games, nothing all that great recently. Fear was good, but short, the various PS2 games were disappointing overall, and Vanguard (the 'next great MMO') it's buggy, a resource hog from an unoptimized engine, and laggy as all hell on my sat connection. I obviously don't intend on playing it any longer than i have to, but no new MMOs come out until this fall. With any luck, i can get into the Warhammer beta. Not like i'll have alot of time for MMOs once my work kicks into full swing, but i still need some kind of release.
![Final Fantasy Character Test]()
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
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To my dismay (putting things very lightly), as i pulled up to the parking lot yesterday afternoon for my interview, my happy little honda decided to spew out mass amounts of white steam/smoke and my heart sunk as i looked down at the rapidly raising temp gauge. I checked under the hood to find coolant sprayed everywhere along one side of the radiator. Hoses were dry, connections were fine, and there was a ton of what seemed to be my car's lifeblood pouring out of the top of the radiator. So, after my interview i called my stepfather as there was no way i was going to be able to make the ~2 hour drive home with my car. It took 3 cooling off breaks to make it from the business park to the fry's parking lot 2 exits down the freeway. I did get to have a ben and jerry's shake along the way, which was overpriced but pretty tasty. Thankfully, there was a mechanic's shop in the same parking lot as Fry's, sadly it was Firestone. Now don't get me wrong, i've never been displeased with the quality of parts or work of Firestone, however they do tend to be one of the most expensive options. Up to that point, my car hadn't overheated (which in itself was a blessing) and the cost to tow it to any decent mechanic + that mechanic's charges for repair would prolly be close to just going to Firestone. So, after a bit of consideration i decided i would have to bite the bullet and use them. Quite unexpectantly, they were able to get it done that day (i brought it in just before 16:00). I twitched a little when i found out it was going to be just under $700 for the radiator, total coolant flush of the engine and replacement of the thermostat. I had been meaning to get the radiator replaced for about a week and all things considered, it's much better for it to happen yesterday than on the road to denver or the first day of a new job.
Between everything else, i've been picking up a few games here and there and working on my japanese cooking. I've went through the book i have and need more. As far as games, nothing all that great recently. Fear was good, but short, the various PS2 games were disappointing overall, and Vanguard (the 'next great MMO') it's buggy, a resource hog from an unoptimized engine, and laggy as all hell on my sat connection. I obviously don't intend on playing it any longer than i have to, but no new MMOs come out until this fall. With any luck, i can get into the Warhammer beta. Not like i'll have alot of time for MMOs once my work kicks into full swing, but i still need some kind of release.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7