I just found out that this props sale [link] starts tomorrow not far from me.

You have to love a sale that includes:

1 Coffin, black painted wood. Six-sided, "Dracula-style".

Re: Friday Night Lights

Dear Matt Saracen,

If you could age ten years overnight so I could marry you, that would be good.

love,
shrift

I watched the last 20 minutes of Friday Night Lights.

Shrift, which one is Matt Saracen? Wheelchair boy? Kid whose dad is a soldier? The very annoying self-involved football player? Or the kid with the hair?

Kid whose dad is a soldier. He was the second string quarterback when the kid in the wheelchair who was the first string quarterback got injured in a game in the pilot. Now Matt's the first string quarterback.

Matt Saracen = quarterback/son of a soldier
Jason Street = ex-quarterback/wheelchair kid
Brian "Smash" Williams = annoying self-involved football player
Tim Riggins = kid with the hair

Sorry -- realized after the fact that it should all be in white.

Thanks, Sumi!

1 Coffin, black painted wood. Six-sided, "Dracula-style"

I abandoned one of those in one of my moves. I left it at the far end of the backyard somewhat covered in broken tree branches. I was very nervous while the landlord was inspecting before returning our deposit.

Man I loved that song when it came out.

Is it "(I wanna) Sex You Up"?

Top Chef:

What a bunch of bullshit. I mean, not that Mikey wasn't clearly the least talented chef left, but Marcel served RAW CHICKEN. I mean, WTF? Can you make a bigger mistake as a chef that doesn't involve people going to the hospital? I admit that I was shocked that Mikey got this far, but I don't think that his was the worst sin. The thing with the olive pits was because they were men. If Elia had been on the team, they would have had a little dish I also thought that it was unfair to blame Mikey for having money left over. Ilan and Sam were the ones who budgeted so badly that they didn't have enough for wine. Mikey had $75 budgeted for wine glasses, which he suddenly didn't need. He was supposed to just buy random shit? Unfair, and a blatant excuse.

The judge was really rude with his comment about the stuff on the plate. And he had horrible hair.

I gotta say, I don't know who's going next week. they are all talented. I think that it will come down to someone screwing up.

the guy who played the bishop in The Princess Bride

(I assume you mean The Impressive Clergyman) was a great great man who died over ten years ago.

No, but if your grandfather and grandmother were Finnish, you could become a Finnish citizen. This, because of the Finns who spent a whole generation stuck in former Finnish territories occupied by the Soviet Union.

Huh. I never knew that. Though I think my great-grandparents were the ones who immigrated, so I'm out of luck. My grandparents are just of full Finnish descent.

So, went to the placement agency today. Didn't die driving in the city and I managed to find parking only 6 blocks away, so that was good. Things ended up running much longer than expected though, and I ended up getting back to my car a minute before my pakring voucher expired, which would have been bad as there were a couple of cops hanging out in front of the coffee shop right by my car when I walked up. I'm not sure if they were actually parking enforcement, or just traffic cops getting a cup of coffee before they had to start doing their rush hour thing.

Everything went well enough, I suppose. I feel inadequate when trying to describe my skills and abilities, as I'm very much self-taught/on-the-job-training and my skills are very much oriented to what was needed for my previous job. I rattled off a bunch of the software products I was familiar with supporting and pretty much got a blank look from the placement agency guy. Feh.

That said, they did have an opportunity for me already.

The Good

• It'd be a 15% increase from what I'm making now.
• The company has good benefits
• The current IT Manager was placed there by this same agency and is very happy with the environment.

The Bad

• It's in the Loop. That's a 1.5 hour commute both ways by train.
• Taking the train, even buying monthly passes, would cost me close to $1800 a year.
• After my bonuses, my salary last year came out to be the same as what they are offering and I only had a 5-minute commute, so I'd effectively be making less at this job once commuting time and expense is taken into account.

Mitigating Factors

• If I end up with this job and start it quickly, my severance package from the old job will cover the cost of the commute and then some.
• If I get a standard raise next year, it will cover most of the commuting costs.
• Our bonuses were never-guaranteed, whereas this salary is.
• It's a job, which I currently don't have.

The agency is supposed to give me a call tomorrow and ask if I want to try for this one. Part of me wants to wait and see if I can find something closer/better. On the other hand, even if I do go in for an interview, it doesn't mean I'll get the job and I don't have to take it even if I do. And considering I haven't done an interview in almost ten years, I could certainly use the practice if nothing else.

Friday Night Lights:

::wibble::

This show is going to break me. shrift, i will fight you for Saracen, though when I lose, someone please give me a Coach Taylor of my very own.

even if I do go in for an interview, it doesn't mean I'll get the job and I don't have to take it even if I do. And considering I haven't done an interview in almost ten years, I could certainly use the practice if nothing else.

This, Kalshane. The practice would be good, and there's nothing in the books that says you have to take the first job offered. Sometimes it actually does work out. Much job~ma to you.