Hum A Few Bars

I've been spending a lot of time working on the house, and we're really making progress on a couple of projects around here. It's been great, and hopefully we'll get out of the transitional phase real quick and into the completed project state.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned how my bank didn't exist out here, and it was going to cause some trouble if I started prolifically using my debit card. Luckily, I haven't, but I went ahead and started a new account at Chase Bank, and will be closing the old one shortly. Once I put in my paychecks, I'll be back up to what I left New Jersey with, after the costs of replacing my window and paying for my gym membership.

I had an appointment at UPS today. I took a tour of the facilities and generally got given the new-guy rundown, as part of a group tour. I have an appointment in two weeks at 5 am to interview. Why 5 am? I know from their ads that they're specifically looking for Preload and Twilight shifts. They've also spoken of a Driver Helper position, which pays about 150% of the Loader/Unloader position. This is an on-call position, however, and is from between 8 AM and 6 PM-- so day and Twilight Shifts are a no go if you also want to be eligible for this position. I'm going to take the Preload shift, which is 3 AM to 9 AM. Furthermore, if you get rehired in January, your selected shift becomes a year-long lock-in, and with school becoming a possibility in the spring, I need to adjust to employment that won't interfere with classes.

UPS also provides tuition reimbursement to the tune of 3,000 dollars a semester ;)

The other night I got completely absorbed in a video game after dinner. I don't really mind (I should have been working on the house), but I really enjoyed getting immersed in something. I spent an hour on a single level. I was playing Star Wars: Force Unleashed, which is a really sharp game where you play as Darth Vader's apprentice, unravelling the untold story that takes place between Episodes 3 and 4. Basically, the apprentice is raised by Vader to think his ultimate goal is to assist in deposing the Emperor. Vader fakes his death so that the Emperor won't see what's coming, and tells him to motivate the Emperor's enemies to distract him and his spies. Unwittingly, this leads to the Apprentice creating the Rebel Alliance. In truth, the Emperor was behind it from the beginning, and training and motivation of the Apprentice was a long con to get all the various rebels out in the open.

Anyway, this one level. Inside a half-built Death Star, in a cargo bay, you fight several waves of storm troopers... but its not that simple. Scout Troopers, which are snipers, sit in very difficult to get to spots at the top of the room. Basically, if you don't break line of sight or change direction every couple of seconds, you get shot in the head with some sort of super laser that knocks you back a few yards and takes out a big chunk of your health. This is the beginning of the end, the knock backs. The knock backs can create a ruthless chain that results in your inability to do anything to prevent your impending death. "Jumptroopers", which are Stormtroopers equipped with fucking jetpacks, have rocket launchers which also knock me back. Finally, there are Purge troopers, which are twelve feet tall, black clad troopers that have got to be some sort of brainwashed Wookies or something. They've got shields, and dont take much damage unless you stunned them first by either hitting them with lightning or throwing a car at their head (both of which are more common than you'd probably believe.) These guys will grab you by the shoulders and throw you at something, or shoot a blue arcing rocket at you, which, go figure, knocks you back. Your started with the super easy tasks of fending off the snipers, jump troopers, storm troopers, storm troopers with laser turrets, two purge troopers, and an AT-ET walker. Defeat the AT-ET, and you're greated with an AT-AT. Defeat the AT-AT and you're greeted by SIX purge troopers and a dozen heavily armed storm troopers. That room alone was harder than defeating Darth Vader and the Emperor...