But not all was lost. Several co-workers stopped by to say goodbye. Robin bought me a large chocolate chip cookie that said "You're our #1 Geek!". Managers once again insisted that I was not allowed to leave. But life goes on. It was fun. But time for something different.

So today ends this chapter of me and Best Buy, and tomorrow will see the beginning of me and CollTech.

So at first we were pretty comfortable with ordering a set of Athena speakers (2 front, 2 rear, 1 center, 1 sub) along with a Yamaha receiver at employee price, with which we were going to mix and match with my current setup. Unfortunately, that plan went afoul when we realized that Athena was not going to get my order form until after I have been deactivated in Best Buy's system.

So after frantically searching around for prices and stock availability, we finally settled on a complete set of Sony speakers and the Yamaha receiver. Evil Twin gets my Accoustic Research speakers and the Sony receiver, along with a set of Sony speakers, center speaker, and sub-woofer. I got a set of Sony speakers to replace my AR speakers, and the new Yamaha receiver to pump more wattage through them.

Add in some other minor items (an entertainment center for him), and we walked out with a $900 tab. But for something we would normally pay $1800 for, I think we did alright. Until I get the bill that is. . .

Starting June 1st, I will be assuming my new position as a Windows Systems Administrator at Collective Technologies. The company itself was founded during the late nineties, survived through the dot-bomb period, and now resuming its quest for world techno-domination. Among the ten or so candidates, I was the one they finally decided on. So yeah, I'm happy. Here's me sitting here being happy.

I also turned in my resignation notice to Best Buy yesterday, in which the manager on duty flatly refused to sign my notice on three separate occasions, citing the fall of Best Buy being caused by my departure as one of the reasons. Honestly, there were good times and bad times in the past fourteen months at Best Buy. I'll miss most of the guys and gals there, but I intend on making visits every now and then.

Spent the entire day today helping YanYan moving into her new apartment (which is only five minutes away now, as opposed to twenty-five). Things are calming down and smoothing itself out between us, so that's a very good thing.

I cannot comment on what the news is just yet until it becomes official later this afternoon, but all I can say is I'm excited. The upcoming event would allow me to finish Operation Redemption, which was started back in August of '02. Come to think of it, I should write a new page detailing all my planned operations so that people would understand what I'm talking about.

Not even going to comment about the current state of affairs at work. Its been pathetic. The full-time status promised has yet to show up, although looking at the pay periods, it seems that it will be begin next week, not these past two weeks. But once the official announcement (see above) is made this afternoon, it won't matter much at all.

Its been a tiring weekend. . . as we will have traveled 800+ miles within 4 days. Not an easy feat. Especially since I haven't gotten any decent sleep on any of those 4 days.

Lots of pictures were taken, and I will probably be posting them as soon as I get back to OC4. Routine maintenance on the Bismark was completed without any difficulties. The Agamemnon from 1st Fleet will be joining us on the trip today, as the Matron will be conducting a inspection during her stay at OC4.

Friday marked the end of the week's shift. . . working five full days of closing shifts. Complained loudly to the manager about how I'm being dicked around, and only got a promise of "look into it" as a response. Only good news is that I am being promoted to full-time status. Although if my work shifts continues as such, I'm not sure its that great of a news.

Saturday morning was spent trying to find a shipyard that would service YanYan's light cruiser. Her thurst vectors are all manners of messed up, especially at high speeds. Turns out there's some structual damage that needs to be repaired, and supposedly they will call her tomorrow with estimates. But at least we replaced the front two tires, and there won't be any chance of a blowout. Her original set of tires are down to the steel meshes on the insides due to alignment problems. Afterwards we introduced her mom to Ski Shores food and atmosphere, and alot of picture taking ensued. A brief rest and relaxation period, and then I was busy making my (in)famous steaks for YanYan and her mom. Everyone was happily fed by the end of the night, fortunately.

Was at work again bright and early at 8AM. . . at the request of a manager to try and work on computers so that the place doesn't look shitty. The original plan was to have a couple of guys at the counter managing the customers so I can actually do some work. As I should have known, that never happened. Of the four techs on duty, two were immediately rotated out to the floor, leaving me and the new guy fending the counter. As if the new guy would be able to deal with customers by himself. Absolutely brilliant planning on the manager's part. At this point I've stopped caring about how the counter looks, since the managers continuously fail to provide meaningful support to actually get things done. All they see are the dollar signs that needs to be made for the day, not the actual customer loyalty that needs to be ensured after the sale has been made. Its a wonder our store was ranked #2 in the company last month.

Spent the rest of the day helping out at YanYan's dinner party. YanYan's mom did most of the cooking, and we hosted her friends to the feast. Lots of socializing and DDRing occured, followed by eating and drinking, and winding up the night with picture takings of friends who are soon departing.

It wouldn't be so bad. . . except I'm the ONLY person closing. Every single freakin' day. Its getting annoying. Its getting downright obnoxious. Plus the fact that people can't seem to understand that I'm the ONLY person there, and yet their needs need to be of a higher priority than everyone else's. Get in the goddamn freakin' line people. . . and take a number and chill until I get to you. On the other hand there are those who happen to be understanding of my situation and provides enough patience to make things go smoothly for everyone. And for that. . . they manage to restore some shred of faith from me towards the human race.

Overall impression, it looks/sounds like a great place to work at. The company tucked itself in and survived the dot bomb era, and now it is ready to come back and kicking. . . with the help of a new rank of techno savvy magis to help spread the word.

According to my recruiter, all the feedback from my interviews had been promising. The only cavaet is whether or not the other candidate will have better skill sets or personality than me. Was told that I will hear the results either today or tomorrow morning. Since I did not hear from them today, I fear the worst.

And that's when things got interesting. Lots of phone calls ensued between YanYan, her mom, and me. So it seems there was a catastrophic misunderstanding between YanYan and me. We're in the middle of resolving it right now, but it might take some time before things go smoothly again. Combine that with her final projects being due tomorrow, and me dealing with job and interviews and prepping for certifications. . . yeah. . . tough times. . .

The second phone interview wasn't as smooth as the first one, as it became ALOT more technical in nature. Most of the questions asked I had experience in, except I never remembered the exact details. Like what is required to make a computer (with no OS or CDROM boot option) install Win2000. Win98SE or Win2000 boot disk, right? Well, what files are on them? Which files are absolutely required for CD support? Things like that. Was feeling pretty subdued about the whole thing until I was debriefed by the recruiter, and was told that I received pretty high marks on the second interview. The interviewer thought I had the talent and the potential, and all I needed was a little refinement (which I'm willing to admit to). So now I'm all set for stage three of the process, which will end with either me being offered the job on the spot, or me going home with nothing in my hands.

Unfortunately the for me the dam broke sometime last night due to overpressure, which left me trying to salvaging the pieces. After a brief misunderstanding turned into a vicious arguement, YanYan decided not to talk to me anymore. Simultaneously my stomach decided it would be a good time to start a full-fledged rebellion. The war against the Sasser worm at work has steadily deterriorated, and the promised reinforcements to our severely understrength unit have yet to show up. Shadow Phoenix is developing some major engine problems, which isn't helped by the fact that some bastard scratched the paint two weeks ago.

I'm sure there's a silver-lining in this cumulonimbus cloud somewhere. . . I'm just not seeing it at the moment. . .

Pardon me while I go dig a hole and hide for a while.

I did get a booby prize though: a promise of promoting me to a full-time position. I'll believe it when I see the benefits enrollment form.

On the other hand, Blandy pulled through for me and got my foot in the door at a respectable IT firm for a junior SysAdmin position. As long as its the foot in the door, I'm going to see how far I can wiggle the door open.