Shoppers, Sickness and Still Searching

The word of the week is convalescence.

December 17 - No calls

Still no bites from employers. But I'm still game.

Every day I'm searching the job ads, picking out ones that fit my skills( to various degrees )then customizing a cover letter and resume to send out the same day. I've become fairly good at both, targeting my applications to various positions and ensuring I have a good shot at being noticed by the hiring managers, whose names I make every effort to find out before I send in the application - again, to help me get noticed.

Statistically speaking, I should get a call soon, after sending out close to a hundred applications since the early spring.

Yet there's more I need to do: I need to get out.

I've had some 'personal business cards' made up from VistaPrint.ca and they should arrive the first week of January. Now that I can talk again without coughing, I'll be hitting the pavement with a list of local companies in hand, culled from the Yellow Pages, to try my hand in person. Cards and resumes and my personable self are what's going to be seen in the coming month, as I try to get a foot in the door and get hired for 2013.

Wish me luck.

December 18 - Is The Matrix Real?

It looks like the Wachowskis might have had the right idea after all.

A recent scientific theory is causing a stir, as it purports that we are all living in a giant computer simulation. As in, the ENTIRE universe is a massive computer program.

That's a BIG simulation ...

No, I'm not kidding. As hard to believe as it sounds, there are good reasons that may bear out this theory. For one, we may actually BE the only intelligent life in the universe, as our distant descendants want to see just what WE get up to inside their simulation. For another, parallel universes may just be parallel simulations being run. The theory has several ways it might be proven, once the technical bugs are worked out. After all, the theory of relativity was only recently given a boost when an experiment proved that time actually DOES slow down the faster one travels. Who knows what else is possible, given the advance of science?

Better start ordering your cool trenchcoats and sunglasses now.

December 19 - Old games are new again on my phone!

Here and there I've mentioned how much I love new technology, especially my SIII phone. It's a pocket computer that can do SO much more than just be a phone… like, say, allow me to play retro games on the go. Both of which I picked up this week for the incredible outlay of 99 cents each - what a double deal!

Such as R-Type, an arcade shooter from the 80's that I just can't put down, despite not getting past the first level in all these years. One day I WILL conquer the game, though by that time I'll likely be playing it inside my head on wetware. We'll see. In the meantime, you can try your hand at the free online flash version and see how well you do!

The other game is also one I've not managed to make much headway with, but is also incredibly addicting: Another World( aka Out Of This World ). This game blew me away with its rotoscoped graphics when it was released in 1991 for the Amiga. It was completely unlike anything that had come before it: a graphical adventure with no on-screen display, meaning the player was totally immersed in the game as it played out. The into sequence alone is mesmerizing and holds up twenty years later for its simplicity and atmosphere, check it out:

December 20 - HOW small is that new place of yours?

Right now I'm living in a two-bedroom apartment, approximately nine hundred square feet with one bathroom, a kitchen and a combined dining / living room. It's enough to be comfortable in and though there's not a lot of storage, I don't feel cramped.

But what if two people had to live in a place less than a third that size?

That's the idea behind the 220-sq-ft 'micro-apartments' that are being built in San Francisco right now. Several hundred of the tiny units are being constructed under the watchful eye of the city, as places where people who can't afford the sky-high condo prices in the area can still afford and thus live independently. 

Myself, I would find the space tight for one person, but then again I do still have a fair bit of 'stuff' on hand that someone with a more minimalist lifestyle can do without.

Perhaps if I set the place up with wall-to-wall bookshelves, it would work for me… and act as extra insulation( sound and thermal )to boot. I suppose it would depend on the price, too; if owning a place that size was less than rent per month, it'd be a no-brainer.

December 21 - The World Didn't End? Surprise, surprise…

So much for doomsday.

Unsurprisingly, the world kept going about its business today, despite the many dire predictions about the end of the Mayan calendar… as some interpreted it.

Now it goes back to predicting the NEXT end of the world, which I'm sure we'll hear about sooner or later.

Personally, I think that if the world DOES end, it won't be anything predictable. My money's on aliens, but I won't be more specific than that; given the range of things that could happen, I think that the future will get here in its own time, good or bad.

In the meantime, the human race will need to grow up a fair bit.

December 22 - The Hobbit!

I finally got out today to see The Hobbit at an afternoon showing. I used my free Scene points to get a free ticket to the UltraAVX screen, which was in 3D and in the new 48fps format. I really liked the crisp detail that the higher framerate gave the film; the clarity was quite similar to the way my TV at home is set to up the framerate of different types of media to reduce judder and smooth the picture. I found it quite watchable.

Sitting through the movie itself was a pleasure. For the most part Peter Jackson stuck to the book, which was both good and bad in parts. The movie takes about an hour to get moving and feels slow up to that point, introducing us to the many characters. For those who have read the book( who out there hasn't? )it feels like you're hanging around the Shire a little too long, anxious to get started. Once the ball gets rolling, it's mainly a smooth ride, though some parts of the story have been altered to give a different narrative flow. I won't spoil any of the parts, but I found myself at odds a half-dozen times when the film deviated from the book, though admittedly not in ways that made me cry out in horror.

Two thoughts stuck with me as I left the film: there was a LOT of falling… and if the theatrical release was close to three hours long, what the heck is going to be the length of the Extended Version ???

The thoughts were almost enough to drive me to drink… and if I did decide to, I'd want to be at the Green Dragon Pub which recently opened in New Zealand, in The Shire!

December 23 - Out for a spell

Today I actually got out for a bit, going over to the Starbucks at the Chapters downtown on Douglas St. It wasn't all that crowded; busy, sure, but my sister and I found primo seats by the fireplace to sip our bevvys and relax for a spell. Having stopped at the Bay Centre mall ever-so-briefly on the way, I was shocked at how 'thin' the crowds were… I had expected an elbow-jogging crush of bodies plugging the place up as people tried to finish off their lists - apparently not.

That got me to thinking: why wasn't it crazy-crowded?

Perhaps more people are shopping online( and early! )just to avoid that very thing; the ease and convenience of to-your-door delivery means the enochlophobics among us don't have to suffer any more in busy public places. Shop from your cozy home!

I also hope that it shows a rising trend among western culture: that the rampant consumerism is slowing down and perhaps even fading back, in the face of the recession of the last few years. More than a few people I know have mentioned that this year is a quieter year for them, with less emphasis on material things and more on family and friends.

Isn't that what it's supposed to be about anyway?

Dec 24 late update: After another week of not going anywhere or doing much, I'm feeling somewhat like myself again, albeit with a total lack of energy. My coughing's almost stopped and I can breathe normally, but the pain in my right chest is still very much there, especially when I move my arm. I saw my doctor again this morning for a checkup and he confirmed that I've torn several muscles in my chest. It will be another three or four weeks before I lose the pain completely and be back to my old self again, pneumonia-free. Until then, it's yet more rest and convalescing… in between brief sorties for job-searching.