Robots Will Kill.com

Horoscope for this week:

"Virgo: (Aug. 23—Sept. 22)
You will be forever labeled "quixotic" after mistaking a field of windmills for the solution to the world's energy crisis."

Lamentable

An email to my boss that was never sent

Blank,

Since I wasn't going to be paid for the Thanksgiving break I decided to spend

as much time as I would normally working; knocking my hours for the week up again to 40. This apparently raised an eyebrow or two. Why would I be working on Thanksgiving? Shouldn't I be enjoying my time with friends and family? Sure, I would have loved to. Problem is if I don't work, I don't eat. That's a pretty big issue in my head. See, since I didn't get paid for Thanksgiving break, I have to make up those hours. If I don't make them up, I'm not within my budget. If I'm not within my budget, I starve. See how this works? It's not complicated. I don't get a salary like other people who work here. I don't even get the kind of respect most temps here do as you've decided to require that I submit an hourly report as to what I do every day. I have to work the hours. It's just that simple.

Regarding this report as to what I do every day, I would suggest that you

learn a little more about management and a lot less about slave labor. I'm not interested in working for someone, as no one would, who has - after nearly a year of solid, quality work - little to no respect or trust in me and my abilities. Honestly, you're making this decision I'm working on a lot easier to make.

Lastly, to the idea that I need for you to coach me in my ‘time management’

is laughable. I am currently under worked. I never have anything to do. You stripped the few responsibilities I had away from me months ago, and have yet to supply any kind of work to fulfill the time. Most days I sit here and wait for something to be shot my way; which, I finish quickly and email back. Perhaps what really needs to be learned is the concept of management skills. When you have a temp sitting here, doing next to nothing the opportunity presents itself to delegate part of your work load to someone else, freeing you up for some breathing room. That’s how this works. When you have a temp you don’t try to keep everything for yourself. That’s not managing, that’s hording. Learn that we should be working together, in tandem, to arrive at the same goal, not to be berated, disrespected and ignored so that all credit lands in your lap.

Thank you,

David Faroz Precht

That went surprisingly well...Wee!

Presentation at one...

Frantically trying to finish everything...

It's been a very taxing trip up until this point. Lots of family, food, acupuncture holes, snow, extra cloths, new luggage, facial hairs, headaches, ideas about swapping out phones, arguments, decisions about the “five man sweepstakes”, not getting work done, reading and repetition therein. So...tonight I stay at my sister and Amir's condo, on the couch across from the new 30" HDTV, with my back a little tender, and tomorrow I fly back to Dallas with, hopefully, another window seat in, hopefully, a bigger plane. Anyway, that's the short version of my Thanksgiving weekend...uhh...Bye!

Window Seat

hopefully

At seven tonight I board a flight for Minneapolis, Minnesota. My family will

pick me up from the airport in my dad's red Camry. Tomorrow, we will all eat turkey and good food and sit around with thoughts of unbuckling our belts. We will play touch football in the snow, landing someone in a snow hill for the final touchdown. I'll be happy to see them all. They'll be happy to see me. Prayers will be said. Hugs, tears and conversation will become the norm. Then, we'll all head back to our respective homes and miss each other, but be thankful that we had the chance to love each other in person again. Woo! Family!

Horoscope for this week:

"Virgo: (Aug. 23—Sept. 22)
A leap of logic will result in the worst-selling novelty product of all-time and leave you stuck with a football-field-sized warehouse filled with real vomit."

To be happy...

subject to change

Between December and February - Figure out new career options, start new career (move or no move)

Two to three years - Get married

Four to five years - Promotion to Manager or higher

Five years - Buy a house (kids would be nice)

Six to seven years - Promotion to Director or higher

My whole life - Finding ways of serving the Faith

I've recently found out that because I took time off to visit Chicago I am ineligible to be paid for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Man, it’s like a celebration!

P.S. - And today I found out that my boss has known for a while now, and just didn't tell me. It just gets better...

Parts of a letter to a friend...

"I agree to a point on what you've said about letting go. This is me letting go. While I was in Haifa, Dr. Khan told our pilgrim group that keeping things inside wasn't the best idea, yeah, but that didn't end with grudges and piddling crap like that. He told us that the best way to deal with practically anything that could not be handled or controlled or issues of forgiveness should be to meditate upon them. But not the way we meditate upon prayers or the Writings. Instead, meditate on letting go, on letting God take care of it for you, on taking the problem and casting it into the Ocean (By the way, I find it amazing that while on pilgrimage the simplest, easiest pieces of advice are always more impactful than they are anywhere else. Like, "When you fall down, get back up." How did that become my mantra while I was there? It's so simple that I should have been thinking about it my whole life, but it all becomes heavier when you're on Mount Carmel.) and never dwelling on it again.

"That's kind of what I'm trying to do here. Trying to relieve myself of my burdens (my box) so I can get back to the focuses of being happy and loving God and humanity. That's why I spent so much time at the House of Worship saying prayers and burying my forehead into the ground. …yes, you helped out a lot as I loved spending time with you discussing points of Faith and personal triumphs, medical scares and lows."

...

"No, my problems aren't so big. I'm alive, I love my family and friends, my life is getting back on track and the Faith is the most important thing to me again. And when I say it I don't feel guilty. Also, I'm smiling a lot, and it's not forced. So, yeah. Thanks for listening though, and for the wishing of good luck. I really appreciate it. I hope it doesn't seem like I've unburdened myself on you alone because there are people who know about my lying, but not so much the boredom issue. Also, you're right, this weekend it was this, next weekend it's something else. Truthfully though, I think that's okay as long as I remember that I shouldn't "dwell on the unpleasant things of life" and that there's a giant Ocean out there willing to absorb the stupid things that are in my life so I won't have to be so burdened by them."

Quality of writing decrease

Recently I’ve noticed a severe drop off in my writing. It’s not as colorful and

plentiful as it used to be; not as grammatically correct either. I look at what I write now and realize that, while not as long-winded as it once was, it’s less poetic and more robotic and matter-of-fact. I’m not sure if this is just the natural progression of my mind and writing or if this has something to do with something else entirely. Regardless, I feel inclined to try to return to that former style, attempting to recapture the content without all the floweriness that encircled each piece. We’ll see what happens…

So, the UN requested, a while back, that a personal computer be created so that all children and poor of the world can have afford and use the internet. This is their prototype. It's pretty neat.

If things continue, every child around the world will be have access to all the information of the internet at a extremely low price; plus a neat hand crank to power it.

Wake the Line and Harry Potter this past weekend. Fun times.

250,000...

Brandon loves his fans.

So, earlier today there was a tour given in Spanish to about six people. The guy was telling the group about the cubes, and how they're laid out just as he was passing by my cube. He then says, [translation] "...and some people sit on balls." I'm glad that my "fitness orb" is getting the credit it deserves. First a reference on "The Office" and now this!

My core is amazing!

(More essay-like posts forthcoming. I swear!)

(Hopefully)

Rambling, Incoherence

I worry about people. I worry that people who I care about will crumble when/if I leave them. It’s arrogant, silly and wrong, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling this way.

What happens when/if I take the opportunity to move back to Chicago? To live near friends and family, see people regularly, start a career, dance and sing and play the drums more often than I have. Is that a good enough reason to pack up and move back, or do I stand and keep trying to show people that they can change themselves, that there’s nothing to worry about, God loves them and that they’re better than they give themselves credit for?

People have told me that I have to think about myself more often, especially with my health the way it is. That people will figure themselves out, that God will show them the way (which I agree with completely) and that something in their life will show them how great they are; which will stop them from their self-destructive behavior. That all the things I miss and want to participate in will wait for me. While I don’t entirely disagree that waiting is necessary, I’ve been doing that for nearly a year, and it’s about time to get back to dealing with what I left sitting back in Chicago. …I guess I just pray more, and know that God’s plan will work out one way or another.

The week has been so dull and boring that I've been reduced to rewriting my proposal into different forms several times. By "several times", I mean around five. The thing started out at 24-pages, and has been whittled down to four, essentially. Well, plus some support and all that. Whatever. Anyway, I went home again to get some things done...and nap, and here I am. Boy, I had fun today!

Horoscope for this week:

"Virgo: (Aug. 23—Sept. 22)
Some say that your shortsightedness will be the death of you, but it's your glaucoma that leads you to drive up an off-ramp and into a gasoline truck."

Posts are going to be few and short until things pick up here at work. For some reason boredom does not yield more posts. Go figure. In the mean time, I'm going home to work on banner ads.

I've seen ten people so far today. Also, the wind is pushing road construction horses and cones onto the highway.

So, today, when I suggest that no one is here, I mean it.

Thus far, I've seen a total of six people, and three of those six were replacing the lightbulbs, standing on people's desks. It's quiet, quiet enough to when I sneezed earlier someone from the otherside of the office yelled "Bless You". And yelled back. Today has also yielded no funny looks from passerbys as I rock out on air drums. Also, I have next to nothing to do...scatch that, I now have nothing to do.

Is there anyone interested in creating a fort out of boxes, cube walls and bed sheets? I have the materials, let's get crackin'.

Science News! for Monday, November 14

1. "The main problem with inventing such a machine is that it implies the availability of unlimited energy, which it is unlikely that Mr Volfson has managed to do yet." Yeah, Mr. Volfson! Everybody...knows that...pfff.

2. I haven't lately expressed how much I love the Japanese, have I? Man, I love the Japanese. They're willing to call their kids chimps without even blinking. Now, that's a culture to grab ahold of.

3. Their kids are chimps, but they love their robots - in this case, space robots. Man, do they love their robots.

4. Note to self, look up the word aphrodisiac...I mean, watch more cartoons with women = Randy Time for them.

5. 'bad boy'" of the ocean? You bet!

6. "Europe names Galileo trailblazer", replacing the title given to him centuries eariler; "Galileo, the Earth-destroying douchebag.

7. Stupid sparrow!

So, basically, life is a bus tour...that's all I've got.

Stevesie

Stevesie
Originally uploaded by vahidyamartino.

Watched most of the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou last night...
Steve Zissou: Go downstairs and throw a tarp over anything that says "Operation Henessey" on it.

Did anyone know that they added an extra definition to the word 'word' in the dictionary?! I'm not making this up.

interj.

Slang. Used to express approval or an affirmative response to something. Sometimes used with up.

Yesterday Diana posted a list called "30 Fun Facts About Everyones Favorite......Chuck Norris". Today, Matthew found a few more, and I'd like to share one with you right now.

Helen Keller's favorite color was Chuck Norris.

It sure was, it sure was.

Today I ended up spending the end of my day teaching the Faith to my cube mate Sabrina and her constant companion Misty. We got into the basics, nothing deep, but it felt incredible to express how much I loved my religion. Honestly, that hasn't happened in a while. The Faith has always been important, but I haven't really shown anyone how much I truly love it, especially at work. When the opportunity presents itself though it came naturally. I'm happy that things are going back to normal, spiritually. I've been starved for a long time.

I’m really tired of “working” here

or staring at a screen at "work"

For the last few days I’ve been just marking time. With nothing to do, I’ve

begun pacing around the office, checking my email messages constantly and visiting with anyone who’s not on the phone. I’ll meander downstairs several times to check to see if I have any faxes, I don’t, and see that everybody downstairs is madly fixated on their screens or the papers on their desk. They’re entrenched in what they’re working on, not even noticing that I’ve walked by several times. I then sloth my way back to my desk to sit down on this exercise ball and think about how many millions of things that I would love to be doing. The list of infinitely more attractive options open up like a book in my mind; with chapters marked by subject matter. Right now, I’m looking at a chapter called “Things Far More Rewarding.” It’s a good chapter, focusing on the variety of things that would help people or help me in any way, shape or form. Then I shake out of the trace, and notice that my computer screen has gone black. I check my emails; nothing. I check to see if anyone is online; no one. Then, I log on to Google Maps, and look at Chicago and the area surrounding it.

Horoscope for this week:

"Virgo: (Aug. 23—Sept. 22)
Your decision to purchase a pair of cargo pants was based entirely on the number of Hot Pockets they could hold."

Wee...wah...huh?

Its interesting how easily things move and shift. More later.

2-years ago I noticed that a guy I was working with at the Bahá’í Publishing Trust was sitting on an exercise ball. Today, I am the guy sitting on the ball. And it is glorious.

On Saturday morning I spent three hours in downtown Fort Worth, admiring the skyline and small city atmosphere, walking for the American Diabetes Association. Starting from Main and 3rd, going around the city in a very strange and confusing race track and ending, again, at Main and 3rd. The most interesting part of the whole walk was the large ring of balloons on Main Street that neither marked the start nor end of the walk but suggested as much. (Shrug)

Science News!

1. Tickets will later be sold to patrons who wish to be mauled by the panda's mother.

2. Scientists are also suggesting that trees can be used for what is now being called "shade."

3. The lamb and sheep population of the Amazon region let out a simultanious "phew" when they heard the news.

4. "Several clues led scientists to believe the wine may have been red..." The primary of which was a stain discovered on King Tut's favorite shirt, the shirt proudly displaying the words "The Hamptons do it better".

5. And several Simpsons writters smiled knowingly.

You are what you wear?

Halloween 2005; Chicago

Decisions decisions

By February of 2006 I will either be here in another capacity or in another

state working elsewhere. This decision has not been made lightly but based simply on the fact that my career is not being furthered by remaining in a temporary position with a limited workload and no possible upward momentum. So, in the next month, I preset my plan for a new news media platform and new position, and if I don’t get it, I’ll bring the proposal to other companies. I’m sure that someone is interested in a 24-year old who is ambitious enough to recognize that he could be doing so much more. Well…I hope, anyway.

What's wrong with my face? Why is it so red? Well, I was kneeling on a marble floor...and it hurt. Man, I suck, and Shirin is nuts.

The Trip: Day Six

Thank you Chicago, I’m done being dumb

After dropping my dad off and spending time reading in Café Mozart I drove

out to the House of Worship. The trip stretched and bent when I looked at the inboard clock on the dash and realized it was still set an hour ahead. I drove between Evanston and Wilmette several times, finding new streets leading from downtown Evanston to nearby the House of Worship. Lost, in some capacity, I started listening to and signing along to the Doves “Some Cities.” The bass grooves like shifts of the tires on the brick streets and vocal melodies like the sound of kids from Northwestern walking from class to class. Everything seemed more normal, as if I remembered it from somewhere even though I didn’t. I watched red and yellow leaves drop from hundred-fifty year old oak trees lining Sheridan road to be rushed away by car tires or men and women in jogging suits, headphones connecting to the iPods wrapped around their arms.

It all seemed so natural (Nature is natural? Go on.), normal, realistic and

static that I just stopped looking at the scene as a scene but as a suggestion of what is going wrong. I’ve spent years looking at what I do, trying to resolve the wrong things and increase the right yielding nothing but more bad. The whole of my trip rippled past me: watching Game 4 of the World Series with my dad; praying in the House of Worship for hours for friends, family and myself; meeting Lindsey; sitting in Jon’s car listening to Mastodon as he drove from Chicago to my house in the middle of the night; looking at how all of my high school and Bahá’í friends had changed, or not changed; playing Mario Kart with Shirin in the newly finished basement; riding the train out to Chicago to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition; looking like a complete fool for Halloween; seeing Ryan’s Hope play before a huge crowd as Nick played dressed as a Viking, his sword leaned up against the back wall; sitting in the lot of Budget Rental Car near O’Hare explaining and divulging things that don’t need to be repeated; the downpour that surrounded Millikin; and the most important things that happened took place within the most beautiful building on the planet.

I parked in the lot to the side, said some prayers for my aunt, for clarity, for

betterment, and walked around the building twice. It all just stopped. No more clutter, no more falling leaves, just a garden that at the start of November still looks beautiful. So, I change now. I should specify, but I have yet to decide to what magnitude it all will change. I haven’t decided. But it will happen. I’m tired of looking at myself as a screw up, a new guy who helps others but can’t pick himself up to save his life. I’m done. I may have said it before, but before I didn’t have a goal and that all changed in the Visitor’s Center of the House of Worship when I realized more about myself by looking at someone else’s heart.

"Update: According to the Hollertronix boards, K-Fed actually is saying 'Pavarotti': 'I've been informed that's just K-Fed slang for papparazzi, he calls them Pavarottis in real life. that's his style...'"

Oh man, that's just too much!

I really didn't keep this thing up while I was on vacation. I wanted to, but things just didn't quite work out that way. It was a great trip though, with great people and great lunches. Thank you all for treating me with so much love. I miss you already.

Horoscope for this week:

"Virgo: (Aug. 23—Sept. 22)
You'll have a hard time convincing the Treasury Department that you weren't attempting to counterfeit $20 bills, but simply trying to suggest some very minor changes."

After finding out what is on the President's iPod, the press now turns their attention to something far more important

"But I'm not supposed to be endorsing products."

Life changes when you realize you’ve been a buffoon most of your life and won’t stop until you correct the problem.

Its true, I guess...