Pardon the non-WoW post today. It’s been slow in-game with the holidays keeping people busy and out of the game. And Illidan (US) is still plagued with horrendous lag during raid hours. Apparently other folks aren’t having any issues raiding, or at least the terrible instance servers are relegated to our battlegroup. Who knows.
So pardon the real-life story today. By trade I am a graphic artist and Flash developer. Got a degree in it, and have been working with it for almost a decade now (in my spare time and in an employment capacity). Considering I am 26, that’s not too shabby. I was lucky enough to have a job on campus as I went to school that was essentially a think-tank. A think-tank with very little to do other than play with software. I was developing an online multiplayer RPG in Flash just to see if I could. When Adobe released the Flex beta we all spent the next couple months throwing ourselves at that. Good times to be had by all.
Unfortunately it’s not so easy in the real world to find folks who need graphic designers or Flash developers, especially ones who don’t think you should also know C++, be a database administrator, or know PHP. Sure, I can write CSS, edit HTML, and all that. For the past year or so I’ve been doing contract work for a Fortune 50 telecommunications company (Non-disclosure agreement, make your own guesses). Well that contract ended and now I am looking for some more permanent work again.
It’s not a terrible spot to be in. My wife is a teacher so we are still bringing a full-time income in while I keep looking for something nearby. We aren’t much for relocating since all our family is near us. So it’s a challenge. With the economy the way it is, not too many companies are looking to retain a full time graphic person. And the ones who are are paying less than I made back in high school when I was a telemarketer. So it kind of sucks.
So that’s my little ramble today. Blog posting will continue as usual as I still try to find good topics to cover. And here is a pretty picture of mah new desk my wife bought me for Christmas (picture taken with the camera I bought her!)
Thoughts, comments, yadda yadda. Post ‘em.
0.o
Wow.
Me likey Desky. Wanna trade?
I promise mine isn’t NOT full of stuff!
Klinderas’s last blog post..Animal Instincts: PvE For Pets Part I
Hey Mon dat be a TROLL figure on your desk!! I be a feeling di love mon! :-)
By di way, I finally moved to my own domain and got away from Blogger (Thank God).
((And I be checking di openings available at Boeing for joo too!))
You can be finding me at: http://thetrollhunter.com where I’ll be working real hard trying to get all the WordPress stuff working right. /grin
Nice desk, what mouse pad is that by the way?
Really nice rig ;)
The pad is razor mantis i think
Razor Mantis indeed. I’ve bought 2 of the exact same kind now since I was so happy with them. It’s not a hard surface but more of a heavy heavy cloth that can roll up.
I was tempted a bit ago to pick up one of those awesome steel WoW mousepads but refrained. :)
@trollhunter There is indeed some troll love going on there. :) A birthday present from my bro-in-law. Grats on the move to Wordpress. I will be sure to update mah links. :)
trying to decide between, the Razer Destructor, razor mantis, or SteelSeries I-2 , just got the wow gaming mouse need a new pad
Niice setup there! :) I see we have the same taste in mice!
Softi’s last blog post..Happy New Year!
@softi I do love my MX Revolution :)
I have that headset. It is a nice headset.
I used to use that mouse too but since you have to charge it I would forget and it would run out of power at the most inappropriate moments, like during an Arena match.
@Lawgnut That was always my concern when I first looked into buying a wireless mouse. But so far I do a pretty good job of remembering to toss it back on the charger every night. :)
Sweet set-up there. I use that same Antec computer case – I love all the blue led all over the place and the top-side usb ports. Best of luck in the job search!
Good luck with the job hunt. I know many folks who are unfortunately in the same predicament right now. :/
Great blog, by the by. ^_^
Antec 900 case eh… Is that thing as big of a dust trap as everyone claims it is?
@Pocky Thanks for the support. :) Cool site you got there too.
@Evidences So far it has been great. The filters on all the case fans do wonders to keep the dust out. Every now and then I use a compressed air can before we vacuum. The inside has stayed marvelously dust-free (or close to it).
It wasn’t quite as tool-less as my last Thermaltake but I have been happy with it.
Nice new desk, but what headset are you currently using?
Yeah Drotara we’re having horrible lag over on Cho’Gall too, hopefully it will be fixed when everyone and their mother isnt in Ulduar. Over populated servers are ftl. Nice setup you got there too.
I’d be happy to ask at work if we have any openings, if you want. Do you have an online résumé or something like that?
@tier4armor I have one posted on Monster and have one available but none that is just posted around for the world to see at the moment.
I got one comment:
That carpet is pure win =D
@Sillie Haha, gotta love old houses. :)
Give us the spec of that sexy computer of yours! d=(^_^)z
@supertrooper I am running a AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 5400+ with an Nvidia 9800 GTX with 4 gigs of DDR2. The left monitor is an Asus and the right one is a Viewsonic. As mentioned, the case is one of the Antec 900s.
It runs things verah nice.
But the real question is, do you lag in Dalaran?
No sir. :)
pretty sexy setup you got there
Dro – Been reading your blog quietly for the last year or so, as I leveled (and made my main) my hunter. Thanks for all your input and information, on a class that you clearly have mastery of, and I wish you best of luck in your search for work in these tough times. Also, nice rig and play area. – Cobraclutch, Exodar
@Cobra Thanks. :) And I am glad you have enjoyed the blog.
Nobody said anything about that carpet though. Did someone puke all over your floor? ;)
@TJ Heh, it’s not what you would call a “new house.” :)
Drotara’s last blog post..Real Life catches up.
Weblogs has Wowinsider who has BRK. How about having a chat with Gawker and getting yourself syndicated so that you can get paid for blogging /maintaining a site about WoW (and hunters). Maybe there’s no need for another Wowinsider, but then I thought there would never be room for another Thottbot until Wowhead came along.
From what I hear these are only very part time incomes for sure, but since you’re doing it anyway… ;)
Just a thought.
Thats a nice little setup there, I have the same PC case on my machine.
My own desk is full of junk, WoW figurines and other game related figures too (and an Elvis ‘68 Comeback Special figure FTW!).
Noobiewan’s last blog post..Emblem Marathon
You post a pic of work work/game space with a WoW running on it and say it’s not a WoW post? Silly Man.
@Mage Well I guess the ending part with the rig was WoW related. :)
Drotara’s last blog post..Real Life catches up.