Operation: Scramble

Few know I'm in Redmond right now and even fewer knew I was planning on it. Well ... that kinda depends on which plan I'm talking about. Right now, I'm kinda winging it.

***
After graduation (Friday, Sept 29th), I had dinner with my dad and then bought some furniture from a friend (more details on this later). About 10:30pm, I was talking to my sister-in-law, Cee, and I mentioned that my friend, Killabee, was driving to Seattle the next day.

KB went to GDC, made some friends, took some tests, and got a job at Surreal. So he had his entire trip planned. His fiancée still has three months of school left, so she'll be moving late December. KB was packed to survive without most of his furniture for those three months. (Surreal agreed to move all his stuff.)

Cee suggested I should ride with him. I had thought of this before, but had decided against it. This night was different though. I figured I might as well; it's not like I had anything going on. So I called up KB and asked if I could join. As you could imagine, he was a bit surprised. His car was packed full, but he unloaded his spare computer and his computer chair. There was enough room for one suitcase, and he planned to roll out at 8:00am.

Well, I was hopped up on adrenaline anyway, so I was fine with staying up late to pack and then roll out early. On my list of things to do was to get all the newly purchased furniture into my bedroom. My friend was moving back to Texas and didn't need the stuff, nor could he fit it in the car. So I bought his: queen size bed, kitchen table, four chairs, L-shaped computer desk, coffee table, two end tables, two lamps, stereo, paper plates, garbage can, laundry basket, bookshelf, and standing lamp. Luckily, Blade was visiting, so I conscripted him into helping. While I was getting another load of furniture, he hijacked my table to set his computer on. So of all the furniture going into my room, the table was excluded. Hurray for a huge-ass bedroom.

It was about 4am before I actually got to bed. I woke up at 7am to get some furniture out of my car (because it had started raining and I didn't feel like moving it that night). KB was a little late at picking me up, but we still got out by 8am.

We made it to Metropolis, IL the first night; Nebraska the second night; and Casper, WY the third. We stayed in Casper for two days because KB has family there. We set out Thursday morning for Seattle. We weren't sure if we would make it all the way; we'd see how it went. KB had to pick up his fiancée from the airport at 11am on Friday. So we could either get to Holmes' late and drive to the airport from there, or we could camp near Spokane and leave early the next morning to get to Seattle. Well, we were awake enough to drive through, so we got in around 1am. I stayed at Holmes' until Sunday; KB and his fiancée got a hotel downtown. Around 2pm Sunday, KB dropped her off and then picked me up, and we headed to Loj's.

Loj's parents have a enough computers to run a small LAN party, thus they have good internet connection. Cee, on the other hand, has one internet connection in her bedroom that's connected to her Mac. So I couldn't really use their computer and it wouldn't feel right to just spend all my time in their bedroom. Plus, Loj's parents have a few spare rooms (with beds!) as opposed to Holmes' sofa. The best part about being at Loj's, though, is that there isn't a four-year-old running around.

That was my road trip.

***
What am I going to do now?

I applied at Full Sail for a lab aide position. Three reasons: it doesn't involve intensive interview process, it gives me time to refresh my memory, and it gives me time to decide on what I really want to do. I think in the long run I'd like to be a high school math / computer science teacher; I enjoy helping people.

Full Sail offered my the position, but I'm not sure if I should take it. Here are some of my arguments:

Being a lab aide would give me good experience and could possibly lead to a teaching position at the college. And if I decided that helping people learn C++ is just too hard for me, I could still go into game programming. However, I may lazy out of ever making that decision and just stay at Full Sail for too long.

It's possible that if I decline the offer, I won't be able to find a job within a few months. In March, I have to start paying back my student loans. If I take the job, I'll be able to start paying back the loans just fine.

I have enough monies to last me 'til March and possibly make loan payments until August. So I really shouldn't have to worry about drowning in debt right now.

The job pays 30k (I haven't actually gotten the number with my offer, but I think this is it). A junior game programmer can make 53k starting. Big difference.

I don't care about money. I'm a simple guy. But 53k would pay off my loans quicker.

30k won't support me living alone; I'll need a roommate. But Del may be looking for a place to stay. And if we moved to a two bedroom apartment in the same complex, not much would change.

I don't like our apartment complex, but it's cheap. And Del wouldn't have to find a new job (and take five months to do so).

There's nothing wrong with taking the job if it's just to decide what I want. It's a problem if I settle for less.

Taking it means I don't have to move all my furniture very far. Declining means I need to fly to FL to put it in storage before Halloween. Or pay Chill to U-Haul it up to IL ... and then do something with it there.

Most companies will pay to move me; so if I find a job before Halloween, I won't have to worry about it. Though I will have to worry until then.

The job starts next Monday, the 16th. So I'll have to fly back this week. Though it also means I won't be worrying about money.

I could get on a plane tomorrow to see Chill's final presentation. Though I was hoping to spend a few more days with my brother.

I could also request another month to think about my decision; I think they'd allow that. But I don't want to worry about this for a month. I can take the job, work for a few months, and then look for something new.

If I go into teaching, I'd like to repay my current student loans before having to go back to college. That would involve 6-10 years working at Full Sail.

That doesn't mean I have to work at Full Sail the entire time. If that's the direction I want to go, I can work somewhere else just to pay off college.

I might be able to attend a community college while at Full Sail to get my teaching certification. Though, certification is dependent on state; so I'd get FL certification. This can be transferred to other states with some amount of work.

Working at Full Sail will give me more time to freshen up on topics I've already forgotten. *cough* Java *cough* That'd enable me to broaden my horizons when looking for a job.

***
Well ... those are my current arguments. I think I'm going to take the job, work for a few (6+) months, and then look for something in the gaming industry to pay back the loans. That way I'll have tried both (though lab aides aren't teachers by any means).

... Now if I could only get a hold of Del ...

... or the Full Sail recruiter ...