I think the most ridiculous and worthless function in humans is the ability to dream (when sleeping). I considered myself to be plagued by dreams for a long time in my life. They effected me to the point where I must have trained myself to not remember them for the most part. I’d sometimes remember bits and pieces when I was woke up by them but by morning I’d usually completely forget everything except I knew I had a dream I was forgetting. That isn’t so much the case now because I tend to remember more, however it still seems like just an interruption to sleeping. In the matter of 20 minutes it seems I still can start dreaming and what takes place during that time period seems like it is way more than 20 minutes worth of time. I got calls last night at 1:10 AM and 2:15 AM for work. In both cases I had been asleep for about 20 minutes and in both cases I was already in dream state and I think it caused me to be all confused when I woke up to reality. I really don’t understand the point. Do animals dream also or is this just a function of humans? If so, they should figure out how to paralyze that part of the brain preventing people from dreaming so they can actually get some decent sleep.

So I heard and interesting “rumor” last weekend that I thought I’d clear up for everyone. Apparently I just applied for a new job to get more money from Software Technology (STI) because I expected them to give me more money if I threatened to leave (since that seems to be the only way to get a decent raise there). After I was in too deep, I decided to just leave and take a pay cut since my plan didn’t work. Let me tell you the real story. Yes, I was attempting to get more money but I never told my supervisor I applied for another job at any point until I turned in my notice, so they had no clue. I spent many nights putting together my accomplishments and job duties for STI. I put together a report of the average pay in this area for what I was doing and I was in the bottom 10% on average for more experience. I showed that I carried over 40% of the experience of all my fellow Quality Assurance coworkers. I wanted to have a meeting about my salary and honestly I had no clue what was going to happen. It was clear I had a very valid argument but I realize STI is a small company in the technology world and seeing how they are scared to embrace technology, actually paying someone to be responsible for what I was responsible is a stretch for them. I could tell you a lot of stories in regards to the knowledge of their lead IT people (which I’m not referring to the person I was working with) but really, some stories are so ridiculous the average person with any knowledge wouldn’t believe me. What really happened was the night I got all my stuff done and ready to turn in, I found a job online and pretty much had my resume ready so I applied just to see what would happen. It wouldn’t have taken much for me to stay at STI probably but I’m glad they felt there was no need to pay me for my work because in reality, after all work I do at my new job with being on call and profit sharing I took about a 30% raise over STI. I’m being paid to do what my job title is. My supervisor asks me what I think we should do to resolve problems instead of telling me what to do. I’m working for a company that isn’t afraid to spend money to make money. I started with 3 days less vacation I had after 5 years at STI. After 5 years where I am at, my vacation days will surpass what STI offers by weeks. I have almost twice as much sick pay per year. I get 4 more paid holidays per year in comparison to STI. Sure, the 401k isn’t as good and the health insurance is a little more but the option for real dental insurance makes up for that. I work for a good bunch of people and don’t have to deal with the drama that exists at STI because of their sub-par management staff and style. I needed to find a career and STI was only offering me a job (and the job I was doing wasn’t even the job they were offering me). I think based on this, the move was only the logical thing to do. So, sorry I have to spoil the rumors. I’m sure the management staff came up with this to explain the reason why I left they’re perfect company. It is really pretty sad, and even more sad they think people there fall for it.

So, since I’m moving soon I figured I’d ask for help from anyone that actually reads this. I’ll have no microwave and I will want one. I’m planning to buy one but I want to buy one that mounts over the stove and I have to wire the electrical before I can get one up there. So, if you happen to have a microwave just sitting around collecting dust, or know someone that just wants to throw out an old one, let me know. I’m not planning to pay for one that I’m going to use for only a little while but having no microwave seems a hassle.