Umbral Echoes Blog

I forget sometimes how much I truly miss the White Wolf guys.  And more than that, I never realized before tonight how much they miss me — even some who never actually worked with me, like the Icelanders.  Anyway, I won’t be overly mushy here.

I drank from about noon until 9pm today.  It was grand.  I won a game of Liar’s Dice, I had more to drink than I planned (but less than sick-level), and I nearly made out with my former boss Chris.  The last was for a good purpose, I swear — he nearly convinced two hot chicks to make out with each other.  Also, yet again I made a name for myself by taking things a step too far.  Apparently it’s okay to joke about rough sex, but making hair-grabbing and thrusting motions is over the line.  And by over the line, I mean just just right.

Anyway, some media below the cut.  … Hmm, actually I’m tired now.  So, pictures and a bit of video of Chris deepthroating a corndog to follow tomorrow.  Check back.  🙂

Tonight I partied with the White Wolf crew. Highlights below the cut, in video format. WMV, so sorry for those of you on Macs. I also breathed fire, but I do not yet have that video. And Justin Achilli made me drink horrible Icelandic vodka. Well, okay. He only asked me if I wanted in. Which, was the same way that I ended up guzzling and spitting lighter fluid. Man, lighter fluid burps are non-tasty.

Oh, also… the guy in the last clip LIT HIS FACE ON FIRE. But I didn’t catch that part on video. 🙁 He got extinguisher to the face. Which I got later that night, too. It does not taste good.

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The past few weeks have been a time of endings, and new beginnings for me.  In both my personal, and my professional life.  But as they say, that which does not move, dies.

After having talked to some of you, and doing some soul-searching over the weekend, I’ve decided to accept the workshop candidate position at White Wolf.  The programming test shook my self-confidence — I didn’t know that my lower-level programming skills had gotten that rusty.  Had I taken that test 6 years ago, I’d have mopped the floor with it.  And I’ll get to that point again.  I’ve sent an email accepting the position at White Wolf, as well as one to the owners of my current company, OneBookShelf.  It will probably be another 6 months at least before I can make the transition, but that will give me time to hone my skills.

Well, apparently my initial impression was correct.  I am damn rusty.  Too rusty, in fact, for the White Wolf programming team in my current state.  I have been given the option to move into what is essentially a paid internship program, or possibly web work.  The internship thing doesn’t pay great, and with other goings-on, the pay rate will make the budget exceedingly tight.  Going into webwork isn’t exactly what I want to do, though there will be mentoring opportunity there as well, and learning of new technologies.

So, I have some things to consider over the weekend.

Today I did the in-person interview with White Wolf, which consisted of several more technical/coding questions, which I had to answer on the spot.  I honestly didn’t do as good as I think I’m capable of, but I didn’t bomb it, either.  One of the questions I later figured out how to answer, with a leading question from Cary.  One which was apparently supposed to have been given to me, but wasn’t (maybe because they’re trying to shorten the interview process).  I’m mad at myself for not seeing the solution earlier, but ah well.

Tomorrow I should have the final yay or nay result, but I’ve got high hopes after having talked things over with Cary and getting some feedback on my answers.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I passed the the programming test!  There is still an interview, which will involve technical questions, so my success is not guaranteed (there’s also the question of salary even if I do get the offer), but it’s looking good.  🙂

Turned in the test a few minutes ago. Wasn’t able to figure out the last problem, but the rest were cake. I only hope that I can get partial credit, and pass based on that. I’m pretty disappointed in myself — it was the sort of problem where I knew how to do it logically, but just couldn’t put that into code for some reason. I’m pretty nervous now, and I expect that will carry over until tomorrow since I doubt the test will get graded before the end of the workday today.

So now I play the waiting game and try to prepare myself for the possibility that I won’t get an interview.

EDIT: Oh, and also thanks to everyone who wished me luck!  It’s much appreciated.  And if only I could spend blood points or Quintessence for a bigger programming dice pool. 😉

Tomorrow I’ll take the programming test for White Wolf.  Wish me luck!  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about it (if I don’t pass, I don’t get in), but I’m also confident that as rusty as I might be with C++, I’ll at least pass it.

I ended up going with the Dell after all, and it arrived earlier than expected (which was a pleasant surprise).  So far I’m impressed with the performance — it seems to be at least as good in that regard as my desktop computer.  The 2 GB of RAM helps a lot in that regard.  But I won’t bore you with details of the new hotness.

Last night was the White Wolf company Christmas party, which I went to after the company-only part was done.  Every employee got either an XBox 360 or PS3 (their choice) this year.  Last year, everyone got a Wii.  Ah, the benefits of working for a gaming company.

I also got a chance to sit down a little with Mark Kalmes, head of programming for the World of Darkness Online MMO.  We’d talked before, but I was off-limits due to a gentleman’s “no poaching” agreement between our companies.  Since I’ve made public my desire to go to White Wolf, that’s no longer an issue.   So we felt each other out a little bit — he got a feel for my programming background, and I got a feel for how the development process is organized.  I’ve always gotten along well with Mark, and he told me he’s been given only glowing recommendations for me from everyone he’s talked to, so the programming test is my only real hurtle.  I’m confident that by the time I take the test, I’ll have worked the rust out of my C++ skills, and will verily kick its ass.

In other news (from which this post gets its title), it’s like Spring outside.  Seriously, I can go out in a t-shirt today — it’s in the lower 70s.  wtf?  (Not that I’m complaining, mind you.)

Today I talked to the company owner Steve about my desire to eventually move to White Wolf.  The reasons are many — more challenging technology, more of a mentoring environment (where I’m at, it’s all self-learning), and more than anything I just feel at home with the White Wolf crew.

It went as well as can be expected; Steve said that the news was “really crushing,” but he understood where I’m coming from.  I did make it clear that I haven’t decided 100% on this yet, and also that White Wolf will have to pay me at least what I’m getting now for me to be able to make this move — and also that I won’t leave OneBookShelf until things are in a state where that’s not a huge blow to the company.

And in unrelated news, I’m giving my Alienware laptop to Kirstie, and getting a new Dell one for myself.  The specs are about the same, though the Dell will have a bigger hard drive and a slightly better video card.  And of course right after buying that, I saw a tablet PC that I’ve had my eye on for a while on sale for 30% off.  But for anyone interested in that kind of thing, click here and configure the system, then enter code NB3075 for 30% off (brings it down to about $770, or $720 if you pay with PayPal).  Actually, I could cancel the Dell order I suppose.  Hrm…  I needs go spec a system and compare.