Sleepy Shifts

Dear Blog,

It's 3:04 and I'm currently working at the Kentwood front desk. Yay me! Or not, depending on your (or my) point of view. Yay for the money, nay for the fact that I'm quite tired. Either way, this is a chance to catch up on a couple of days of missing blog entries. I can't recap day-by-day actions, nor do I plan to. I mainly need to enter something tonight to get back on track.

Classes are getting better. My mythology class is odd. Lots of talk, yet I take little notes. I can't complain, but I don't know if I'm actually preparing for midterms or just relearning things I know. And experimental psychology is only making me rack my brain because of the APA assignments we have. If I don't become a psychologist when I grow up, you can blame APA style format.

Being a RA is slowly getting easier. I've decided to approach the RA challenge is a way dissimilar to my academic process, yet very similar to video games. I am a n00b compared to the other "players", so I simply have to train and earn experience points (EXP) to level up to become a more capable RA. In some games, players have to grind to earn points fast. In real life, grinding isn't much of an option (creating mailbox stuffers is pretty close). So I have to find quests to earn EXP. Going on rounds are a nice "daily" quest. Aiding residents count toward random encounters. Enforcing policy is like battling lesser enemies. And keeping my door open means I'm always "logged in". Interacting with residents is like talking to combined NPCs and PCs (because they aren't players, but they aren't pre-programmed or static). I have no idea what level I'm aiming for, or what level I'm at now, but I'm still striving for more points. The more I do, the more I learn.

I'm also looking at buying the new Xbox 360 Slim. I can get up to $184 dollars by trading in my old console and accessories toward the $299 Slim. That's over half the price for a system that superior to my system in a few aspects. 1) It has a 250GB Hard drive compared to my tiny 20GB Hard drive, 2) it has a built-in wireless-N adapter compared to my older, external b/g adapter, 3) the Xbox 360 Slim is quieter, smaller, lighter, shinier, and safer to use (no Red Ring of Death) compared to me vulnerable and sometimes clunky 360. Do I need a new system? Honestly, no, but it wouldn't be a stretch to get one. It's more or less justified (unlike an upgrade to the iPhone 4 at this point in time). A small hang is that Gamestop won't get any Xbox 360 Slims for another few weeks, so I'd be without an Xbox if I traded now while the promotion is taking place. I'll sleep on it and decide tomorrow or Monday.

I was quite pleased with the news in this year's E3, though. Force Unleashed II, The Old Republic, Civilization V, Fallout 3: New Vegas, and a few other surprises and confirmations (individually owned player ships in The old Republic!). It make 2010-2011 feel pretty awesome, which is great because as an RA for the academic year, I doubt I'll leave my room much anyway.

As the morning rolls on, I find myself creating typos and running short on focus and interesting material to write about. I feel now would be a good stopping point (plus, "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift just started to play on Pandora, creating a nice segway here at the desk from blog to anything else).

Until next time!
-Daniel Golden