2010 ~I'm a cynic now!...and I need a new job.~
So 2010 has come and gone, and quite frankly I'm glad that it's gone. Not to say that everything is bad, but if everything has a weight, all the bad would have catapulted the good off the seesaw and into the sky.
The good
But let's start off with the good, and the first thing that comes to mind is that I am an uncle now. Strange, happy, and...kinda normal feeling. And the other is that I got a steady job now, but unfortunately what little good that did turned into a shitstorm that I'll get to later.
There were some notable games, like Goldeneye 007, which is a very nice reimaging of the N64 game. Super Meat Boy, which is brutal platformer and I loved the Newgrounds original that it was based on, not to mention that Tofu Boy is an unlockable character. Amnesia is downright scary. What else... I guess that it.
The bad
If you think there was something missing in the "good", then you're right. The majority of people know that I am a creative person, pumping out videos on a regular basis. But unfortunately this year proved to be the worst year ever for my works with only a concept video and a work-in-progress draft released out to the public.
This is abnormal compared to the past couple of years where I've released about 5-7 per year on average, with only two videos released, I declare it the worst year of my life, and ultimately I'm blaming the job that I got at the beginning of summer.
I hate my job, and I'll say it loud
From the beginning of summer to the end of November I've worked as a night-shift electronic/mechanical assembler building what I call "Gray Coffins", working with a bunch of Asians who prefer to speak their own language (which is a Cambodian dialect) bundling and shoving cables into each boxes. Easily the worst job I ever had. When my group found out that my dad worked at another company that does business with the one I'm in, everyone asked why I didn't work over there. Besides a hiring freeze, one of them explained that the Chinese would throw their kids at that toughest job possible that'll treat them like shit, believing that it'll toughen them up and build character. Well they're dead wrong, I've grown to be more cynical with a more morbid sense of humor, and during that period of time, I haven't been inspired by anything, at least in a positive way.
I'd actually slam the drawers, kick the panels before securing them to the coffins, and some equipment was damaged as well. Was I actively trying to get fired? I won't lie, I was. If you've checked my Twitter postings, a good number of them references work in a negative light, up to the point of plainly stating in one tweet, "I HATE MY JOB". Now for the goddamn music this one guy always play, bad Khmer music, with female vocals that reaches that annoying high pitch and hangs onto it for far too long. There was this one cover of "I'll Show You the World" from Aladdin being played, and it actually was good. Yes, I'm surprised and I liked it, but the dipshit had to switch it to another song, which come to think of it, every song he's ever played always has identical annoying female vocals.
It came to the point where, similar to how Ultima VII contained some unsavory references towards Electronic Arts (while still being published by them), I've written in some of my references, albeit more obscure and requiring multiple layers of deciphering, something I won't talk about, because the project the references are in is still in progress.
Okay, a bit better, but it's like jumping from the frying pan and into a slightly cooler one
So I decided to jump to another department. Sometime in October, our hours were going to be changed, but only the department I'm in. One reason that was passed around was that too many people took too much overtime and the department was LOSING money. A limit was announced, but never truly enforced, so the hours are changed from five eight-hour days to four ten-hours. Sure, this sounds good on paper for me, but it ended up being WORSE.
Why? Let's put it this way: I am given a certain amount of energy points per day, go over that limit, and you'll have to pay double the amount. So yeah, ever since the change, I've been using the the daily points paying back what I used the previous days, leaving me with nothing at the end of the week.
So one day I blurted out that I wanted a department change, and I got it. Now I'm a day-shift tester and calibrator, and I actually like telling people that "I test probes with lasers". I even get to sign forms saying that I OK'd what I tested, so there is some real weight in what I do now. It's tougher in some ways, but it's in an area that I am use to being in. the people are also better too. Ultimately, I'll going to have to quit this job in the near future to pursue what I want to be, but at least I'll be leaving a much better note when compared if I stayed at the other department.
2011
Most likely the first thing that'll be released is a collaborative work that I've been working on and off since the beginning of 2010, and I would've finished it much sooner if it weren't for the job, but I'm happy that it's going to be finally released. 2011 also marks my fifth anniversary of producing videos, something that I'll talk about later. I'm also still looking a new job, graphic designer, concept artist, illustrator, sometime along those lines.
The good
But let's start off with the good, and the first thing that comes to mind is that I am an uncle now. Strange, happy, and...kinda normal feeling. And the other is that I got a steady job now, but unfortunately what little good that did turned into a shitstorm that I'll get to later.
There were some notable games, like Goldeneye 007, which is a very nice reimaging of the N64 game. Super Meat Boy, which is brutal platformer and I loved the Newgrounds original that it was based on, not to mention that Tofu Boy is an unlockable character. Amnesia is downright scary. What else... I guess that it.
The bad
If you think there was something missing in the "good", then you're right. The majority of people know that I am a creative person, pumping out videos on a regular basis. But unfortunately this year proved to be the worst year ever for my works with only a concept video and a work-in-progress draft released out to the public.
This is abnormal compared to the past couple of years where I've released about 5-7 per year on average, with only two videos released, I declare it the worst year of my life, and ultimately I'm blaming the job that I got at the beginning of summer.
I hate my job, and I'll say it loud
From the beginning of summer to the end of November I've worked as a night-shift electronic/mechanical assembler building what I call "Gray Coffins", working with a bunch of Asians who prefer to speak their own language (which is a Cambodian dialect) bundling and shoving cables into each boxes. Easily the worst job I ever had. When my group found out that my dad worked at another company that does business with the one I'm in, everyone asked why I didn't work over there. Besides a hiring freeze, one of them explained that the Chinese would throw their kids at that toughest job possible that'll treat them like shit, believing that it'll toughen them up and build character. Well they're dead wrong, I've grown to be more cynical with a more morbid sense of humor, and during that period of time, I haven't been inspired by anything, at least in a positive way.
I'd actually slam the drawers, kick the panels before securing them to the coffins, and some equipment was damaged as well. Was I actively trying to get fired? I won't lie, I was. If you've checked my Twitter postings, a good number of them references work in a negative light, up to the point of plainly stating in one tweet, "I HATE MY JOB". Now for the goddamn music this one guy always play, bad Khmer music, with female vocals that reaches that annoying high pitch and hangs onto it for far too long. There was this one cover of "I'll Show You the World" from Aladdin being played, and it actually was good. Yes, I'm surprised and I liked it, but the dipshit had to switch it to another song, which come to think of it, every song he's ever played always has identical annoying female vocals.
It came to the point where, similar to how Ultima VII contained some unsavory references towards Electronic Arts (while still being published by them), I've written in some of my references, albeit more obscure and requiring multiple layers of deciphering, something I won't talk about, because the project the references are in is still in progress.
Okay, a bit better, but it's like jumping from the frying pan and into a slightly cooler one
So I decided to jump to another department. Sometime in October, our hours were going to be changed, but only the department I'm in. One reason that was passed around was that too many people took too much overtime and the department was LOSING money. A limit was announced, but never truly enforced, so the hours are changed from five eight-hour days to four ten-hours. Sure, this sounds good on paper for me, but it ended up being WORSE.
Why? Let's put it this way: I am given a certain amount of energy points per day, go over that limit, and you'll have to pay double the amount. So yeah, ever since the change, I've been using the the daily points paying back what I used the previous days, leaving me with nothing at the end of the week.
So one day I blurted out that I wanted a department change, and I got it. Now I'm a day-shift tester and calibrator, and I actually like telling people that "I test probes with lasers". I even get to sign forms saying that I OK'd what I tested, so there is some real weight in what I do now. It's tougher in some ways, but it's in an area that I am use to being in. the people are also better too. Ultimately, I'll going to have to quit this job in the near future to pursue what I want to be, but at least I'll be leaving a much better note when compared if I stayed at the other department.
2011
Most likely the first thing that'll be released is a collaborative work that I've been working on and off since the beginning of 2010, and I would've finished it much sooner if it weren't for the job, but I'm happy that it's going to be finally released. 2011 also marks my fifth anniversary of producing videos, something that I'll talk about later. I'm also still looking a new job, graphic designer, concept artist, illustrator, sometime along those lines.