Remember that Job Interview? Well, since then I got the job, and negotiated my pay from $12 per hour to $15 per hour. I had asked for $35, claiming that $12 is how much telemarketters and waiters make, but it turns out that's how much my boss makes. So I went for $20, 'cause Kilree made $17 as an intern two years before he got his degree, and I have my degree already. They said it was still too much, so I asked for $17. They said they'd give me $15, and that was that.

Got my first paycheck yesterday. It grosses $960 and nets $735.38 which means I'm being taxed about 23%. Remind me to look up what QPP and EI taxes are. I think you only start caring about politics when you start making money, 'cause every month I'm going to be paying the government about $560. Now I want to know what the government is going to do for me in return.

I'm probably just being greedy. I net about $11.50 per hour or about $1840 per month, and I've determined I only need like $500 per month to "comfortably survive". In other words, barring a sudden change in my finances (for example, having a child), I'm set for life.

I think the company is very pleased to have found me. The first few days were a struggle, because I didn't like the way the software was designed, so I rewrote it, and they didn't like that. So the next time I found something I didn't like about the way the software was designed, I composed a long 4 paragraph e-mail about why the current design had problems, what I proposed as a solution, how that solution overcomes all the obstacles, and why this solution is better than all other solutions I've come up with. They seem to be happy with that.

Since then, it seems like word has gotten around that I'm "unusually bright for [my] age", "a rare find", etc. My bosses, and the president of the company are complimenting me pretty regularly these days. That's a big relief, because I was getting very frustrated over the first incident, and was thinking about quitting (how successful would a company be that makes its decisions on politics and keeping everyone in the office "happy" versus technical superiority, etc.) They say if I stick around, they'll make me rich. I signed a four month intership contract that pretty much locks my pay; we'll say what they'll pay me in four months.

If you want to hit me up at work, my MSN there is nebucastor@hotmail.com

I also passed Concertino in Blue yesterday for the first time in a few months. Maybe I'm starting to get my DM skills back.

I need to figure out a schedule that still allows me to regularly post here. With my previous "no plan" lifestyle, I simply run out of time before I get a chance to touch the blog.

This week is "Golden Week" in Japan, with 3 holidays in a row (constitution day on Tuesday, national day on Wednesday and children's day on Thursday). I'm told that people generally just get the whole week off, rather than have them come in only on Monday and then Friday.

Remember a few months ago I won a compiler contest? Well I finally got the prize (a t-shirt) just last week. Remind me to post photos.