9:43 AM, Apr 29, 2006 
Wet Blanket
We lost our kickball game, because of a ridiculously well-hit three-run homer. We moved on, however, as a team, to Grinders. It was great to see everyone that played(and then some) make it for drink after the game.
I stayed in last night, and played the Secret of Mana for hours and hours. In doing so, I not only confirmed my status as a ridiculous nerd, but I also saved several dozen dollars, not going out. I'm going to the Royals game today, with a couple of friends, and then going on some kind of pubcrawl afterward. If it's anything like any of the other pubcrawls I've done in KC, besides the one I organized, it will probably seem less like a pubcrawl and more like a normal night out.
The big July work exercise is looming in the future, and ultra-preliminary proceedings just keep going. That's fine, but I really don't care how many engineers the OPFOR support battallion gets, or how true to life my partner's mockup of a fictitious space of land is. I don't care about who's coming, who's sitting behind the computers when we press start, or the authority and agreement that everything needs to go through prior to acceptance of the point of order to the terms of the proceedings. All of this information has absolutely nothing to do with my job, and frankly, I just don't care. Why should I?
Nevertheless, I need to be at arm's length, to I can be available to sit through mind-numbingly boring meetings, and ask people about things that will make my job less interesting, and reduce the skill required for it to the level of cognition displayed in small primates. I want to challenge myself, and it isn't possible with step-by-step guides on how to use a windows installer. I want to program. I love programming. I love coming up with solutions to problems midway through a visit to the bathroom. I want to ease the stupid inane crap-administrative work we have to do, as defense contractors.
I definitely don't enjoy stringing cable, setting up networks, showing people how to use the our terrible 1981-era software over and over again, or sitting through rah-rah sessions about how wonderful the National Guard is. I don't mind working for them- someone has to -but I see no point in pretending I'm excited while a room full of fifty-somethings yell "Hooah!" when they see a country music video about how freedom isn't free.
We have an army, and we need it. The Army needs training, and simulations are a great way to train. But, facilitating that training is so mindless and boring, it's like torture. I love computers, and I love linux. I love it. I love programming. I love seeing a problem, knowing I can fix it. I love seeing people complain about a process that doesn't make any sense, and knowing that I can ease their trouble with programming. I just hope that my company can find a way for me to feed my love of programming, because the rest of this job is getting really tedious and depressing.
Not to mention the 350 miles a week, behind the wheel.
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