According to JD, the Blockbuster District leader over my store, Blockbuster employees are not allowed to let anyone else use the videos that we check out on our account. I say to that phooey! If its on my account, I’m still responsible for any late and missing movies, and how is it any of Blockbuster’s business what I do with the movies I rent after I walk out of the store? As a customer said, I could spin it like a top if I wanted. Of course, Jon pointed out that it is an employee benefit, so Blockbuster can determine the conditions of the benefit. On the other hand, I don’t get much benefit out of it unless I can allow my friends to use my rentals… In fact, JD’s last meeting with our store really left me with a bad taste in my mouth about Blockbuster in general. Lakemont has been identified as a “SWAT” store, which basically means a lot of stuff, gets stolen from us. And since 70% of theft is internal, we’re all being treated like suspects, getting new background checks (although I just had my hiring criminal background check two weeks ago…), and having to sign zero-tolerance theft paperwork, which I technically violated by letting a friend use one of my rentals. And I do feel a little bad about that, because it was not a thing of integrity. The honest thing to do would be to refuse to sign the new theft policy paperwork given my new understanding of the regulations. Of course, this was before Microvision hired me, and I did the rental thing after I got hired. It’s amazing how much job security changes one’s outlook.
I went to the Puget Sound Blood center today, since they called me a few days ago to schedule an appointment. It turns out they were off by nine days, since I’m not eligible to donate again until the 22nd. It was a fun drive, since it is such a beautiful day, and I was singing in the truck most of the way there. On the Trip, I also came up with an idea for my final project for photography. I’m thinking of doing either Night Shots or a combination of day and nighttime shots. Then I will mount them on white and black paper or cloth. In fact, I think I’ll start taking the day pictures now, in case I decide to use them.
The TRC is getting some great news as a result of winning the PNW regional. Sponsors seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Well, not entirely, but the ASB suddenly gave $5,000 unexpectedly, and a map software company looking for name recognition may do the same. At Chaplin’s, I’m going to ask him to talk to Subaru and Volkswagen about corporate sponsorships for the Club or FIRST in general. Things are looking good for us. And nationals are right around the corner. As is my brother’s graduation, Steel Conflict, and lots of school.
Speaking of school, I got this really good idea recently. One of my classmates in my Math class is doing some independent study of a math class not normally offered at BCC. I’m going to talk to her to figure out how she accomplished that, then ask my current professor, who I like a lot, if he might be willing to guide me through independent study of linear algebra (not being offered next quarter), and differential equations (being offered, but I’ve heard bad things about the professor). And maybe there’s some more math I can learn in the meantime. Then my scheduled classes will be tennis and soccer, and maybe photography’ still have to figure that one out. Dan is taking Photography II through BCC’s continuing education program, which reportedly has access to a much nicer darkroom. I figure I might as well get my art electives out of the way so I can take “real” classes (that is, toward a technical degree to be determined) once I get to the UW (knock on wood).
And that brings me to the final subject (I think), which is this Microvision Internship. For Larry, a mentor of mine, it was an internship that got him motivated enough to make most of his classes a breeze. He actually realized he was better at what he did than most of the people already in the field, and everything came pretty easy after that. I’m hoping for a similar experience here. But even if I don’t like the work, it will be valuable information for me to use in my search for what the heck I’m going to do with my life.