I just upgraded my blog software to WordPress version 1.5 from version 1.2.1. This is a test of making a post, and checking that it syncs to my LiveJournal properly.

I just booked a flight from New York, NY to Niamey, Niger for this summer.

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

EDIT: I should note that I won’t be there all summer, just two weeks, but what I meant is that the trip is in the summer. End of July, actually.

If you check the trackbacks for my last post, you’ll notice that someone stumbled upon my blog via a trackback on Gaping Void, read my latest post, and commented that I probably don’t have a great bedside manner. He said something in his post about learning a lesson, and I think I have.

I need to be outwardly less negative.

Things are going great for me, I think I get along well with the people around me, but often I let too much of what’s not going well dominate conversation. This has actually been an ongoing focus, and I think it still needs a bit of work.

I also must admit that that post was a bit of an experiment. It was what I acutally thought, and would have commented normally, but I was intensely curious what far-reaching effects commenting via trackback might have, rather than leaving my usual short comment on the other person’s blog. Hugh never responded to an email from me, but one trackback post on a controversial subject and there it was. A reply.

It’s fascinating.

I read this little comic / marketing blog called Gaping Void. I think the cartoons are amusing, and Hugh has some really interesting stuff to say about marketing. He would probably say he’s talking about the Cluetrain/Hughtrain. Whatever.

I’m inclined, therefore, to think that all this hoopla about limited edition t-shirts with his cartoons on them is a big experiment by Hugh. It’s all about the conversation, he says. His readers picked the shirts.

Woohoo.

I bought some business / blog cards via him not long ago, because I thought it would be nice to have a quick way to give people my contact info. Only one design available wasn’t immediatly offensive (which is kind of his style) and I picked it. I would rather I had more input on that than this whole t-shirt thing. Why the exclusivity? I just don’t get it… Who cares if he picked some other company. He could just as easily have picked CafePress and not had to worry about volume.

This strikes me as gimmick all over. I don’t know what he’s about. I like the cartoons, I like the blog, but I’ve got too many t-shirts already, and the designs that were picked aren’t really all that compelling. Blargh.

After careful consideration, I’ve decided to quit working on my Ph.D.. I’m frustrated with it, and I don’t think it’ll really lead me to the kind of work that I would find gratifying. Furthermore, whether I could get a job that pays in accordance with the time I have invested and will invest is highly questionable.

I was informed recently that due to an aging population of electrical line workers, there is an increasing shortage in these ‘linemen’ and furthermore, that most applicants are disqualified due to criminal records. They make good money, some over $100,000 per year, which is probably $40-60,000 / yr more than I could probably make using my BSE degree right now. Furthermore, it would be a lot of physical and outdoorsy work, which I think I would enjoy.

Is there an off chance that I could die of a horrible electrical shock? Sure, but then, I won’t have to change the name of my blog much. I could change it to ‘highvoltageshocking.com’ or ‘literallyshocking.com’. Anyway, I’m off to inform the department and my advisor of this decision. Wish me luck!

For those of you who didn’t notice, this was an April Fools post.