THE MINT CAFE

[antiquexray]

Just out of curiosity, if im in a virtual lounge with a virtual cocktail at a virtual 9am, does this make me a virtual alcoholic?!?!?!?

Only if there is a virtual need.

PS I live in S. MN but spend a lot of time in OSH (EAA you know). Wife's a cheesehead, I'm a flatlander.

[Zone]

LOL,
kewl .
Well im a cheecehead now, im from CO so i'm a mountain boy, and I just moved from Eagan MN about a year ago, so I have a little "swampy" in me, and Im a die hard Bears fan, so i'm a flatlander sports fan.
Hmmmmm, does that mean there is a virtual treatment?!?!?! lol

[npap]

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[antiquexray]

LOL,
kewl .
I just moved from Eagan MN...and Im a die hard Bears fan, so i'm a flatlander sports fan.
Hmmmmm, does that mean there is a virtual treatment?!?!?! lol

I live outside Albert Lea, grew up 60 miles W of Chicago, and not only a Bear fan, but Cubs as well.

Virtual 12 step treatment (I prefer Stair Master).

[Zone]

hmmmmmm,
im not at all good with web stuff, I made the photobucket account, but I have no clue how to use it.

[Zone]

I used to be a cubs fan, but since the last strike, i refuse to watch baseball. So I became a Blackhawks fan.

[Zone]

[url][/url]

Did I do it right?
There is a kewl package called "Klonedit" that allows you to transfer format to linux icon format. So I kinda made my Linux machine a Nuclear Bio-Hazard environment.
Anyway, thought you would all like a peek, this is the coolest desktop I have ever have. I also made Icons for the booted devices like CD/CD-RW, I put cd's in them so you could see the active icon on the desktop.

[npap]

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[npap]

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[scorp123]

Hmmm ... OK, everybody arm yourselves with your alcoholic drink of choice.
Make sure you got at least 0.5 promilles in your blood stream and are unfit for driving.
Otherwise I'd have to count you as being sober with your intellect and good eductation
still in control over what you say or won't say.
Can't use that here

I need you people slightly drunk so you're tongue and fingers are faster than your brain
... But not too drunk please

It's time for some philosophising

... my drink of choice:
Glendronach, 15 years old single-malt Scottish Highland whisky ...



wonderful brown colour, sweet like caramel in the first second, it gives you a burning
hot sensation on your tongue immediately afterwards which quickly fades away just as swift
as it came, followed by a taste that gives you a slight hint of smoke going down your throat.

Wonderful.

A more professional review can be found here:
http://www.mcgees.org/malts/glendronach15.html


So what are we philosophising about?

Some days ago I got an invitation from a local small company. They want to hire me.

On one hand they'd be really really close to where I live. They're almost next door, only 5 minutes away (with the car).

But on the other hand they're really really small. Only 140 employees. Right now I work for a company with way over 100'000 employees.

Also, they were pretty much straightforward and told me that they cannot pay me what I earn now. It would be several thousand $ less per year than now. But they'd offer me far more possibilities to expand beyond my job, and the fact that they are so close to my home would mean I would have more spare time to spend with my little family (we have a new-born baby daughter since September 2006 ...)

On the other hand I'd have to give up my current job at a prestigious company of world-fame ... I joined in September 2000, so that makes almost a little more than 6 years of experience now. But then again there is this stupid trend that they move jobs away from "high income areas" such as Europe and North America to "cheap" regions such as Eastern Europe and especially India; whether I like it or not but there is the chance I might soon be yet another victim of a "workforce reduction". What then? I have a little daughter to feed!


What would you do?

Knowing that your job possibly might be axed anyway in the next few months would you "abandon ship" and go for that little company next-door, even if they can't pay as much as the previous employer, given they offer other compensations and other possibilities for you to advance your career?

Or would you sit and wait on that "Titanic", knowing full well that there is this big chunk of ice waiting in the dark waters ahead of you and that there won't be enough rescue boats when it happens ... but hey, you're at least loyal and you're really getting paid a really good sum of money way above average ... Abandoning the ship before it really hits the iceberg may have negative financial consequences ... and we all have a mortgage to pay, haven't we?

These questions are really bugging me now

Suggestions?

[Fragadelic]

Long term stability is far more important than short term gains unless there are many short term gain opportunities there where you are.

If you know your company will be outsourcing, then your decision should be quite easy.

Calculate how much you spend on fuel per year and compare that to how much you would spend only driving 5 minutes. You might be surprised to find you might actually be ahead at the end of the day.

[Zone]

not me, im dancing with her now, and even played some Q3 with her, LOL

[scorp123]

Calculate how much you spend on fuel per year and compare that to how much you would spend only driving 5 minutes. You might be surprised to find you might actually be ahead at the end of the day.

Totally valid points. So given that I will spend less on fuel I might actually save a lot of money nontheless. But this big-ass company I work for also offers the possibility to work from home from time to time. Wouldn't be able to do that in the new working place. But then again they're so close to my home so that I could be there in 5 minutes any time I wish.

Oh well. I had my interview today. No idea what they think about me. I think I was trying too hard to hide my nervousness and so they may have perceived me as ice-cold ...

What really got me puzzled is that they had me do a test on a computer: This stupid thing was asking me hundreds of silly questions (it took me 45 minutes to get to the end of that quiz!) such as :

* "I deeply care what others think about me!" (depends I guess?)
* "For getting compliment's I'd do anything necessary" (Depends whose compliments we are talking about ???)
* "I am better than others. Always!" (I sure as hell ain't!)
* "I am always right" (I wish!)
* "I know when I make mistakes, it's not necessary to remind me of it" (aren't we all human in some form? )

The funny point is this: You only could answer with these options:

++ strongly agree
+ agree
- disagree
- - strongly disagree

There was no "moderate" or "middle" answer. confused? They said they test "social skills" with that quiz. They want to know how "social" I am by asking me stupid questions but don't allow me to give moderate answers that would be socially acceptable, forcing me to extreme ends of hypothetical situations?? How "social" is that??

Oh well ... If I don't get any phone calls anymore from them I suppose I won't need to worry anymore about this job ...

[npap]

My dear friend Scorp,

I had to drink half of your 15-year-old stuff. So since I am not in a good position and I'm not inclined to give you an upright answer to your predicament, I'm afraid I will have to abstain for this session.

Right now, I will expand on my new unstable thesis bellow.
I can only quote Confucius right now: " Man rike bicycre. Onry when moving ahead maintain equribrium"


THE FOURTH AND FIFTH DIMENSIONS
PART I
Everyone knows that the fourth dimension is Time. But what is the 5th dimension?
Acording to Einstein's 13th Axiom,

# The limit
e = \lim_{n\to\infty} \left( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right)^n

# The sum of the infinite series
e = \sum_{n = 0}^\infty \frac{1}{n!} = \frac{1}{0!} + \frac{1}{1!} + \frac{1}{2!} + \frac{1}{3!} + \frac{1}{4!} + \cdots
where n! is the factorial of n.
# The unique real number e > 0 such that
\int_{1}^{e} \frac{1}{t} \, dt = {1}

Now, if we apply this mathematical prototype to the Theory Of Past Life Regression, which is stated in the following theorem by Archemides of Syracuse:

Στην φειλεκαιθείαν φιλίποτον αύτην δεσμότην ου αξιδέψ την του των Συρακουσών Πιθανότατα. Μετείχοντες τας γωνιας κλεισεων ωπτικής ον ουτω τον οποίον ελέθκει, και στον του αύξωντος ότι πλούτο ΤΑ ΕΡΓΑ κατέχειν εις τας τούτου ζοών προτίστων πολλών.
Arhemides of Syracuse,2354 BC.

We can now see that it is feasible and it may easily be applied to the 5th dimension or Regression to a previous Life

In our second thesis we will see the practical aspects of the theory, and we will reveal the new Mint 4D/5D version that is soon to be released by the developers of the new- generation of LinuxMint.

[Fragadelic]

I work close to home and I go home at lunch to take my middle son to his afternoon class.

Being close to home is a huge plus for me.

Lots of companies are doing "personality" tests to see how well you would fit in with the rest of the group and to weed out deviants - lol.

You'd be surprised at how much they can tell about you with those.

[npap]

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[antiquexray]

What would you do?

Highest amounts of stress and uncertainty is inversely proportional to happiness.

Happiness equals fewer ulcers and spousal arguments and more quality time with family, friends, and Linux Mint.

[Fragadelic]

You are wise - let me guess, you are NOT a politician - lol.

[antiquexray]

You are wise - let me guess, you are NOT a politician - lol.

Let's breakdown the word "politics."

Poly = many.
Ticks = blood-sucking bugs!!!

[Zone]

that is the most perfect definition I have ever seen, this is going in my mental "bash politicians" storage bank, lol