• 27Mar 13

  Finally got a job

  after nearly a year of looking for work, i have got a job. It took going to Saudi Arabia, making some phone calls to people to get my resume looked at, but i got one.

   

  I am now a Safety Supervisor at Nabors Arabia, of Nabors Drilling International Limited. Been working there for two weeks now, doing a lot of the paperwork and training, but it's getting me fully up to speed on my responsibilities. 

  work long hours from 7 AM to 5 PM, 5 days a week, with a ton of traveling. 

  I was very happy to learn that the company i work for is the largest drilling contractor in Saudi Arabia, running some 36 Rigs, 32 on land, 4 offshore. Eventually they're gonna get me 5 rigs i'm supervising over, while helping out with the others whenever they need assistance. Each rig has a safety officer, and sometimes another safety supervisor who is passing through (rotational ones - i'm regular, so we tend to work differently). 

   

  The perks?

  the starting pay is excellent, even when considering that my company is notorious for paying the least, it's a great place to start. quite literally have been offered awful offers in the US.... offers i could not live on, i would be better served to work at Wal-Mart . So when i got the initial offer, i nearly fell out of my chair.  

  get 1 month paid vacation.

  relatively flexible work hours, depending on what's going on and what our client wants, and what - if anything - has happened on one of the rigs. Sometimes you get off a little early, sometimes we might be out all night. especially when i'm out at the rigs inspecting/watching the sites and going through the paperworks. 

  and for me personally... I get to get into Saudi Aramco camp (it's basically a little America minus the booze mostly), and i'm right next to the Saudi Arabian air base, where i routinely get to watch the Saudi jets doing their practice runs, seen everything from the F-1 trainer, F15, F16, Tornado's, C-130's, and the new Eurofighters. 

   

   

  While i'd love to share pics of me at the rig, i cannot. but you may get some pics of me traveling all around Saudi (minus the southwest part). 

   

  but anyways that's all that's been going on for me.

  seems my college book-knowledge of mechanical engineering, safety + plus numerous safety certifications have come in handy.  But i am EXTREMELY grateful for the opportunity and have been working very hard to catch up to pace, seems my bosses really like me, very prompt and i get the paperwork done very fast (i'm actually loaded up on paperwork projects that i can't finish everything, i just focus on one thing and get it done it ASAP). It's an industry i really really wanted to be a part of, way back when i was starting in college, and it's a job with a company that has operations quite literally all over the world (every wednsday we have conference meeting with the other rig managers around the world, i always get a kick watching the world light up! ) 

   

  I do really really hope to be able to play Bioshock Infinite soon. Also with all my traveling and staying on the rigs during the work week, i know i'll be catching up on my reading. Most likely won't have any good internet, so you'll be seeing less of me most likely. 

   

  anyways 

  -peace

  • Posted Mar 27, 2013 12:39 pm GMT
  • Category: News
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• 10Mar 13

  Looking at Aveline and Connor of the AC3 series

  NOTE: This gonna be kinda spoilerific blog about Assassins Creed 3 and AC3: Liberation.

   

  

   

  I finally finished Assassins Creed 3: Liberation. I guess it had the same sort of problem as Assassins Creed 3 had where it takes a very long time to get going. Except where AC3 had you playing as Haythem for a few hours then passing it off to Connor, AC3L just takes a long time to get going.

  Around half way to near the end of the game the dynamics of Avelines family start to come to the fore.

  ***SPOILER***

  I was shocked to find Aveline siding with the Templars then suddenly switching sides killing off the Templar lead who was *DUN DUN DUUNN!* your own doting step-mom!

   

  Connors story seems a little under baked, like there is clearly something important going on between Connor and his dad Haythem, and Connor questioning his own motives. To me at least as the player there seemed to be this unspoken thing with Connor saying to his dad you were right as kinda confirmed evident from the deleted soliloquy.

  This mudding of the waters seen in both Connors and Avelines morality between the principals of the Assassins and Templars is a welcome addition to the lore. Its why I find the characters and factions of like Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Mass Effect so fascinating and often make for my absolute favorite pieces of fiction.

  However Aveline and Connor both suffer from the syndrome of being good for being good. Though in Avelines case, just have simple understanding that shes still colored women in 1700s New Orleans when slavery pervades over the society, who is protected, educated and loved by her auspicious father. It is not a great leap to understand Avelines disdain for slavery, its not simply rooted in the beliefs of team Assassin (as evident from Haythem segment in AC3), and its personal.

  Ironically, Aveline and Connor I end up liking, but between the two, Aveline more so. In AC3:L you have the three personas Assassin, Lady, Slave, for the first time an Assassin really uses their guile, cunningness and whit. That isnt to say that this is offsetted by making Aveline a weakling, she is absolutely not in her assassins outfit, Im just saying I find it refreshing that Aveline is an Assassin who has a mind and often uses disguises well. They are times a little video-game like but if you have the bare minimum imagination you can fill in the gaps of what's supposed to be going on in each segment.

  Connor I find interesting, as a case of being a futile cause and making a problem much worse when you think your part of the solution. The whole point was as I got that Connor is a stubborn driven individual who has a cookie-cutter look at who the Templars are. And in this case in AC3 the Templars are kinda the good guys here, but that is consistently being over-written by Connors antics.

  When I look back at AC3, I remember the homestead that you run and the types of people who come to it. The female hunter, the woman who wants to get away from her abusive husband and live her life, the black couple who have a baby and all of them are not treated any differently or any worse. Contrast this with as Connor sees the last shot of a British ship in New York, he looks to his right at the dock and sees slaves still being auctioned off, also knowing that his tribe have abandoned their lands with irreparable damage done to them.

  Thats probably why I like Connor, hes not at all my favorite, but hes certainly more interesting than the overall dour Altair. And Avelines character and her stories twists from half way onto the end had me really engaged.

  

  For me, so far, the best Assassins go as follows  Ezio > Aveline > Connor > Altair. I like both games a lot and will likely try to platinum both in due time, especially the multiplayer ones before their communities dry up.

  Am I looking forward to Assassins Creed  4 : Black Flag? Sure am, little surprised that theyre going the pirate route, along with following Edward Kenway, Connors grandfather. My biggest lament is that Assassins Creed 3 : Liberation is its only on the Vita and that the Vita is not that great of a success yet. Im not one of those folks who bemoans for every other game to have a female lead, but Assassins Creed series is one of those series where its themes and universe is so wide open and diverse that it is a crying shame that Ubisoft hasnt at least tried by now to make a mainline entry with a female lead. But if the Vitas was a test of anything, it was a great success selling some 600,000 copies of the game. Pretty damn good for a game with a system install base of just over 2 million. So heres to hoping.

   I will very likely go back to try to platinum these games in due time, targeting first their multiplayer trophies before their communities dry up. Hopefully they'll have gotten the rest of glitches taken care of.

   

  One More Thing: the one thing I hated about playing the AC3:L? I hate those put the vita in front of a bright light that mini game is so broken, and I often found myself playing in a room that was too dark that I really wished Ubisoft had just give the option to get of having to play that mini game. Got incredibly aggravating at times when it wouldnt work. 

  • Posted Mar 10, 2013 9:12 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 4Mar 13

  PS Vita - One Year Later

  so i just realized that it's been one year since i've owned a Vita, and i figured i'd blog about my experience with it.

   

  first off lets talk games. When i first bought the Vita i bought Uncharted : Golden Abyss, Rayman Origins, and Escape Plan. As time has gone on i've picked up Sine Mora, Gravity Rush, Retro City Rampage, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Sound Shapes, LittleBigPlanet Vita, Playstation All Stars, Assassin's Creed 3 Liberation, and Persona 4 Golden.

  

  

  

   

  Persona 4 and LBP are the only two games i've yet to really start on, the rest i've alteast played through once. If i were to give my recommendations at my favorites? it would easily be Rayman and Gravity Rush. Both have been a blast to play, Rayman being the sort of game i can return to again and again. Gravity Rush i happily platinum'd and bought all the DLC for, and will happily return to to play through it again. Sound Shapes i can recommend if you are a musicphile. 

  The only game i've played on the Vita that i hated, was one that i thankfully only rented, which was Call of Duty : Black Ops Declassified.

   

  I opted to go the all-digital route with the Vita, using a 32 gb card. With it, i carry my entire Vita library along with 3 PSP games (Final Fantasy 4 Complete, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions), and 5 PSone games (Final Fantasy 6,7,8,9, and Chrono Trigger). With enough space to copy over my iTunes library onto the Vita as well. 

   

  It's other functions i don't really use, I don't use it for Netflix, nor do i really mess with the Near app apart from the novelty. I don't put movies on or shows on it - just takes up space. 

  looking to the future there really isn't a whole heck of a lot to get excited about. For me there is Tearaway, Killzone : Mercernary, then there are the ports of Final Fantasy X HD and if-it-ever-comes Zone of Enders Vita edition. 

   

  But am I glad I purchased it? Given the size and lack of games to choose from yeah i am. In one year i got 13 Vita games, and a portable device to play PSone and PSP games i've never played before? 

  I just hope the Vita can make a turn around, i'd rather it keep getting good software then simply be relegated to the PS4's second screen controller role. Here's hoping E3 will reveal some new and exciting software for the Vita.

  • Posted Mar 4, 2013 6:02 am GMT
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