I've been away for awhile.  A decade, I guess.  I was on HN before it shut down.  I've been floating around since.

I don't want to sound like a snobby Lord of the Rings fan... but...

What the hell, the entire movie was an alternate timeline?  Time travel plays a large role in Star Trek, but I'm not happy with the entire movie setting up a completely new canon.  This makes a sequel difficult because they either have to rejoin the timeline or just ignore traditional canon and run with a new franchise.  I would have preferred if the movie ended with the alternative timeline ending/rejoining the traditional one.  Star Trek has done it before...

I suppose wiping out the movie and resetting history at the end would have pissed off most of the audience though.  People had connected with the characters stories to that point, and to re-rewrite the canon at the end would have thrown people off.  It seems the producers were working really hard to widen the appeal of Star Trek, and they did a good job with this movie. 

Thoughts?

Normally I'd just use the "Let's Bitch About Our Jobs" thread, but this is special.  After being told my long hair is unprofessional (even though it isn't listed in our appearance guidelines) I refuse to get a haircut before Thanksgiving and so, I will be quitting after clarifying the matter with my boss's boss.  I've got load of other issues, this is just the kick in the ass I need to finally quit the job I've hated for so long.

First off, I work as a campus safety officer.  I'm a student who locks buildings, yells at drunks, and prevents the school from burning down.  Oh, and I write parking tickets when I'm bored or angry at freshmen.  I'm good at my job.  I've been here almost 2 years.  I've got tenure over my current boss.  Which brings me to "all the reasons I wanted to quit before today" -

1. My boss is a prick.  He threatened to fire me for not saying "hello" in the morning when he got in even though I was coming off a 12-8AM shift and he never made an attempt to say hello to me either.

2. My boss told me I couldn't ride my bicycle while at work unless I was certified.  Then he let his favy fave employee ride a bike without a word.  The two officers that can use a bike while at work never actually took a certification course.  They had a stupid two day training course and didn't have to participate in any drills they didn't want to.  So, yeah, they're more qualified than me to RIDE A FUCKING BICYCLE....

3.  My boss loves strippers.  Okay, I do too... Anyway, another employee (female) was at a strip club in Toledo one night with some friends.  They were there for half an hour when my boss walked in with his wife.  I don't mind that.  I guess they have a healthy, open relationship.  I still find it funny though.  He asked her the following Monday to keep it between them, but she'd already let it slip to everyone before that meeting.

4.  The new uniforms we got suck.  Hate them.  We look like Smokey the Bear fucked a nazi.  They don't breath very well either. 

5. "Team building exercises."  Whenever someone wants to do something stupid with a large group of people, it is referred to as a "team building exercise."  I had to go to Cedar Point with 90% of the staff and I wasn't even paid.  Now, the response we got was that with the price of a ticket and food, we were getting a better deal not being paid.  Fuck you.  At least when I'm paid, I can determine how to spend MY money.  I would never choose to waste my fucking money on Cedar Point if I were given the option.  The real kicker.  I was force to go, but other people who didn't have excuses were allowed to skip.

6. My boss has been hostile to me for a while.  Ever since the "hello, good morning, may I blow you" incident, my boss has been really mean to me.  And by that I mean, I get shit while everyone else gets unicorns and puppies.  I tried to tell him that anyone on campus has the power to access some of our wireless surveillance cameras.  He immediately went, "AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS!?!" ...like I did something wrong in ACCIDENTALLY FINDING THEM.  Cock sucker... I was trying to do him a favour and he acted like I'd broken a fucking rule.

7.  I missed a shift accidentally because my grandma (who's now dead) was in the hospital.  There have been people who've skipped numerous shifts on purpose and not gotten fired.  Today, in the meeting about my appearance, he seemed pissed off that I didn't know I was working and would rather spend time visiting my about-to-die-grandma rather than rushing in to work a shift that would have been over by the time I got there. 

8. My hair.  I have long hair.  I plan to cut it.  I plan to cut it over Thanksgiving break.  That's too long a wait for my boss who got his haircut from a 50's movie.  There are girls in the office with long hair.  It in no way affects my performance.  It is simply "unprofessional" for a man to decide that he doesn't always want a buzz cut. 

9. They want the safety dept. to be a police force.  We're not cops.  They seem hell bent on pushing the dept. in that direction though.  I'm 100% opposed to this.  If they want to do it, fine.  Do it, but I'm not going to start acting like I'm here to shove rules down college students throats.

Tomorrow I've got a meeting with the head of the Student Life Offices.  I will clarify the ruling on my hair with her.  If it is unacceptable and it needs to be cut before Thanksgiving, I quit.  Oh, and losing me will be another set back to the dept, but I'll post on that later... 

Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will be speaking at my school this Sunday. -  Link

At the end there will be time for a few questions.  I'm hoping to get a chance and I want to make it good.  My current favourite - "Are you aware that if we cut the 2007 defense budget by one sixth, we could afford to by every man, woman, and child in the United States and Nintendo Wii?" 

Any suggestions on a good question? 

I need to corrupt a word document of mine before I email it.  Is there and easy way to do it?

I recently bought a 250 gig USB external hard drive.  I needed to free up some room on my computers internal hard drive.  Anyway, I've transfered all the data (85 gigs) onto the drive and now whenever I need access to those files, I just turn the drive on and hurray! 

My problem comes when I no longer need to use the drive.  Rather than simply shutting it off, I use the Safely Remove Hardware function.  Problem is, half the time I get a message telling me that the disk can't be stopped right now, and I should try again later.  This is frustrating when I'm getting ready to turn my computer off. 

My question is, is it safe to simple shut my computer down then shut off the drive?  I don't want data loss, but I'm not sure what to do.  I don't want to just disconnect the drive, or put my computer into sleep mode.  Leaving it on all the time is hardly ideal either.

A guy who I've been friends with since starting college is trying to get me fired.  Tonight he reported me for drinking (something that can't be proven) in an attempt to get me in trouble.  I work for campus safety.  If I were to get caught drinking, I'd be fired in an instant. 

We've always had a rocky friendship.  Tonight we had a couple arguments at work.  By the end of our shift I'd thought he'd forgotten it all.  Apparently not.  At 1 o'clock I got a knock on my door from a lieutenant that works for campus safety asking if "a Captain Morgan" could be found in the room.  My friend had apparently tipped off some people that he'd seen a bottle of Captain Morgan in my roommate's fridge.  I didn't get caught with anything, but now I've got to talk to my boss to let him know that this guy has a vendetta against me. 

The great thing is, I've got loads of witnesses who will back me up on this, including the RA on my floor.  I consider this nothing less than a complete betrayal of trust.  Monday morning, when my boss comes in, I'm going on the offensive to defend myself.

By the way, this board could totally use a "flamers corner."

Well, I've cleaned out my savings and my dad is pulling $800 out of nowhere but it looks like I can pay off this semester's tuition and register for classes next semester.  To make me feel better about not really being able to pay for college, I would like to hear some stories about how you all managed to get by (cost saving measures, working two jobs, etc...)

http://64.72.122.138/~net/Line_Flyer.html

Draw lines and watch a little guy on a motorcycle ride on them.  Can be kind of addicting.

#1 Laundry Rooms -

When someone leaves their clothes in the machine and you need to use it (all others are being used), is it okay to remove their stuff and use the machine?  Do the rules differ depending on if it is a washer vs. a drier? 

Example 1:  A few weeks ago, on free laundry day, all the washing machines were full.  Two were actively washing clothes, and the other was sitting full of clothes that had been washed but not removed.  I simply waited for that person to come and move their shit.  It was over an hour before they did and by then the other cycles had stopped and the machines had been emptied.  My clothes were already done.  If I'd wanted, could I have taken their stuff out of the machine and set it aside?

Example 2:  Two hours ago I put some clothes in the drier.  20 minutes ago I went to pick them up.  I found them piled up on a table.  I'm kind of pissed because I didn't think it was considered proper to move someone elses clothes like that. 

Maybe I'm wrong though...

Too much stupid at HN is making my head hurt. 

Oh, and I'm Tweek.  I can't buy any beer for you, but I am close enough to Wisconsin to get plenty of cheese.