Work shall set you free

Woohoo, I got a job!

More of a gig, really. The important detail is that I've got a 6-9 month contract with Dell via Spherion (a staffing agency) to do call center work. I go to (paid!) training next Monday, and there you go.

In New Hire Orientation today, I almost could've played buzzword bingo with the nice HR person- headcount, headcount, headcount. But she is totally awesome and very on the level, so it's all good.

In order to get this job, I had to pass a background check and take a drug test. It wasn't a blood or hair test, either- use your imagination, or not. I've never had to pass a drug test before, and those of you know me as the teetotaler will no doubt get a kick out of the notion. All in all, the whole experience was pretty surreal. And yes, I passed with flying colors, and no, I didn't have to study.

This sort of thing really gets my libertarian hackles up. It's right there with the common regulations surrounding alcohol. I grew up in New Orleans, with its notoriously loose notions about who can drink when and where. I've never had a full drink in my life, and I've tasted an alcoholic drink fewer than a dozen times. Regardless, I still have culture shock when I hear that places close at 2AM, or you can't buy something on a Sunday, or you must store an item in the trunk as opposed to in the chassis of your car. (My dislike of legal shackles shows in my game design. As a player, I want no limits on what I can do.)

There's evidently some sort of sporting game event going on that Austinites care about, so Go Local Sports Team and/or College! (This is a humorously contemptuous statement. Deal.)