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It seems that with the end of summer competition having drawn to a close, things are returning to normal again. With that, many congratulations not only to Durem for winning the competition, but to everyone who participated. You all played well. Whilst Gambino was 4th in the end, even my own team will admit they had fun, and that's what's most important. cool

Well, I've got a part time job at a local cinema so that certainly helps money wise. The only concern is that as a projectionist, whilst I do work in the booth and run the projector, I also have to prepare the reels for presentation, which is a harder job then it might seem. To go into a bit of an explanation, it begins when the movie arrives at the cinema. Due to the 35mm film being the size that it is, movie companies will ship the film in metal octagonal containers which house the film in parts. A bit like when you take film to be processed and the negatives are cut into segments to avoid having the whole reel of negatives together. Well, we have to line up and tape each segment together (They're in 15-20 minute segments, so the longer the movie, the longer this takes). The completed reel is set on a drum and on average, is about 4 1/2 to 5 feet in diameter. We then start feeding from the center of that reel, through a series of guides which will carry the film to the projector, and after being fed through, goes to a second drum, positioned under the first (btw, each film weighs about 60lbs).

Another fun job is changing the projector bulb. twisted I say that, because it's not as easy as one might think. Each bulb, at around $8000US, needs to be replaced either every 2000 hours of use, or when it burns out. Well, the only one I've replaced thus far was due to the 2000 hours. But in order to replace it, you first lock out the power (This simply means going to the circuit breaker panel for the projectors and shutting off all power to that projector, and then padlocking it to no one will turn the power back on as you're working (And for good reason to). Then, you have to go put on a chest place, neck guard, face shield, arm guards, and industrial rubber gloves, before grabbing a new bulb out of storage (still in its box) and return to the projector. Why all this work just to replace a bulb? The reason is that the bulbs used, are Xenon bulbs, just like modern headlights on cars typically are, since they're brighter then halogen bulbs. But Xenon gas, which is what is inside the glass casing, is highly explosive. Meaning if I wasn't wearing protective gear, if the bulb were to explode, let's just say I wouldn't need to worry about anything anymore, because I'd have large amounts of glass sent through my body at tremendous force. (This is also why if a car has Xenon bulbs, they tell you not to touch the bulb with your hands, but to use gloves, in order to avoid the oils on your hand causing an explosion. twisted

Another thing to bring up here is that I can't understand why one a forum where I moderate the Role Playing section, people can't just "Agree to Disagree". I'll admit that the forum in question is an English-speaking community, and that some members don't have English as their second language. Some of those people have been getting help with their English skills either from myself, another member of the forum (Not Gaia, just so there isn't any confusion as to the forum in question), or from other sources, and have shown incredible progress in the past few months. The problem for some though is that others have seemingly not shown any interest in improving their English skills, as well as concerns with members posting one-liner comments, which they feel is a nuisance because they have to work off of very little input. So the other day, the trouble went from boiling, to outright explosive levels when members started complaining about those issues. As you may have guessed, those who fit into the categories in question, took the bait and started firing back in defense and insults were thrown all over the place. Indeed, one member started using his native language of Spanish to insult another member, without thinking that the member it was aimed at, would know Spanish.

So in the end, because it was getting so far out of control, I spoke with the site owner and we decided that the best option at that point, would be to add another Role Play section to the forum, but that it would be restricted access. The Advanced RP section, requires a user who is interested, to ask the site owner for permission to join the new section. He then contacts me to have me write a review of the user and how they have done since June, or when they joined if later on. I then at the end of the review, state whether the nomination should be approved, or denied. The user is then informed by the owner as to the result. However, anyone who is approved or denied, is also notified that if they are denied, they can re-apply at another time, and those who are approved, must maintain the very standards they asked for.

There you have it. A short, to the point jpurnal entry for you all to enjoy.[/sarcasm] lol