opnet [OpNet] Work

[Conduit]

So who has a "normal" job?

Not including "superhero" or "supervillian", not self-employed, not an elite, but a blue collar job. Secretary, Call center monkey, etc.

I know it wouldn't make any sense to have a "regular" job if you can travel Mach 10 or lift 10000 tons, or calculate space shuttle trajectories in you head, but I was just curious.

I am currently sans employment. I've been looking around and this just came to me.

[kestrel404]

I was an administrator at a chemical research facility. Until I was layed off by Triton.

I got there the old fashioned way, then erupted. Being a nova did get in the way quite a bit, and is pretty much the reason I eventually had to leave.

Looking for blue collar work is actually a lot more difficult if you've got outstanding abilities. But it gets a lot easier to make big money.

[Ulysses Bailey]

Although my private practice falls under the "self-employed" category, I'm also the head counsel for the Juri McClendon Defense Fund. However, I'm not compensated for my services so that might not count either.

Sorry, neither are blue collar.

[Tarot]

I do what I would do anyway and people give me tons of money and other things if only I'll let them hold onto it. Its a GREAT life.

Why would you want blue collar stuff?

[Access]

I worked as a systems administrator for a few years after I erupted. It was very boring, but I was very profficient at it before I erupted, after eruption, it's just boring and my systems were pretty much invulnerable at that time. I've left the company now, and consult with them every so often, but my programs I designed are doing most of the work. So I did the "normal" job thing for a while, but now I'm with the Windy City Knights or whatever we've finally decided on.

[Conduit]

-Bailey-actually your private practice is close enough. I was really refering to the people who use their magnificant intellect to play the stock market. I just thought blue-collar would weed out the people who are all "yeah I run a small country, it's pretty cool"

-Bandwidth-I'll bet you pissed a lot of people off when you erupted. Being instantly better than anything they could ever hope to be probably didn't go well with your co-workers.

-Tarot-first, welcome to the boards. I saw a little blip on some OpNet feed a couple days ago about you and your eruption. You stuff looks pretty good. Second, I don't know if I want a blue-collar job, but I've always had one and I'm not really qualified to do anything else. I was training to be an electricians assistant before I erupted, while I erupted technically. I've gone to several construction firms, and landscaping companies, but they always turn me down. Probably liability and insurance reasons. I could easily have a serious accident. Or maybe because I'm a freak, we have some pretty closed minded people here.

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Conduit:
So who has a "normal" job?

The limited and unimaginative.

[Wakinyan]

Well I held a XWF job for one match. I have modeled for commercials. So basically nothing normal really and to be honest I am just about done with jobs and money they are just beginning to seem silly to me.

[Conduit]

Prodigy-Why is having a "normal" job limited and unimaginative?

[Ghostwriter]

I was an administrative aide and archivist for Project Utopia for seven years after I erupted, then I underwent T2M training, had a brief spell there, and then quit after some personal difficulties.

Before eruption, I was a librarian by day and a punching bag by night.

[Access]

Quote:

Originally posted by Conduit:

-Bandwidth-I'll bet you pissed a lot of people off when you erupted. Being instantly better than anything they could ever hope to be probably didn't go well with your co-workers.

Not so much really, then again I was interviewed when I was a Nova. Anything I did before eruption was through the school and I didn't try too much. So they knew what they were getting into before they hired me. Eventually most of them just piled their extra work on me since I could pretty much exist in the Opnet and accomplish anything they needed in seconds.

[Conduit]

Oops. My mistake Bandwidth. I thought you said you erupted afterward. Thanks to everyone so for the input.

:edit for being a bad typer:

[Access]

I typed it confusingly.

I became a sys admin for my university computing center. I took my finals, erupted the night of my finals, then got hired. So while I worked 2 different sys admin jobs, only 1 had me as a nova.

[Tarot]

Thanks for the props, Conduit.

Okay, I can see where you're coming from and I had a thought. Maybe the real problem you're looking at is scale. Maybe using you to work on a condo is like using me to paint corporate logos. There's only so much you can do to make a splotch of paint look like something more than a splotch of pain. Its boring. And it would take away from the time I spend doing the good stuff.

So maybe your talent is too big for the kind of crap those contractors are doing. Instead of wiring houses or buildings, maybe you should be looking at power grids big enough to put the lights on in whole cities or even countries. Give it a thought.

[Conduit]

I just think that I can't read Bandwidth. But I get ya now. Still I'll bet some of your classmates were all "What the hell, how come he gets cool powers, now I'm stuck in Sector 7-G."

You make an interesting point Tarot. I have been trying to stay out of the spotlight for the last few years. Maybe it's time to stop that. I am here after all.

[Miss Baby]

Do I have a job? Yes, I do.

I am a Lawyer, lobbyist, Singer, among a few other things.

As for my lawyer I have my own private firm, witch is largely in court fighting for equel civil rights for everyone, regardless of wealth, or special birth rites.

I lobby in many states and cities for the same goals.

And I sing in clubs, I could do bigger venues, but I dislike them.

[Preston]

Conduit, I am a police officer, though not a beat cop. Most times, that qualifies as a blue collar job. I was a police officer before my eruption and stayed on afterwards.

I am now the Precinct Captain for the GMBPD's Nova Enforcement Division, which is basically a fancy title for the conglomeration of several pre-existing departments (such as OCT, FCT, SVU, CCF, and GT) with a few novas added on to streamline the bureaucracy.

I am not suggesting you try and become a cop. I am pointing out that looking back at what you wanted to be may not be such a bad idea.

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Conduit:
Prodigy-Why is having a "normal" job limited and unimaginative?

Because if you have a node, if you are an erupted Nova, you are most assuredly not normal.

[Conduit]

My question still remains though Prodigy. I just want to understand where you are coming from. I'm trying to get in the minds of Novas who have been around longer then I have. Also I'm trying to stimulate the genius' for the benefit of all the new eruptees.

Preston, you also make a good point. I'll have to take that into consideration.

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by Conduit:
My question still remains though Prodigy.

And my answers are crystal clear. You are Nova. Mind needs to follow body.

[Access]

What if your hobby follows your mind and body, but the job sucks to pay the bills? That's about what I use to do.

[Conduit]

I'd have to disagree with your answers being crystal clear. Yes I understand that Nova's are not normal (depending on how you look at it) But you said, "The limited and unimaginative". My question was, why is that so? Why is a nova having an everyday lame sort of job make them limited and unimaginative. For that matter, why does anybody having a job like that make them limited and unimaginative?

[Hugin]

Conduit, I speak of Novas and Novas only. Baselines acting and thinking like baselines is quite acceptable.

You, me, and our brothers and sisters in the world are not baselines. Thinking like them and acting like them is limiting our potential and acting in an unimaginative way.

A baseline is limited. Their reality defines their choices. You are a Nova. You are not limited. You define your reality. You decide what choices there are.

Why would you need an 'everyday lame sort of job'?

Food? Choose not to eat.

Shelter? Choose not to need it. Or make your own.

Clothing? Why? Ignore the elements.

If you feel the need to barter for goods, then find some way that isn't the norm. You are a Nova.

[Wakinyan]

Terats always say "choose" not to be like humanity. Keep in mind however you can choose anyway you like. One of the little perks about being whatever you want is the choice to live however you like.

You want to work at McDs knock yourself out.

[Tarot]

Quote:

Originally posted by Totem:
You want to work at McDs knock yourself out.

Yeah, there's nothing quite like minimum wage and repetative tasks.

Have you ever worked at a McD's? I have. Serving up that poison ought to be outlawed.

[Conduit]

Totem summed up my position pretty well. Although I would like to add one thing. I think that if you put enough passion behind it anything can be great. If you enjoy lifting boxes or chasing after spoiled children then that is what you should do. I enjoyed being an electrical assistant, putting foot after foot of wire in a wall. Although making an entire house by hand or creating the worlds greatest painting may be rewarding, I found that simple repetative task rewarding.

Also note that I've said that I don't really want a crappy job. I was just asking. I just want to get out and see more of the world. I've spent enough time cloistered away in the desert. I just thought I would see what other people are doing.

P.S. Happy Halloween everybody. I think I'm going to go as a statue (sorry bad joke)

[Ashnod]

Quote:

Originally posted by Totem:
Terats always say "choose" not to be like humanity. Keep in mind however you can choose anyway you like. One of the little perks about being whatever you want is the choice to live however you like.

That is because we are not human by default. This is the "norm" state. You can choose to be like them. When a Terat says "choose to be unlike humanity," what is really being said is avoid making the choice to be nothing more than human. This should not be interpreted the way you are defining it, which is making the choice to not be human.

We are not human. We do not make the choice to not be human. Just remember, if you choose to live like them, you still are not one of them. Unlike them, you can undo your decision, and be something far greater. They, however, can only be what they are, for better and for worse.

[kestrel404]

We can also only be what we are, for better or for worse, Ashnod. The scale changes, but we still have limits.

Prodigy is right, though. Novas shouldn't be wage slaves. I don't even think baselines should. Not that most of them have much choice in the matter.

[Walker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Alchemist:
The scale changes, but we still have limits.

Given sufficient power, time and dedication it is possible to transcend those early limits and any limits after that can surely be transcended too.

Prodigy is right when he says that thinking and acting in the Baseline manner limits Nova potential. Ashnod is right when she says that no matter how much a Nova follows the Baseline path they still can never actually be Baseline.

To answer your question, Conduit, I do not have a job, normal or otherwise. When I stopped being Baseline I stopped the normal jobs. When I fully realised the implications of what not being Baseline meant I gave up the non-normal jobs as well. I might work towards a goal but that is a different kind of work to what you mean. It's not a job or profession.

[Tarot]

Got to go with the walking dude on this. Maybe that's because the "normal" jobs were only to pay for my food and art supplies.

I know this old guy that runs a deli. Nice. Usually cut me some slack when I was low on coinage. When we talked about art he always said this weird stuff like, "if you understand potato salad you understand the mind of god." Maybe that's just his way of saying you have to have passion to create. But when you have passion for anything don't you leave the "normal" behind?

If passion isn't normal then maybe the things we do with passion aren't going to be normal either.

Is there something wrong with that?

[Preston]

Alchemist, don't work for the money. Do the work because you want to. It is a particular freedom that novas find easier to enjoy than most people.

Conduit, how environmentally independent are you? If you could, would you be interested in working in close-orbital space construction and repair? Several governmental and private projects could use someone with your abilities and skill sets. If interested, contact me and I can put you in touch with a variety of interested parties.

[Lemmy Chillmeister]

Connie, you're a fucking walking, talking God of the 'Net and you wanna do average schmoe work for a living?

Okay sweetcheeks, you come over to me and the Princesses place for a weekend and we will slap the base out of your line and get you thinking like the Techno Sprite you're ass is supposed to be.

Better you just fucking take what you need than grub in the dirt like a fuckin' monkey.

[Wakinyan]

For all their bluster all they are saying is be not like those we come from. It is our choice wether that is a lowely choice that is beneath us doesn't matter one bit. Don't be governed or swayed by anyone but yourself. Your Ascendance is your own.

While I sure as hell won't pull the human line anymore that is my choice you need to make your own.

Don't let the Node-Nazis, Religious Nut Job Zealots or Utopian Do Gooders do it for you.

[Tarot]

Quote:

Originally posted by Totem:
Don't let the Node-Nazis, Religious Nut Job Zealots or Utopian Do Gooders do it for you.

You're a bad consumer.

I like that.

[kestrel404]

Preston, it's not the 'wage' part of 'wage slave' that I have a problem with. Though given what that wage generally is (for both baselines and novas, for opposite reasons), it ties quite effectively into the other half.

[Walker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Totem:
For all their bluster... Don't be governed or swayed by anyone but yourself. Your Ascendance is your own.

Oh absolutely, that's what us Node-Nazi's are saying anyway...

Put it this way, even if you choose to stay close to the Baseline path you will probably save yourself a lot of heartache if you remember that you can't actually be Baseline.

Lemmy Slap the base out of your line Man I'm gonna have to remember that one.

[Jager]

Quote:

Originally posted by Totem:
For all their bluster all they are saying is be not like those we come from. It is our choice wether that is a lowely choice that is beneath us doesn't matter one bit. Don't be governed or swayed by anyone but yourself. Your Ascendance is your own.

While I sure as hell won't pull the human line anymore that is my choice you need to make your own.

Don't let the Node-Nazis, Religious Nut Job Zealots or Utopian Do Gooders do it for you.

Yep.
Try to remember that if you aren't the one making those choices you are going nowhere and learning nothing. Only you can teach you about yourself.

[Neil Preston]

Conduit, what do you need a job for?

If you don't need food or shelter, you've already got the old world beat. Think about were you want your mind and soul to go, and your ass will follow.