My passion for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has made me a realize a long-departed interest in gaming, and I’ve spent some time scouring sites like Gamespot and IGN for the latest gaming news and views. My next large present to myself will undoubtedly be an XBox 360, but that is a long time coming. I wouldn’t feel right plopping down four hundred bucks for a game machine right now, not when my car sounds as though it’s about to explode, I have rent and bills to pay, and I’ve yet to figure out a wedding gift for my mother and her boyfriend. But anyway.

I stumbled across a preview for a game that, at first glance, is quite similar to GTA. It’s a real-time strategy game that is based in New York City, and, as the main character, you wander around completing missions. This is where the similarities end. Where GTA offers the innocent gamer the opportunity to do things he/she probably would never do in real life, such as steal cars, shoot innocent bystanders, and deal with corrupt cops, among other things, Left Behind: Eternal Forces lets you “join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil” as you use prayer to build up an army to take on the AntiChrist, the head of UN-lookalike Global Community Peacekeepers. The game, though involving some necessary deaths, will not include blood so as to retain its ‘T for teen’ rating, and unnecessary killings result in a lower score. Compare that to GTA, where you actually gain respect for killing rival gang members.

Can you guess that this game is targeted at the Christian community? Looks pretty interesting, but I’ll stick with my ‘Los Santos’ boys, thank you very much. That is, unless the promised multiplayer capability really does offer the opportunity to control the forces of the AntiChrist. Now that’s intriguing.

Yesterday, on a whim, I typed in the name of the marketing company for which I worked about a month or two last summer, just to see if anyone I knew had made it into management. Yes, I had fallen for one of those pyramid schemes, the ones wherein new college graduates are recruited to sell or market a product door-to-door for as little money as possible. On paper, it looked amazing: the opportunity to make $45K your first year of working, flexible hours, no day the same as the day before, potential to reach management within six months, et cetera, et cetera. I was interviewed by the head honcho, an intense woman, probably in her mid-twenties, who was dressed impeccably in a very expensive suit. After the usual questions - “Tell me about yourself,” “Why are you interested in this position?” and “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” - she took me into the back room, which was full of excited twenty-something-year-old people. I remember the thought striking me that those people all seemed strangely happy and enthusiastic, but I took that to be a good sign.

I was asked to come back the next day for an eight-hour interview. Yeah, you read that right - eight hours. I should’ve seen the warning signs right then. And of course, no one told me to wear comfortable clothes, so I show up in my suit and stilettos only to be dragged out the door by one of the so-called ‘leaders’ for an incredibly long day of going door-to-door, from business to business, trying to gain or retain Verizon customers.

I honestly thought it would get better. Once I was put out on my own, I figured I had the flexibility to create my own selling style, and actually did pretty well - but the fact that work was commission-based hit me hard. I made approximately $120 my first week, putting in nine- to ten-hour days. And this is without benefits, mind you.

I pulled out about a month later. The place seemed too much like a cult to me; many of the people working there seemed, well, almost brainwashed, if I can say that. As in, they seemed devoid of logical thought. One of the young women who trained me actually freaked me out when she was talking to potential customers; she got this wild-eyed look and leaned forward as she shot out her spiel. Honestly, if I were a customer, I’d wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her. And as her trainee … well, damn. Even on our ‘business trip’ to Lynchburg, VA - classy, eh? - she refused to talk about anything but work, even at dinner, or when we were chilling in the hotel room after an extremely long, hot day. Let’s face it, she lacked personality. Hell, she practically didn’t seem human. But this was the same for quite a few people working there.

Well. You live, you learn, I guess. It was certainly an experience!

But anyway. As I was saying, I looked up the company yesterday, just for fun, and guess what I found? Surprise, surprise. Dozens of comments about the company and its CEO on web sites dedicated to revealing scams and rip-offs. Ha. Apparently head honcho woman had had problems with legality in the past, and has actually changed the name of the company three times to avoid pursuit. One former employee said, “I became … aware that we were ripping people off. When I would voice these concerns, I was hushed and reassured that everything was protocol by legal standards. After reviewing [a worksheet for sales reps from AT&T] I realized that I had been committing fraud.” Well, it’s true. I saw numerous people flat-out lie about what we were marketing, and it was just awful.

It’s amazing to me that people can get away with things like this, but head honcho woman certainly has. While I was working there, she drove a BMW, flew down to Miami every Thursday for a long weekend with her boyfriend, and came in with a new, expensive suit every day. I’d like to be in her position one day, but not if it’s the result of exploiting my employees. I have too much pride for that.

I’m just happy that I now have a secure job with benefits and a set salary.

The current state of the market has taken a toll on my mutual fund investments. Being only 23, I figure I can afford to invest in aggressive growth funds because, though they show much more volatility in the short-term, over a long period of time they have the potential to show high rates of return on principal. However, I’ve already gotten into a bad habit that just adds to my stress level: checking my balances daily. Obviously this is not the wisest decision. I’ve seen both funds go down over four percent in the past week, and it’s killing me! And because of this, it’s little reassurance that undoubtedly the funds will - fingers crossed - regain and surpass those losses eventually. I curse the advent of online banking. Bah.

I have one minor expenditure coming up in the next week, which would be buying a dress for my mother’s wedding. I figure I’ll limit myself to $120, and check out noted department stores rather than name-brand boutiques. After all, I succeeded in spending only $70 for my junior prom dress, and only $25 for my senior prom dress, and they were both stunning. Deals can be had; you just need to know where to find them.

It’s day two of no smoking, and I already feel as though my lungs are less heavy. I guess that’s how to describe it. Singing in the car en route to work this morning, I found my voice has gotten a bit clearer, but maybe that’s just my imagination. I’m still tempted to put the $5 I’d spend on cigarettes each day into a jar, but jars don’t pay interest, so maybe that’s not such a good idea. It’d be nice to see a wad of bills growing daily on my desk, though!

This week:

• groceries $67.12
• movie and munchies $19.50
• gas $25.00

That’s a total of $111.62. If it were a pre-budget week:

• food and drink $82.50
• cigarettes $30.00
• gas $25.00
• movie and munchies $19.50

Grand total: $157. That’s already a savings of over $45. Man, it’s so much better when you can see it in front of you! And I get paid on Friday. That just makes me smile even more.

Meg surprised me last night by taking me to an honest-to-goodness drive-in movie theater out in the boonies of New York State, around Middletown and Fair Oaks. I was thrilled! I mean, I’ve always said that if there were a decade in which I’d be the most content, it would be the fifties, and what exemplifies the fifties more than a drive-in movie?

It was a beautiful night for it, too; warm, but not too warm, not too many bugs, and lots of stars. We saw The Omen, which I found to be pretty good and quite riveting - and yes, I did jump once. Of course, I’ve never seen the original film, so I can’t compare the two, but for a remake, this one seemed pretty decent. A few random thoughts: I love Liev Schreiber. That was one freaky-ass nanny. And how cute was Damien when he was trying to look evil? Aw.

Oh, FEMA, FEMA, FEMA … you’re like the Cleveland Spiders of the government. [Writer's note: this baseball team finished the 1899 season with a record of 20-134, arguably the worst record ever for a professional team. Just a little baseball trivia for you there ... ooh, the random knowledge I keep in my head!] A federal audit has found potentially $1 billion in fraud due to the post-Katrina handout of $1000 cards to hurricane victims, largely due in part to people providing inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete information to the agency, sometimes multiple times. Where did all the money go? So far, all signs point to divorce lawyers, sex change operations, strip clubs, champagne, Hawaiian hotel rooms, and even a vacation to the Dominican Republic. Well, hey, as long as the victims didn’t suffer too much …

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The Welsh have done it again. In an effort to create a ringtone that would repel young people, a firm has created what they say will be “bigger than the Crazy Frog” ringtone of a couple years ago. The trick? Only young people can hear it. Dubbed “Mosquitotone,” it is indetectable by anyone older than 25. Those poor school administrators. As if they didn’t have enough problems with neds.

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A Nebraska man held on charges of sexually assault of a child was convicted of the crime, but doesn’t have to go to jail. Why not? He’s too short, sayeth the judge, claiming that undoubtedly the man would be unable to survive in prison. Instead, the 5′1″ pervert was given ten years’ probation, and made to promise that he would throw out his collection of porn. Now there’s justice for you. God bless America!