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Zhiv

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Everything posted by Zhiv

  1. The RX480 is an AMD card, but that model should rival the 1060 at half the price. We'll see. Right now focused on making money to pay bills. :P
  2. Zhiv

    Oh boy...

    I think I have a few options. Right now I'm looking at Swift Transportation. It'd be solo driving, 37cpm (cents per mile), and only out 10-12 days at a time. The other option Knight Transportation, is about the same except the pay was a sliding scale of 40-47cpm. The way that works, from what I understand is the few the miles, the greater the cpm. It all averages out, apparently. So, I'll be going home on the 22nd or 23rd, then dropping the CRST truck off at a terminal, busing to Richmond VA for orientation, then out on the road (if for Swift). But I will first have to mentor my current co-driver (he's going to Swift as well), for however long that takes. I believe I get a boost in pay for mentoring, but we'll see. That won't be permanent. Wish me luck!
  3. This would be for gaming. Coding can take place on my portable potato. But my current gaming rig (A SancT-770 that I bought from Astrus 10 years ago) is well--ancient tech that I can't even upgrade now without a Ouija board and a witch doctor. If I have to replace the mobo-cpu-graphics card anyway, might as well build a new PC. :D Just for reference, the RX480 is the latest 14nm GPU from AMD. It rivals the GeForce 1060, at half the cost. I don't see AMD coming out with anything better than that for at least 6 more months. But I currently have a GTX 750 Ti (nVidia) in my computer. It's a PCIe 3.0 card on a PCIe 2.0 mobo...so it's bottlenecked by the current CPU/Mobo. If I put it on a newer Mobo...I should be able to at least play SC on it at low settings and get 20fps...better than the 7 I get with my current setup.
  4. Zhiv

    Oh boy...

    All great advice. I'll admit. As for finding something with less hours on the road, that's the plan. It's damn near impossible to get reliable Internet on the road to even job hunt when you are in a team truck. A team truck is 2 drivers per truck. So the truck never really stops moving. I don't have a tether option on my cell phone, and can't afford the additional cost of a dedicated Internet device. But I am looking for a local driving job that will pay more, and afford me the time to be home more often. I love driving, the challenge of doing so, and the thrill of a paycheck. But 30+ days on the road is hard. And for the record, driving a truck for $20k a year is bogus. I should be making closer to $60k/yr. With all the time spent on the road (driving and sleeping), I'm making $2.84 an hour at my current job. At $60k a year, I'd be making $7.44 per hour. That's calculated at 28 days on the road, 12 times a year, 24 hours a day. Whether I'm sleeping or driving, I'm still away from home on my job. If I was making $20k a year at a normal job, I wouldn't complain, as much :) because I'd be home nightly, with days off each week, as apposed to 3-4 days off each month. Trucking is a hard job, yet necessary. The necessity of trucking that most folks don't get--if it's in your house, a trucker brought it to the store you bought it at. Whether it's a brick-and-mortar store, or the online one, it was on a truck at some point in it's life. And the stress of driving a truck that weighs upwards of 80,000 pounds (40T) at highway speeds on crowded streets is horrible. Add to that all the 4-wheelers (civilians in cars/SUV's) zipping about without a care about anybody but themselves--well you get the idea (I hope). Again, I do love my job. I just want to get paid for the work I do, as anyone would. And as such, I'm hoping that I can find another job quickly. There's at least 20 different construction companies near me that would need dump truck drivers, equipment haulers, etc etc. But I do have another company that's been recruiting me relentlessly that I can fall back on. But that's a last resort as it's one that is OTR (over the road). But at least they promise home time every 10-12 days, instead of 28-32 days. And here's the kicker. You say there's 90+ million people out of work. The trucking industry alone needs 50k drivers in the next year, as freight is increasing. But nobody wants to drive trucks. I do. But I have to find the company that works best for me. And the one that I work best with. Truck drivers are a dying breed. Sure, simulators like Euro Truck Sim and American Truck Sim have increased the desire to drive a truck, but most folks still see a trucker as a 3rd rate citizen--even worse than a blue-collar worker. Today's generations like things to be instantly-downloaded, quickly-accessed, and easy-as-pie or they don't want it. I don't see many folks from Generation X coming to help us drive the very stuff they shop for online. I'm passionate about trucking. Always have been. Always will be. Oh, and thanks for the links Astrus. I'll take a look at them in a bit. And thanks everyone for your comments and concerns. Always appreciated. :D
  5. Things for me have taken a scary turn in the past few days. Let's explain. 1. Job -- I'm quitting with the current company. Plainly, it's not meeting my expectations. Money isn't there. I've made more as a Domino's full-time Manager than I have in 9 months with this company. And the time-sink to balance 3 days home every 30 days is too much. 2. Family -- With the recent loss of my father, and my mother taking ill way too often, I need to find something more geared towards home-time. Plus my cat (whom I love dearly) has gone another hunger strike in my absence. The cat thing seems minor to some folks, but she's family. Especially to someone that lives at home alone. 3. Finances -- I was supposed to be making a minimum of $700 a week. It's been more like $300-400 per week. Not kosher. My latest pay stub says the YTD gross earnings is < $20k. Last year at Domino's, I made $15k. Yeah, a small improvement, but I've actually gotten further into debt being away from home. (As in spending money on fast food, clothes, showers (yes you have to pay for them), etc etc). 4. Fun and rewarding -- Maybe. It's fun to drive a truck. But the rewards are if you work hard and show your worth, you make less money. Seems strange, but that's how it works. Guys that run less than I do make the mega money. I just think it's because I'm not currently under contract, so they have no incentive to give me work. The others have contracts to pay off their school and such. You'd think if you worked hard, got the loads in early or on-time that they'd reward you with more work. Not so. 5. Staffing -- Every night, they send a message to the fleet via the Qualcomm we have in the truck saying "We are understaffed tonight. Please don't call unless it's an emergency." If you are having staffing issues, maybe it's time to either change your policies that cause the issue, or hire people that actually want a job. The staffing issue leads me to believe the company is floundering. I dunno, but might have something to do with the new 16-story building they are erecting in downtown Cedar Rapids.... These are the major issues. I haven't told them I'm quitting yet. I'm going to wait until my co-driver drops be at my house so I don't have to take a bus. But they aren't going to be happy. Well I'm not happy now, so fair's fair. :) I'm going to look for a new job closer to home, and start working on other revenue streams like programming, graphic design, computer builds/repairs, etc. Thanks for all the support you guys have showed me in the past, and hopefully will show in the future. I'm not going to disappear any time soon, so this isn't a goodbye letter. More of an explanation of what's new with me :D
  6. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($191.89 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.88 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Jet) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($94.88 @ OutletPC) Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($94.99 @ SuperBiiz) Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 480 8GB GTR Video Card ($279.99 @ Amazon) Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz) Power Supply: Corsair CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon) Total: $969.60 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-01 19:04 EST-0500 https://pcpartpicker.com/user/zhivotnoya/saved/dwVRsY This build is way scaled back so that I might be able to piece it together better. It's not extreme budget, but should work. Also I can upgrade it further in the future with an i7-6700K, nvidia 1080/titan, and even add water-cooling in the future. There are many reasons I need to do this, but the most is budget. Please tell me what you think. I could have gone cheaper on the mobo, but I felt a better quality now is better rather than doing it cheaply. MSI has a rock-solid community and support system in place.
  7. Eventually I'll load something of my own creation based on Linux...but for now, prolly just Ubuntu or RHEL. (both of which are completely different from each other as far as commands/etc).
  8. Well howdy, stranger! :D
  9. My new laptop won't win any speed contests, but is good enough to run code editing and such so I can keep my programming skills up while on the road. HP Spec Sheet Basic bottom-of-the-line laptop. Paid: $329 + $48 (service plan). Not that bad, I suppose. And when I get home, I can get rid of windows and install Linux for a better dev environment. Well, back to using this really slow wifi here at the Walmart Distribution Center in Houston Texas. :P
  10. I would edit the OP, but for some reason I can't. But you can check all of that off now that I'm on my second hometime.
  11. Yup. Despite the many rumors to my demise, I'm still alive. Got through orientation, got my new glasses (pic coming soon), and now just waiting on my Lead Driver (for over-the-road training). I need to get out there and start earning, as I have a tonne of bills and loans to payback. Plus I need some level of "normal" in my life. So here's the game plan: Bus Ride to Waterloo, IA for Refresher Course 5-day refresher course at Hawkeye Community College Shuttle ride to CRST Headquarters in Cedar Rapids, IA 3-day orientation get new glasses get Comdata card Get Lead Driver 21-28 days of OTR (over the road) training Get co-driver (mandatory for 10 months) 1-2 weeks of driving before I get home time (time off) So I'll update this topic from time to time...but yeah, still got about 6 weeks (at least) before I can focus on setting up my new trailer and such...
  12. If you saw the video, he actually lives in the US, so he got it from somewhere... :P
  13. Any new generation backgrounds?
  14. I'm using firefox and some of them don't show up. I'll give it a gander next time I see one not show up. Still trying to figure out why my Gravatar doesn't show up either.
  15. Just wondering if you've heard anything about some interest penny stocks as of late. :)
  16. really haven't paid it much mind. might be that the images no longer exist or something.
  17. How's everyone doing. I thought I'd drop by and say hi to my long time friends. Things are starting to look up for me. I'm in Fire Fighter I classes, as well as I take Hazmat Ops in the Spring. And my classes at the art institute of pittsburgh are going good, as well. I hope that everyone is doing good. Well, take care. --Zhiv PS: when I tried to enter the url http://www.sanct-guild.com/forums/ it dropped a virus warning (on mulitple browsers). Here's the description page on why. http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=en-US&site=http://www.sanct-guild.com/forums
  18. Thanks for your service, see you when you get back.
  19. lol. I had to stop playing MW3, cuz I was seeing campers in the shadows there for while...
  20. Zhiv

    Hey all

    Glad to see that you're getting everything that you wanted so far, Montau! Keep up the good work and don't forget about us... ;)
  21. Just thought I'd drop a note about what I've been up to. As some of you know, I've enrolled in the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. That's going nicely. Currently have a 3.8 GPA, only because I didn't pass a class because of work. About work, looks like I'll be dropping a bit of hours to focus on my personal life more. I'm really tired of working 72 hours a week for little pay (less than $3.00/hr when I do the math). So, I've talked to the boss and I'm hoping he'll accept my request to drop to a 40-hour week @ salary. Commission isn't for everyone. I've also been accepted and joined my local volunteer fire department. So I'll be going through the Firefighter I classes, as well as training to be a Fire Police Officer. Having somewhere to belong is a nice change to my life. And now I'm going to apply to be a DJ for a local rock station. This will be something I enjoy doing. It will only be part-time, and it only pays about $10/hour. But being a personality is what I like to do. All of this isn't going to take away from my classwork, only enhance it. I'll check in with everyone from time to time. Everyone take care, and I'll be in touch! PS: If you haven't subbed me yet on youTube: http://www.youtube.com/zhivotnoya
  22. Lol...joke site or real? It comes from that Sn4tchbuckl3r's Second Chance... http://www.peopleburg.com/
  23. Someone check this pilot's BAC... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpFFlOJgARw
  24. http://www.wbir.com/rss/article/165049/2/FAA-McGhee-Tyson-Airport-air-traffic-controller-caught-napping You have to read and watch to get the full story. Basically an Air Traffic Controller deliberatly slept while ON DUTY at a radar station in TN. OMG!
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