Sheesh, again? It’s been like what… six months?

A week ago Monday I met with my manager for one of our biweekly 1-on-1 "how’s things going" sessions. It was during this session that she asked me if I would consider moving into a new position on our team.

This was the second such opportunity that had come along in as many weeks. Shortly after I received my degree, my manager sent out an announcement to the systems department (as is tradition) informing everyone of my new educational high watermark. One of the benefits of this is you get asked to take new jobs when they come around.

The first opportunity that was brought to me by my manager was in database and user interface development, and I politely declined. My skills (nor my interests) lead me down that path so I passed on it, never expecting a new opportunity to come along as quickly as it did. The second opportunity arose as a result of one of my teammates taking a position as a senior developer on the corporate website (the actual corporationname.com site… woo hoo!). With his impending departure, my boss felt I was the next logical choice to fill his shoes.

This position is… pretty high profile… to say the least. I would be the go-to guy for a lot of hot button technical issues related to our specific pensions-related web sites. Not only that, but I would be acting as a subject matter expert providing feedback on various web-development related projects. Ultimately I would be helping to shape the functionality and usability of our customer-facing web applications.

I took several days to think about it and discussed it with Cheryl. We both agreed it would be a good move and could have positive benefits down the road, ultimately opening even more doors for me. I told my boss that I would take the job, and I start it effective October the 10th. With it does come a bit of a pay raise and the benefits of having regular job hours. My predecessor came in at 7AM and worked until 3:30. I may do the same thing as I would avoid rush hour traffic both ways. I even can take the occasional work from home day if needed. This has its benefits. I get off the help desk too… no more phone calls from external users!

I’ll be picking up lots of new skills… Perl, HTML, SQL, navigating databases (as opposed to creating and maintaining them) and ultimately learning more about the Pensions business. It would not be my first choice for a career path, but the chance to diversify my skillset and get better pay were too good to pass up. I can always jump back to system and network administration later if I need to, or take a different position within Pensions if need be.

So, all in all it’s been a busy month. Graduation… new job… new perks. I’m looking forward to the changes and can’t wait to see what happens.

In Memoriam

This past Tuesday my Uncle Russ passed away due to various circumstances related to his health. I will always remember going to his house and visiting, as well as his presence at our family Euchre parties. He and his wife Kitty would always come over to play against Mom and Dad. I played many a hand against him myself. He leaves behind many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His loss leaves a large hole in our family that won’t be filled anytime soon.

Geek Watch 2005 Day 11: Nothing Better to Do

Tomorrow I leave for Canada to pick up Cheryl and Emma. This year’s Geek Watch is nearly over! Season 1 of Lost on DVD is under my belt as is Firefly. I think I’m full up for now

Sheesh.. talk about too much free time on my hands..

Geek Watch 2005 Day 7: Lost in the Details

For the most part, this year’s edition of Geek Watch has once again been about the movies, or more accurately the DVDs. Over the past few days I have managed to work my way through half a season of Lost, X-Men 2, and nearly all of Firefly (yes again). Oh, and the Family Guy movie too. Mustn’t forget that. All DVDs and no play makes Chris a dull boy. I’ve also managed to get in several sessions of the game which shall not be named. I’m starting to keep pace with level 25 to level 30 players, but I don’t have the time to level up my own stats that far. I just play training missions. Less stress that way. Less stress is good.

This fall is shaping up to be an extremely relaxing time. I’m going into the holidays with no school to occupy the lion’s share of free time so I am looking forward to spending more time with Cheryl and Emma. I picked up the Muppet Show Season 1 on DVD the other day and I am wondering what Emma will think of it. The Muppet Show along with Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons have been an integral part of my childhood and I am hoping she grows up to appreciate the offbeat humor as much as I do.

Regarding the exercise department, I have fallen off the wagon. Involuntarily though. Three days of Hurricane Katrina remnants dumping bucketloads of water on us, followed up by a bout with ye olde common colde have meant that I’ve been nearly two weeks without walking. Tonight I hobbled back onto my horse and huffed it around town for forty five minutes. I put in around a mile and a half. I am starting to notice that my clothes are fitting me better and Cheryl has already been asked discreetly "Is Chris losing weight?"

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees. Yes he is.

I’m wondering what I will do when winter gets here. I can exercise by walking around the seven floors at work but people look at you funny after you pass them for the fifth time in the hallway and you are progressively getting more and more sweaty. I have a treadmill here at the house, but walking on a treadmill is like listening to water drip. It’s torture. Feh. Something will come up, and I doubt it’s a gym membership. No thanks.

Since I’ve had time off from school it’s been my intention to start studying for my CCNA. With loads of free time you’d think I’d pick up a book or something. I’ve summarized the material and it looks doable, now it’s just a matter of getting my rear in gear and doing it. In all honesty though I am really starting to get burned out with the whole IT industry. It’s no secret that it’s easy for that to happen. The way that computers permeate our daily lives now, the demands on the IT professional just keep getting greater and greater. This has the nice effect of burning us out very quickly. I used to love to play with my computer. I used to love tinkering with it and learning what made it tick. Now I know all that. I know how RAM works, and how a processor works. I know how to rip one apart and rebuild it in a matter of an hour. There’s no mystery there anymore. With the mystery gone, so is a lot of the fun. And to be frank, learning more about Cisco stuff just doesn’t suit me anymore. The down side to this is of course that if I want to keep moving up I need to diversify my skillset. The CCNA is the next logical step and several career moves I’ve tried to make have shown me that I need to have it in order to move on. So my choices now are a) get my CCNA or b) keep doing what I’ve been doing and keep getting further burned out. I’ve jokingly considered taking welding or carpentry classes to try and break up things somewhat but I don’t have the money to do that. Plus, Cheryl would smack me if I did anything to take away time from us now that I am out of school.

I’m kind of stuck in neutral right now, spinning my wheels. I know what needs to be done to get back in gear but I am procrastinating on doing it.

Speaking of wheels, this Friday I leave for Windsor to go get Cheryl and Emma. I’ll probably be leaving after work and drive up. It should take me roughly four hours. Saturday we are coming back so I can be at the church on Sunday for my graduation party/excuse to throw a potluck. Our church likes to eat. Ironcially we haven’t had a potluck for awhile.

Oh, and my cardiologist appointment is tomorrow morning. I’m getting a heart ultrasound. I’ll make notes on it in my next post. I’m optimistic it will be OK because since I’ve been walking I’ve had no heart gulping feelings nor pagers going off in my chest. This is good.

Must go. Laundry needs doin’.

Geek Watch 2005 Day 2: The Ascending Order of Anal Retentiveness

Today’s Topic: Chris’ favorite television programming. Let’s discuss.

I do have to stand up and say that Prison Break is so far my favorite new show of the craptacular offerings seasonally foisted upon an unsuspecting public. Normally I don’t watch much FOX programming but this show has drawn me in thus far. The basic premise is that Lincoln Burrows is on death row for killing the brother of the Vice President. Lincoln’s brother Michael finds out that Lincoln has been set up, and through his (very) thorough examination of the facts finds that the best way to get his brother out of prison is to go in and break him out. (Suspend reality by inserting stereotypical government cover-up and conspiracy theories here).

Michael is a very intelligent man. He worked as a structural engineer for the company that did many of the major renovations for the prison. Armed with this insider information along with some insane strategic thinking, observation, and analytical skills he fashions a plan to get his brother out. He robs a bank, and thus begins his plan to break out Lincoln.

Naturally, prison is a very harsh environment. Michael manages to worm his way into the upper echelons of the subcultures of the prison to begin making a way out. He has thus far involved himself in no less than five different subplots, and just when you think things are going totally wrong you find out it’s all going according to plan. It’s part Da Vinci Code, part National Treasure, part Escape from Alcatraz and all "I Love It". Highly recommended. It’s currently number three on my Tivo season pass list. (Right behind Battlestar Galactica and Lost).

And of course I’m all-atwitter about the season premiere of Lost. There’s already a new teaser web site up for you to peruse. The hatch is open! Yay! The aliens are coming out to play! Yay! I don’t know what I’m talking about! Yay!

Battlestar Galactica started off very slowly this season but has made up for it in the last two or three episodes. The humans have found Kobol, returned the arrow of Apollo to the temple of Athena and have a general direction for the planet Earth. We also know that there are at least eight more humaniform Cylons in the fleet. As usual, the plotlines are criss-crossing at a feverish pace. It makes me happy. Happy happy happy.

On other fronts, Threshold appears to be interesting, as do Surface and Invasion. In that order too. I don’t hold out much hope for Invasion, but I didn’t for Lost either, and that whacked me up side the head like a gallon of forty weight. Surface I have the same *ehh* feelings about, but I’ll give it a chance. Threshold is the one that I hold the most hope for as it has Brent Spiner in it, and is produced by Brannon Braga of Star Trek the Next Generation fame.

But hey, I could always be wrong.

Topping out my other TV viewing addictions are as always, NCIS, NUMB3RS, CSI, CSI: Miami, Good Eats, Grey’s Anatomy, MythBusters, Family Guy, and The Venture Brothers.

Must go now. Must watch more TV since I have the time and all to be doing things like that now.

 

Geek Watch 2005

T-minus two days and counting. Roughly anyway.

Saturday morning we are leaving to go to Canada, and Cheryl and Emma will be spending two weeks at Nana’s house. In what has become somewhat ritual, somewhat sabbatical I will be coming back on Monday and living la vida bachelor for roughly two weeks. This usually involves staying up way too late every night, lots of time on the computer, playing the game which shall not be named, and watching tons of movies.

This year, I think I’ll pull out Mystery Science 3000: The Movie. Heck, maybe I’ll even try and watch the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since I’m done with school… who’s to say?

I don’t want to make it sound like I am looking forward to my wife going away. I’m really not. I’m just tapped out as far as vacation goes, and she has the freedom to go home for a week or two here and there. When that happens, the planets align properly and my inner geek surfaces, cackling evilly whilst casting odd glances all around. Cheryl may come home and find a full-size TARDIS in a secluded corner of the basement, replete with accurate sound effects and lighting. Oh joy oh joy.

On the downside of things, I am growing more and more grumpy at the mention of the cost of gasoline. I drive roughly one hundred miles a day as part of  my commute. With gas topping $3.09 a gallon in the past couple of days I am seeing my stress levels rising. Rumors on the street of it going to $4.00 a gallon by the end of the year are making me skittish. I already spend close to $125 every two weeks on gasoline. I don’t have the room in my budget to allow much more. If things get worse I don’t know what I will do. It’s not like I can just quit my job to find something here or move closer. My financial situation just won’t allow for it. *grumble* Besides, jobs like the one I have can’t be found close to where I live. I have to drive to the big city to find those kind of wages.

It’s not like I do a lot of casual or recreational driving either. I go to work and I come home. So it’s not like I can "drive less" as the President and everyone else are urging. If they start rationing gas I am going to be in a pickle as they say in the old country.

And of course the news has been filled with the chaos and anarchy that is unfolding in New Orleans. To say that things are FUBARred there is an understatement. I mean, who expected a cat 4 hurricane to slam into Louisiana and then the levees to fail? I’ve been reading stories all day about pockets of civility and pockets of anarchy. But the stories of people squatting in the streets to urinate or defecate are too much. Then there are the rioters… the looters… the total breakdown of society. People were saying that it’s "Lord of the Flies" out there. God help us. It’s insane.

Sheesh.