June 22, 2008

So Where Were We?

Well, it has been a while eh? I think part of that has to do with the fact that I was starting to subconsciously associate my blog with the XBox ordeal and that whole situation was just getting to be too much for me. To wrap that whole saga up... UPS got my XBox back and promptly delivered it to me. Things were not resolved anywhere near how I would liked to have seen, but it got to the point where I was so tired of dealing with it that I didn't even care anymore. I have my XBox again and it works. That's enough for me at this point.

Another birthday and Father's Day have come and gone as well and both were great (despite the Red Wings taking a dump on my life the night before my birthday). Christa and the kids came and met me for lunch at work on my birthday, which was fun for them. It always amazes me what a kick they get out of coming to my work. I have to admit though, from a little kid point of view the NI campus is probably pretty cool. Plus my team showed up right before them with cake, so that never hurts.

Speaking of work... I've been at NI for about a month now and I am really enjoying it. I am on the WSO (Web Support Operations) team and I am fortunate to be working with a lot of very smart, capable people. My manager Tom is also great. We seem to have a lot in common in regards to our general philosophies about how work should be and I think we are going to work well together. So far there has been a lot to take in and some of it can be a little overwhelming at times, but at the end of the day I am being out in a position to analyze and solve a lot of different problems and I think that is what I am best at so it should be good. I am getting close to wrapping up my first project, and when I am done the NI forums will never be the same!

I finally figured out how to blow most of my birthday/graduation/RotoTimes money. At first I was planning to buy an ultra mobile PC (think mini-laptop), but then I decided that didn't offer enough value to me to warrant a $400-$500 investment. So instead, on Thursday I ordered one of these instead. Now I'll be able to play games in HD (which should be a big improvement), and we'll get our TV channels in HD now which will be nice. It was a little more than I planned on spending, but I was able to subsidize it a bit by dipping into my RotoTimes money a little more than originally planned.

Which brings us to RotoTimes... I spoke to my editor earlier this week and it looks like I will be back with them this season. They are still working out the format they want to use, but he gave me all indications that once things are squared away on their end, that if I want to write for them again, they want me back. Beyond that I am looking to kick things up a notch over at TOFTT and I have a new little side project as well. So I'll have plenty to keep me busy from a writing point of view. Which is a good thing.

I think that is everything for now. Christa and the kids are heading to California in a couple weeks. I'm sure Christa is looking forward to getting away from our record heat wave for a bit, and the kids can't wait to see their grandparents. It is never fun having them gone, but it will give me a chance to really pour a lot of time into my writing so it should at least be somewhat productive if nothing else.

No comments: