Alright. Let’s do this. Full recap will come later, but a quick rundown on actual events to catch up on things goes as follows:
Still living(and enjoying) life in downtown Minneapolis. Still spending most of my free time indoors trying to follow too many interests. Have been a lucky Wii owner since launch. Not still working at Cingular(excuse me, The New AT&T) due to a boneheaded decision(back in March, regarding job duties) on my part that ran smack into the inflexible wall known as Code of Conduct(regarding said duties), despite my otherwise fantastic record with them(their opinion, swear). No hard feelings, and I’d even consider working there again if the work they were doing wasn’t so warped from what I originally signed on for(plus that whole scam of a union thing that is the CWA).
Right at the end of 2006, my Grandpa died at the hard earned age of 87(and to his testament, this was a couple years longer than the doctors had given him), resulting in a family trip to Michigan over New Year’s(which became a story in itself) for a tear filled ceremony followed by bearing the casket with my cousins under an appropriately overcast sky, and topped off with a grand banquet with which the relatives came together to reminisce. Even the weather remained on theme while headed back, starting with a steady shower while we were rummaging through my grandparents house, turning to a downpour heading up through the Lower Peninsula, and turning to a full on blizzard as we wound our way across the Upper Peninsula and into Wisconsin for the night, with a bright and sunny day following(with a gorgeous new layer of snow covering everything). Not to wax philosophic or anything, but it really was great little reminder that no matter how dark and gloomy it gets, there’s always a brighter tomorrow.
After leaving Cingular, I ended up with a couple months off while looking for work, given mediocre interview skills and trying to get people to look past aforementioned bonehead decision. Now running a nice little contract gig with a small ISP a handful of blocks away. After that’s done, who knows? Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll let me stay on, but otherwise its back to the hunt and the gig should help me get back towards some real tech support work.
Working downtown again is great. Easy lunchtime access to my favorite eateries(Andrea’s Pizza is a must for everyone!), downtown shopping, and even my apartment if I need/want to. Even bigger than that though is that it absolutely eliminates commute times. Working at Cingular involved getting up at about 7-7:30am and not getting home until ~7pm, pretty much 12 hours shot. Now, I still get up 7-7:30am, but get home just past 5(depending on any errands I might run), giving me at least another 2 (uninterrupted) hours to work with each day, and I’ve been amazed at how much more I can actually get done with that extra time, like give my site some attention.
I think that about sums up the important bits of the last year or so- the self-destruction of a good thing, tragedy, some sun poking through the gathering clouds, and now some cautious optimism.
