Back in the saddle

My, how time flies when you're not having fun.

In April of last year, we got the news that our center was going to be shut down, so we all got laid off. Bummer. A fruitless job search in the region turned up zilch, nada, nothing, but fortunately, I was able to get a transfer 120 miles south. Same company, same job, different location.

Suffice it to say the last 9 months have been… interesting. Car died, other car is dying, at work I'm busier than a cat with nine tails in a room filled with rockin' chairs, the rent we pay for the hovel we live in is way too high (we should be paid to live here, really)… and despite an actual raise, we still live paycheck to paycheck.

on the bright side: my wife found another place to work (you know, eliminating the risk of getting laid of simultaneously again).

As far as work goes: man, it's a pain in the you-know-what. Our department lost a guy due to budget cuts, and the remaining five of us have to spread the workload, 7 days a week.

And finding another job out here in the Midwest is not as easy as one might think (unless you want to resort to uttering phrases like "want fries with that", because there's always place in the fast food industry, of course…), especially if all your experience and expertise have been created on the job, instead of by spending time in a world of make-believe and getting your certificates and degrees like a good boy slash girl. Never mind experience – that kid over there has a degree! Kay, thanks, bye!

So we just muddle along. I'm working on an actual program to be sent out to other centers, to be combined with a database system I've designed (myself – the backup of the old system couldn't be transferred), and I started work in my own time to create an ASP-based CMS, again. I'm actually making headway, this time, having learned a lot since I had to start from scratch with the web-app at work.

So, yeah, I'm still around. Cleaned up the ole blog a bit, removed the profanity (my, I was an angry little man!), and got ready to pick up the pieces.

Anyone want a website designed?

Elegance

Because I have a thing for redheads, I'm a music lover, stop-motion is even more awesome with people, and this is done so perfectly…

Trying To Conform Can Bite You In The Ass

See for yourself.