Safe from the Losing Fight

It’s been a long week in that I’ve been juggling both trying to get a contract jump started and ironing out the final details of the move. The movers will be here Monday (or perhaps Tuesday), then I have a nice leisurely three day drive out to California (leisurely because last time I took the 25 hour drive in two days). However, today I have “off,” from the move stuff at least. Hopefully I’ll also have the chance to go hang out with some friends today for the last time for a while.

Despite the busy week, last weekend was pretty special. Elaine came into town, for one thing. Second, she also had organized a birthday party/farewell party for me, which one of my friends was kind enough to host. It was great to see everyone, catch up, and touch base with them before I take off to the land of fruits and nuts. It felt more like a going away party than a birthday party, save the most excellent Justice League “Happy Birthday” banner. (The hosts have a four year old son…)

Anyway you cut it though, it was a lot of fun, and the food was amazing. It was pot-luck and everyone brought some sort of finger food and/or dessert. Except one of my business partners who brought smoked beef brisket, with homemade barbecue sauce. It was delicious, and something that you can’t in California. I lived there for two years, and never once did anyone show up unannounced at my door with a pound of brisket. No manners whatsoever.

The real present was something Elaine organized behind my back. She had put together a scrapbook of photos from various friends. She had done most of it in advance of the party so there were photos in there from people who couldn’t make it. Like pictures of an open cockpit biplane that myself and Rob, who was afraid of flying, had gone up in. The photos were definitely reflective of the people who took them. For example, Hiroshi sent in photos of his two cats, whom I’ve never met (I like cats though).

That said, Elaine didn’t forget my birthday. She also got me a birthday present, which was the latest Pearls before Swine book. Of the newspaper comics, Pearls and Get Fuzzy are my favorites. Very funny stuff.

Despite the move being imminent, I’m pretty calm about it. I think it’s a combination of having most of everything that needs to be done, done, and having done this three times before. i.e. I’m getting jaded. Whatever the reason, I’ll be glad when it’s over.

See you in Cali.

I would like to wish everyone a happy Pi Day. Not the kind you eat, but the kind you calculate circumferences and whatnot with.

I would not have known it was Pi Day if my ever vigilant mother, retired geometry teacher extraordinaire, had not sent me an e-card, featuring a bear writing pi out on a blackboard. Yes, they do make cards for such occasions.

Don’t forget your geometry teacher this holiday season.

I just noticed that I haven’t posted in a very long time. I blame the move.

I had to visit the Bay Area twice before I found any place that was worth having. Not a great place, but I was really pressed for time and it had the least number of things wrong with it. I get to pay over twice what the same apartment would cost in Dallas for the privilege of being in great state of California. For a place that’s famous for people claiming you can’t own property, property sure does cost a lot there.

Anyway, with all the running around and whatnot, there hasn’t been that much time to blog. Now that I’m back in Dallas I have to finalize all the move details within the next two weeks, after which the movers arrive and move all my junk to an undisclosed, but highly expensive, location. It is doing wonders for my stress level. It’s a good thing I only move across the country every two years.

This is coupled with a new contract that finally started after literally two months of negotiation. The problem was the client’s lawyers got involved. In small companies, the client’s lawyers are on the same side as their client, because they’re not in-house and can be let go easily. In large companies, the lawyers are on neither our side nor the side of the client. Their side is the side in which nothing happens, therefore they cannot be blamed for it. Anyway, the contract is a week old and already a month behind. It’s gonna be fun, I can tell.

All this is to say I’m not going to posting for a while. At least until all this stupid move stuff calms down, which will probably won’t be until mid-April or so.

P.S. Is there anyone in the Dallas area who would like to buy a full size washer and dryer? I’ll sell them on cheap. It is apparently illegal in California to own such things. Some people smuggle in those stackable mini washer-dryer units that have the capacity of a small salad bowl, which is what the owner of the “condo” I’m renting has done.