As things come, so things go.

Work has been well. I’m adjusting to my new role and enjoying the change of environment immensely. Instead of worrying about the drudgery and inanity of the day-to-day, instead I make progress on projects that go somewhere and have an influence over the direction of my work.

I’m learning how to plan and prepare. In some of these projects, I’ve put in lots of time and consideration as this is not just for fun, but it’s my living and because many people will be affected based on the quality of the work I do.

In the beginning, I blogged. This blog has existed in one incarnation or another for the past six years. Initially, I hosted it on my Dell Dimension w/ Pentium 3 700mhz processor and ~128MB of RAM. When I went to sleep, I turned off my blog. When I woke up, I turned it on.

Now, the sites I work on day to day are alive 24/7. If they go down, my phone starts buzzing to let me know.

So I watch, learn, code, test, research, produce, and go.

What’ve you been doing?

Categories: Life, Work
Tags: blogging, webhosting

I’d like to post more here. I want to convert more of the site to using ridiculous fonts and scripts you wouldn’t be able to understand. However, I’ve been busy.

Essentially, here is a recap. Since last October, I’ve immersed myself in the local tech scene. I’ve met a lot of people, learned about the local tech culture, and read about and talked to people about how startup companies work. I’ve written code in PHP, learned a bit of Ruby and Python, and utilized CSS/HTML/XHTML skills in building or assisting with several websites.

Now all the hard work is getting close to paying off. I’m pushing hard to find a new job in this field. I’m incredibly close to reaching my goal of finding a new job by the end of August. Only a few days left, but I’ve been interviewing for a web developer position. If all goes well, I’ll be in a whole new world by Fall.

Update: I should have more news by next Wednesday.

Categories: Life, Work
Tags: excuses, scene, technology

My mom is using an RSS reader now. It means she’ll know about each post right away. It also means my mom knows more about technology than you.

I applied for a different job today. Same employer, same title, (almost) same building, but different scenery. I hope I get it. The biggest benefit would be a reduction in the amount of time I spend talking to customers and an increase in the amount of time I get to spend using my brain.

Categories: Life, Work
Tags: job, mom

I shoved $140 down the barrel of a black-powder rifle. It threatens me to prepare for the GRE. January 12, ready shall I be?

Too late for Fall 2008, but on time to prepare for whenever.

Update: Applied for a few jobs at the university today. Not sure if they’re plausible or not as far as financial considerations go, but they’d be similar in scope to my recent employment. I figure if I’m headed in that direction anyway might as well work there, too. (Plus, cheaper/free tuition if I’m reading things right.)

Categories: Life, Work
Tags: grad school, GRE

I’ve picked a bad time to consider teaching English in Japan. The largest English-language-teaching company in Japan, Nova Group, went bankrupt this past week and has a debt of over 43.9 billion yen. This has left over 4,400 foreign instructors without wages for the last several weeks of employment, and now the company has closed down all of its schools.

Needless to say, with so many people out of jobs, there will be plenty of competition for the English teaching positions that still exist in the country. Based on the requirements of the specific program I’ve been considering (JET), I don’t know that many of these newly-unemployed individuals would be able to apply for these positions, but it will make it more difficult regardless.

I’ve also picked now of all times to become satisfied with life. I’m not complaining about this… I’m actually quite glad to be where I am. Work isn’t perfect, but it never will be and I’m enjoying getting to know the people around me on the bus, at work, church, and elsewhere.

Categories: Life, Work
Tags: Japan