Runester

I had to work today, New Years Eve. The only other person in the office was the company’s founder, Prat. One or two worked from home via VPN, but that was it. The predicted snow storm blew in, and while it wasn’t nearly as bad as the last one – driving home in it wasn’t that much fun, either. On the one hand, there was very little traffic on the freeways because so many people had today off of work. On the other hand, the average speed down I95 was only 30 MPH. It took nearly two (2) hours to get home!

Here’s a picture I snapped with my phone, through my front windshield, while driving (between wiper blade sweeps). This is a pretty good indication of what it was like to drive home. Follow the tracks of previous traffic, keep the heater blasting to prevent ice from building up on the windshield, and beware the limited visibility.

Driving in Snow

Once I was home, though, things looked up considerably. I was able to relax with Lisa, have a great dinner (cheese ravioli & meatballs) with Lisa’s mother & aunt, and then eat snack foods (via gift baskets we were sent) while watching the old odometer roll over from 2008 to 2009. We even watched some of Star Trek: Generations. It was a good night.

Well, this is Monday, so I’m back to the salt mines. If, by salt mines, I mean a comfortable, well heated office with Internet access & free food in the break room. Oh, and I only had to put in four (4) hours! Tough life, huh?

I found a really good, “gold tier” health insurance plan & sent away the application forms & money order by Express Mail. If everything goes well, I’ll be a fully insured independant consultant come January first. Also, we’ll see if “Neighborhood Health Plan” is worth the money or “too good to be true,” after all they are nearly $100 less then the other comparable plans.

In other news, I heard that my brother bought himself another restaurant – and close on the heels to losing Jack’s. Hopefully I’ll get more details tomorrow when I speak with him. I really, honestly, sincerely hope this venture pans out where none of the others did. He either gets big points for persistance, or he needs a swift kick. Either way, something is bound to happen.

I don’t know the name or location of the new restaurant, or how he financed it. All I know was that he aquired it with no partners – so he’s on the hook & in control. Maybe that’s exactly what he needed.
Tonight was game night. This was the QAGS sci-fi campaign I play in Bedford every other week. We had a lot of fun; ate a ton of Christmas desserts; & got in our first gun fight. The system is pretty deadly! Two of our characters are seriously injured, & without a steady supply of “yum yum’s” we’re going to be toast. But the game is going in some interesting & unexpected places, even for the GM! Also, we’re talking about getting together on a Saturday afternoon for a board game session. The one I attended in E. Weymouth was a huge success, I expect this to be at least as good. So, what ever else I intended to achieve this, high quality, regular gaming is a total success!

Finally, I noticed a grinding sound when I brake in my truck. I made an appointment at the garage in Maynard. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too serious, or expensive!

Today I just sat in my comfy chair, wearing my Slanket, reading tweets, and responding to Fear the Boot forums. Other then that, I didn’t go anywhere or do much of anything. Just the way I like it! I needed a true day off. We did watch the Dark Knight DVD including extra’s. The ending was just as powerful as I remember.

Tomorrow, the fiancee & I will go out. We’ll have breakfast with her mother at the deli. We’ll probably go see a movie, there are many good options this weekend. Maybe we’ll even do a little shopping before settling in for the night and ordering out for dinner.

So, tomorrow we have some activities planned but today was a do nothing day!

We just received news that the woman who lived across the street from us, and whom my fiancee & her mother have known for many years, died when she was hit by a commuter train.

Her name was Patty, she was only 47 years old, and there are more details here.

Ironically, I drove past the accident site last night, picking up my fiancee’s uncle. There were firetrucks & police cars down by the commuter rail platform – I just had no idea what it meant. When we were told, this morning, we were thunderstruck. Who thinks that the woman who wishes you a Merry Christmas in the morning will be dead that same afternoon?

We all feel badly for her family and this tragedy will cast a somber hue over our Christmas celebrations today.

Life is short, take care of each other.

So, I started the day by scrapping the crap out of my car windows … breaking my brand new ice scraper and STILL not getting the ice off the windshield! I ended up turning up the defroster, and waiting in the car until the ice eventually slid off.

In other good news, it looks like I’ll begin my new job on Monday, 12-January-2009. At least, that’s the info I have right now. Yay, me! That also means that I’ll be able to start well before my severence runs out. I may even (knock on wood) end up with MORE money when this transition is through, then I would normally have. Ironic, huh?

I was just supposed to clear off the cars and move a little snow around them. First problem: way, way more snow then I expected. Second problem: snow thrower wouldn’t start. So, the shoveling begins!

When Lisa and her mother arrived from the grocery store, they came out to help shovel. But, with everyone panting and heaving tempers were short. 60+ minutes of shoveling, sweating, snow heaving later – we’re done for now. Of course, even as I write this, it’s still snowing, mixed with rain, and the temperature will drop soon. So, we have heavy, iced snow to look forward to tomorrow.

On the one hand, my work schedule is very loosey goosey right now, so this is not going to interfere with that. On the other hand, I’d really, really like a high powered, fully functional snow thrower right about now!

So, yesterday was the big snow, first big one of the season. Driving wasn’t too bad; having all-wheel-drive helps in these situations. After dropping my fiancee’s mother off at her work (she didn’t want to drive in this, didn’t feel comfortable with her little car) I came back & shovelled off the porch & steps.

Once my fiancee was up & ready we went to the deli where her mother works for breakfast; something we do at least once every weekend. Besides, we also needed to drop her car off for her. After that, we saw “The Day The Earth Stood Still.”

Of all the mainstream fare, that looked like the best option. To be honest, it was OK. The SFX needed to be seen on a big screen to be fully appreciated. Especially since they were the best part of the movie. These were some great actors, but not so great performances. Finally, it was not the change of message from the original’s (1951) “don’t spread your warmongering & weapons to the stars” to the current “humans are destroying the Earth & it’s too valuable to let that happen” that ruined the movie for me. It was the significant shift in character & purpose of the ‘alien’ Klatu. Gone is the patient emissary with a message for humanity, instead we have a superbeing come to wipe out all human life. That is a pretty big change. Further, even when his mind is changed by a small glimpse of human culture & emotion (something you’d think “they’d” notice after studying us for 70+ years) he never does get to deliver his message of “change or die.”

I guess I’d give the movie a resounding, “meh.” I did like the trailer for the upcoming “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” though.

So, the news that I’ve been sitting on is that the company I work for has had another lay off. We were down to 26, but they layed-off eight (8) more. They need to buy as much time as they can so that a potential buyer can be found and some deal made. Unfortunately, I was one of those cut.

To be fair, and because of the negotiation of my boss, I and a few others were retained as independent consultants, on a part-time basis. That means that I can bill up to 20 hours a week, but I get no benefits and have to pay both halves of the payroll tax.

This situation is serious, but not critical – not yet. I am fully paid up through the end of this year, and my vacation time and severance will carry me through January. My part-time consulting will add a few weeks in February. So, even if nothing else changes, I’m good for seven or eight weeks, at least. But, with a little luck and blessings, things will not be static. I sort of knew something was going to happen, and so did my coworkers. So, a few weeks ago I began reaching out to several people I know and this generated some very solid leads. Because of the holiday season, I don’t expect any employer or their HR dept. to be moving quickly until next month. But, I’m hoping that I’ll have something substantial lined up for the first week of January.

If everything works as I’m hoping and praying, then the severance (etc.) from my current employer will just be bonus money as I begin working my new job well before it runs out. If I get the position I’m hoping for, my drive time will be cut in half (which will save $100+/mo in gasoline) and I should have a nice pay raise, to boot. I don’t want to blog about it until it happens, but even if things fall through, I have several other strong leads as well.

Things are a little stressful, because of the uncertainty. My situation is significantly better then others – and I feel for them and wish them the best. But, no matter how good things look, this economy throws one spit ball after another and no one knows for sure how bad things are going to get before they get better. So, in conclusion, things are “OK” and the potential is that things will get even better, very soon; but, we’ll see!

In totally different news, I’ve been using Twitter a lot lately. It’s fun and makes it feel like I’m part of a community of friends as we go through our daily lives, work, and even fun. When I have some more cogent thoughts on Twitter, I’ll write something. Until then, you can see what I’m up to and follow me, if you choose, from here: http://twitter.com/runester.

So, for various reasons I can’t get into in a public post on this blog (yet) I had a short day at work. I’m writing this from the Maynard public library where I’m allowed to use their free Wi-Fi. This is AWESOME! I have my own little study carousel, with my notebooks, laptop, phone, etc. I don’t even need a library card to use their wireless access. The only down side is nothing to drink, and no groovy music playing, like at a Starbucks or something. If I remember to bring my headphones with me next time, I can provide my own sound track … and I may have to smuggle in a bottle of water or something.

From here is a quick dinner-on-the-road, and then over to Bedford for gaming. This is the group that just started our sci-fi campaign using QAGS. I think things were a little rough, but first sessions always are. We need to better define our characters. I need to take the lead and work out what my character, Sean Redd, really needs to be doing in this new environment. We’ll see how things go tonight.