Text Wall of Updatingness! Or something like that.

[icelightning]

So I bought a condo.

Actually, a lot of other things have happened, too. I've been neglecting my journal as a result, but I think it's high time I start paying attention to it (and consequently, you awesome people). I'll be moving out of my parents' soon, and I'll have time to actually manage my social life.

See, my condo I bought needs a bit of... updating and fixing. As in we're repainting the entire thing. Oh, and ripping the bathroom and kitchen out. The kitchen is painted, cabinets have been delivered, and the floor will be installed soon. Still waiting on the appliances. I have the biggest soaking tub that I have ever seen, and once things are all done, people are totally welcome to come over just to use it. So that is where much of my spare time has gone.

I'll probably do more updates about the condo in the future. I bought on the low range for my salary, so I'll be able to comfortably afford the payments while building back my savings.

As for the salary part--well, I lost my job. My old job. My company lost its government contract, its rival bought it, and then its rival gutted it for a few key personnel and our physical assets. We had a couple of months of just sitting around and doing nothing as they didn't want us charging anything, so we just did presentations about places we had visited. (I did the Waterford Fair, for a bit of a local flair, and provided things I bought there.) I was in the first round of layoffs. Good thing, too, because I used that severance to help me afford my new place!

Now I have a new job, which is actually my second new job. For my first new job, I ended up doing an employee referral program through a friend's husband. While I didn't get that job, I did get a call from an internal recruiter that got me into my current location. She and I ended up meeting on the internet, then found out we were local--so, you never know where your next job will come from! Talk to your friends. Your new job might be closer than you think.

I was a business analyst in my first new job, which is basically a fancier way of saying system engineer (a step up from being an associate systems engineer). Did some programming, made huge discoveries about the customer's databases, and was able to make pretty graphs for a final report. The cool thing is that the report will probably be passed around eventually, and it will influence the customer's decision making going forward if the right eyes see it; in a good way, too. Pretty damn cool.

Then they uh, kinda lost funding. Misplaced the money they thought was there. So now I'm on another project as the main programmer for an online scheduling/reporting/reimbursement system that's been modernized. Which is hilarious, considering I went away from computer science, and now I'm suddenly back at it again. I'm being ramped up as I learn how to program more, as the team absorbed me from the other project not for my experience, but for my potential. Which is really exciting.

I can't say online who the customer is (being extra cautious), but let's just say that they treat their contractors well. It's laid back, but not too laid back, and things are done at a pace that makes sense. Things are modernizing. Insight is becoming more commonplace. Although it's been slow across the government, people are starting to pick up the pace. People are listening to complaints, things are getting done about them.

Don't worry--my funding is safe. We'll likely have a shutdown tomorrow, but I will be okay. Dad's is safe, too. It will be... weird. It's a shared facility, so it will be really weird. The poor military folks still have to show up for work even if they aren't getting paid. It... sucks. But we'll get through it somehow.

Oh, and I've fallen even more crazy in love with the series Generator Rex. Awesome characters, awesome creators, and an awesome, cohesive storyline. It treats kids as if they have brains. We need more shows like that. Still play Caesar Salazar from it even after nearly three years. Time flies, doesn't it?

I picked Gyatso back up again for thewake, as well as Same as It Never Was Michelangelo from TMNT 2003. That's the only game I'm in, but that might change once I'm living by myself. Hanging out with your mom eats up a lot of your spare time, strangely enough.

Oh, and Mom got a Boston Terrier named Holly. She's much bigger than my brother's tiny one, Cali. She's survived cancer twice (two completely different types, caught early), has had repair surgery on both of her back legs, had bad teeth, and uh. Well, let's just say her old family didn't take care of her much. Holly's ours now, so that obviously isn't the case anymore. She's happy to be getting back to her walks after leg surgery #2.

I think that's pretty much the entire update. I kinda banged this out quickly, since this is the last day of my hiatus at Wake, and I actually have the time. Time. I'm going to have a lot of that soon. I might do a few Lets Plays for fun. Also, Minecraft. Definitely more Minecraft.

Hope everyone is doing well! I really am looking forward to getting more active soon. I miss you guys.