Miscellaneous
Schools been really exciting, and put quite a strain on my life. I wouldn't say I've been stressed, just really busy. But the same old excuses start getting old after a while, right? I'll be done with both of my certificates (Java and C++) at the end of next semester.
Work is picking up because we are in full production mode now and hitting real milestones on the game. And my best buddy/favorite cousin is getting married in May. It's going to be a flurry of activity for the next couple of months.
SCD is going well. I recently had deluge of tests and procedures done to follow up with Crohn's at the one year mark. I'm steadily holding a small amount of inflammation in my ileum. I'm thinking about if I should take some light and relatively safe medication to get rid of the inflammation, but I'm largely undecided right now. In hind sight, I probably should have taken something early on while doing SCD to avoid scaring. But it was a very conscious decision to do SCD alone and even knowing what I know now, I'm still very comfortable with the decision I made.
Programming is going really well I think. There have been a few times are work where I dig into some simple code and find an error that previously people thought was at a higher level. Those moments are really rewarding. In my java class we have finally gotten around to making user interfaces, which makes my programs more viable in today's computer world.
I have to run of and be responsible now. But I'll leave you all with links to my first (VERY simple) Graphical User Interface (GUI) programs. Temperature converter and background color changer.
Back in September I was presented an offer to work for a pretty cool company on a really great project. If you follow my blog you also know that I went back to school full time this summer. Full time job, full time school, full time cook, and all of life's chores have made for very busy days.
My days are like this jar of spices. I can stay focused on each activity as it's happening, as long as everything is separate and clearly defined. Try to think of each thing I do as a different spice layer. School, work, cooking, social life, getting my car fixed after the fender bender last month, dealing with the $500 fraud charge on my debit card (for real).
As long as I stay organized and on top of things I don't mind being busy. In fact, I find it exhilarating. Nine months ago it would have been impossible for me to deal with all the annoying little chores that are part of living a normal American life, and I don't really want to think about how miserable healing and learning to eat well would have been with a full time job. I am so lucky things turned out they way they did.
Sometimes, it feels like someone picks up my spice jar and mixes things up a little and all my neatly organized tasks get a tiny bit more unorganized. It scares me how close I am to being overwhelmed, but it's a rush to be riding the line of peak production. When I compare my life to a well run software development project, I know that it really can't get more efficient than this. And efficiency is a very real type of bliss for me.
Chili Powder Spice Mix
(Thanks to Marylin from the SCD-BTVC list)
3 tsp ground Ancho Chilies
2 tsp ground Oregeno
1 tsp ground Cumin
3/4 tsp Garlic Powder (homemade is the best!)
1 tsp Paprika
This week has been pretty crazy. It didn't start off being all that notable. It's the second to last week of the school quarter and I'm ahead in my classes, so no stress there. I had set up a phone interview with a company web company to maybe do some contract work with them, but it was a company I've worked with before so there wasn't much pressure there either. Then on Tuesday I was contacted by a friend working at a social mmo (massively multi-player online, i.e. lots of frigin people playing over the Internet all in the same virtual world). I went in for a rushed interview Wednesday, since I didn't have much time Thursday or Friday. By Wednesday night I was a member of their team and had two meetings set up for Thursday! Thursday was my first official day.
I'm am acting as a producer there, mostly a liaison between the community team and the dev team and tracking dev and community tasks and events. It was a crazy whirlwind experience. And especially crazy with a backpacking trip coming up this weekend, and you all know how much food prep that involves. At the time of writing it's 7 am, just an hour and a half until we leave for our trip and I'm still dehydrating food for the trip.
On that note, I should get going so I can pack up the car. I am really looking forward to the relaxation and the solitude this weekend. I leave you with a link to the website of the company that I now work for: Real Life Plus.
Today I started the first semester towards my associates degree!
