communication breakdown

Bizarre Occurrences

OK - I like cold weather as much as the next guy. Really, I do. I left Florida (and won't ever go back) for that particular reason - it's just crazy hot, practically all year long. My ideal temperature is much lower than most people's (somewhere in the 60s, normally), and I love to see some snow in the winter. However - everything in moderation! I left Florida because I got only one season. I'm having the same problem here. Today it barely broke 50 degrees. Who didn't get the memo that it's Summer already! Not just Summer, but the hottest month of the Summer! For a certain portion of the year, I want to feel heat, to sweat, to be able to sunburn, lay out by the pool, hang out in shorts, etc. I'm being robbed of that up here. If this continues throughout the month, and then a bitter winter falls on us - I swear I will be gone next year...

All right, enough with the vitriol. Speaking of leaving, the amount of interest I'm receiving from companies in Atlanta has suddenly spiked dramatically. A while back I mentioned being contacted by Lockheed - that was the only company that had reached me in the last year. Within the past week or so, about 4 companies have contacted me with job opportunities in the Atlanta area. A couple were contract opportunities, and I'm not going to leave a great full-time job for a contract gig. However, at least one or two of the offers were probably worth follow-up consideration. Maybe this is a sign that I should be looking to move back? God has provided for me abundantly up here, maybe He is showing me that he will do the same if the time comes for me to move again. I still struggle with whether or not it was ever in His plan for me to go in the first place. I mean, I thought it was, partly because I felt at peace about it, partly because it seemed the chips kinda fell that way - but maybe I was wrong? I certainly wouldn't be the first to misunderstand the will of God. These are the kinds of things I struggle with all the time...

So Joe Schmo 2 ended today. Skip this paragraph if you don't want to hear any details. The ending was decent - overall, I give the second season a B- (compared to an A for the first). Some have argued that the second season was better - better acted, better premise, etc. This is just not true. There are two reasons for this:

1. Person for person, the first season characters were better. I've never laughed so much as I did whenever Hutch or Kip were on the screen. There were a couple first-season duds, but they were eliminated quickly. On the other hand, there were several decent second-season characters (Bryce, Gerald, Eleanor) - but none quite as memorable. I think the larger cast and different structure hurt this season. There just wasn't enough time to see each character and really bond with them. Or it could just be that the premises for the first set of characters was better.

2. The Schmoes: Matt from Season 1 was the most likable, hilarious, crazy guy ever. You couldn't help but be interested by him. The Season 2 Schmos just weren't as likable. Tim was OK, kinda funny, not nearly as likable. Both of the lady Schmos were personable, but neither had that classic personality like Matt did. He might have been literally a once-in-a-lifetime TV opportunity.

Will they do a JS3? Wait and see, guess. Now it's back to the time of year when none of my favorite shows are currently running. Thank God for daily ER reruns that I record, and football right around the corner...

I had an interesting opportunity today - I represented our team in presenting the feature we've been working on for 5 months to the team of people responsible for making sure everything is correct with it. This was a pretty important group of people, including several higher-ups in the organization. I'm not talking like CEO/CFO level people, but way up from my spot on the totem pole. It was kinda crazy for me, having only been there a year, to be the one explaining the ins-and-outs of this complicated feature. It gave me a whole different perspective - I'm used to looking at things from my point-of-view as a software engineer, but if there's one thing I learned in school, it's that I am never the customer (i.e.: I can never think in the way a physician using our software does). That became painfully evident in this meeting - some of these people are not engineers at all, but work closely with the physicians, so they understand them and their concerns very well. Hearing the comments they were making, and their perspective on certain issues was fascinating. Plus, it was good exposure for me to meet some of these people and to be able to demonstrate my competency with our software. Just another positive career step forward...

Tomorrow should be fun - I get to help judge another TaeKwon-Do color belt testing at our school. It's always fun to see the people you train with get to test and advance in rank. Now, if I only could get back the 2 months I lost because of lower-back troubles. Because of that, I'm likely not going to be testing when I thought I would, in November - I just don't know if I feel comfortable being ready by that point. I probably could test then and do a crappy job, but that's not me - I want to perform to the best of my ability when I test, and really earn it. Because of the lost time, it will likely not be until December or later. Oh well - I should focus less on the date and more on the requirements themselves. Little by little I'm improving on them, but I have a long way to go...