2009: The Year in Rewind
Posted by Mike
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin
Traditionally this is the time of year that I do the typical year in review type post. I broke tradition the past several years by either not posting at all or posting my todo list / resolutions for the year. Since the todo thing worked out well last year, I'm going to be wild and do both this year, though not in the same post. I'm writing this amid dirty looks and calls of "see you next year!" at a crowded Starbucks. The dirty looks are probably because I'm taking up an entire couch thingy with my feet propped up. Too bad! It's near a power outlet. Finders keepers and all that.
2009 in Rewind
I don't think there's any way I can describe 2009 other than frelling awesome. (Yes, I used frelling in a sentence. I'm aware it's a made up word. So is grok and I plan to use that at some point too so shove off.) Overall I think 2009 has gone well for me
Where I succeeded:
- I got in better shape. It hasn't been as quick as I wanted but I think I had some pretty unrealistic expectations going in. I've still got a long way to go but now I'm educated. I know more about muscle groups, exercises, and nutrition which will make this year even easier. It's like running downhill I think; the further you go the easier it gets. Daily Burn and my trainer Dennis were vital parts of this process as was the support of my friends and family.
- I was better at managing my money. I've setup automatic transfers into savings each pay check and a small spending stipend for things like books and movies. Mint.com has been a huge bonus to getting this done. Mint is like an automated version of Quicken allowing for automatic transaction categorization and alerts for a variety of situations (pending credit card payments, over budget, etc).
- Get more into my hobbies. Another one for the "win" column. I've been delving more and more into amateur digital photography/art, even to the point of opening my own store to sell prints. I've read more too, thanks to the Kindle app for the PC and iPhone, and I'm keeping up with it all via GoodReads. I rebuilt my website into something I like and I'm willing to maintain. As a side benefit I've learned a ton more about WordPress and I've actually done some custom site work and hosting. Hiking and camping excursions continue to grow, though not quite to the level I'd like. Moving out to San Diego will probably help that quite a bit.
- I moved to San Diego. Oh yes, this was a goal and it was most definitely met.
Where I failed:
- Self improvement. I didn't add a new technical skill or certification to my repertoire, and I didn't learn a new language. Gonna have to bump this one into this coming year.
Everything else:
- I bought a new car.
- I got invaded by ants.
- I had a few issues with the neighbors.
- I (unsuccessfully) tried Rogaine. More on this later.
- Attended MetaCon '09. Words cannot describe this event, ever. Probably because of the gag order from the judge. This year's MetaCon 2010 promises to be better!
- I got a job with Sony and moved to San Diego.
- Got told the truth a lot. Example:
: patience (you don't have) is a virtue (again which you don't have) - Did a fair amount of blogging. God, I hate that word. How about we say writing instead?
- Gained (and lost) a roommate.
- Went camping twice. Must do more!
- Got closer to my family. (Yeah, a win/loss there right?
) - Did I mention I took a lot of pictures?
- Got inspired by a pretty awe-inspiring blog post related to Harry Potter. I kid you not. Thankfully it's mostly due to the writer not the Harry Potter aspect.
Stay tuned for the 2010 todo list! Here's to another awesome year.
OMG hi 2 u!
Posted by Mike
Hey! It's been a while hasn't it?
I'm sorry I haven't posted more. Life in California is pretty busy, so I don't have a lot of free time to hang out on the internet. It's somewhat ironic to me that I feel busier here than I did in Alabama when by and large the culture here is far more laid back and relaxed. Work hours start later and are far more relaxed, holidays are longer and there are more of them, and no one really ever appears to be in a hurry. I don't know if this is true for most jobs here, just tech jobs, or just "game industry" jobs of which I'm on the very periphery of.
So what's keeping me so busy you ask? The biggest push for me personally has been re-furnishing my pad. When I left Alabama I threw out just about everything that I didn't personally pick out, or furniture that I didn't like. I took pictures of my old apartment right before I left of everything packed up. It's pretty drastic that when moving from a 989 sq foot, 2 bed/bath apartment to a 830 sq foot, 1 bed/bath apartment almost everything I moved fit in half my living room. I had 86 "items" for the movers to move. That's it. I threw away a lot both physically and mentally to make this move, and one of my first orders of business has been to get my sense of "home" re-established. It's still a work in progress, but I'm done enough to actually show it to people and not feel like I'm living in a dorm room. You can see the full album on my photos page. Here's a few samples:
Some of my free time has been devoted to working on my official blog of course (www.thefirestarter.org), working on my dad's photography site (www.thruthelenz.com), and I just finished a website for Dennis my old personal trainer (www.1on1personaltrainingnow.com). Website work is sort of hit or miss for me, I don't generally enjoy it and have to be "in the mood" to get anything done. I need to finish Thru the Lenz and one more site for a friend's computer consulting gig before I can quit for another year or two. Hopefully. What's left of my free time has been split between gym, various social events, reading, and a renewed interest in gaming. I'm still trying to find a good multiplayer (co-op) RPG, so if anyone has recommendations I'm all ears. Gym is indirectly taking up more time than I'm used to; eating 3000 (or more!) calories a day while trying to bulk is not as easy as I would hoped. There's food prep time, sleep time, longer gym sessions.. but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it was worth it and didn't enjoy every minute of it.
The only thing I'd like to do more of that I haven't is hiking. I got to do a quick 2 hour trip to Torrey Pines a few weekends back (photos here), but I haven't done any real stuff yet. I'm trying to get a group together to do a hike at Volcan Mountain this weekend but those pesky social obligations I mentioned keep cropping up =). Along with the hiking comes photography of course, but that's still very much a shelved project until all my website work finishes up.
Next post will be sometime this week and will probably be a Rogaine update. Stay tuned!
I think therefore..
Posted by Mike
The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. - Charles DuBois
This quote holds a pretty deep meaning for me. I came across it late last summer when I started to get antsy with life in Mobile. It made me think long and hard on both what I had achieved and what I wanted out of life. This single quote opened up the realization that my future, for good or for ill, was in my hands and my hands alone. My happiness was MY responsibility, not anyone elses, and if I wasn't happy then it was my own damn fault. Throughout the next year that theme was repackaged and re-presented to me over and over in a variety of ways until I finally accepted it.
While I realized I wanted something to change, I had no idea what or where. Being the logical person I am I went through a period of self examination trying to determine what exactly I was dissatisfied with. My friends and family? No,they were fine. My job? Nope, I pretty much liked everyone I worked with. My work? Well, it had its up and downs. High stress for sure. My city? Uh..it's a paved over swamp. With climate and wildlife to match. Bingo.
About this same time my boss Jeff sent around a little career guide book to his managers; if you haven't read The Adventures of Johnny Bunko I highly recommend it. It's written in a pseudo-English manga style in an effort to "connect" to all us Gen X/Y'ers out there but if you can get past the medium it's got 6 lessons to take away:
- There is no plan.
- Think strengths, not weaknesses
- It’s not about you.
- Persistence trumps talent.
- Make excellent mistakes.
- Leave an imprint.
The idea was these would apply to your career, but honestly it works for your life too. #1 hit me hard; here I was struggling and trying to plan my life and happiness and it just wasn't working. Once I quit planning and just ..."did", everything else seemed to fall into place. I realized life doesn't come with a roadmap or a GPS. You can't pick your destination and see a nice little print out of the choices that will get you there. You can only simply start driving. Every road you take (or not) gets you somewhere (or not), so if you don't like where you are, choose better next time. The more times you do it the better sense of direction you get, the better you ask for directions, the quicker you find your goals. Like #5 says; make excellent mistakes right?
I doubt my boss intended for the book to have quite the impact on me it did. We had discussed the topic of job stress levels in the past and why I wasn't happy, but to be honest I hadn't figured it out for myself. Once I knew that it was my environment outside of work, I knew it had to change. I had come out to San Diego the past two summers for vacation and I loved it. It had all the amenities of a large city but somehow with the feel of a small town. No matter what your interests were there was something catering to them; beaches, mountains, hiking trails, Vegas... it seemed to have it all. When the chance came to apply for my current job I almost didn't even think twice about it.
There was a good chance this would be a mistake; I was giving up a managerial position with a strong future with a stable company to become a peon again. If nothing else this would be a learning experience, an "excellent mistake" if you will, and that I (probably) wouldn't regret it. Even if it turns out to be the wrong city, I'm proud of the fact that I made this mistake well. What really got me was the fact that hardly anyone tried to talk me out of it. My closest friends and family were encouraging and supportive, and that's always helpful with these life-changing decisions.
So here I am. I've been not-so-figuratively camping out here for a little over a week now. I'm tentatively standing on my own nearly 2000 miles from everything I've known for the past 30 years. Tomorrow the rest of my stuff arrives, the last physical links to
a sense of "home". I think the real process of unpacking and settling in begins tomorrow.
Dude where’s my truck?
Posted by Mike
This is what I get for going with a discount shipper I guess. It was originally scheduled to be picked up Tuesday before I left. I spoke to Frank when it was finally scheduled for pickup on Wednesday after I left. No go. I get a call from the driver (Jim) Thursday morning at 6am saying it would be sometime that afternoon. "You're CST? Yeah, that gives us an extra hour and.."
Fast forward to this morning, when I again get a call at 6am from the driver who's name is now Michael. He's "just outside of town". Apparently that translates to an hour and a half away. He calls back every 30 minutes for directions on pickup, and finally I had to have my mom drive the truck to meet him because, and I quote, "Uh, this is a semi, and it don't turn around none too good ya know".
Hopefully it gets here before I have to head up to LA at the end of next week.
Whoops
Posted by Mike
As I sit here in a dark empty apartment I find myself wishing that I had more lead time on the move. It retrospect, it probably woulda been better to pack/ship everything a week early and meet it here instead of being here a week before my stuff. Oh well. It's pretty much camping with fewer bugs and better restaurants.
My trip out was fairly normal as far as flights go. The added element of Wifecat to the flight proved to be pretty anticlimatic. She cried a lot on the smaller flight and threw up on the air tram / terminal train in Dallas, but outside of that she did fine. She seems to approve of the new place (the counters are lower and easier to jump on) so for now we're settling into what can only be described as domestic felicity.
About Me
Lackadaisical writer, amateur photographer, professional grump, and all around spiffy IT guy.
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