It’s been awhile since I’ve written, so an update is wanting.

Work has been busy. I’m essentially working about a job and half. I’m doing QA for the business intelligence engineering group, which takes information from the web site and turns it into data for people upstream to look at the health and welfare of the site, and I’m doing QA for a new logging service that is being build for Shopzilla 2.0. Both would be full-time jobs but I get blocked on each often enough that they work out to about a 3/4 time job each. Certainly still no down time or time for slacking. But this is what I wanted. I was hungry for this sort of thing in a way in which I wasn’t being fulfilled by my last job, and certainly not at all fulfilled while I sat around looking for work.

Socially, I’m not doing as much as I’d like. I don’t have any companions to do things with and it is hard to make some steady companions in an area where I don’t really know anyone who is free enough to just hang out with. I am getting out to places like the Promenade and the Starbucks there regularly, so I’m out among people, but I haven’t had any real conversations with people. I enjoy listening to the street performers, and I’ve gone to a live music venue once and a movie once on my own. I plan to look into college courses in the fall (sign ups are soon — I just received the catalog in the mail). I am going to the sangha on Sunday afternoons and chatting with people there.

Tomorrow night I am going out to a club to listen to some goth/electronica music and hopefully enjoy myself muchly, even if alone. At least I will enjoy the music and dancing, maybe meet some people. It will be putting myself out there and that counts.

I do miss people terribly and wish I could see my girls more often. I wish I could hang out with T&G and help them plan their wedding. But overall, I’m doing well and surviving at least, if not even thriving here.