Breaktime

Sorry, guess it's breaktime again. Nothing really newsworthy going on here, but I'm keeping pretty busy with the new job and all. I'll post again when I have more to add. I'll still check your blogs :)

I've got the flu...

so much for my Easter weekend. :(

Still kicking

I'm still here, just haven't been hanging out on the computer as much as I have in the past. For your reading enjoyment, some updates:

• The new job is going well. It's pretty much the same thing I was doing at my last job. For now I'm just concentrating on learning new policies, procedures, and names, and then I'll be good to go.
• Our new house is great. We have a huge backyard, which is a real plus. Back in Phoenix, our backyard was maybe 100 sq ft. It's at least 10 times that here. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been too cooperative for us to enjoy it, but it's only March.
• I was pukey last night and this morning, so much so that I had to call in sick to work today. I felt really bad about that, but there wasn't much I could do to prevent it. I wouldn't have even lasted the drive to work! Feeling much better now. I crawled out of bed around 2PM, and haven't puked since. I even went outside and enjoyed the mid-50s weather for about 30 minutes.
• Our neighbors are all great. There are all sorts of kids on our block, and my son has already befriended a couple of them. Every day after school he asks if he can go over and play with him. There is a good mix of ages, and my daughter has found some girls to play with too. The summer should be a blast.

That's it for now. Not sure when I'll be back here, but I'll be here eventually!

We've arrived!

We've made it to Omaha, safe and sound, and we just go the internet hooked up (after several days without...ugh!)

Will post again soon, but we're still getting settled, so it might be another day or two.

Continuing on

As you can imagine, it's been a busy couple of weeks, and we're down to 2 weeks before our 1500 mile trek to Omaha. We found a great house with an enormous backyard, and although we're just going to be renting it, it will be a wonderful place to call home.

This weekend has been a whirlwind of packing and planning. We've got the moving company reserved, and they will pick up all of our stuff on Feb 29. Considering we don't hit the road until Mar 4, we'll be living very minimalistic for those few days. You know what, I just realized this was a leap year after writing that last sentence :)

I remember when we moved from Nebraska to here, we sold all of our stuff, packed our two cars full, and hit the trail. I wish it were that simple this time around, but with our daughter in the picture this time around, and a lot more stuff, it wasn't an option. The company I'm going to is only allowing $1500 for moving expenses, and we're going to pay more than double that, but at least we're going home!

Have a good week everyone. I'll check in when I get some more time.

It's official...

Thanks to all for your words of support and/or advice. I received an offer from the company today, and it was just too good not to take it. I accepted the offer today, and our last day in Phoenix will be March 3 (My birthday!).

As far as the house goes, we're just going to see what happens. I've spoken with a couple of realtors, and we're going to put it on the market and see where it goes from there.

That's about all I have for now. I'll post more later, but I wanted to share the good news!

Follow up

Well, the interview went as well as I could have imagined. I received a verbal offer, which was right at the salary range that I was looking for. I'm just waiting for the formal letter with all the details.

So today, we got in touch with a realtor to get our house on the market. They said, and I'm paraphrasing, "Oh, I'm sorry...you owe more than your house is worth. We won't be able to sell it for what you need to get out of your mortgage."

I'm so depressed right now, I don't know what to do about the house. We could try renting it out, but I'm not a big fan of being an "out of state landlord". We've even contacted that silly "We Buy Ugly Houses" company to see if there's anything they can do for us.

The job doesn't pay enough for us to cut our losses and start over, so we might be stuck here in AZ for the foreseeable future. And that just makes my heart sink and has my stomach in knots.

Job interview

I'm flying back to Nebraska on Friday for a job interview. It's with a company in the same industry as where I work now, so I'm very familiar with the environment. I'm probably overly qualified for this job, but it would be a great way for me to get my foot in the door in terms of getting back home. Not sure what the pay is yet, but I'm sure we'll discuss it on Friday.

Wish me luck :)

Sicko...

I've had this sinus, cough, crap that's been going around for the last few days, and it sucks. I'm not used to getting sick, so when I do, I feel like a real baby for complaining about it. My immune system is typically pretty strong and I don't have too many issues, but this is just kicking my butt! I've been slathering vicks up my nose, and keeping the breathing strips on my nose whenever I'm at home, just so I can breathe somewhat normally. I'm sure it will pass soon enough, but it sure stinks for now!

My wife and I went to see I AM LEGEND on Saturday. It's pretty different from the book if you've already read it, so it's probably worth seeing. I was a little disappointed that they used CGI monsters instead of people wearing makeup...it never looks as realistic using CGI!

I hate reading books and then seeing movies...I always end up critiquing the movie too much about what was left out or changed, but I didn't do it in this one, so it's all good. If you're interested in a spoiler, start highlighting here: DARTH VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER! Don't say I didn't warn you...it's a spoiler!

So that's about it for me. Nothing else new on this side of the country. I'll check back in sometime in the near future :)

My name is Techymike...

...and I am a mage!

Is today Monday???

I walked out of the house this morning, on my way to work, to a flat tire on my wife's van. Sooooo I went inside, changed clothes, and proceeded to replace it with the spare. Only to find (after I got it attached) that the spare was flat.....

What the heck....Monday already?

Man, where did the weekend go? I don't know about you, but I could definitely use a few more days off!

And who woulda thought that both Indy and Dallas would be eliminated yesterday? Crazy stuff, I tell you!

Ouch! Softball season arrives...

Everyone who says that Phoenix is beautiful this time of year obviously hasn't played in a winter softball league. Our season started last night at 8:30PM. It was somewhere around 50 degrees. I'm sure to some, this is beautiful weather and you'd give your left nut anything to have this kind of weather. To me, this is FREAKING COLD! By 10:30 when we finished, we were all ready to vacate the field for the warmth of our beds!

I also realized (this morning) that I'm very out of shape and shouldn't probably be playing softball. I'm going to try to sit in my chair and do nothing all day, because it's the easiest way to avoid the muscle aches that are surging through my lower body. At least there were no major injuries on our team last night....but it's a long season. It never fails, every season there are several guys who end up out of the picture because of various pulled muscles.

I'm off to nurse a Coke. Have a good day. :)

2008 Resolution for the media...

...drop the Britney Spears infatuation. Maybe, if we all stop giving that loon attention, she'll either dry up and get back on track, or she'll crawl into a hole and die. I can't even visit my normal Google homepage anymore without having to see 3 links about her newest tragedies.

That's all :)

Closing the book...

...on 2007, that is :) You didn't think I was going to stop blogging did you? Well, I'm not...at least not right now!

I hope you had a great Christmas and a safe New Years Eve! It was pretty much uneventful for us at the our household. We went over to my wife's sister's house for Christmas dinner, and stuffed ourselves with Honey Baked Ham (yum!) and all the typical sides.

With all of the money we spent on the house this past year, my wife and I didn't really do anything for each other for Christmas, but focused what we had on the kids. It was worth it too, especially watching our 3 yr old daughter opening her gifts was just precious!

New years eve was just as it has been the past 9-10 years or so. Neither my wife or I hardly ever drink or party, so we stayed at home, opened a bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, which was finished in about 5 minutes between the 4 of us, and that's about it. My son and I shared a can of smoked oysters (which about made my wife gag). He wanted to try to stay up until midnight to celebrate the new year, but by 11:30, he could barely keep his eyes open, so he went to bed. I toasted the new year with my dog, Koda.

So yeah, that's about it. Happy 2008 to all, and I'll see you again soon!

Here and there, to and fro...

Holy cow, has it really been over a week since my last post? How time flies! Nothing of substance here, but I'll post a few thoughts from this past week:

• I still haven't turned on my outside Christmas lights, and most likely won't do it this year. I plugged the extension cord into my outlet socket adapter, and it is too heavy and keeps falling out. Unfortunately, my townhouse doesn't have any normal outlets on the exterior, so that's the only way I can get electricity outside. I have too many other things going on right now to bother with it any more.
• Working in an office where a lot of staff work closely with outside vendors, we get a lot of "goody baskets" from those vendors at this time of year. It's hell on my weight loss plan. I've started doing one of those DVD Workouts at home, which helps a little bit...it's easier than going to the gym.
• Tucson sucks. I have to take a trip to our Tucson office on a monthly basis, and I never look forward to it. People move a lot slower, and they need to learn how to drive. I just can't stand the place, OK? :)
• Normally this time of year, the freeways are normally very light on the drive to and from work, so it takes me only about 30 minutes to get to the office. For some reason, this year is different...heavy traffic mornings and afternoons. It's probably due to all the snow birds that show up in Phoenix this time of year.
• Been very busy at work lately. Corporate determined a ratio of approximately 90 users per 1 IT staff is our standard IT support staffing plan. I support approx 300 people between all of my offices, but they dont' want to hire additional staff to help me out. So between my existing duties, and my newer duties, I keep very busy!

That's all for now. I'll try to post more later. If I don't get back before the weekend, have a merry Christmas, or whatever other holiday you might celebrate.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...December in Phoenix. More so than previous years, it's been tough for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year. Normally, by the day after Thanksgiving, I've got my Christmas lights and tree put up, and I have the seasonal tunes cranked up during the waking hours. This year is a little different, however. I've got my lights hung up outside, but for two weeks, I haven't had the extension cord run to them, so they don't light up.

Part of that is due to the weather...it's been gloomy and rainy off and on for the past week or so. The other part is just a lack of motivation on my part. It's hard to get into the mood when it's 70+ degrees outside. I miss the possibility of a white Christmas. I miss the change of season. I think I'm getting burned out on being here in Phoenix.

Sorry for the downer post. Hope you're enjoying your holiday season!

Puttin' up the tree HNT

Although I love Christmas, putting up the decorations is one of my least favorite things to do. I love the end result, but it's always such a pain! I'm not much of a planner. Every year, I pull the boxes of decorations out from under the stairs, and I just put them up wherever I feel like it. Martha Stewart would be horrified.

This year, a creative bug crawled up "you know where", and I decided to play around with the tree lights and a 15 second exposure. Here are the results:

First attempt...a light flurry:

Second attempt...A barrage of lights:
Third attempt...all hell breaks loose:
Fourth attempt...things are spinning:
THE FINAL PRODUCT:

You'll have to enlarge to get a glimpse of the HNT part of this last picture...but it's probably not worth it. No naughty bits, sorry folks! Happy HNT everyone

The most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. The smells, the music, the decorations. The presents! I know that Christmas isn't all about presents, but you have to admit that it just wouldn't be the same without old Saint Nick!

My son is 8, but he still tells me that he believes in Santa Claus. I can't recall how, or at what age I found out the truth about Santa, but my wife and I have decided, at least for this year, to wait until he brings it up before telling him. I'm not sure if he tells me he believes because he thinks that he won't get anything if he doesn't. If only he knew how much I enjoy playing the part! I suppose I'm like my dad in that aspect. He's 50+, and Santa still visits his house every year.


On another note, my son brought home a couple of pine cones that he found at school the other day. He's really into "Conifer Trees" right now...they grow up so quickly! Anyway, he wanted to make some ornaments from the pine cones, so I found some craft paints upstairs, and we went to town. They didn't turn out as well as we had hoped, but he had a good time painting them, so it was worth it!

Money stresses

We came to the conclusion about a month ago, after some large house projects, that we had to curb our spending. We had maxed out a couple of credit cards and spent most of our savings trying to get our house ready to sell in the event that I get a job back in Nebraska. We've been eating out way too much. My wife shops too much. Etc, etc, etc. Now, we're trying to overcome our financial issues and get back on our feet. I've turned into a bargain grocery shopper, with my pocketful of coupons, and a knack for keeping an eye open for low prices!

I don't usually get stressed out, but these are definitely trying times. I'm looking for some great stress relief suggestions...what are some things that YOU do to relieve your stress?