Been a long time

Ok. I am not dead yet. Since selling the old house and moving into the new house, I guess I had forgotten the number of hours necessary in keeping a house up. So, when we moved in there was the incomplete room. I was able to get it mudded and sanded although not as perfect and also got it painted. This saturday, I will pick up a mitre saw so that I can finish the trim since the carpetting will be installed next week.

What else have I been doing? Well, I have seen some movies. Played some video games. All instead of blogging. So I will give the super short version of the reviews I wanted to do.

Movie: Serenity

Besides this movie coming out on DVD on December 20th, the movie was phenomenal. This is what sci fi movies should be. There is a rich deep story in a full and enticing universe. If you haven't seen it, go see it.

Movie: Joe Dirt

Surprisingly funny flick. Don't look for any really deep story here, but there is something addictive about the movie even when it has its situational comedy moments.

Game: Fire Emblem (Path of Radiance and Sacred Stones)

The game that will bring out the perfectionist in anyone. The strategy game with rpg elements is addictive because there are many combinations on how to put together your characters (who to level up, etc.). The other part of the addiction is that when a character dies, they are gone, so you always feel the need to fully win a battle as in no one dies. So repeating a battle is not all that uncommon.

Game: Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

I refused to get this game as I am saving up for a 360, but John was kind enough to feed my addiciton. It is a great game. I have had some issues with the game in that I have pulled upa pretty good kill ratio and point gaining ability but cannot go up in rank as I can't seem to get a medal. Alright, might be weird to describe as such, but it is similar to an rpg in that you are assigned a rank based on performance, but you don't gain any new abilities, just prestige. Again. Fun game.

So that is my quickie round up. Let's see if I can keep entering stuff.

Argghh. Sick already

Less than two months here and I get my first cold. A nice friendly sinus infection. Otherwise things are moving forward. I however was planning on being healthy this weekend to finish off the unpacking and also be able to pop out to Ikea and pick up some furniture that we are in need of.

So, the job is going wonderfully. I really enjoy it. And the area still rocks. Very excited about Princess Blognoke's big news about Stink Pants #LA. Rock on.

Finally got propane so the grill is fired and I am officially home. Something about grilled chicken or really anything on the grill that makes things feel better. Of course, I don't feel like being outside right now.

Pretty darn excited about the upcoming Serenity movie. I am worried about being disappointed, but who cares. It is firefly.

Another week

Haven't been writing much as I feel obligated to unpack the house and keep everything running smoothly. The new house is nice. The neighborhood is not too far from anything. So we are just north of Federal Way and just southwest of Kent. Both have decent places to shop.

Last Sunday, went to the Reagan's and watched the Lions beat the Packers, although it was both an ugly win for the Lions and an ugly loss for the Pack. It was great fun.

This week, I got to have the joys of taking public transportation. Actually the train ride isn't too bad. I am finally able to catch up on my reading which is nice and the ride is really straight forward. The coming home is a bit of a hassle as lots of folks get off the train at that spot. But now I have a chance to read Innovation Superhighway. As I have read it, I keep thinking this would perfect for some different functions in my old employer. They really talk about the movement of information and how it pertains to the employees and culture. They should really check it out. Hey John, tell Ms. Winters.

Update on house and more

We still haven't closed on the old house. If nothing else it should happen on the 23rd we will close. I know that the buyer was trying to move it up, but I don't think it was successful. Really have to say that Doug has done well in taking care of this while we have been else where.

As for the new house, all the household goods have been dropped off and the new appliances were delivered along with cable and internet. So now it is just unpacking and putting into place. Except for the company that is supposed to uncrate the aquariums and assemble the swingset. They couldn't on the original time so they have rescheduled.

I am moving out of the apartment on Saturday and hanging with Mr. Reagan for NFL Sunday. Speaking of which, thank good football is finally started. I really truly believe it is the American sport. Forget that boring baseball, give me the real time chess match that is football. I was able to get the fantasy league lined up but I wasn't prepared enough to get more than 6 teams. Next year, I am definitely going to get organized around 3 weeks early and get at least 10 teams going.

I really think that football is the king of sports. Of course I type this as I watch the Raiders vs. Patriots. I mean really you are looking at two types of offensive attacks and then an infinite amount of possiblities within those. Then on defense you can't create a defense that works against all offenses. Then you have special teams which adds it's own dimension. Plus you aren't looking at 80+ games to watch. It is just 16 games per team. I think that adds to the appeal is the video game aspect which is more playable because of the shorter season and the pacing of play picks and downs to break it up. It is hard to pick out the intangibles that are there. I just love it.

The Aquarium of Seattle

We went. We had fun. I recommend it.

So here is the Seattle Aquarium.

It took us about 2 hours to go through it. So it isn't too big. It was just a very cool in the salt water tanks. The cuttlefish was really cool, but I was afraid to snap its picture for fear of scaring him. Also I starting talking to the Aquarium staff about how often they clean the tanks and their water filtration method and they allowed me to feed some of their fish. Again I wish I would have kept notes, but they were fast. Put the chunk of fish on a stick and BAM it snapped it off. Pretty cool stuff.

PAX visitation

Dude! So I went to the Penny Arcade Expo on Saturday with Karen's husband Ben. It was a blast. Basically we started the day early by standing in line for an hour. Of course it wasn't really that simple. We ended up walking around the place for a while trying to figure out which line we were supposed to stand in, but got lucky by accidentally going into the building to see about buying a pass. That was what we were supposed to.

I was amazed at the amount of people that were in there. We ran upstairs to sign up for the Double Dash tournament, and headed over to the PC freeplay room which had a single PC left so Ben and I traded off. What was weird was that the immediate line for the exhibit room ran all the way up to the top floor and then down the hall (hence why we avoided that room right away.

After each of us taking a turn at Battlefield 2 on the PC (great LAN experience with the folks there). So now we found our way down to the exhibit room which had quite a few cool things but for the most part it wasn't that exciting minus the Nintendo exhibit. The were showing off the new Dungeons and Dragons online game which has some potential, but we will have to see how much they are going ot charge per month. There was another booth for Red vs Blue, Anime stuff for sale, America's Army (complete with recruiters), XBox playtest crew, PAX gear for sale, Card Games, and some other misc booths.

Ah but the Nintendo booth which was by far the biggest. They had tons of games out to see what is coming up. So really I will center on the ones that I was most impressed with. First off we have Fire Emblem for the Gamecube. Phenomenal graphics teamed up with some solid well tested combat creates a great combination. The second game that impressed me was a new Mario Soccer game (I think it is called Strikers) was there. Ben and I had a quick match against each other (which he won) but it was a blast to play.

We then got in some Double Dash practice since we were on standby for the tournie. So after a little practice (and a realization that we would lose) we took a trip up to the table top game rooms. After rounds of Super Munchkins, Chez Dork, and Illuminati we had then missed our standby time and only ten minutes to make it to the gaming controversy round table.

Lots of good points were made but I found the Q&A painful since all the gamers felt a need to preach to the choir instead of asking the panel about any initiatives toward working together to create a new gaming environment.

We made a final round to see if we could pop into some freeplay rooms but they were loaded to the gills so we went home (it was 9:00 anyway). And you may notice that there was no eating. That would be correct and a horrible decision. We could have easily made it for more game playing, but I was worn down.

Anyway it was so damn cool. Definitely going next year. Way to go.

Skycity

Well, we have finally tried Skycity for dinner. In a way, kinda wish we hadn't. For the price we could have had a few trips up. So uh, just do the trip up. It is spectacular.

Great restaurant and neat museum

I have a couple of recommedations for those visiting Seattle. First off, I was under the impression that food in Seattle is overpriced and underspiced. I recently found a place 2 blocks away called Cafe Amore that beats them on both criteria. My wife went with the spaghetti and meatballs and I devided to try the osso bucco. Both were excellent and didn't break the bank. The service, although slow, was still great. The chef was a joy. I highly recommend it to anyone. You can find it in the 2200 block on 5th ave in Seattle.

Yesterday we visited the Pacific Science Center which was a blast. It reminded me of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago only smaller. Michelle's favorite room was the butterfly room. I personally liked the risk exhibit. Basically it was an exhibit concerning probability of death. Kinda neat. Also covered the various safety enhancements that have been made over the years. This museum is totally geared towards 8 - 12 year olds but there is plenty of fun for curious adults.

I put up some pics

Feel free to check out my website for some pics of the region.

album

Days in the northwest

Well, we are progressing through the purchase of our second home and I think it is going pretty well. Thank goodness that Michelle is not working and can take care of alot of this stuff. Work is good and I really like what my department is targetting. I have to say that this was just a great idea moving out here. I recommend others doing it. I will be adding some pictures in a bit once I set up my main PC.

Plus I have gotten a chance to talk to some folks from home which is nice as well, although now that I write this, the word home is definitely going to change. :)

One week in Washington

So, I am living in Belltown in north Seattle. Weather here has been awesome . . . if you don't live in an apartment, then it is too darn hot. And now Michelle has joined me out here so she gets to complain about the apartment as well.

I finally get to write an entry as I finally have gotten some internet in the apartment (hence the hiatus). Just glad to finally be able to do alot of my searching again without going to the coffee houses.

Here is the big news: We have put in an offer on a house and they have accepted. Now we have to go through the mountains of inspections and paperwork to make it possible. Of course we still own our house in Michigan which makes things uncomfortably tight, but we should be able to squeak through till someone buys our old adorable house. If you know someone who wants to live about 1 mile from the beach and downtown St. Joseph, let me know...

Leaving on a jet plane

Well today is the day for me. I get to hop on a plane and set sail for a new job in a new town in a new state with some old friends. If I didn't see you, sorry. Wish me luck.

Oh. Good luck Ish.

Some more farewells

Yesterday, my parents invited over some of the family and friendds to bid me off. It was awesome. I never complain about seeing family. Long ago, moving away would have been difficult, but with fast communication, it not nearly as bad. I will miss seeing them, but I will still be able to hear them.

So I have been collecting email addresses of folks around here that I know so I at least have that as a means of keeping in the loop. Grabbed one of Fish Store Don. I know that isn't his primary job but did it to keep his tanks stocked, but I would visit with him just about Sunday until he left the fish store when he became the president of the local FOP. And since I wasn't able to get his contact information before, I got it now.

So yesterday we had a cookout. Good old burgers and dogs. Love that stuff. Although in Seattle I will probably have to go with salmon burgers and salmon dogs. :)

Move status

Things yet to do:

1. Finish cleaning
2. Take care of fish and tanks
3. Finalize realtor stuff
4. Get car move finalized
5. Get stuff move finalized
6. Pack our necessary stuff
7. Move

So there we have it. I am sure I am missing stuff. Really feels like a lot to do. Cleaning will take a couple more days. We through out a lot of stuff so now it is just moving to locations so that the realtor can come in and get photos and final appraisal. From what he said, the market here right now is very, very slow. So it really depends on how I work the budget as to it we can wait out a better market. But I have concerns that the market may not get better. Got in my last xbox live for a while so that was fun. I ended up quitting early as my broadband was sucking. Tried to join Matches, but he was playing new maps that I had not downloaded yet. When I got back on, he was not there.

House sales: Scrub-a-dub-dub

So I have spent the last few days cleaning up my house as best as I can to make it presentable for a realtor and "guests". Let me tell you, more to do than I thought possible. We have filled 5.5 cubic yards of dumpster to date with junk that doesn't work and with empty boxes and other crap. If we could give it away to goodwill or other places, we have done so, but there is always junk that you collection.

Did you know that I had 2 dot-matrix printers? They may work, but I wasn't going to futz with them. Into the trash they go. 2 dead ink jets went in the trash as well. Soon I will cut down my keyboard collection from 12 to 5. Just so much stuff that makes no sense to keep.

Today was another boss's last day. Again, like my last boss, I have a ton of respect for and know that they will succeed in the things they do. Hopefully I can live up to the experiences they have both provided me. My other ex-boss hasn't been fired yet, so cheers!

So I decided to tell a story at my current boss's exit coffee, which covered the time that he came back from vacation and took the whole department down with an illness. Sometimes it is hard to judge the content of the story to be told as the audience is not reacting to much. But all in all, best of luck Jay! Don't let Sara beat you up too much.

Earlier proof of my half-fro 

Proof that at one time I did in fact have hair! 

The Start of Something Big

Well, I can finally mention some news of note. I put in my two week notice at Whirlpool Corporation on Friday. I have been working there for about 5.5 years permanently, but I had interned there as well since Feb of 1996. So after almost 10 years, I decided it was time to experience something different.

I would not stop anyone from working for Whirlpool. From what I saw in the time I was there, was most of their employees were treated well. And the experiences you gain are wonderful.

So, now I am moving to Seattle to work for Amazon.com. I am very excited and very nervous. I definitely have a concern that I am getting in over my head, going from a web developer in research at a manufacturer to working as a software developer for production systems at the largest online retailer with some of the brightest minds in the business. This is my first real test and I look forward to acing it.

To be honest, the biggest worry for me right now is selling the house. But that is mostly out of my control. I have done what I could in the last 3 years to make changes in the house for the better. But we shall see.

Fireworks and video games

St. Joseph's July 4th Fireworks

So another July 4th. It was pretty crowded at the beach last night. Sometime when things aren't crowded I should like to take my tripod and try to get some good fireworks shots. Basically I set the exposure to maximum and set the lighting for sunset of my Minolta E500.

So lately I have been playing a couple of new games. First off I picked up Guild Wars. Now I haven't had much time to play, but from what I have, it is a darn fun game. Haven't had much human interaction time, but the quests are interesting and the world is absolutely beautiful. A recommended pickup.

The other will likely bring some ridicule. Battlefield 2. You see, I picked it up and thought I might be able to run it. By the look of the requirements on the box, I was cutting it pretty close. So I went home and checked into my system (in the old days I would have known what every part on the machine was) and it looked like I wouldn't be able to run it due to a inadequate video card. So I bitched and moaned to my friends and coworkers who bought the game with me. Well, after a couple of days, I decided to install it, just to see how bad it would be. It runs. Not great, but it does run. I am running maximum res for my LCD panel, but lowest graphic settings and it runs smooth as glass. But again, haven't done much playing but man is it fun! Ah future addictions...

Death of a water heater

So I have had the last few days off of work. One for holiday and the other to take care of removing a dead water heater. Which I decided to hire done versus having to remove it myself. Would have been able to but it would have taken all day. So I now have a new high efficiency water heater to go with all the other things I have upgraded on the house. Also removed the dead garbage disposal and put in a straight pipe. All this in the name of selling the house soon.

Also I have been trying to get grass to grow where the tree in my front yard used to be. Well low and behold, this morning I have little grass sprouts. I thought I was going to lose that battle as I have tried to grow it for about a week with nothing to show till this morning. Also the other project I tackled was repainting the trim in the front of the house. Thank Lowes and wonder of color matching to make a darn close match to what was there.

Oh yeah. The dead water heater technically still ran, it was just the puddle on my floor that made me upset. It had a leak in the bottom of the tank.

So do you know of anyone who wants to buy a house in southwest michigan? Or do you know someone who wants a fish tank or 5?