Category: Work

I’m now using Linux (Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit to be exact) exclusively at work on my computer and I LOVE it.  Did I mention I’ve got a new job?  I’ll get into that later.  I just needed to quickly jot down a quick nerd-type-post and be on my way.  I’ve got some stuff to throw out there about a family get-together so that will have to take more priority for the time being.

Guilty as charged.  I haven’t paid any attention to this thing for weeks.  I will say, believe it or not, I’ve sat down to post twice.  The last time was just the other day when I was sitting in the airport trying feverishly to catch a flight to Anchorage from Seattle.

Long story short, I started my journey back on March 26th (my birthday).  Canceled that night.  Two nights later?  Canceled.  Another two?  Canceled.  One more two night stint?  Yeah.  You get the picture.  I finally got up here on April 2nd (I was due April 3rd but caught a break).  That whole “Me vs. The Volcano” bit was all about this little tidbit.

So here I am, working my third hitch.  The two weeks on and two weeks off are making the calendar fly by at an incredible rate.  I would have never thought that would be a byproduct of what I’m doing.  I would have thought time would come to a slow stop but quite the contrary.  It’s absolutely FLYING by.  I was on the phone with my wife tonight and she told me that Isabelle is getting more teeth.  Then you get to thinking that in the fall, she’ll be in preschool.  Then the following  year, Kindergarten.  Dude!  Slow down!

So here we are.  Two weeks into it, sort of.

I left Seattle on January 11th (with a bit of good grace, I’ll add.  Getting on that plane was an interesting adventure) and here we are on the 25th.  I had set off for a three-week crash-course in the new life I had chosen for myself and my family:  Prudhoe Bay, or “the Slope Life” as they like to call it.  I was optimistic about it (and still am, I’ll add) but I’ve come to learn that I’m one of those creatures who, when it comes to change, isn’t as adaptable as I used to be.  Well, sort of.  Change, I can handle.  It’s change after change after change after … you get the picture.

The meat and potatoes of this post is that I came up here for a three-week stint.  Got two weeks into it and was notified that it had been turned into a four week stint.  What’s the big deal?  Pretty easy.  I hadn’t planned on missing my family as much as I do.  Especially Isabelle.  See, as time rolled on, there was this hole that wasn’t being filled.  I realized that Isabelle had created and filled quite the large hole.  One of the many new things about being a new parent.  I always made a point of making a really big deal out of when I got home every day from work when I was working at Microsoft.  Now what I’ve got is just … a dorm-like room (for those of you who went to college and stayed in the dorms, that’s what I’m staying in basically.  It reminds me a LOT of the room I had at the U of North Dakota and even more of another dorm room I spent some time in as well.

I’ll survive because I’ve got a great support system.  Technology is really saving my behind on this one with the use of Skype, a laptop, a crappy Internet connection and a webcam (oh boy does the Internet suck up here!).  Getting to talk to and see my family every night has been a thrill.  Tonight was the first night I didn’t get to see Isabelle because she had partied too hard and passed out a little early.  It gave me an opportunity to have a nice, uninterrupted conversation with my wife, which never happens.  So there was totally a plus side to that.  I still definitely look forward to talking to Isabelle tomorrow night.

Speaking of which, it’s about 10pm.  5am comes early.