Changes...

I had good news and bad news yesterday...

The bad news was that one of the big projects that all of the full timers were working on was canceled. A big, big project with lots of architectural changes for the system. This means that there's no more funding for us vendor developers. Last day is Friday.

The good news, and I have mixed feelings about this, is that my manager wants me to work for him as a full time employee and I'm not sure that I'm ready to go back to the Microsoft Machine in that capacity just yet. I've applied for the position, though I have yet to commit to myself whether to say "yes" if I get an offer. The position is a level 62, three steps above where I was before. A level 59 on the developer ladder at MS is "just learning to write Microsoft quality code" and I frequently leading projects and architecting systems. Many of my legacies are still all over my former group. My theory as to why I never got promoted was that I was a developer in a test organization and the test level 59 is very different from the same rung on the test ladder. On the test ladder, you've got ownership of an erea, you're writing automation, and maybe even leading other testers. Yeah, that's not what I was doing.

But in short, I'm having mixed feelings. The health benefits would be nice to have, but I suspect that they too, like a lot of other benefits at Microsoft, are going to go away and citizenship in the evil empire won't be nearly as good as it once was. Perhaps I can leave at that point. :)

Importance of Being Earnest

(recently posted in dramticphoto)

Woohoo!

I'm younger than owlsamantha!!

You Are 30 Years Old

30 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Can I really be that bad of a poet?

It's not often that I think of how to do the worst job at something, let alone it be something rather artistic in the grand scheme of things. But this...this is different. Disney is giving away some replicas from their upcoming adaptation of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In honor of this, the folks at Ain't It Cool News are giving away the set number 42 in a run of 1000. To get this, you need to write some bad poetry. And when I say bad, I mean on the scale of bad that only a vogon could love.

Wanna know more, O' small green lump of putty? Go here.

You

Swiped from owlsamantha.

 

You Know You're From Denver When...

You identify directions by the location of the mountains. Your diet consists largely of Cliff Bars, granola, tofu and Fat Tire. You’ve been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a team’s victory. When visiting friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz. Snow in June is not unheard of. Neither is 100 degree weather. You scoff at the weatherman on TV. Especially when giving a five-day forecast. "Timberline" is somewhere you’ve actually been. Many times. You know what a "Chinook" is.  No, it's not a type of fish. You know what the "Peoples Republic of Boulder" is - and why it's called that. You know what a "fourteener" is. You know what a "Rocky Mountain Oyster" is. You think a red light means three more cars can go. The fast lane is for cruising and the slow lane is for passing. Turn signals are optional. Shorts are worn year around, regardless of temperature. "Wildlife" means more than squirrels and pigeons. You don’t stop and look when you see deer. You’re not sure if Colorado extends west of the Rockies. You know where Buffalo Bill's grave is. You own a big dog named Aspen, Buck, Cheyenne or Dakota that wears a bandanna. The entire top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail. You think that formal wear is ironed denim. You've never actually been to Aspen, much less ski there. "Damn Rockies" is an expression you use when you can't find a parking spot Downtown. During a thunderstorm you wonder which I-25 underpass is flooding. If it rains more than 2 days straight you compare the weather to being in Seattle. If the humidity gets above 25%, you consider it muggy. People driving on the 16th Street Mall are considered "tourists". The biggest event of the year is the Western Stock Show. The only RTD bus you've been on is the 16th Street shuttle. The two major newspapers have the same owner, yet one insists on making its own rules regarding what to call the new stadium. There is not enough money in the world to get you to move to the Springs. When giving directions, you never say "Turn left, turn right", it's always go West, then South. When the Broncos are losing you refer to them as the "Donkeys". You think 5-Points is a ghetto. You are the third car to run a red light after it has changed. You consider LoDo a tourist trap with expensive condos. You have a broken windshield. You have absolutely no recognizable accent. You have been skiing less than 3 times in your life. You know that "The Narrows" refers to I-25 between University and Broadway. You know where the city ended when you were a kid, and would never move further out than that boundary. You merge onto the highway at 15 miles an hour. You never plan a picnic between 3:30 and 6:00 in Spring or Summer months. You only go to Lodo when friends are in from out of town. You say things like "I don't care how big Parker is, it's still a one-horse town". You see no reason to travel to Aurora. You think most of the people in Colorado Springs are religious freaks. You think the rest of the freaks live in the "People's Republic of Boulder." You voted for higher taxes to fund Coors field, but voted down taxes for public transportation. Thornton, Northglenn and Westminster are "Another State". You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Denver.

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Nerd Score...

It's probably the fact that I said "PASCAL" wasn't the real programming language. ;) I hate Pascal with a passion! Though the answer they were looking for was BASIC.

An option?

Just talked to a recruiter who is looking at an opening in Wizards of the Coast. Oooh. More geekiness!