Okay, there’s a lot of catching up to do. Well, maybe not that much. But definitely some. In no particular order:
Some of you with entirely-too-long attention spans might remember that back in 2007, I talked about a missed job opportunity at work, and how I was fine with the decision because I thought something else would open up eventually. As it turned out, another team member left shortly after I made that post, and I decided to give the process another shot. Long story short, that’s more or less what I’ve been doing for the last seventeen months or so. By the way, that new hire turned out pretty well, I dare say.
Unfortunately, I was right about the ramp-up; it was pretty difficult at first, and I made a lot of stupid mistakes along the way, although thankfully nothing serious enough to bring down the site or anything like that. (Okay, I did accidentally knock LoudounExtra.com off the air for about 15 minutes while moving a server at the offsite data center, but that’s another story.) Fortunately, I work with patient people and have managed to get to the point where I’m doing much more good than harm. I’m no guru, but at least I have a shot at it. I still hang out in Express’s newsroom from time to time, but happily we hired an extremely good Mac tech to take over for them, so they’re in excellent hands.
Of course, these days I’m frequently grateful just to have a job, let alone one I enjoy—not that I shouldn’t be a little nervous about it. As a result of the absolute beatdown that the media world suffered last year in the markets, my erstwhile employer is implementing a few changes for the coming year, one of which involves bringing the two editorial groups from Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (which, by the way, became Washington Post Digital on Thursday) in Arlington, VA, and The Washington Post newspaper in downtown DC. As a result, we in the Technology department are also relocating, although at press time we still aren’t certain if we’re moving downtown (that’s the Post building at 15th and L in DC on the left there, the brownish building in the center of the pic) or to an offsite data center. Our chief poobah Katharine Weymouth and new executive editor Marcus “rhymes with the veggie” Brauchli have explained to us their plans for keeping the company sound over the next few years; they make sense and do sound promising. At least more so than, say, the Tribune’s plans, which mostly appear to involve grabbing as much copper wire and office supplies as you can before leaving the building.
Back when times were happier and bunnies and kittens roamed the market floors singing songs and showering traders with gumdrops—you know, October 2007 or so—I bought a car. There was nothing wrong with the (now fully paid off) WRX, mind you; in fact, it’s now Perri’s car, a substantial upgrade over her 1993 Subaru Loyale—90 hp and passive seat belts, talk about safety! I had just been longing for one of these for some time, and finally couldn’t resist any longer. That’s actually the color combo of mine in the picture on the Edmunds link. It was not all that pleasant an experience to actually purchase, at least not until I went to the same dealer family that sold us the WRX (that’s Fitzgerald, for the record) who were the complete opposite. Should have gone there first! It’s been an absolute joy to own, even in these cold and dark times, literally and figuratively. It’s fun to drive, handles like a dream, stops on a dime, and didn’t require selling a kidney to afford. As a side bonus, I regularly top 30+ MPG on the commute according to the ScanGauge I picked up for it, as shown. On that score, at least, life is damned near perfect. At least until Perri gets a job and I can somehow talk her into taking the Miata, keeping the WRX for a winter/practical car, and letting me take on a 370Z…
Oh yeah, did I mention that Perri left her job as a HR generalist at Georgetown University Medical Center? Not against her will, mind you, unlike so many others last year. In her case, it was simply giving her too much stress. How much? Bleeding-ulcer level as it turns out, something we only discovered while she was vacationing by herself in Vermont. She spend three-fifths of her time in the hospital, although thankfully she did not require anything more than some iron supplements, a transfusion or two, and for me to fly up to Albany to meet her and drive her home. Since her father also required a brief hospital visit earlier in the year (unrelated, and his turned out fine—at 82, he’s healthier than either of us), that left me as the only household member to escape. Well, there’s always this year, right? Anyway, she’s browsing around for work now, although oddly enough, a number of employers don’t seem to be in a hiring mood.
I think that’s the highlights, at least for now. Like I said, I’m hoping to do more this year than last as far as the site goes (I have a new WordPress theme in mind, among other things), so we’ll see how well that works out.
none