Back from the dead

Something prompted me to recover and update this blog, but it has been so long since I've posted anything here that my old posts seem like ancient history. It has been nostalgic to catch a glimpse of what was going on in my life five years ago, almost like opening a time capsule. Because it has been so long and the human memory is so tragically short, this is as good a time as any to record a snapshot of my life c. January 2008.

I currently live alone in a suburb of Kansas City in a nice, rented apartment. I'm no longer a landlord and am pursuing a technology career again. I still drive the same car I had in 2003, which is a 2001 Subaru Outback LL Bean Edition with 140,000 miles on it. It has served me well and I hate to think of replacing it. I never thought I would be truly content with a vehicle, but somehow I've achieved that automobile Nirvana.

I have two cats, one of which I had at the time of my last post. The other arrived in my life in a rather indirect fashion, but she is an absolute angel and I wouldn't trade her for anything. The intersection of our daily habits and routines is one of the things that gets me out of bed in the morning. The typical "feline maintenance" chores are, for me, helpful guideposts that get me through the day in a reasonably normal, productive fashion. The things that I do routinely add some much-needed stimulus and excitement to the cats' days. I think the three of us make quite a little family, even if my enthusiastic affection for my feline family members makes me feel like the archetypal "little old lady." At least I just have two of them.

I have worked for my present employer for five months and believe that I have a bright future ahead of me here. The company seems to do an admirable job of retaining good employees, and the compensation and benefits are very generous. For the first time in many years, I actually have confidence that I can achieve my reasonably modest financial goals without sacrificing my lifestyle.

I should mention that the most extravagant area of my lifestyle is, as always, technology. I have a nice pile of computer equipment that I dabble with, although I wish I had a basement or garage to use as a lab. I still love to play computer games (Team Fortress 2 has been a huge time sink for me, but the recently discovered Armageddon Empires is poised to assume that role) and probably spend far too much time with them. I still enjoy reading and fill up most of my non-gaming hours with a variety of books. I just finished the original Foundation trilogy by Asimov, and have started Weber's Honor Harrington series. I'm usually in a sci-fi mood in the winter time. It's easy to read and keeps the imagination sharp.

I am planning to upgrade my television to a 40" Samsung LCD soon, but have a twinge of remorse for even thinking about it. I don't watch a lot of TV, but once you've seen a nice HD television, it's soooo hard to not want one for yourself. I currently still have a monstrous 32" Sony WEGA that has been a great television, even if it is almost impossible to move. I did recently subscribe to Time Warner's "super mega uber" package of cable, internet, and phone, so I've sort of opened Pandora's box with regards to entertainment at home. I'm not forced to upgrade to HD, but it would be nice to be able to watch baseball games in HD this summer. For that matter, because everything looks better in HD, I can see myself upgrading to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray soon so I can experience some of my favorite movies in a whole new way. In any case, my money has a burning desire to leave me in exchange for a nice HD television.

I hope to have some ongoing content for this space that is a more interesting than television viewing habits, but I thought it was important for my sake to sort of relaunch this blog with a personal update. It's also another excuse to mention my cats.