Looks like I have a job. I received the job offer on Tuesday, accepted on Wednesday, and start on Monday. So, why do I say T-7 weeks? Well, put simply, in my current living situation I can not really have access to a linux box. In 7 weeks, I will be moving into a place of my own, complete with a working network, and so forth. So, to be fair, it might be a bit more than that if I take into account cable setup, getting the lease signed, moving time… But basically, I need 3 paychecks to recover from the enormous financial toll moving with less than a weeks notice and no job prospects took. Oddly enough, now that it looks like I found something, I’m getting a lot of calls and emails about interviews. The job I’m taking is good all around: good location, good money, and really nice people. Only downside is that they are a Windows based shop. (But, that just really means more job security for me now that I think about it, especially if they ever decide to move platforms.)
So, right now I have 7 weeks abouts until I can do a linux install and start hacking stuff again. I have all sorts of cool project ideas, and things I want to get going especially some thoughts on conary stuff I’ve been thinking about, but I have no way of doing any of it right now. So, I’m stuck writing them in text files and waiting for some time.
I have had a few people ask why I moved with such short notice, the short answer is family issues. The long answer is that I left the religion associated with my family and felt the need to leave the area as well as my family is somewhat well known with that particular group. I’m not going to go further into this on this blog, as it is on some planets and I don’t want to upset anyone. Let just say it’s hard to go to places and keep running into people that know about how you “left” and want to “save you”. I make no judgements anymore about people of any religious groups – I really don’t think anyone has things right, so why quibble?
So, now I am working on a shopping list and debating how to handle the big issue of furnishing an apartment and starting my life over, (but now with a job!). I’m probably going to finance a big chunk o’ stuff if I can find a good deal such that I don’t have to pay interest. It’s a rather interesting question of which is better: having things now, or buying cheap stuff to last a bit and piecing together nice stuff as you go. I think I could come up with some really good mathmatical arguments for going to a local furniture store and financing the whole thing with one of those 0% interest no payments for 12 months deals… Basically, there is no way around the need for furniture, so I have to spend some money, and I’d like good furniture later, so the question becomes if any interest I had to pay on new financed furniture would outweight the cost of buying old furniture, getting new furniture and selling/donating the old, and all the transportation involved. Needless to say, after worrying about being homeless for a short period, these are nice problems to have. The only thing I am currently 100% sure I’m going to purchase is a full size weighted-key piano/keyboard – mostly because of the other major piece of news I have….
In addition to a “day job”, I am now going to be performing as a pit musician in a production of Nunsense, a musical comedy. I’ve been to several rehearsels so far to hear the ladies sing, and the pit rehearsals start in full scale on Monday as well… Going to be a long day Monday, standard 8-5 job and then from 7-11 I’m Mr. Musician. Slightly scared that I haven’t seen the music yet, I really hope my site reading skills are up to par. The play starts at the beginning of August and runs to the end of the month. This will be the first time I’ve performed for a group in a non-religious setting. Needless to say, since I am moving out of the garage(literally), I’ll need a piano to keep practicing for future plays.
I also asked the owner of the theatre if I could try my hand at bartending, and that is going very interestingly. I bartend now for a local comedy club on Thursday nights, under the direct supervision of an older bartender. You learn more about alcohol in a few minutes mixing drinks than in a lifetime of reading… Favorite drinks in order are currently: Long Island Ice Tea, Georgia Peach, Captain and Coke. It’s also interesting to learn just how hidden the taste of alcohol can be by some of the different fruit juices. For instance, even though it’s only moderately alcoholic (I’d say around 10% on strong mix), I can’t really taste it in a Malibu and Pineapple. I guess the lesson here is to be careful of fruit-juice drinks in bars. Anyway, if any of my friends reading this have any plans of being around during a weekend in August, give me a shout and I’ll either get you in to see Nunsense or buy you a drink at the comedy club. Funny enough, I met my contact that told me about the career opportunity I recently landed with through working there… Funny how life works.