Change

A lot of change going on for me over here, which is unfortunately why you’re seeing so few posts from me.  Hopefully as the conventions start rolling out (TotalCon in February, HelgaCon in April) I’ll have more gaming stuff to post about.  For the time being though, the big move is pretty much front and center on my mind.

There’s a painter at my house right now prepping the house for sale.  I have a brand new car I’m trying to find any excuse to drive — I don’t want it to suffer from driving less than a mile a day to get me to and from work.  However, once the move happens, I’m looking at over 30 miles to work and the old car wasn’t going to make it.  The thing that’s really hitting me right now though is the empty desk across the way.

My coworker and friend Mike decided he did not want to go to Providence, and instead took a job with Google.  Friday was his last day, and Saturday night we took him out for a big going away party.  I’ll see him a couple times more before he gets on the plane to CA, but I think today is the day I’ll most notice him gone, being the first day I’m at work and he won’t be coming in.

I feel pretty down about it, actually.  My company is losing the brightest engineer I’ve ever worked with.  We have a lot of smart people here, but Mike was the guy I always felt I could go to when I was stuck and he’d have the answer.  I’m sure I’ll muddle through without him, but it does kind of feel like it’ll be sink or swim time for me going forward.

Worse than losing an excellent coworker though is that my friend is moving 3000 miles away.  Just like my best friend from high-school.  And my brother.  And several good friends from college.  Damn it, why does CA steal all the good ones?  And no, I’m not going to move out there, so I don’t want to hear it.  I just want to sulk about it and hope that part of the country sinks into the Pacific already so they’ll all come home.

OK, I know, I’m getting a bit maudlin about all this.  I apologize to my readers for having to sit through this.  Hopefully this gets it out of my system and I can move on.  Well, maybe I deserve at least one solid day of sulking.  Bah.