Life is one big continual lie

It has been a week since I blogged. Alot has happened in that week, but, alot of it I cannot blog about. That is why I haven't really had any updates. As far as what I can say.... this is what went down over the last week:

My wife and I are going on the cruise. We have booked it and are in the room next to our friends. I am still a little curious how it will be, but, I think it will be fun. It has to be better than my last vacation, but, that is not setting the bar very high.

I have been back at work for a full week now. It is good to be back in the grind and things are going really well at work. My boss seems to be very pleased with me and I am getting positive feedback from people outside my group even. While this won't translate into any real financial gain, it is nice to know that you are appreciated and are doing a good job.

The boss has added to my list of responsibilities at work the title of HP Blade Expert. Thus he is sending me to Columbia, MD for 3 days of training next week. It will be nice to be back in the learning world for a few days instead of the teaching world. I have been messing around with a couple blade chassis we have at work, so I should be fairly up to speed for next week's class.

I have ridden the Ninja three times in the last two weeks. Maybe the weather is starting to make a turn and we will see some warmer weather soon.

Speaking of warmer weather... I signed up for hockey again this summer. I thought long and hard about not doing it. But, I really do enjoy it and the team I play on is a group of good guys. So, I am signed up for another season.

I am off today to attend a couple EMBA classes at GMU. I am still leaning towards the Masters in Technology Management. But, who could turn down a chance for a couple free classes in a graduate program? I think it is only fair to give each program as much consideration as possible anyway. Today should also do a good job of shoring up my decision.

OK. I better go get ready. When I have some free time I will try to get a rant in on how f-ed up the concept of a democracy is. Have a good day and enjoy the weather.

Mooooooooo

I am sitting here contemplating something I didn’t think I would be considering any time in my near future. I am considering going on a cruise with another couple at the end of May. They are really nice people and I know we would enjoy hanging out with them for the week. I just have never thought I would enjoy hanging out on a boat with a bunch of other people. I don’t like Disney World or Branson Missouri. I don’t even really like amusement parks. These experiences are just too many people being herded around doing mindless things.

In light of all that, I find it surprising that I think I would actually enjoy the concept of having nothing to do for 7 straight days. Not in that I would sit around bored, but, that I would have no set schedule or list of things I had to get done during that time. I think there would be enough things on the ship that I could do, that I wouldn’t feel totally under stimulated. I could also easily avoid the big cattle lines and heavily organized pieces if I wanted to. It may actually be really good for me to just take it easy for a bit. I could go work out in the gym and then sit in the hot tub for a bit. I could just lie in bed or sit on my balcony for the day if I wanted to. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea actually.

The destinations sound interesting also. We would be going to Grand Turk, Little San Salvador Island and Nassau. Nassau I am sure will be a zoo. But, the rest look like they would be fairly quiet and interesting. I don’t think I would enjoy the shore side planned activities, but, I would enjoy just getting off the boat and wandering off onto the island. My only regret is that we wouldn’t be going to the Dominican Republic. I have always wanted to go there, but, I am sure I can get another opportunity since one of my good friend’s mother built a house there and lives full time.

Well, we will see. For the meantime, my quizzes from Wednesday and graded and put up on the blackboard for the students. I am going to bed. It was a long day out shooting on the range and visiting the pig.

And the beat goes on

It is official; I am now back on contract at my job. I will find out tomorrow how long this extension is for. Regardless of length, it is nice to have a steady income stream again. The hardest part will be getting back into a routine. I have been slowly getting up later and later as I went through the week. Tomorrow I will have to actually get up and go to work on time. It will be very nice to not have to commute into the city tomorrow. That part I will not miss.

In general, everything seems to be going pretty well right now. It is such a change from the beginning of the week. On Monday I was trying to find out why I still did not have a contract, picking through the wasteland of an office space where everybody was laid-off and the market was absolutely in the dumper. Now I have a new lease on my career life, I am almost wrapped up with the vulture fest down in the city and the market is screaming to the upside.

On another happy note, I had lunch today with a friend who is back in school, working on her undergrad. She declared her major this week and is going down the finance route. It was really good to have a chance to bounce my thoughts off her today and to listen to what she has experienced along her journey over the last few months. I was relieved to find out she had toyed with Economics as her major. This gives me comfort to know that I am not alone in this desire and that maybe I am not completely out of my gourd to want to get a doctorate in Economics at some point. Who knows....

I know she occasionally peeks at this blog, so I want to congratulate her on her endeavor. I think it will set her on an exciting and interesting chapter in her life.

Well, I better go grade quizzes. I'm sure my students are interested to see how they did on the exam. I am just as interested to see how they did. I was concerned that this quiz may have been a bit hard. But, from what I have glanced at they seem to be doing alright on it. We will see when I am done grading.

A different kind of capitulation

Lately the only real capitulation I have felt is in the stock market. Unfortunately, this has happened a few times over the last year. This morning one year ago today for example... The cost to insure $10Million of Bear Stearns Debt in Credit Default Swaps shot past $1Million. Two days later they were sold off to JP Morgan for pennies on the dollar. Those types of moments were real capitulation moments for me and the market.

Today I am feeling a different kind of capitulation. I took a job contracting with the government last October. At the time, the market was about to have its biggest down move in... um... ever… and my employer at the time had no sign of turning their ship around in the next... um... never. These two things told me it was time to move to a job where I could hedge the down side as much as possible. Nothing said stability to me like working for the government. I could take a job that is actually half way interesting, a decent commute and would be stable and secure. Unfortunately, I was really really wrong about the last part of that. This job has been about as far from stable as it could ever be. I have yet to go a couple months without some kind of funding issue with my position. This leaves me on the brink of being on the street at any moment. I also have no way to do any long term planning. My current experience is what I would like to think is the nadir of this whole thing, but, what if it isn't? The longer this drags out, the less optimistic I feel about a new contract being signed. And even if one is... how long will it last? Will it go to just June 30th like many of the others? Or will it go out to all the way to the end of September? Either length isn't really much to hang your hat on. Both put me back in this situation again in a short time.

I think the saddest part of this is that it comes at the same time I would have probably been released from my previous employer. Yesterday they had a big round of layoffs and I would have picked up a severance out of that. So, now I am without severance and looking at the same boat. Just another great example of how I make some of the worst choices possible in my life.

Oh well, I guess I will go back today and continue to pack up the laid-off people’s stuff and wait to see if some anonymous faces downtown will sign a contract to give me another lease on life for a few more months. I think the other plan today is to find another job. I have no idea where or doing what, but, I better figure it out. And figure it out quick.

I know that out of great adversity comes great opportunity. I really need to start searching for that opportunity.