Posts from July 2014

My first week contracting at Roswell has been amazing. I actually feel like my job is challenging and has a measurable impact rather then mindlessly copying and pasting between excel documents.

For a first project I've started working with the group on a appointment reminder system for the patient portal, so patients can get text, voice and email reminders when they have an upcoming appointment. I love that I get to program for a full workday now. After a week I feel that I can do well here.

One of the best parts is now I can eat lunch with @paul and @terry. I feel bouge going out to lunch instead of bringing one, but I think it's also a good time to talk about work and figure out what I need to do.

This lunch was a a hummus wrap Washington Market. Paul's tea tasted like fish. I tweeted Honest Tea but no one ever answered me.

So as luck would have it, the day before I got laid off, @paul's team at Roswell got to hire a programming contractor to help them with having too much work in too short of a time. It works out because I've been hearing about the patient portal project through him, and learned a lot of my programming workflow and practices from him. so I was unemployed for almost no time at all. Guess I landed on my feet.

I started this Monday. Already I committed code and it seems like there are always going to be interesting things to learn and do. Paul and his team seem awesome and to work really well together. My contract is only for four months but I can't wait to see what I can do.

The storm took out this light at Delaware and North. what are you supposed to do when they're all lit up?

So I didn't want to write about this until everything was sorted out but two Fridays ago I was laid off for no work. One Friday you come back after lunch and then blam! You're carrying your desk home in a garbage bag.

I can't say I was too torn up about it. I was only on one project, and after a year it didn't look like there was any room for growth or new opportunities. I got way more satisfaction coming home to program or to learn German than I had at any day at work. Now I will only ride 29 miles in a blizzard for fun.

Plus I got to spend a week as a house husband. I don't think I'll ever clean so much again. Then I took a weeks vacation from unemployment, so I am one of those lazy welfare queens.

@paul and @terry have been married for a whole year today. They've been together for nearly 15. I feel so lucky to be part of a long and amazing love with them.

We're spending the day driving back from Provincetown but there's nobody else I'd rather be with. Here's to many more years of adventure.

The squid babies we found were not long for this world. We tried to save a few egg sacs from drying up on the beach by putting them in a bottle, and it worked - for a little while.

They even started breaking out of their eggs and swimming. It was so cute. But when we packed up our campsite tomorrow, we accidently left them in the car. I think they might have cooked because none of then swam after that. So we gave them a good send off in the sea before we went home.

After the hurricane was over, @paul, @terry and I decided to go out and see what happens in Provincetown. We headed out to visit the A House bar that Paul wanted to see. It was kind of like a nicer Marcella's with more spaces and the same people people.

The night got much better when we walked down the beach and found this crazy house party going on. It was packed and had a much more fun crowd, plus free beer. We made friends with a guy from Toronto named Jonsey plus a human teddy bear named Paul. By the time we left the sun was already coming up - we had to leave our place the next morning.

The last days here are soaked by the hurricane Arthur. Its been pouring all day, but @paul and I got to swim in a stormy Atlantic anyway. The waves were so strong, I think we would have been swept away if we went any further.

The fireworks are delayed but we might be able to catch some tomorrow or on the way back.

I thought I became comfortable with the ocean. I got over crabs being in the water, the thought of rip tides and sharks, and even touched comb jelly fish (they don't sting).

But this fucker is so scary. @paul says it's a horseshoe crab. It has a poisonous stinger, a bunch of claws and pincers. Its also a type of spider and not a crab, so watch out @mike.

Still I love swimming in the ocean. The beach here is so amazing I want to swim and ride the waves all day.

After we got back we went to a really nice vegetarian/local restaurant called tinys. Paul had a shrimp noodle dish and @terry and I split falafel tacos and polenta veggies.

This time at the family end with my family which is decidedly less cruisy.

The waves were much bigger and so much more fun to ride in in. Some points
you couldn't even get up, they'd just knock you over. The waves alone make the ocean so much better than the lake.