Grrrrrr....

Okay bad day.

Laroo is in England (which is great for her). I miss her already. Alot. But she's going to see a lot of stage productions (for "work"), gong to Stratford and taking a tour of Stonehenge where you can touch the plinths. The stones. The rocks. Whatever they are.

Last night I determined the combination of (a) an ISP that oversold so much they have brought their network to a grinding halt in my area; (b) a wireless router that I am finding out is the biggest lemon on the market (not just my opinion) and; (c) iTunes means I will no longer purchase music from iTunes. The service is slooooow here in the Great White North. Not to mention that they don't have the stuff I am looking for (although it's available in the U.S.A.).

And work got interesting. I discovered today that there is a huge flaw in this big project they are ramping up with ridiculous deadlines. There's no way we can do what Marketing wants us to do. I figured this out at five o'clock today and get to tell people tomorrow morning. Joy.

There's a bright spot though. The Order of the Stick is probably the funniest as well as the best written web comic I have ever read. 477 strips read in two nights.

It's geeky but if you have ever played D&D even once in your life you'll get the most of the in jokes. What makes it great is the writing: there are very well developed characters, incredible plots, real human drama (or demi-human) and something that goes beyond what you normal think of as "funny pages".

Don't let the stick-figure art throw you (like it did to me the first time I looked at it a while back). I'm accusing it of literature.

As soon as I get a permanent address, I'm buying all the books. And probably the "I dream of the day when I will learn to stop asking questions for which I will regret knowing the answers.".

I think I relate to Roy the most...

Restlessnessness

Kind of an odd day. After three days of having my back attempting to hunch me over like Quasimodo (Quasimoby?) I find myself at odds with myself. Not over anything in particular, but just a feeling of being bored combined with a feeling of being bore with my usual distractions. Gaming, reading, drinking coffee etc. I can' seem to do any f them for more than thirty seconds.

Laroo is spending most of the day with relatives fixing her deck. She's coming into town for dinner but I'm still booored.

The first week of the new job went pretty well all considered. I have myself a good team (despite the fact that I'm about fifteen years senior in years to all of them). I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not going to be 100% effective after five days. I am chomping at the bit though so next week I'll introduce some things that may or may not prove popular to everyone. Some of the people some of the time is the best I can hope for I think.

See now I'm bored of writing this. Twitchy. It's annoying.

Well there is laundry. Of course there's always laundry.

Not quite sure why this is happening. You would think that my first weekend after a new job I'd be more than willing to sink into my distractions, as I am wont to do. Something is fizzing in my brain but I can't for the life of me think of what it is. Did I forget something? Miss something? Not miss something. Frustrating.

Two Days, Still Employed

What a difference a day makes. Especially when that day starts with your alarm going off at seven AM. A sound you hadn't heard in over two months...

But so far, so good. I haven't started a new job in years, and it's kind of showing. Although I'm anxious to "get the ball rolling" on some ideas, I really need to reign myself in a bit (mixing metaphors). Okay hows about this, I'm chomping at the bit to get going but I need to reign myself in. Better.

It's interesting: so far most people have been giving the impression that I don't know what I'm getting into, it's pretty bad, disorganized, chaotic etc.

They have no idea. This is cake! So far at least. This old warhorse has gone into this battlefield before. I can see what can go wrong, what will go wrong if certain things happen and how to fix it. But it's only my second day.

On the home-front, I've given up on trying to find a place until later this month when people start to give notice for the end of August. I've called about a dozen places. Six don't answer their phones, five say they have rented out already and one, well I expect to look up and hear someone say "It rubs it on it's skin or else it gets the hose again!". Besides, now that rent is about a third of my monthly take-home pay, I'll use the money I would have to put down for over-lapping rents to hire movers.

And and by the way, much Love to Laroo. She got stung by some nasty wasps not once but twice last week. Her leg is swollen up like a thing that swells up really big. She's on antihistamines and antibiotics. Knocked her right on her keister (mmmmm... Laroo keister). Poor Laroo.

And huzzahs to The German. I'm surprised you're willing to go within fifty feet of Capa, let alone work with him. Work him over maybe...

Rent to Own

Naturally, since I'm looking for a new place, I decided to look at actually buying something instead of renting. In this burg you're looking at about $250k for a place with about 500 square feet. So did some math.

Base mortgage amount: $250,000 (and that's low end)
10 year mortgage at 8% (going rate): $96,848 interest
Condo fees: $200 x 120 (10 years worth): $24,000
$1508.02 a month in payments, paid bi-weekly.

So that makes it $120,848 in money paid above and beyond the actual cost of the place.

Renting the same place (given a steady rent, I know not all that realistic)
$1000 x 12 x 10 (ten years) = $120,000.

Steady rent is not realistic again, but consider your own place needs to be maintained, and frankly condo fees go up as well, so for the purposes of this exercise I'll assume they cancel out.

So I can rent and save up money to buy a place for cash (or come close) or buy and pay 75% more per month as opposed to renting. And wind up in the exact same place (capital vs savings).

Looks like I'll be renting with the caveat that I put away $500 per month towards a down payment on a place that is significantly larger than a closet.

Hot. Holy Crap.

Okay it's about twenty-eight degrees in my place. This is not a comfortable temperature for me. But that's okay as the view due to the heat from my balcony. Hot.

And this of course is the last evening of the mini-retirement, which I will be spending watching the Venture Brothers (Season 2) reading books ("Soon I Will Be Invincible") and playing computer games (name withheld due to NDA).

And it's too damn hot to even blog. So all I'll say is, work sucks, stick it to the man and people call the cops when you live on the fourth floor and go out on the patio with a soaked white T-shirt. At least if you're an almost-forty year old male computer geek.

Indentured Again

No I didn't just come back from the dentist. I came back from my new place of employment!

Yup, I signed my life away on the dotted line. My mini-retirement is coming to an end as of next Monday. So I need to do all the stuff I've been putting off for two month in the next five days....

The job looks okay: note quite the pay-cheque I was hoping for but they do have a bonus structure that almost gets me there. I'll be doing the exact same thing I was doing at my last place of employment: leading. As much as I ever lead anyways. But the difference is in my ignorance. I'm guessing (ie hoping) there will be less of "Do you have a sec" and "Can you do me a favour?".

And yes, for those who know me, I'll be happy to pass along a resume. Except for Capa, apparently he needs some long-term disability due to starting some exercise.

Wobbly Pops are good for what ails ya. Ale is good for what ails ya? That works.

Sooooo the next mid-life challenge on the roster is attempting to find a two-bedroom apartment that is within walking distance to work. And, of course, finding something for September 1st is the absolute worst time of year to do so in this burg...

Almost ... There ....

Okay I almost have a new job. The offer is being drawn up (after some negotiations today) and should be available for my Dyk Moby on Monday.

The amazing thing is that I didn't realize I was that stressed out about finding a job. It's a huge relief but also a huge surprise that it was weighing me down so much. And there's still the nagging worry that "Almost...there..." will turn into "They come from ... behind ...!". But that may be because I've been playing Lego Star Wars again. Love that game.

And on top of that, it looks like a great job. I won't go into details as this is a blog after all, but it's the kind of situation where change is happening fast. They need someone who can put some structure around it while still delivering software.

So pretty much my last job.

At least this time I won't be sucked into doing legacy crapola. It's all about leadership baby.

I start the week after next, so I'm going to take the next week to really and truly relax (and tell all those recruiters I'm no longer looking for work) and lavish Laroo with the affection she so richly deserves.

Crash. Burn.

Okay that didn't go well.

While waiting for the number 2 folks to get back to me on my second interview, while holding off number 3 until I hear from number 2, I had a second interview today with number 45 (or there abouts).

It was a technical interview. And it was all about .NET.

Now if you plonk a sizable chunk of C# in front of me and tell me something is busted, I can can pretty much fix it. If you plonk a software specification in front of me, well, I'll be pulling out manuals quite a bit. It's one of the reasons I left my old job: my technical skills (skillz?) are sorely behind in terms of the latest and greatest.

And I don't hide that fact. When it comes to databases, I can boast some 'leetness but when it comes to C# I always let the people interviewing know I don't hit the ground running, I just hit the ground.

And I told the person I first interviewed that exact thing.

So the second interview comes up as technical inquisition. I aced (I think) the team-building and database parts. C# .... not so much. And it was three quarters of the interview.

This has stressed me out. Critical hit to my confidence stat.

So I probably won't be hearing from them. I hope I'll be hearing from number 2 today. Number 3 is actually scaring me a little now.

Dammit, maybe I should just give up and sling over-priced caffeinated beverages for a living...

No Show

Another day another interview. Although today... didn't.

I showed up at the oil and gas place where an agent had arranged an interview. Nice offices. Nice offices. Having enough cash seems to improve the decor.

The guy who was supposed to interview e comes in with a very sheepish look on his face. He explains that they hadn't had a chance to defineany roles or positions due to a by out of another company or something. And he was late for a meeting.

No interview and I had time to kill. So I wandered around downtown a bit. Gods, I love summer. Capa can explain that one for ya.

I'm, again, miffed although only slightly. Like I said, there's an offer on the table, and another (I hope) coming quick. If that weren't the case "slightly" would become "greatly". But I'm being very zen-like about it. Shit does happen, even at the best run of companies.

Still...

Long weekend and Stampede coming up. Which means I really should leave town if at all possible. The noise around my place has gone from loud to cacophonous and it's only Thursday.

Besides, I think my PS2 has gone to console heaven. It was a good four (five, maybe?) year run though. The newer ones are much smaller and cheap like borscht. Not red like beet soup though.

And I've officially started meandering here. Again. So I'll go now.

What The?

Er, I'm hoping this looks okay because the Blogger interface is currently in Kanji... one sec.

Okay that's fixed. Domo arigato, Mister Roboto.

So anywho. The job front has been quite interesting this week. I had an interview Monday with the folks over at (well I won't say at the moment) for a six month contract. I thought I did okay in the interview. When I asked when they would be making a decision they had said sometime next week. The next day they offered me the contract.

Between the interview and the offer, I got a call from another company, who are actually number 2 on my "ideal places" list for a second interview. We booked for Friday, which was supposed to be before the first guys made a decision. So I had to tell the agent who set up the first interview that I would like to wait until that second interview results were in.

I hate it when it when I'm spoilt for choice. History has shown that as I try and make the best choice, all the options fade away. So I'm hoping #2 gets back to me mid-week next week.

And I got yet another call from a different agent about a job application I had forgotten about. They wanted to talk to me but felt my price was too high. Now my rate of pay for me is always negotiable but not until after an interview. I base a great amount of how much I'm willing to give (or not give) based on the interview. There's tons of literature out there that says a person going into an interview is also checking out the position, the company, the environment etc. Someone wanting to haggle on price even before a face-to-face throws up red, ragged, bloody flags. And besides, nobody else has complained. I've done a lot of research on pricing in the here-and-now. And I also give a number of ranges depending on what kind of position it is (dependent on both technologies and responsibilities) so there is a lot of leeway given up front.

Yeah I was kind of miffed that the first question they ask is "Can you come down on your price?" when they haven't even seen the product yet.

Ah well. Interview tomorrow at yet another oil and gas outfit (which reminds me, gotta do the research), the big interview on Friday. Long weekend next weekend and (with any luck) back to work next Monday.

It's been two months of unemployment. Once in a long while it's boring. Most of the time it's enjoyable. But all of the time, there's no cash coming in.

C'mon lottery ticket....

More Agents Than Jobs?

I'm beginning to wonder if there is actually just a half-dozen or so programming jobs out that and about a score or three of agencies trying to fill them.

It's a pain: each agency will change the description slightly and not tell you what company the position is for. So you don't know if you are applying for the same job three times. Add to that, a lot of places will just trash your resume if it comes from different sources, meaning no chance in aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks of even getting an interview. So you need to work double time in your job hunt trying to keep this crap organized.

Whatever happened to the days of just marching from building to building with a stack of paper resumes in hand?

Monster, Workopolis et. al. don't help. The agencies use them. Not to mention I saw a print-out of what one of those sites thinks is my resume. Man it gets butchered! Turns out they have a cap of 2000 characters (!) per work-place entry. And I missed that little bit of fine print.

So yeah, the job hunt is annoying. But it's not nearly as bad as working at the last place.

On the other hand, Laroo and myself kind of half-jokingly looked at houses this past weekend. The first was a gorgeous Victorian brick five bedroom currently used as a abed and breakfast. The electric is all up to code, plumbing looks great etc. Apparently it was a used as a nurses residence about 100 years ago. So alot of rooms and very little "living space" which is why they can't sell the place. That and it's $600k. Still I love those old buildings.

The other place we looked at was considerably less, three years old and acres of room. Also in High River. But people like Capa do the commute every day, so that's nothing I can whine (loudly) about.

So yeah, things are good with Laroo still. In the end we decided it's a little soon yet. She needs to fix up her place to get maximum profit from the sale and I need to find an income. Poor baby: the end of the school year is near and she's going nuts, and sick to boot. We had our six-month semi-anniversary this past weekend. I got her flowers and chocolate, she got me cookies and Lego.

It's no wonder I love her madly.

Oh and speaking of Lego, this will be the end of me.

It's Never Easy

Well, just got notice from my landlord that he's ending the lease at the end of August. Which means I have to have a job by then (which was planned) but it means there's no way I can take a tropical holiday this year.

Frig.

A Question of Interviews

I'm unemployed and looking for work. Now because of the job market in Cowtown, this shouldn't be an issue and finding job postings is easy. What I didn't expect was the response I got from agencies.

I'm defining an "agency" here as an entity that finds jobs for people. They send your resume to their clients, the clients interview you and if you're hired, the employer pays the agency a cut of your new salary. I've "interviewed" with about eight of them in the past two weeks.

I'm wondering if the whole agency thing is the way to go. I've only had one job interview that I submitted my application directly. I don't think I'd want that job though, even if they offered it to me. It sounded like a great job, but the two guys who interviewed me had no sense of humour whatsoever. Not that I cracked a lot of jokes, but they were absolutely stone-faced. And they would be my bosses if I was hired. No fun.

Anyways back to the agency thing. I'm getting the impression that these guys get paid by how many names they have, no more. There was one this week where I was actually asked questions pertaining to a specific job. One I had today did the same which actually kind of threw me. The rest, well, it was about fifteen minutes of "here's what we do, how does that sound?" and I was out the door.

So I'm thinking that if I'm going to get a job, it will be without their help.

Besides, as Capa would say, why go through a middleman when it's cheaper for the employer just to get resumes directly? Not to mention I'm a firm believer that if you put your life in someone's hands, chances are they'll drop it in the toilet.

Time is kind of on my side though. Summer is usually not the best time to be looking for work but then again if that's the belief, I'll be the only one looking.

And a summer off sounds nice.

Down to Business

Well, my week off is over. Not that I have found a new job (C'mon Capa, I needs me a job where you work!) but it's time to put the nose to the grindstone. Or at least get my shit together.

I've been avoiding making a list of things I need to do with my time off, but here goes:

Keep the resume updates and check job listings every day.

Organize my contacts list. Right now it's pretty much a stack of napkins.

Clean, tune and buy a new seat for my bike.

Renew my passport. I still have quite a bit of time on it but since the whole process means you need at least 2 full days off, do it now.

Get back to the gym on a two on, one off schedule. I stood on a scale this weekend and was not impressed. When I take a day off, get on the afore-mentioned bike.

Spend at least two hours a day either writing fiction or writing code.

So that's the list. Note that it's more of a "establish a productive routine" than items to check off as they are completed. I know me: slacking is what I enjoy best, but too much means I'll get behind (and grow a large behind) very quickly.

The other things I need to clamp down on is my expenditures: no more impulse buying of things like DVDs, Guitar Hero controllers, books etc. At least not until I finish the lots I have purchased (about 5 DVDs, yes I know "The 4400" Capa and about a half-dozen books). This will mean I can avoid the slack.

thank goodness I went I got Starcraft on Friday. You know about Starcraft 2 right?

Sweeeeet. Bad programmer! Get back to work! Or at least looking for work.

Long Weekend Exceeded

Well it is now Wednesday, which mean I have been unemployed for more than a long weekend. It really hasn't struck me with full force yet. I'm not quite sure when that will happen. There are some financial things to take care of (I got my holiday paid out).

I haven't done much of anything really except for some very light housework and some very heavy laundry. I didn't want to put together a huge list of things to do as I have plenty of time: mostly I'm kind of bored. Right now I'm sipping good coffee (the stuff they had at the office was consistently atrocious) reading books and email and playing with Guitar Hero.

I applied for a couple of jobs yesterday, but purely out of requirement. I haven't seen anything that really piques my interest as of yet beyond "We need code monkey! You code monkey?" but there's time for now. I'm won't be terribly worried until July begins, as summer is a horrible time to look for work.

So yeah, just hanging.

This week is just about decompression anyways. I'll tackle the big questions next week. For now, I'll catch up on my reading, get my bike tuned up, do some songs on "Medium" (gotta get that new guitar) and just chill in the warm spring sunshine.

Gotta love it.

Man of Leisure

My first day of unemployment!

It's been slack so far, accompanied by a slight hang-over. My friends from the old homestead, Pete and Mo, made a surprise visit this weekend. And since nobody had to go to work today we went for a little liquid entertainment. Ugh. I'm not as bad as I thought I would be but still: it's a yogurt and salad day.

One thing that came up (as these things do) is I think I discovered why I am so loathe to do yard work. A like a good big yard, but the thought of all the maintenance fills me with such a feeling of dread. I've never been sure why.

Pete figured out why: it's the same for him. As kids, yardwork was the penance for our childhood transgressions. Mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, trimming the hedges, all were forms of punishment. It's classic behavior modification. So at a very basic level, having a green thumb is equivalent to getting a pink bottom (and my Pop occasional cut a switch).

That's one more life mystery solved by drunken ramblings!

Today is just a day off, the full impact of my unemployment hasn't hit and probably won't until I get my last paycheck and work out finances. According to my estimates I have enough stashed away to get me to mid-July without touching my bankroll (in form of unpaid holiday and overtime). after that I have about four months before my bank account dwindles to zero. So lots of time. Problem now is what to do with it.

This week though is all about decompression.

I Quit! (Declarative, not Imperative)

Yup. For those who don't know (and I think most do) I quit my job last week. Two weeks notice. Four days until I'm unemployed and painting up the "Will Code for Food" sign.

Woooohoooooo!

The reasons (or at least some of them) should be obvious considering my last few posts. But it's all summed up with a simple "Time to Go!". For personal, career and plain selfish reason, it's time to move on after eight years of... well some of it actually has been good. But it's been a while.

In the meantime, I've backed away from Starting Write Now. I'm hoping that it will be a short hiatus. All signs point to "okay" as even the act of putting in my resignation (very professional, not delivered with a pointy thing as some believed I would) has been a relief. I've started thinking about writing again, which I haven't done in months.

So I'll at least have some time off. I actually have a couple of interviews set up (it's amazing how word gets around in this burg) but I'm not in a huge rush to sit my ever-widening ass in a cubicle (actually that reminds me, back to the gym). But there are a few choice places I would not mind blessing with my presence. But it will be summer soon and Laroo has the summers off...

I'm guessing I'll be updating this as well (as I embark in my new career). Of course with every new job there's a whole set of knowledge to cram into the cranium in a very short period of time. I haven't done that in a while, not sue if there's actually any room in there....

So, that's it for now (in more ways than one). Like I said, there will be updates here.

Oh yeah, and I love Laroo. Still. More, even. She's the one who's been keeping me relatively sane(-ish) these past few months. But most of all she reminded me that I'm better than I usually think I am (computer geeks almost universally suffer from some form of self-esteem issues). She actually gave me the courage to quit. When she says everything will be alright, it's believable.

She is my sunshine!

Right, This Thing

As Capa mentioned, it's time for my "quartery update". It say something sardonic but he's pretty much getting it right, there.

First off, 'gratz to Big M and KAJ, who will be Big M and KAR after today: they are (finally) getting married. Thanks for the bachelor party M, I think I dropped about $150 at the casino. No strippers, but I still got taken for a ride...

Speaking of which, I just dropped $1000+ on my car at the dealership. Seems there were a whole bunch of problems that strangely never cropped up when my car was coverd by my warantee which expired in February. Looks like I'll be using Mr. Lube from now on. There's a joke in there somewhere...

On the work front, well I had a couple potential interviews supposedly set up throug some contracting companies but for some reason they aren't returning my calls. Quite disappointing to say the least. But the job search continues as my current one just seems to be getting more stressful as the days go by. I didn't think it was all that possible. Every day for the past couple of weeks I've been updating the resignation letter. My little bro had some good advice though: if you are going to just up and quit, do it at the beginning of summer. Which has the added advantage of Laroo being off for the summer.

Yup, me and Laroo are still going strong. She's such a cutie, especially when she is stressed. Which is all the time actually but her big production is over as of tonight so we're winging away (okay driving) for a weekend in the mountains. I think she'll sleep through it all, whihc is fine, I have alot of books to read. And yes Capa, DVDs to watch: I started on teh 4400, don't ruch me.

Anyways, I have a monkey suit to don: wedding in a few hours.

Okay, Three Things

First, it was officially the first day of Spring! When I ran screaming from the office today (what most people call "going to lunch") I saw the first mini-skirts of the season! While it dos take some time for the eyes to adjust to the pallor the site affords, it's a sure sign the Spring is around the corner!

Second, the whole writing routine is coming together. I finished a rough draft of "When I Became the Boss" and started on "Dad's Hole". Both are children's books for grown-ups: the first relating the tale of when a computer programmer gets promoted and the second a story of how a girl's father dug a hole so deep the whole house fell in.

I've also started "The Flora and Fauna of the Cubicle Plains". It's my humble contribution to help save the environment. My observations have uncovered various birds, such as the Twittering Agile, and the Yellow-Bellied Kwikwyn. There have also been a number of mammals sighted: the Black Berryfondle, the Caffeinated Sloth and of course the majestic Silver-Back Legacy Beaver. I even encountered a strange species of tortoise: the Directionless Steering Tortoise to be precise. I am currently writing up characteristics and common habitats of these creatures and should have some rough drafts available soon.

And of course the reading on writing is going swimmingly. I finished off Stephen King's "On Writing" and have started a couple of the other books on loan to me. Hopefully I'll have those back to their respective owners by the end of April.

Thirdly, I must admit I find myself in the grips of another obsessive-compulsive little phase. It's been quite a while since the last one so this ain't so bad. The object of my obsession this time is 18th Century Naval warfare. In other words, Pirates!

You see about a month back my little brother and room-mate borrowed a copy of "Sid Myers' Pirates!" and started playing on his laptop. So I decided to load my version on my laptop. I think I even managed to get Laroo interested in playing. We'll see on that though.

Then I recalled that there was a MMO based on the player being a pirate or national captain in the 1700's West Indies. Revisiting the site, I found myself quite enamored with Pirates of the Burning Sea. Quite enamored. As far as searching incessantly online for ship and sail designs, pirate lore and even exclaiming "Ahoy!" to those lubbers at work. Arrrrrrrr....

And that in turn had me pricing out a new do-it-yourself home gaming rig.

Add Spore to that and you have yourself a gaming future.

Meanwhile, I've stumbled upon two really good time wasters. Spamalot! is pretty much your basic catapult game, but add the Monty Python and the Holy Grail theme's and graphics and well, I'm hooked. The other way I've been wasting time is this little gem which is really hand drawn. Amazing what you can do with no artistic ability but an insidious mind....

And that's three things! Now I must go fling chickens at the French. Arrr........

Two Hour Window

As some of you know, I took last week off of work. Going into work today was met with a deep-rooted, gnawing dread that was completely justified as it turns out...

And as all of you, when I take a week off I tend to set some lofty goals for myself which I never seem to be able to accomplish. Notice I didn't do that this time around. The only goal I set for myself was to think a bit about life the universe and everything.

A good portion of the week was spent with Laroo, and that's always good. I managed to meet some of her family and made a good impression, some of her co-workers (and likewise) and actually helped her in her dramatic endeavors. That didn't turn out so well but I blame false advertising on that. Anyone want ten walkie-talkies cheap?

There were a couple of job interviews. Well maybe "interview" is too strong a word. One was a "getting to know you" session with a recruiter (which went well) and one was a recruitment for an RRSP pyramid scheme (which went well considering the pretenses I was offered and there was not a lot of blood shed afterwards).

Add a "boys night out" with the bros as we re-lived our violent childhood by playing board games; accusing each other at cheating, rules lawyering and all around poor sportsmanship, more time with Laroo, another interview for the writing group and various trips to the airport, it sums up to a busy week.

But I did engage the brain. What I engaged it with was some thought on routine.

I am very much a routine kinda guy. But getting into that routine takes some effort as I am also a lazy kinda guy. Two things I need to get into a routine: working out and writing. And they both take a considerable amount a of time given my schedule.

Consider: on a good day I get home at 5:30 PM (today, not so much....). After whatever I call dinner and the cleanup it's about 6:30 or 7. Which leaves me about 2 hours of energy left before I spend the night listening the elephant stomping around upstairs (not as much metaphor there as you think or as I wish).

The gym is two hours fifteen minutes from out the door to back at home.

The goal is to write 1000 words a day. Which takes me about two hours. And also scares the hell out of me.

So I can't do both. Not every day (maybe on weekends, but from now until April 1, all my weeks are belong to Laroo).

So I'm going for either/or. Either I go to the gym and do a full work out or I write or do writing-related stuff for two hours. Yes, I will include this blog (practice) and the writing blog (more practice). I'm also including reading about writing as that's educational and if it's all like Stephen King's "On Writing" it's also a treat.

How many words is that? 511... Okay back to Mr. King! 517...