Random status update
In random bullet points.
- Work. For the last year or so I've been working at a startup in San Francisco. It was good for me in some ways--I could travel as much as I wanted, I could take time and learn whatever new skills I wanted (whether or not they were immediately applicable), and I took the lead on some big projects. Unfortunately, that didn't outweigh the morale-sucking aspects: lack of direction, collaboration, feedback, or praise. Most days I didn't feel like there was a point to going in to work--there wasn't enough to do, and no one cared if I got it done or not. At first I dealt with this by starting my own project, which I worked on for about six months--but it was lonely working all by myself, and I worked slowly since no one but me cared much about the project. Early this year my boss asked me to stop working on it and work on the main software project--which I could never muster much enthusiasm for.
I looked for work on and off all summer and fall (which was weird--I'd never job-hunted while I had a job already, and I felt weirdly two-faced doing it) and finally I got an offer from Amazon. I'll be starting work in their San Francisco office in a week. I'm excited. Not in an over-the-top way--I know it won't be a magical fairyland where I'm building sexy, world-changing software in the midst of a modern-day intellectual salon while some buff hunk brings me fresh-squeezed guava juice. But I'm quietly excited--for good health insurance, explicit product requirements, some semblance of a schedule...and a place where I might feel comfortable staying for more than a year or two. - Thanksgiving. Heading up to sillyliddy's place in Seattle for Thanksgiving! Excited to see her new home, and be ordered around her kitchen as we make tasty food. Speaking of good management and clear requirements. :D
- Cats. We adopted two kittens, a brother and sister, last year. Sadly, we lost one of them earlier this year--he had a bad habit of eating plastic, which would lodge in his gut and require surgery to get out. We just couldn't stop him, so after the third time, we had him put down, which was heartbreaking. :o( After a while, we decided to adopt a companion for our remaining cat--and then the kitten we decided on died during her spay surgery. Finally, though, we came home with a sweet little orange kitten, who has just been such a little bundle of joy. He's got a loud purr and a funny, wide-eyed expression, and he's rambunctious enough to keep up with the other cat. Losing Jareth and gaining Quince has been a lesson--not exactly that happy things can come from sad things...but that sad things happen, and life still goes on, I suppose.
- Hair. My bangs are still delightfully orange. I should redye them before heading up to Seattle.
- Afghan. I started a new afghan! It's an orange variation on this one. I've never done granny squares before, so I'm a little apprehensive about ironing them out and joining them all together, but it'll be a good learning experience. I'd forgotten how good it feels to have a crocheting project going--it means that I have something to do during time that I usually feel unproductive or idle, like watching TV shows or hanging out on the fringes of a party. (Crocheting during parties is awesome. Suddenly people interpret "listening quietly and not participating in the conversation" as "having half my attention on something cool" instead of "being awkward and shy.")