Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Impending!

The big move home is happening in just a couple of days and I'm looking forward to it! All my things are packed away except for just the things I need this week... and that stuff will all be packed up by Friday night/Saturday morning.

I have a ride lined up to take me to get the rental car on Saturday, too, so I don't have to worry about that. In fact, the guy who's offered to take me is also setting up a good-bye dinner for Thursday night at the local Rock Bottom Brewery. I'm pretty sure everyone who'll be there will be from the groups I've gamed with, but maybe some random work people will make it, too. I think my boss is planning to have a good-bye lunch for me on Thursday as well, so it'll be a busy day of food and good-byes.

Despite all that, I'll be in the office on Friday until the afternoon when I'll do my exit interview, sign some papers, and collect my last check. Admittedly, as the days go on, it's more and more difficult for me to get out of bed and head into work. I suppose that's not surprising.

Time for me to take some deep breathes and relax a big before bed. For some reason, the last couple of evenings have felt very stressful to me. I'm sure it's because of the move and leaving work (plus all the work I have going on for Green Ronin, which is actually going quite well), but little panicky feelings have made their home in my stomach and I'm trying not to listen to their whispers. Everything's going to be fine and I know it.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Playing Along At Home?

For those of you playing along at home... Julia and I have been talking over the last couple of weeks and over the weekend we came to a decision. So, I'll be moving home in a couple of weeks. Actually at this point it's only a week and a half away.

I gave my notice this past Monday and everyone at work was very understanding. They knew my situation and knew I wasn't going to be around forever. They've also been great about helping me get the things I had at the office back to my apartment so I could box them up. As of tonight I have everything home except for a few things that will be easy for me to carry or need to stay until the last day.

Julia suggested I take the train back instead of renting a car and when I looked into it more I found out it might be possible to do that. On the plus side, it'll probably only cost about $400 and that includes transporting all of my stuff. On the negative side, I'd be limited to a total of six 36"x36"x36" boxes that weigh no more than 50 lbs. That could be tricky as I have fair number of heavy gaming books here. Even so, I'm going to try to box everything up this weekend. Amtrak has boxes for sale and one of the guys from work has agreed to take me to pick them up. Hopefully I won't buy six huge boxes and then not be able to do it, but I guess it's better to take the chance. Plus, I'm kind of excited about taking the train. It's not often that it's the right way to travel.

Oh, and about the trip. I'd leave San Jose about 8:40 on either Saturday or Sunday (I haven't decided yet) and arrive the next evening around the same time in Seattle. I'd probably pay to get my own room, so that I can sleep with my CPAP machine. I figure that would be for the best because otherwise I'll be snoring and not getting very good sleep, which doesn't sound like fun on a trip like this.

Anyway, we'll have to see how that works out, but I'd really like to do it that way as opposed to driving for two days by myself.

As for work, I'll be working full-time as a developer for Green Ronin. I have been doing that work in my free time, but they were cool with me transitioning to full-time and they understand I'll be looking for freelance and full-time work while I'm doing stuff for them. Julia and I will be living like hermits until I can start bringing in some more money again, so finding more work will be a big part of my time.

Okay, that's enough for now. I may get a chance to post before I leave, but if I don't, the next time you read words here, I'll be back in Seattle. In my home. With my wife. I'm definitely looking forward to that!