The past few months have more or less sucked.
Bossy Girl told me that I should update this, so, you're getting what you asked for!
Work Sucks
But marginally less than it used to. The good news is that I am now working from home three days a week, so I don't want to be in the office. It is nice - without all the people to distract me I can get quiet a lot of work done. I wake up, take a shower, sit down, and get right to work.
Work still sucks though. To give you an idea of how well things are going: August 31
st we were supposed to deliver a build of our software to the QA people for testing. On that day, developers are still trying to get requirements for how certain parts of the system are supposed to work. The people in charge of the project refuse to provide written documentation and love to change their minds on how things work.
One of the worst parts is that this kid right out of college was hired to be the Development Lead. He has a Master's degree and zero real world experience. He is also surprisingly unwilling, or perhaps unable, to learn. It takes him a week to figure out how to do something compared to our other new developer, who will take a day or two. He also doesn't write anything down. He likes "verbal communication", which means he ends up asking the same question over and over and over again because he forgets.
He has been working for over three weeks on a relatively small part of our system and still has not finished. Most of the time, whatever it is that he is doing ends up being done, or re-done, by someone else. His code is atrocious, often doesn't work, and lacks error checking. Highly annoying.
And yet, he's my Development Lead. Granted, I turned the position down. I don't want to get into a managerial position. That doesn't mean they have to give it to someone completely lacking experience and common sense. The other new guy we have is much more deserving and capable and would probably do well in that role.
Oh well.
Everyone Has Cancer
My dad has some cancer in his arm last year. Natasha has (or had) ovarian cancer. My sister has bladder cancer, and may have throat cancer. My grandmother has throat and lung cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy (and in the process has started hallucinating and freaking out). Only a matter of time for me, I suppose. At least it gives you some time to tidy up loose ends - tell people to go die, give stuff away, etc., etc.
Natasha Report
Yup, she's still trolling around. She disappeared about a month and a half ago, saying that she didn't want to see anyone ever again (feeling is totally mutual) and without telling anyone what she was up to. Well, when I was in Buffalo she went through my house and took things. Most of it was hers, so I don't mind her taking it, but going into someone's house without permission is not cool. Had she asked, no problem.
But that's just the kind of person she is.
Here's another stellar example of her character. A few weeks ago, she went down to my sister's house, with only a few minutes' notice, to show up at my niece's 7th birthday. Now, obviously, this is uncool to start, because she had completely sworn off my sister. Unfortunately my sister didn't have the cajones to tell Natasha to burn in hell, and she was allowed to spend some time with my niece.
The whole purpose of the visit was to tell my niece that her grandfather (my dad) wasn't down for her birthday because he doesn't love her anymore.
Yup, she can't do shit to the grown-ups, so she uses a 7 year old girl as a pawn.
Asheville, NC
So, anyways, after Natasha's pathetic visit, my dad decided that he should go down there to see his granddaughter and undo some of Natasha's damage. I went along for the ride. I wanted to see my sister since I rarely ever do see her. Honestly, I couldn't care less about the kid, but oh well.
Anyways, despite being sick, she's doing pretty well for herself. She's renting a nice little house with a yard, has a great relationship with her kid, and isn't making a lot of money but she is working. Her hair is cool, has purples and reds and blacks in it. She's happy.
Asheville itself is an interesting place. It's
extremely liberal, more hippies than I can count, but very creative. Lots of cool little shops nestled away in the city, every place has character, the mountains are really nice, and we were lucky enough to be there for a monthly bluegrass festival. I swear that some of those groups came straight down from the mountains, big ass beards and everything. A wide variety of skill, from get-off-the-stage suck to holy-crap-they're-good awesomeness.
We also saw the
Firecracker Jazz Band, which shares some members with the Squirrel Nut Zippers, at
Jack of the Wood. The band was WAY too loud (Notice to ALL BANDS: When playing in confined spaces, you DO NOT need microphones and amplifiers!) and the trombone player sucked, but otherwise it was great.
Jack of the Wood brews its own beer. I wanted to try their porter, but unfortunately they were out of it. )o: I did try their ESB (a bit bland, but good body and excellent color) and their Pale Ale (a bit too hoppy, but again, excellent body and color). Overall, it is average beer, but it isn't something that I would be afraid to toss over to other beer lovers.
Overall, I don't know if I would want to live there, but I wouldn't cross it off my list. It's a cool town, but the uber-left-wing people are a bit too much.
The nine hour drive down and the nine hour drive back really, really sucked though. At least my dad did all the driving and he didn't talk about his girlfriend the whole time. He did get a speeding ticket after I told him to slow down several times: 84 in a 65. So, that did give me something to tease him about for the duration of the trip.
Anyways, I think that's enough for tonight.
