How perceptions change

Last week, as The End was approaching, I assumed that I would have a lot of time for blogging.  Silly me.  I've been busier this week than before my termination date.

It hasn't just been Stuff Around The House, although there has been plenty of that.  Cleaned some drains, changed some shower heads, made some inquiries re: equipment rentals, been more actively involved in household chores.  I hate housework but I can't say I'm too busy with work anymore so I have to chip in.

Nope, working like a mad dog, and I've been studying my arse off.

Background: in July of 2010 I began an MBA/IT program through Western Governor's University. I'm enrolled in a 2 year program that I intend to finish in 18 months (3 terms).  While I was working, I was putting in about 15 hours a week on classes. Since Monday, I've spent over 20 so far. This is on top of the other things I've been up to.  It is now early Thursday, and I plan to put in at least another 10-15 in the next two days.

I've also spent the last few days actively cramming on C# - the heir apparent to VB, which I last coded seriously in ~2001 or so.  I'm not at all familiar with the .Net architecture and at this point I haven't really delved in to the nitty gritty.  There are things I could do in VL that the last time I coded in µSoft was a pain (the µSoft equivalent of layout managers) that are now pretty easy. I won't get to data handling for several days yet but I have thought of some potentially useful applications re: my current coursework that I will be able to write after that time.  I will have turned in my paper which includes simulations, but the tools provided.don't cover the scenarios we for the final paper (which includes a Monte Carlo simulation of inventory ordering scenarios).  All this C# has taken up another 10-15 hours this week.

Oh, and of course I've applied for unemployment (yippee...?) and set up an initial appointment for the outplacement service the ex-company was kind enough to provide.  Note - that I'm not being snarky about the "kind enough" bit. From all accounts, this particular service is well known and respected and other folks part of the recent layoffs say it is a very good thing.

So unlike the "man of leisure" I expected to be for at least a few days, I've been having a manic few days.  When I'm not looking for jobs (and yes, I put in a hour or so of looking a day - currently Lansa but hope to expand that to include .Net soon).  The closest I've come to "relaxation" is taking a few bike rides (I need to do that more often - clears my head which is full of Stuff with Bits in it).

My first day as a man of leisure(?)

...or T plus one in NASAeze...  The weekend doesn't count because I don't work weekends anyhow.  The countdown is over so now I'm on the count up.

You'd think that this would have been a day off.  Instead it was a bit hectic, crazy, and filled with too many things.  Yes, I've added to my Things To Do (stuff around the house mainly) and I'm upping my study time (MBA student).  I've also added learning C# to my "need to accomplish" list because it seems that everyone wants .Net developers, and no one wants Lansa developers.  I've also decided I need to force myself back on the bike (I haven't ridden since the first week of April, I think because this whole process took a lot out of me).

As I stated in my previous post, I'm just feeling out of sorts today.  I'm not going to post much about the day because there was too much and none of it interesting to anyone other than me.

Um... wow. A reaction

I stayed away from news of any sort most of the day yesterday.  Which means I was late to the Osama Bin Laden Is Dead party.  I did catch it late (after about 9:30p local time) and I'm still trying to process it.

Yes, I'm glad we found the bastard.  And yes, I'm glad he's gone.  I don't know how he's stayed alive this long with the hounds of nations hunting him.  Heck, he's supposed to be hooked up to a dialysis machine, and those things hain't exactly portable so I'm not surprised they found him where they did.  The kinds of medical requirements he had meant his was not living in a cave somewhere.

Part of me - the part of me that is morally opposed to what amounts to an assassination - feels queasy at what has been done in my (our our country's) name.  Even if OBL was largely irrelevant (and many sources say beyond bankroll, he was),

But a rational part of me says that it is for the best.  Our hunt for OBL has cost us thousands of lives, millions of refugees, and billions (trillions?) of dollars.  Maybe with the man gone we can finally see past his target and get done what needs to get done.

What I'm finding amusing (in a very un-funny way) is that there are already people out there that are saying it is a hoax.  Or that he's been on ice for 8+ years (?? really?? you think Dubya wouldn't have crowed this to rooftops?) and was just rolled out to distract us from the birther bozos.

What I find annoying is that to a person (and I'll be more than happy to correct this if someone can prove me wrong) not a single Republican is acknowledging that this is an Obama win.  They say "great, The Big Bad is dead" but won't even give a nod to the president.  We've gotten a treasure trove of additional intelligence as a result of the raid and not one Republican can utter the words "good job Mr President."


I'm feeling a bit disjointed tonight.  Wish this was better written but my mind is in too many places.  So, y'all will have to forgive my rambling and at times unintelligible gobbledygook.  (color me amused - google spell checking recognizes "gobbledygook" as a word.)