In case you didn’t hear by now, the poor Cougar is on it’s last legs. I can’t really complain; It has lasted us about 4 years with very minimal investment. And it’s by no means dead… it’s just become a liability that we can no longer ignore (i.e. while fixing part A, part B might break in the process, only to find out that it was really part C all along). The smarter thing to do at this point is to have a reliable car, and work on getting the Cougar back to new slowly when we have time and money.

So where does that leave us? Shopping for a new car on a tight budget and short timeline. Not a good combination.
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What else is there to say.

A7

Yes, I am finally taking the time to write my “year in review” post. Hey, give me a break. It’s only 2 weeks late.

2008 was certainly a year of change for me; Not that any of the previous 5 years have been stale by any means, but 2008 was a year with large-scale scary decisions and accomplishments. How did I fare this year? Let’s find out.
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Yesterday, we had our PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) for the new house. We have pictures below. But first, my thoughts.
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It’s been far too long since I’ve posted. I know. The horrific combination of preparing for the new house and working my buns off to make money with Hotcakes New Media is keeping me from doing frivolous things, like posting here! So I thought I’d take a moment and talk about music; In particular, the new Guns n’ Roses album.
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Since getting laid off at work I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I should be doing. I’ve decided to take a chance and do something big.

The gears are in motion, and things are well underway. Stay tuned for more detailed news in a couple of days.

A7

It’s my wifey’s b-day. Let’s all wish her a happy b-day!

HAPPY B-DAY!

A7

Hello all my wonderful amazing friends!

(yes I am sucking up)

Due to our recent move back to Ottawa, and our new house not being ready until December or January, we are in a bit of a quandary. We have been living with MC’s parents for about a week now, and it really isn’t working for us. The biggest issues are due to living in the middle of nowhere… between the gas and the parking, MC and I are wasting a lot of money (i.e. over $300 a month) that needs to be saved for the down payment on the house (not to mention MC losing almost 2 hours of her day traveling). On top of that, the internet connection here in Bourget is incredibly bad, so I’m unable to do some of my work (I need a fast connection for work, to do video conferencing daily). There are a number of other pressing issues that are making this a difficult experience for us.

So here it is; We need help. We really need to have a place to stay that is OC transpo and high-speed internet accessible. We can alternate between where we stay, so if you could put us up for one or two months, it would help us out tremendously. We would be happy to give you $300 each month, pay for the high-speed internet, and help out with cleaning and chores. All we need is a room for our bed and a place for my computer.

So… if you can help, please let us know!

A7

[note: this post will be moved to the personal category in a few days]

I just thought I’d post a quick note to let you all know I just bought my first D-SLR camera. I’ve been eyeing the D-SLRs for a while now, just waiting for the right moment to make the plunge. Since I’ll be a published photographer and illustrator soon, I figure it’s time for me to start using a “real camera”. I did, however, go on the low end of the D-SLR cameras, and purchased the Olympus E-410 with two lenses.

As much as I love my old camera, I have no use for two pro-level cameras, so I’ll be selling it. It is the Olympus C-8080, 8MP camera. If anyone is interested, or if you know anyone who may be interested, I’ll sell it for only $300 (I’ll be posting it for $400 on ebay, but I’d rather have it go to a good home). Email me for all the details if you’re interested.

I’m looking forward to sharing more photos with you all soon.

A7

In case you are one of the unlucky few who didn’t get to see me in Ottawa, or you are one of my far-away-friends, I thought I’d share a bit of news on my contract with Artez and how that’s going.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but my 1 month contract was yet again extended for another 3 months, until the end of April. Originally, I was asked to continue working a dual-role as IT admin (to help with generic IT requests like installing software and setting up servers) and E2 Support (supporting Artez’s main application called E2RM). Although I made it clear on a number of occasions that I did not want to continue doing IT and Support, I decided to continue the 3 month extension to help chip away at more debt, in the hopes that they would transition me into another role. Well, they unofficially transitioned me into another role.

I recently attended some quick training sessions on customizing the E2RM application with custom designs and templates for some of Artez’s bigger clients. As it turns out, a couple of days later both of their current designers decided to go on vacation for several weeks at the same time, leaving people scrambling to get some design work done in a hurry. That’s where I came in to save the day.

For the past week I’ve been working with an Australian charity to design a fancy template, graphics, and plug-ins for their custom designed site. The bad news is they had insanely tight deadlines, and working with Australia means I’m always one day late (they are a day ahead of us!). Due to the time difference, I’ve been working really weird hours. I even pulled a 16 hour day this week. Yikes! That would explain why I’m a little brain-dead this week. The good news is I haven’t felt this comfortable in a job in… well… ever. I really enjoy what I am doing, and I am having a blast creating great looking designs and tools for major sites. It’s very rewarding and everyone seems to love my work (despite it being only a fraction of what I can do… just wait until they give me more to work with…).

I wrapped up the main site design today, and just found out that they are so pleased that they’ve asked me to work on their main portal landing page as well, which will include a clickable map of Australia to select the charity events across the country. I’m booked until the end of next week with more design work, and I’m hoping it continues indefinitely!

So… while it may not be officially official yet, it looks like I’ll be doing web design and coding from now on. If I continue to impress them with my design, I’m sure I’ll have another contract extension, or better yet a permanent position, at the end of April. Wish me luck!

P.S. In case you didn’t read between the lines, doing design work affords me the option to work from home, which means I can work from Ottawa. And yes, we have contacted people about homes and mortgages already. More on that as we get further info in a few days.

A7