What I've been up to

So, I don't know precisely why I haven't written or whatever... frankly, I'm not that terribly interested in jotting down the minutiae of my life. So, here are the broad strokes as I'm thinking about them right now, since the change of the calendar.

January: Two weeks after Jenn and I started moving massive amounts of data onto our brand spankin' new networked hard drive, the thing crashed. Like, no power was getting to the thing. The bulk of Jenn's digital music collection is on there, as are the entirety of our digital photos from the day she got the new digital camera, as is the entirety of TF episodes that I'd amassed over the past few years, along with a bunch of other stuff that we'd started to archive to (what we thought was) a safer, more reliable medium.

I opened a help ticket with the manufacturer, with the net result being them telling us to send it back and they'd fix it, but we'd lose all the data thereon. This was an unsatisfying answer, as we had no other backup for the photos. Pretty much everything else could have been replaced. Not those, however.

I then talked with a data recovery firm, who said they'd take a look at it, and could guarantee that they'd get the data off, but the price would probably be in the $2700 neighborhood. For a drive that cost just over $200 to start with, this was an unsatisfying answer.

The next step is getting the manufacturer to allow me to open the case without voiding the warranty. Then I can (at least, theoretically) take the drive out and slave it to my system. I'm not entirely sure I understand that process in the least, but at least it's an option.

Current status: I'm a little nervous that the manufacturer won't allow that sort of thing (even though I've heard of a few similar cases to mine, and they've always granted the permission), so I'm still waiting on myself to get in touch with them. On hold.

January: Spent an appreciable amount of time working for Brookings again, as my replacement ended up leaving for a higher-paying job in December. Found myself hating the place even more this time around. My last day there ever was in mid-February. Current status: Good riddance.

February: While I was over at Brookings one day, my boss at the theater sends me this message:

We’re going to have a Talk tomorrow. You’re not in trouble, in fact, far from it. But we’re probably going to have a talk tomorrow.

There was a Development position opening up, and I knew she was up for it.

Within two weeks, I was running the Box Office at Woolly Mammoth. Which made sense, you know, because 16 months previous I'd never worked in a box office in my entire life.

Current status: Still feeling a little overwhelmed, but loving it.

Since then, I haven't had much time for anything... Jenn, this blog (or, really, staying current with the news - though I'm trying). It's a damn shame. Moreso the Jenn thing, really.

Things have finally calmed down enough in the past couple of weeks that we were able to take stock of our situation and we realized that there's really nothing holding us back at this point from getting a house together in DC except ourselves. So we've provisionally decided to do just that. (Provisional, because we want just the right place, at just the right price. Not that our standards or expectations are too high, but we really just kind of want to do it right and find something that we can stay at for several years.) Come August (or, possibly, November), we'll have a new mailing address. I'll be sure to get that to you this time, Hanson.

So, if I were to make a list (because that's the only sort of indication that I've been alive, from a 'net standpoint, for the past four months) of the highlights from the past four months, maybe chapter titles in the big book of my life, they would be:

1. Brookings retrax
2. All Talk, More Work (the Dull Boy remix)
3. My patriotic duty as a mass-consumer, wherein I discuss eBay shopping sprees and new glucometers
4. Morrowind, or That Game That Sucks Me In Every Time I Even Think About It.

Looking forward...

May: I get to take an extended break from work (potentially up to 5 days... still waiting for word on that fifth day request) beginning on the 12th. Kinda want to go up and visit the blood. Plus, Rollver!

June: DMCP, and the new season prep.

July: Fringe. (Mostly just a lot of hours... not a whole lot for us to do otherwise. At least that I can see at this moment.)

August: Gearing up for the season, then it hits and Jenn and I skip town for this place.

Maybe I'll feel like going into greater detail about all or some of this. Maybe not. But if you are still reading, thank you. I owe you a dollar.