Hello 2009

As we begin to say Hello to 2009, I begin to reflect on what has transpired over the past year. I have gotten another year older and worked another year at Comcast as a Network / Server Admin (and a Supervisor without an increase of pay or title). At least I am not Solo any more, that truly sucked. We went through a consolidation of the IS and IT departments, which in turn changed the reporting structure. Before, I reported to the IT Director with a dotted line to the IT Manager. Now, I report to the IT Application Supervisor, who is under the IS (IT) Director. I am not sure if my duties have expanded or decreased. We will have to see how that plays out.

We have seen fuel prices soar and the stock market crash to nearly half of what it was, trying to endure a 20k loss of my 401K portfolio. (Ouch) I have been selectively purchasing stocks of companies that will not go out of business, like Disney or Microsoft, at a record low. I have not made any money on them as of yet, but may in a few years. You now have to change your mind set from the short-term quick buck to very long-term. I still receive dividends on a few of my stocks, so my ROI is constantly going down. Like my ROI on the Microsoft stock is about $4 bucks over the 10+ years that I have held on to them.

I started and stopped playing Dark Age of Camelot. A coworker buddy of mine got me hooked on this game. I really enjoyed my Heritic and BoneDancer, who both kicked some serious ass. My friends called me Sparky when I was playing my Tic, who had a flame spell that was just simply deadly and a flail when I just wanted to beat the tar our of you. It is fun, but definitely a time suck, which started to piss the wife off. I was starting to neglect the family, which was going to be the death of me. So, we all gave it up and started to study for our next set of exams. CCNA, VCP, MSITP, and maybe a few others. This will make me more marketable in the event I get totally pissed off and screwed over (again).

The kids went to Great Wolf Lodge and had a fantastic time. We actually went twice this year and both times we had a great time. On this last trip, my youngest (4yr) made a posse, including two 17 year old girls, who were "tricked" into taking her on the big girls slides, which she loved. They all enjoyed playing together and she had a great time. My oldest (5yr), found a new Best Friend and went everywhere together. The family and I are looking to go there again in the up and coming year. I am thinking maybe for one of the girl's birthdays. Then we can invite a school friend or two to attend.

This year has not been all fun and games. In fact it has been rather traumatic, at times. In this year, over the last half of the year, I have lost my Father, my Aunt, and my Freya dog. It was... it just was.... nuff said.

My oldest went to the ER for the first time, ever! It all started on Saturday morning when she woke up with what looked like a bug bite on her finger. She is highly elurgic to any sort of bug bite. To this end, we keep a special purple pill for her when she gets one. So, I gave her the pill, put some ointment on it and wrapped it in a bandage. Well, it did not go away, in fact, it got worse. So, we went to the ER with 3 feet of snow on the ground. I am so glad that we live where we do, there is a Hospital, Take-Out, and a grocery store within a mile of the house. It was a good thing that we went to the ER, if we waited any longer, it could have been very bad. But, with a little medicine, direction from the ER doctor and care, she has fully recovered.

WOW!!! Looking back on this year, it really sucked! Full of disappointment, death, and traumatic events, with only a few high points. GOOD BYE 2008 and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.