Broadcasting from Seattle! Or Redmond, if you'd rather be specific about it.
There's usually a fine line between the two. Sorry I've been so busy lately. I've not had nearly enough time to be as lazy as I would have liked, which is why I've been forgetting to update this thing. Man, I swear, this happens to every blog I've ever had. I'm 95% determined to not let it happen again.
I'll update soon, I promise...
Well, last weekend probably wasn't the best weekend to start blogging, in terms of hoping to maintain some semblance of posting regularly afterwards. Last week was pretty hectic! I took an internal Microsoft course which started Wednesday afternoon and went through Friday. Needless to say, the first half of the week was busier than normal...and I still managed to have to work a bit outside of my class as well. The team is pretty busy at the moment, as we gear up for the release of Internet Explorer 9 Beta. Needless to say, there's plenty keeping me busy.
So, aside from not having a whole lot of time to stop, think, or get back to my apartment at a reasonable hour last week, things are moving along. This coming week will probably be just as busy, but luckily for me, I think I'm (very) slowly getting better at handling the load of everything.
In non-work-related news, it's been very warm this weekend. Last weekend was very rainy and cool, then it reached 80°F or so during the week, and it's hit 90°F yesterday and today. All the Seattleites aren't happy with how warm it is, and while I can somewhat sympathize, since my apartment also doesn't have air conditioning (most here don't), I still smirk a little bit, because it isn't that warm. I don't think I've closed my windows in weeks, and while it feels warm in here, it's nowhere near unbearable. The grocery run that I wanted to do later today might be impacted slightly, however...
Full steam ahead for week #6!
I just finished my 4th week here at Microsoft here in Redmond, WA. It's a little late to be starting a blog, I know, but if you'd prefer it to be even later, feel free to defer reading for as long as you would prefer. :)
Life is going very well. My apartment is really nice, and aside from a few omissions here or there, it's starting to feel comfortable. There are still plenty of things to set up before it's "perfect", but I think it's well on its way. My work room still has stacks of cardboard in it, which I'm sure will become some future weekend project. I see lots of trips to the cardboard recycling bins in my future.
I'm sure everyone is curious about the food situation. My cooking talents are developing slowly, and while I've not tried anything too dangerous or exciting just yet, I've managed to not starve myself either, or even anything close to that. It certainly helps having two grocery stores nearby: a QFC and a Trader Joe's (lucky, I know). Anyone want to contribute some (easy) recipes to a good cause?
I feel spoiled having the apartment I do, especially since it's my first real apartment. I suppose it helps balance out putting up with living in East Quad for four years, but even that setup was relatively cushy, just in a different way. Apartments in the Seattle area are just fancier overall it seems, and it's probably related to the higher cost of living (and rent).
Work is...interesting. Maybe somewhat unfortunately, it's fairly different work compared to what I worked on last summer. I'm still working on the Internet Explorer team, but most "new" development is either wrapping up or is already finished, so there's no real new feature work for me to work on. Really all that's left is to fix bugs. Bugs in Internet Explorer, you say?? Say it ain't so! The bad analogy I've been using to describe things is that I start with a huge haystack, look for a needle in it, and then as soon as I've found it...I see that there are a few more haystacks hanging out behind the first one. It's rough too, since I'm not well enough versed in the code to know where everything happens. Luckily, everyone knows I'm just getting started, so nobody's mad that I'm moving slower than everyone else is. I just need to make sure I'm not moving too slowly...
I'll try to post more later, but hopefully that's enough to get things started.