So, my post is overdue, and a few things have happened since then. I probably wouldn’t be posting, except that I’m not feeling too great today (I think I’m getting a cold), and don’t feel like doing much of anything at the moment.
First off, my truck is no more. I was in an accident on the way to class, and the truck was declared totaled. An older man slammed right into the front driver’s side, and that was it. Everyone is OK, but I am now carless. I am really pretty bummed about the whole thing, as I had a vehicle that may not have been the prettiest, but was very mechanically sound, and now I have nothing. His insurance company did cut me a check pretty quick, but since the car was 19 years old, they hardly gave me anything for it. I really feel like something was stolen from me. I invested alot of time and effort into maintaining that truck because I knew (or thought I knew) that I could keep it for 5 to 10 more years without issue. It had low miles, and was running great. Oh well, such is life. It could have been worse, thank goodness it wasn’t.
The good news is that it looks like (fingers crossed) that I am getting another car today. A friend is selling a Honda with low miles at a good price, and I will most likely buy it. At this point in my life, with the house and general Long Island living, I really don’t want a car payment. I guess I don’t look at it the way others do. It is not a status symbol to me, especially since with the leasing options today, nearly anyone can drive a Mercedes or BMW. Elissa’s car is still going strong, but we’ll probably replace that with a “new” (or newer) car once it goes. As long as we have one “nice” car in the family, I’m Ok with that. Plus, I have my Z, which needs tons of work, but man, is that a ride!
In other news, Elissa and I took the plunge into furniture. She found a really great set at a reasonable price (can you tell that I’m cheap?) and it got delivered way sooner than expected. I tried to FreeCycle the Futon, but it ultimately went my co-worker/buddy Mark, who needed it. Hopefully it works out for him.
The PHP class at Farmingdale has been going well. I find that a good number of the students are at least attempted (and mostly completing) the extra credit assignments that I’m handing out. That’s really great, because I purposely try to give assignments that reflect what I’ve encountered in the real world. One of my goals with this course is to ensure that the students have something in their toolkit (read: resume) that is marketable. I’m all for academics, and I personally enjoy them myself. But I think the gap between college and the real world got very wide in the last decade or so, and is only recently starting to retract. I believe the Farmingdale staff is on top of this though, as they are often investigating new and different technologies specifically to address this problem. If it wasn’t for the folks there, this PHP course never would have gotten off the ground.
My classes at Post are going fine. I’m anxious to graduate though, as I have other things on my mind which I’d like to focus more on. I really like what we’re accomplishing at Bascom, the system is so vast, it really is technological playground for the geeks. There’s always new and fun things to try, and our bi-monthly wing nights are a big hit, too.
LIPHP will be having its 24 meeting on Monday. I can’t believe it has been two years. We have a hearty mailing list of over 100 strong, and decent attendance at most meetings. I’d like to find the time this year to do some promotion of it, as it is a great group with great topics, and I often encounter people who are actively developing in PHP who have never heard of it.
Well, that’s it for now, I think I’m going to grab a quick nap.