Changes

I am sitting here at my desk in my office on my last day of work for the summer. I'm listening to the Giants playing the Braves on my iPad (a rare 9 am game time) and am trying to get a few things wrapped up before heading out on a few weeks break.

Tomorrow we are headed off for a few nights of camping with my wife's niece and her family. Should be a, hopefully, peaceful break with some inner tubing and boating fun mixed in for spice.

We've got a few more camping trips on tap and a bunch of house projects to try and move forward. And some revenue projects that could use a little love and attention.

I'm just looking forward to sleeping in some, going to the beach and trails with my wife and kids and having a little fun before the school year kicks back into gear! And my kids will be starting junior guards next week so they'll be getting all beach ripped!

Have Not Fallen Into a Crevasse

Nope, I'm still around. I'm tweeting quite regularly (and knocking some tweets into orbit with their extra special awesomeness, IMHO).

But I've also been on summer break this last week. Technically the week before doesn't count because it was an unpaid furlough week from work but you know what? My ass can't tell the difference between furlough time and summer break time. I'm sure my paycheck can but we'll worry about that one later.

The last few weeks have been much family time fun. Some rough patches with so much time at home with the whole house filled up with all four of us, the dog and the cat too. But it has mostly been a really nice time. I've been putting in a bunch of hours doing computer repair stuff which is nice, it pays well, expands my circle of clients and gets me out of the house.

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of my contract with the school for the year. Which means tomorrow is the first day of my summer vacation. Only it won't be much of a vacation because I will be either working on projects or watching the kids so my wife can work on projects.

I spent about ten minutes listing out some projects I'd like to tackle during this break and it quickly spanned the length of the page. Not all of them are things I can tackle, like the electrical and plumbing work, but the majority of them are going to be all on me. Which is totally fine.

But the list will have to wait until Thursday at the earliest as we are going up to the city tomorrow to do a zoo and Exploratorium day with the boys. It will be a good break to get away from the house, go do something fun as a family and I've heard nothing but fantastic things about the Exploratorium (with the exception of the fact that it gets crowded but everything does these days). We're also going to be staying at a cool hotel for the night which will be fun too. And I think there are some cable cars in the schedule as well.

It really has taken a huge load of my shoulders to know that I've got a contract for the fall. It doesn't necessarily mean I'll be working full-time but it means I have options open to me and I can pursue other avenues without the taint of desperation hanging over me (which makes any sell about ten times harder).

Not that I especially want to change jobs but I owe it to my family to keep an eye out for a better paying position back in my regular line of work. I am looking forward to possibly being able to sleep in a bit more as this whole getting up well before 7 got old after about two days (and yes, I know I could be setting myself up for an even earlier wake up time with a new job).

Hello Summer Head

It was time to get into the summer mode mentality and that means spending a couple of hours with nasty chemicals on my head to bleach out the brown and replace it with the blond. I'm lucky to have a wife who's a pro so I can basically just let her do her thing and just try not to go insane from the burning and itching on my scalp.

By her own admission, this is the best bleach job we've done so far on me and I'm pretty happy with it. It was a bit too bright last night but a couple of showers and some de-brasser shampoo and conditioner and the color is mellowing out and, I think, looks pretty damned good.

Of course, the kids at my schools think its absolutely freaking awesome-tastic.

And it makes me smile everytime I see myself in the mirror which is good for me and my mental health. Hard to be too serious when you've got a pile of hay for hair!

There's a part of me that wonders if having a blond head will negatively affect my job hunting but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and I'm starting to interview. Speaking of which, based on my sister's excellent advice, I'm going to start planning and requesting some informational interviews with a couple of companies I want to work for to see if I really want to work for them when I get a closer look. Its also a good way for them to get an informal look at me.

I will report back on whether or not blonds do, in fact, still have more fun.