And in other news

Well it's been a while since I've posted anything to really update people on what's going on in my life (aside from the random Country music post which I think has had more comments than any other post in the history of my blog).

So what's new, eh? Well let's break it down by the various typical areas:

How's work?
- Work is going well. I'm very adjusted these days handling the Blackboard system and that's going well. The SharePoint deployment has taken off like wildfire this year and has kept me VERY busy thus far. I've managed to get several projects started and completed so I feel like I've accomplished a lot in the past year. Hopefully this will translate into a fantastic review. :)

How's the personal life?
- Things are going well. I had a great time with my friends at my Tree Trimming party back in December and then I had a great New Year's party. Honestly I think it was one of my best. I had a ton of people attending and I think I set the bar for next year. I also hosted my division's holiday party and that was a great time had by all. It was a great showing from the IT/Library folks and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

I'm already invited to 4 weddings this year and already in one of them as a groomsman for my friend Chris. Last year was 5 total invites, and of that I attended 4 and was in the wedding party for three of them. Also, two of them were destination weddings. This year only one is a destination. I need to start setting aside a "wedding budget". With any luck this year will be the end of weddings for a while, it's getting exhausting. :) I've attended an average of 3 weddings a year since I graduated in 2001.

I'm also taking a 10 day vacation out to the west coast and will be visting Colin and Kristin in LA and then my friend Sean in Portland. With any luck my friend Nick will be able to come visit from Seattle.

Additionally I've been elected to the Board of my Condo Association and I've been elected Greek Alumni Council president. I'm such a glutton for punishment :).

Finally, I had an awesome time at Mezcal Monday night with my colleagues and then I went out for kareoke with my friend Janelle and it was SOOO much fun. After nailing a Sinatra song, one of the regulars declared a "Frank-off" and in the end I won. It was a blast.

I think that's pretty much it and this has been a very long post so I'll add more later if I think of it and I'll try to post more often.

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Things are looking up

So lots of good news lately. As of June 1 I have a full year long roommate. This should work out well. She's the girlfriend of a friend of mine and she's an undergraduate at WPI. Potentially if things go well she'll be able to stay for more than a year which will leave me in a much more stable position than I've recently had.

Also good news is that I recently got a fairly nice raise. I've recently changed my responsibilities and work-load at work and taken on some fairly mission critical systems. This raise reflected that.

What this translates to is that I should be able to save a down payment for a new car, build up a cash reserve (in addition to the car savings), and actually spend money on a few things that I've been needing/wanting lately. The plan is to adjust my direct deposits so that the difference between my current salary and my salary effective July 1 gets put directly into my savings so that I don't get used to the increase. Additionally I'll be putting most of the rent into savings too.

I'll also be getting a new computer for the first time in about 8 years. I was lucky enough to get my Dad's old one a few years back but the time has come to get a new high end computer. After all, what does it say about an IT professional when his comptuer is almost 6 years old. It's soooo slow and barely keeps up with things any more.

I'm looking forward to being able to spend money as needed now and STILL be able to save a large portion of money.

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Milestones

As of last Saturday I have officially been a homeowner for a full year. I closed my condo on March 24, 2006. As of yesterday I have been actually living in the condo for a year.

Additionally as of last October 22, 2006 I have worked at WPI for 5 years. On August 23, 2007 I will have lived in Worcester for 10 years.

It's amazing how major milestones seem to creep up on you.

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