the first one

First post…well, I’m starting this blog without knowing what I’ll write about or what I really want from it. I guess I want it to be an outlet for me and at the same time maybe amuse people; who knows, it might even enlighten a few. But, these are vague goals, so I guess I’ll just see how it goes.

So, I might as well write a little about myself. Not much, because I think it will be more fun if the posts shape my character. I’m a software engineer and I live in Fairfield County, Connecticut. I’m originally from a suburb of Chicago and I moved out here almost a year ago. I’ll be honest; I wish I was actually from Chicago and not a suburb. Not because it’s actually better to be from Chicago, although I’d like to live there now, but because I’m extremely annoyed when I get called out by saying I’m from Chicago and someone has to say, “Did you actually live in Chicago or a suburb?” Does it really matter? Do you really care where I’m from so much that 40 miles is going to make a difference? Sadly, I seem to have gotten myself into the same predicament again. I’m only 35 miles from Midtown Manhattan, but I can’t really say I’m from New York City, can I? Maybe I’m just lazy and I don’t want to explain where my suburb is in relation to a known location. But like I said, I don’t really think it matters that much. If you’re going to come over, then I’ll tell you EXACTLY where I live.

Wow, I got carried away a bit there. I have the feeling that this kind of thing might happen a lot. I just hope someone that reads my rants might be able to relate. I haven’t read a large amount of blogs, but I don’t think continuity is always a must, but I will try. Anyway, I think that’s a sufficient introduction…

I haven’t done much writing in the last 3 years. Well, writing English sentences and paragraphs, I mean. I do write a lot of code of various types, which I guess I should cover right from the start. I like being a software engineer and I know a lot of very cool engineers. But, let’s be honest; “software engineer” doesn’t have great appeal. Rather than blow my own horn and tell you all that I’m the coolest software engineer ever so that you’ll read my stuff, I’m going to try to prove it. However, just so you know, it is possible that I am and I’d certainly argue the matter. But, just bare with me, this won’t be the blog you’d expect from a code jockey.

I just wrote a few paragraphs intended for this first post, but I don’t want to get too deep right from the start. So, I’ll end on the reason why I’m taking it easy this weekend. After all, I am writing this on a Friday night.

Clearly you know last weekend was Halloween weekend. I gave up candy long ago, but unfortunately I’ve gotten confused and replaced eating large amounts of candy on Halloween with drinking large amounts of Jagermeister, which will be referred to as “jager” in all other posts (and I’m sure it will come up again). It’s one thing to do shots and then not remember the subsequent events. But, unremembered shots of any kind are bad, very bad. In my case, they led to throwing up in my sleep on the floor of my boss’s basement. There’s nothing like waking up in only shorts in a strange basement knowing that your last memory included you fully clothed in scrubs, a large black afro, gold chains, and gold dollar-sign glasses.

Sadly, this is one of many times I’ve woken up without recollection of what happened to my clothes. But, this is the first time I woke up and learned that my boss and his girlfriend had to strip me of my clothes because of jager-induced vomiting. The fact that my boss was totally cool about the whole thing, washed my clothes for me, and hasn’t mentioned it since speaks for the fact that he’s an awesome guy and that there are some very cool software engineers out there. He''ll probably never read this, so I'm not kissing ass, merely giving credit where credit is due.

In any event, I haven’t been able to get real pumped about partying since. So, I stayed in tonight and got this thing started. I’m pretty stoked about it.