A Break from my Break

If you have been following this at all, you may notice that there is a bit of a gap between the last post and this one.  Three months, in fact.  Quite a bit of time when measured against the internet, but miniscule when compared to the age of the universe, so everything is relative.   

What have I been doing?  oh, quite a few things.  Taking a few classes in Windows Azure, mowing teh yard, getting people through college and licensing, playing music, and doing some recording, just to name a few.  I also took a nice long vacation and did some heavy self inspection.

Since the first I've also started getting back into the work swing of things.  Formatting my resume for the first time in ages, registering on various technical job boards, setting my criteria for what I wished to do, and contacting places, while politely telling the recruiters with their perfect opportunity in New Jersey that I wasn't willing to relocate, and that Houston is too much of a commute from where I live now.  Five calls yesterday, ten the day before, and an undetermined number before then.  I've been limiting my search to within a ten mile circle (which given my location on the edge of the DFW Metroplex, cuts out a lot of area) to cut down my commute, and primarily looking at senior developer and architect jobs.  Drawing that line cuts a lot of the positions from Dallas, Irving and Addison, but even so there are quite a few things up in the Plano, Frisco and Richardson area.  

We're still living off of savings, primarily from selling stocks purchased over the past fifteen years.  It is sort of like retirement, but different.  I have mentioned that watching expenses is an important thing that you will need to do on a sabbatical, and that is still ongoing.  We have had some backsliding, such as eating out a bit more, but I still enjoy cooking at home.  

We did take a vacation through most of June, though.  Orlando, Disneyworld, Universal, NASA, and the beach for an extended period of time.  while portions did cost a bit (You can't eat at Disney too cheaply) we did save quite a bit by using hotel points, airline miles, and car rental points from my previous travels to cover the really big stuff.  From there it was primarily food, admission, and souvenirs.  

I'll see what the next few weeks brings.  I've talking to a few people about open positions that they have, and am entertaining a few others here and there.  There isn't a dearth of positions, and I got time to be a bit choosy, so I'll choose whats best for me.