Ahh yes, the end of a long weekend. And not just any long weekend, the last long weekend of the summer. So long summer of 2009, it was nice to know you. My niece and nephew head back to school tomorrow, which is sort of exciting for them. I always liked going back to school for some reason. Maybe it was buying a whole new batch of school supplies, or seeing some of your friends again after a summer apart. Granted, after about a week I was sick of the new year, but that ...

That's probably the hardest question to answer nowadays for me when crossing the border. My life and my job are pretty intricately mixed nowadays, that it's often hard to differentiate between the two. For example, when I went to WordCamp San Francisco, I was asked that question by the border agent. The conference I was attending definitely interested me on a personal level, especially since I have a personal blog, but clearly I can extract some business value out of it as well. So is it a business trip, or one for pleasure? The problem ...

Pretty good article I read today about the importance of slowing your life down. I think it's relevant since it's basically been the direction I've been taking my life for the last seven months. Read the goods here.

You see, I have this friend. This friend of mine, well, he was screwed out of a lot of money for a client job he did. There's a substantial email chain verifying that the work was requested, and the price was agreed upon, so he says. But unfortunately, when it came time to pay, the client became unresponsive and has since disappeared. Normally my friend would be quite content to write off the amount owing, and chalk it up to bad debt. But in the process of trying to get a contact number for the client, he discovered someone ...

I briefly went into town this morning to water my plants, take a shower, and get a few groceries. I also managed to hook up with the guys and gals down at Hawk FM for a follow-up interview to the blogathon one I did on Friday. Other than that, I spent most of today sitting shirtless on my picnic table, trying hard not to melt in today's heat. Thankfully I was in the shade most of the day, but man oh man, when that sun hit it sure was hot. My sister, brother-in-law, niece ...

I left Vancouver yesterday afternoon to head into Chilliwack and pick up the keys to my new apartment. On the way, I stopped and met a really old friend of mine from high-school, and we had a few beers and a plate of nachos. I have to say, it was a rather strange feeling being in my apartment all alone after the landlord left. I sort of just stared around at the empty apartment, trying to digest just how I felt. Without a doubt, I am excited. I am definitely looking ...

Just waiting for a shirt to dry, and then I'm heading into the office for my last week of work. Hard to believe it's coming up so soon to be honest. I have a few meetings this week where I'll finalize the hand off on a few of my projects, and then I'm done. On Wednesday night (two days!) I'll be heading out to Chilliwack and getting the keys for my new place. I haven't even really thought that far ahead yet, but somehow I'll end up out there and my car will stay there going forward. ...

If you still want to be eligible to win a Nintendo Wii, then make sure you go fill out the survey. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!

Those of you that follow my Twitter feed probably noticed that I almost made it to Serbia about a week ago. I was scheduled to fly over there to spend a month helping out our software development team, but at the last minute it all fell apart. It appears that all the stars at work have realigned, and I'm most likely heading to Serbia this week. I'll be gone most likely for around four weeks, and will be getting a small apartment out there. My flight will most likely take me from Vancouver to Frankfurt, ...

Well, thus marks the end of my first two-week vacation stint. This vacation saw me bounce from San Francisco, to Los Angeles, back up to Vancouver, to a Matthew Good show, then to the North Cascades, up to Whistler, and then back home. Not bad for just over two weeks. Golden Gate Bridge, taken during my trip It was great getting to hang out with my sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids down in Disneyland. Despite only being an hour and a bit away, I don't get a chance to head home that often. Plus, I haven't really ...