I spent most of my time in three main places this year.

Mexico, Cleveland, and Fort Lauderdale

On January 10, 2004, I boarded a flight from Cleveland to Mexico City, stopping once to change planes in Atlanta. When I arrived, I found myself in a bustling metropolis of 30 million people and 7 million cars. And I found myself enjoying every last moment. My travels took me from the central highlands of Mexico City and Guanajuato, to the western coast of Puerto Vallarta, and to small and large (and almost always beautiful) cities in between, and even now I often find my mind wandering to memories of the time I spent there. Those glorious, carefree days of exploration, learning, and adventure.

My return to the United States on the 30th of March was bittersweet. I was unemployed, I hadn't prepared adequately by submitting resumés before my return, and I found myself with four months of downtime in the mind-numbing suburb of University Heights, OH. I spent some time helping my brother refurbish his house, getting it ready to re-rent, and wasting time pursuing projects that ultimately didn't do much for me. But on the other hand, I learned how to do crazy things with my old Subaru, like swap out the passenger-side Constant Velocity axle. I wrote up this experience and posted it with photos on the Ultimate Subaru website, and enjoyed a favorable response. The job market was tight. I interviewed once with Qualcomm, got shot down, and then, one day out of the blue, a recruiter called me and asked if I was interested in a job in Fort Lauderdale. Sure, why not?

And so, on September 3rd, I set out for Fort Lauderdale, taking possibly the most circuitous route possible, running through Washington, DC; Chapel Hill, NC; Tampa, FL; At the time, hurricane season had already pounded Florida twice, and I spent an extra few days in Washington (no hardship there) biding my time and watching the storm predictions. Hurricane Frances missed Fort Lauderdale, and then, about a week and a half after I arrived, Hurricane Ivan took aim, slamming into the coast about 50 miles north.

So that is how my work life as a bona fide electrical engineer began. I've been doing the embedded systems programming I trained for, and enjoy what I'm learning along the way. Work's been pretty busy thus far, with a few 60 hour weeks, and even one 70 hr week thrown in for fun. So I haven't had much time for the extra-curriculars, like I did in Washington, but I'm keeping as busy as I can in my free time. Life's been decent though. I live in a simple apartment, within biking distance of the good stuff, and I've been fortunate with my green thumb, getting to grow some beautiful vegetable plants in the constant sunshine of South Florida.

[MV/12/13/04 - 21:49:55]. enter