Hello everybody, and happy Chinese New Year!  Welcome in the year of the rat (which, incidentally, I was born in the year of the rat two cycles ago, I believe), and to celebrate, I went out and had Chinese for dinner. 

The Myst community is still going strong, at this point mostly fueled by extreme cautious optimism because of a comment made my Rand about Cyan running URU servers.  Will it be Until URU or MO:UL or maybe something else entirely, who knows.  This is the first we’ve all heard of it, so I’m a bit skeptical, but still cautiously optimistic.

So tomorrow if the first Friday in Lent.  Typically, every year I forget that it’s Lent (even though we just passed Ash Wednesday) and I eat meat (even though we just passed Ash Wednesday, a day where I did not eat meat).  Will the streak hold true?  I’ll keep you posted.

So I think I’m going to head up to Chill Out on Saturday, and then a group of us is going to Phipps on the 23rd, so lots of exciting things coming up over the next few weeks.

The Format broke up, in a very strange way.  I’m still trying to figure it out actually, but through a long and drawn out post to their Live Journal, and subsequently my RSS feed, I was able to determine (fairly confidently) that they broke up.  It’s a pity too, their first CD was great, and the one time I heard their second CD I was also impressed (although I think I liked the first better).  But as always, it’s sad to see a promising indie band break up.

Otherwise, not a whole lot to report on, I’m still feeling tired from having the flu, so I haven’t been doing a whole lot, but that’s ok, I probably need to take it easy for a bit.

Alright, all kinds of updates and links for everyone today. Homecoming recap is coming soon, I promise.

I went to the zoo yesterday which was an absolute blast, I’ll have pictures (and probably a recap) up soon, so be on the lookout for that. I’ll also put up the pictures from my trip to the zoo on the mountain from over the summer.

Also, since in my head I am a world-renowned media darling, I feel that I should jump on the bandwagon and add that I too am glad that Rosie did not mention me in her book! Also, Stephen Colbert’s book came out and I want to pick it up eventually.

I’ve mentioned PostSecret here before, and there are two new developments, the first is a news story, detailing what happened when a PostSecret reader had his phone number placed (with permission) on the site, a good read, I hope you enjoy. Second, the new PostSecret fan community has opened (coinciding with the fourth book), so check it out if you are so inclined. This week’s post includes a new video, so check it out if you are so inclined.

A great t-shirt for all the XBOX 360 gamers out there has popped up:

Ah, the red ring of death, how appropriate. I think that it’s appropriate that it’s become such a common feature that it’s now something we can laugh at. Good times.

The Consumerist has a great article that is a combination of previous articles they have put together, all detailing how to fight back when you receive unacceptable customer service or treatment from a company. Check it out here.

Pittsburgh is making an impression in cyberspace, and in a big way:

Google maps has been working on adding the feature to see the view from streets and has recently added Pittsburgh! When you use Google maps, any street outlined in blue can be viewed, and although it seems a bit slow and finicky at times, it’s pretty cool, check it out!

Although not new, it is gathering some attention, the Pittsburgh section of Gridskipper seems to be growing, which is nice to see, although they do tend to have a biased opinion (in a bad way) of the city, especially the airport, which was voted best in the nation, so I don’t see what their problem is. Either way though, it’s cool to see (Gridskipper is part of the Gawker network)

And to top all of that, metroblogging has added a Pittsburgh section as well. I saw metroblogging before, but didn’t give it much thought at there was no Pittsburgh section, but now it’s there! The articles (from what I’ve read so far) are well penned and it looks like it is updated more frequently than Gridskipper, so it’s also worth your time. I have both set up to feed me their headlines, so as interesting stories come about, I’ll let you know.

Getting away from Pittsburgh for a bit, someone posted pictures from a resort in California, and it looks relaxing and everything a resort should offer, I was especially enthralled by the treehouse accommodations and the sign for the Library. The insides look awesome too, simple like the microhouses that I think are so cool, yet comfortable enough to move around and maybe even have guests (or a family) over.

And finally, here’s a link to a youtube video about the second game in a bowling tournament being put on by a national chain of senior citizen communities. The teams at four locations around the country compete and the results are pulled together. The first video is a little better, but also longer, so I decided to link to this one instead. This follows on the heels of the Wiimbeldon competitions (one official and one unofficial held at a bar in Manhattan).

I’d like to put down some thoughts from the summer, a lot of things are up there in my head, so chances are I’ll forget a lot, but hopefully I’ll get most of them.

The job was a lot different than what I was used to, but I really did enjoy the work that I was doing. There were lots of times that I felt like I was easily replaceable by an answering machine (Night Service) and a copier (Konnie), but oftentimes many people didn’t realize what all I did, which was annoying and a bit degrading (especially when people kept insisting that I had an easy job), but I suppose it comes with the territory.

One of the things that worried me the most going into the summer was dealing with emergencies. I had dealt with many at Camp Freedom, but was nervous about coordinating things on the other end. But I think I did a good job with the situations that came up. One of the hardest things to do was actually carrying a Scout out on a backboard. In the moment, I was just doing what was needed, but afterwards, trying to decompress from the situation, was emotionally trying, more than I thought it would be. The Scout was fine by the way, so not to worry.

I did however, have a good book to curl up with and relax after work: Harry Potter. However, I never read on the job, as that wouldn’t have been good. I also read a bunch of other books, and I’ll be posting reviews soon, so look forward to those.

I usually would either read in my room, or would put a blanket on the hill outside my house and read. Although to make sure I wasn’t spoiled, when I was reading Harry Potter I found a nice big rock on the shore of the lake. I ended up going back there, it was very nice, it jutted out into the lake and gave me a great view of the sunset while I was reading.

The special events that I planned went well, although I wish I had had more time to work on the 100th anniversary of World Scouting, but some things are beyond my control I suppose. The block party was a big hit, and we all had a blast, hopefully it can be something that becomes an annual event.

And as much as I loved my job, there were some bad parts, mostly working with certain people. Some of my co-workers weren’t the easiest to deal with, and of course the "professional" Scouters that never showed up (or showed up once and insulted me). But that being said, it was my job to be courteous and helpful on the phone, no matter what was going on or how I was feeling, which is one of the reasons I think that I was a good office manager.

And I guess I did do a good job, the Central staff floored me by awarding me the "Most Valuable Staffer" award, and I even got an offer to be an administrative assistant to the finance department downtown, even though I only met the lady once, but I guess my reputation precedes me (Alf was also very impressed by me, he said I was "very efficient.")

Keeping quiet about everything that was going on on the reservation was sometimes tough, but I just played dumb, because I had to, and most people respected that, and I was grateful.

I do have to say though, I did find a love for oatmeal this summer, and I have lost a book somewhere between Monroeville and Farmington: it may still be packed away somewhere, but I’m not sure.

Pictures will be posted soon, I’d like to revamp the gallery software, so this would be a good time to do it, and in the meantime, we can watch the pictures on my Wii’s photo channel.

The next step now is working with the staff association. I’ll be getting together with Kevin at some point to talk about the direction we want to go with the organization.

I’m thinking about making a slight change to the format of the blog, a new way to streamline, organize and index the content. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep it yet, but I’ll be trying it out in the future. I’ll be looking for feedback, so please let me know. And in other site news, the new version of Joomla should be coming out very soon (it’s a bit behind where I thought it would be), so in the somewhat near future I’ll be upgrading the site, but I’ll be sure to let everyone know what’s going on as it happens.

Look for more regular updates soon, as well as my ‘normal’ posts, I have a lot of links from the summer to go through and a list (packed away somewhere) of items to talk about. Have a great one everyone!

Edit: I found my book!