We've sold the house in NY, and we're supposed to close on the new house on the 26th. So our new address will be 90 Portsmouth Island Drive, Garner, NC 27529.

Although we've only been house-hunting for a short time, it looks like we've found one that is almost a perfect match for our wish-list. We're in the midst of selling our old house in NY, and buying a new one here in NC, so we've been pretty busy. It looks like 2007 is going to be another busy year, with another move in the works. Fortunately, this one looks like it won't be quite so much of a change, as we'll only be moving from Cary, NC to Garner NC (only about 20 miles away or so).

For me, 2006 was an extremely eventful and life-changing year. It started with the death of my Dad on the 6th of January, at 15:12. When I found out he had died, I wrote a letter to him. Even though I knew he would never read it, I needed an outlet for the thoughts and feelings that were overwhelming me. My Dad had previously put my sister in charge of his final affairs, and she scheduled his funeral exactly a week later. As he had been cremated, there was no wake, viewing, calling hours, or whatever it's called these days. Rather, it was a simple funeral service. At the front of the church was an ornate chest which contained his ashes, sitting upon an unadorned table. Nearby was a montage display of various photographs of him that I had arranged. My sister had asked me if I would say a few words (in effect, a eulogy) at the service. I agreed, and through many tears, publicly read the letter that I had written.

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I'm no longer in the ranks of the unemployed!! This grand experiment called life has me starting off on another adventure, this time with the good folks at Opsware. Although I've enjoyed my “summer of free agency”, I'm looking forward to my first day of work on the 11th of December. It'll be good to get back on a more regular schedule. My wife and son are starting to get fed up with my “hacker's hours” :). Additionally, we think we may have found a local church to call home: Hope Chapel. We've only been to a small handful of services, but all of us seem to be pleased with things there so far. My friend Scott (who from past experience is rightfully wary of churches) came to visit during the Thanksgiving holidays, and attended a Sunday service with us, and even he seemed positive about it. I've yet to sit down for a good long talk with the Pastor, but so far it's looking like a “keeper”.

Having recently moved to North Carolina, I'm meeting many new folks. One of them I met at the local Linux user group, a fellow by the name of Alan Porter. A few days ago we were talking about job-hunting. He commented that he was surprised that my web site had no contact info whatsoever, and that he uses his as a sort of “personal marketing tool”.

Shamed into action, I completely re-worked my web site. It used to be a very simple and unadorned text site, a hodge-podge of stuff with no real order. Now, it has a professional look, the chaos has been vanquished, and my contact info and résumé are online. A public thanks to you, Alan, for inspiring the changes herein!