First post of 2005! Hope everyone had a good Christmas, I know I sure did. One of the things I have noticed with advancing age is that time seems to release you from the rampant materialism that has a clutch on kids when young. I remember waking up at 5 in the morning when I was knee high to a grapefruit in order to go open presents. Now, my parents wake up earlier than I do on Christmas day. Ever since I started working at 16, Christmas has been less of a time to get stuff for me and more of a time to take pleasure in giving to others. I enjoy this shift and seeing people's face shine in anticipation of their presents.
One gift that I received that is especially important to me on different levels was the new XM Roady receiver I received from Charles. I
*VERY* rarely watch TV, having spent most of my life either coding, outdoors, or with my nose in a book. TV just doesn't excite me...mostly because there is no interaction involved other than passively sitting and absorbing whatever is fed to you. I love my XM because it entertains me, but doesn't suck up my time by requiring my total attention. XM also has an outstanding collection of jazz, 40s music, and classical music and opera, which are all passions of mine. Channels are even devoted to songs in the style of Sinatra and radio drama. The only drawback to the whole XM setup is that indoor reception is horrible (unless you run the satellite receiver outside).
Other than that, I have been quietly working and getting ramped up for school. In the past few weeks, I have been invited to relocate to my company's New York City office by multiple people. They want me to work on projects for some of our nation's largest banks in the NY financial district. However, too many things are binding me to Texas for me to really even want to leave here now. But I do have to admit to being tempted by the siren of big city life... :)
