There are 145 posts filed in MT.Net (this is page 12 of 15).
Well, the MT.Net maintenance didn’t go as smoothly as I planned. It was a busy weekend without geeking out, but I managed to do some of both. I should’ve kept the geeking part until a time when I could’ve really focused. Instead, I wound up having to painstakingly recreate all my posts for the whole week: a much bigger task than I’d hoped to do.
Moral: measure twice, cut once. Learn it, live it, love it.
This weekend MT.Net will be undergoing maintenance. Don’t be surprised if your favorite source of blather can’t be reached for a time.
MT.Net management hopes to have service restored for good Sunday evening.
I’ve had it in my head for a while that I should write about the jobs I’ve had. My career is full of interesting lessons learned and a bit of humor as well.
Look for the first posting soon.
Finally I present the biggest highlight of 2008: our move to downtown. This one event was the most profound change for us in 2008.
Over the past few years, I’d been pondering what life in Raleigh would be after cheap gas was gone, or after I had become too old to drive. I wanted to live someplace where amenities were close by, and by that I don’t mean a faceless strip mall. I wanted to find a place where we could retire, knowing that if we needed to we could get around without driving.
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I ended last year on a sad note when we said goodbye to my longtime feline companion, Smitty. Then in the following months we moved into a new home (and judged the kids ready for a pet), so we decided it was time to get a dog.
We met Rocket through a Lab rescue organization, and decided to “test-drive” him for an hour one evening. It wasn’t long after then that Rocket joined our family for good.
He’s led us on romps through the neighborhood, kept good company, become a great car traveler, learned a few tricks, and pretty much been everything we could’ve hoped for in a dog.
Of course the economy would make it to my list of highlights of 2008. You’d have to be under a rock not to have noticed. It certainly did affect us here at MT.Net.
We began the year pretty well-off financially. I’d picked up my job at the address verification company and life was good. News of layoffs elsewhere gave me pause but I assumed I was in a good spot working for an international company.
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Up until last year I’d been pretty good at avoiding car accidents. I try to drive defensively, watch my speed (more or less), and aside from a fender bender that wasn’t my fault its paid off in keeping me out of wrecks. All good things must come to an end, and that streak ended in November when I wrecked our minivan while towing an overloaded load of mulch. (And two days later I lost my job, but that’s the subject of another post).
If I had to total my car this wasn’t a bad way to do it: with no injuries, no other vehicles involved, no traffic ticket, and a decent payoff from the insurance company. The worst damage was to my pride and my wallet, in towing charges and insurance hikes. And the minivan’s transmission was only eight months old. It was a great car in great shape. Until.
We still haven’t replaced the minivan yet. We’re still shopping around, and a neighbor has graciously loaned us their extra car in the meantime.
Funny how just a few seconds can make such an impact in your life, so to speak.
The year 2008 was the year that I got much more involved with civic affairs. I’d always been interested in playing a bigger role in Raleigh but it was after the Raleigh Neighborhood College that I began to consider it more seriously. As I mentioned in my RNC post, it led me to become the East CAC chair and a member of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenways Advisory Board.
The East CAC thing seemed like a natural fit for me. I’d been to a few meetings and got a lot out of them. I was also impressed at the large number of neighbors who came each month. When the former chair, Lynette, said she was stepping down, I felt I had to step up. Besides, the easiest election to win is the one where you’re unopposed!
I was perfectly happy being CAC chair when word came ’round that there was an opening on the Parks board. I’d been angling for a spot on a city board for over a year and couldn’t turn down the chance when I finally got it.
Both are lots of work, but the CAC probably takes more of my time. I have a newfound appreciation for the kind of time our volunteers put forth in improving the city of Raleigh.
One of the big highlights of 2008 was the 12 weeks I spent in the Raleigh Neighborhood College (RNC) program.
I found out about RNC one day from a flyer posted in my downtown office building. I called and found that because of the late date the class was already full. Fortunately, someone canceled and I got in.
Twelve weeks I spent time at Peace College and other area locations, hearing presentations from city staff about what the city does. Even better, I spend those wonderful weeks with a class full of outstanding citizens, from whom I learned as much as from the presenters. At the end of it all, my fellow classmates elected me valedictorian: an honor I deeply appreciated. I was sorry to see it end.
The RNC got me thinking that I could spend more time helping the city as a volunteer. It led me to seek appointment on the Raleigh Parks board and encouraged me to become a leader in my CAC. Both of these responsibilities take lots of time but have provided me exceptional exposure to some of Raleigh’s finest people.
I would be a very different person today had I not responded to that flyer. No doubt about it!
The MT.Net reader knows I’m a political junkie. Some say its incurable. The year 2008 offered many fixes for my habit.
First off, America (and North Carolina!) elected Barack Obama to be its next president. What a breath of fresh air he promises to be! While he did disappoint me last summer, he still was better than the alternatives. I said a year before the general election that he’d get my vote and he did.
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