My Goings-On: New Job, New Apt, Lots Of Changes

I’ve been posting regularly about specific topics but haven’t done an overall update on what’s new with me so here goes.

I have just started a new position at my current employer. I have moved from Developer to Business Analyst which I hope will allow me to learn a whole new area of skills and business processes. I was starting to feel a bit under-whelmed as a developer; things were getting too easy and old-hat. I think this new position will be a totally fresh challenge.

Almost two months ago I moved in with my wonderful boyfriend. I left my crummy ground-floor apartment to a newer 8th floor apartment with a balcony, nice view, underground parking and a better neighbourhood. The apartment itself is only marginally bigger than my old one so we are a bit crammed- and a lot of my stuff will have to go into storage (*cry* my bookcases!) but so far it is working out very well. It feels like the beginning of a real life.

After having had a Palm PDA in my purse for many years, I have finally moved all the information off of it and gone PDA-free. I don’t have a cell phone either, and I must say it’s nice.

In June I wrote about my efforts tackling my busyness problems. I’m proud to say I’ve made huge strides. I have taken down or archived all the less important little projects that were eating up my time. Did a major release for AV Book Library which will be the last one in a while. I started using Taskfreak to track my to do lists, and have been systematically knocking out tasks that I have been putting off for a long time. I try to keep my inboxes and work area clear (though that is surprisingly hard) and I also try to take a “do it now” approach whenever a new task drops in my lap. It’s definitely helping.

I’ve been working on some very challenging projects recently. The biggest one involving tight integration with PayPal. Sadly working with PayPal is an exercise in frustration because many of their webpages are missing, forums are down, documentation is sparse, and their sites are poorly organized. Thank god for Google’s cached pages. Unfortunately they are the best choice for my needs. But luckily when I’m done I’ll have a reusable PHP Paypal class I can use in the future. Fun fun!

The BF and I have been playing Marvel Alliance 2 for Xbox360. That’s been lots of fun, I highly recommend it. Oblivion and Fallout 3 continue to be ongoing sources of entertainment too.

I’ve been reading the Hyperion novels and if you like science fiction, these two books are among the best.

I’m getting very excited for Christmas. I really hope this will be a good one!

And that’s my news in a nutshell. Er… blog post. Hope all is well with everyone out there!