chriskarcher.net

Hmmm…..

I should be working on my OS project, or playing that new computer game I got. There’s plenty of things I should be doing, but I think I’m going to start a new project. This website has been around in it’s current form for over a year now and served it’s purpose quite well, but it’s time to change things up. So what should be on the new website? Well, I think it’s going to have pretty much the same content, +/- a few things. If anything it will just be an excercise to become a better web designer. Here are some goals I’d like to accomplish:

• Keep it simple, nothing flashy
• Add some color! This is going to be hard because my color coordinating are horrible (why everything is just black and white)
• Take advantage of an established content management system. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel like I did the first time around
• Make the menu or some other simple part using Flash. I’ve always wanted to know Flash, just haven’t ever had a reason to learn it
• Use valid HTML. Try running this site through a validator, it’s funny!
• Try to incorporate Google AdSense on some high traffic pages

That’s really all that comes to mind for now. I’ve put a new link up top to the development page which is where all the new stuff will appear as it’s being created. I really hope I have the time to follow through with this and the project doesn’t just fizzle out.

On another topic, I wanted to clarify some things about my last post. I didn’t intend for it to come across in a harsh way. It was meant to be somewhat lighthearted, but may have not come across that way. I need to remember that not everyone will read something the way I intended when I wrote it. It’s hard to convey tone across the internet

The last line was my subtle way of admitting that the recent goings on were mostly my fault. Maybe a little too subtle…

I was told over the weekend that the quality of my blog has gone downhill. I never post anything interesting anymore. After belittling the critic in my usual style I thought to myself about why she was completely right. Over the past few weeks my life has been dominated by things happening between Denicia and me. If you live in Austin, there’s no doubt you’ve been involved whether you wanted to be or not. There have been several occasions when I wanted to write something up and put it on here, just to get my thoughts out to the world. But this blog is not a place to air my dirty laundry. Every time I want to post something I think back to a couple I knew in high school, both of which now have blogs. These two fought ALL the time in HS. Denicia and I have a dysfunctional relationship for sure, but nothing compared to these two. Once I found out they both had blogs I was not surprised when they started writing posts about how much they hated one another. It was seriously a battle of the blogs. They would cuss at each other and take some pretty personal shots. Now don’t get my wrong, it was a very interesting read. I checked for new posts daily. The whole time however I would think to myself why are they doing this so publicly? It was similar to a couple going into HEB and yelling at each other while everyone watched in awe. I don’t want to turn this blog into some sort of reality show, it’s just not the place.

Denicia might read this and think, “That’s BS. He just doesn’t want everyone to know that this is all his fault!” Yea, well, even if that was the case, well, whatever!

Today was a big day! I accepted the offer from @hand to join them full-time after I graduate. I think I knew from the beginning that I was going to accept the offer. I just wanted to see what else was out there. And after visiting a huge corporation like Microsoft, I know for sure that I’m a small company kind of guy. And heck, getting on with a small company like this that has so much potential is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Now I just need to hurry up and graduate already…

I’ve done this more times than I can count, and after every time I vow to never do it again. Somehow I’m just not able to stick to it. Tonight was all-you-can-eat wings night at Plucker’s, and this is the last time, I mean it. I’m sitting here right now at 2AM not able to sleep because of the huge bulge that’s still in my stomach. I’ve gained 5 pounds since I left for school this morning (I know this because we have a scale in our kitchen now). Maybe I should try some sit-ups or something. And tonight, once again, Kam proved that he can out eat anyone. It was close this time, the margin of victory only one and a half wings. Kam was clearly the winner however, as Daniel threw up in the parking lot right outside Plucker’s.

This all is kind of funny too. My mom asked me this past weekend if I still ate at Plucker’s, and I responded “No, I’ve grown up and don’t gorge myself like that anymore.”

This shit has really hit the fan in Austin and now it’s everywhere. Big changes have happened in my personal life, I’m not going to go into detail on here though. The changes may be for the better or for the worse, only time will tell. I just wanted to give an excuse for why things have been quiet around here.

I got an Easter package in the mail today from my Mom. I swear, I’ve said it before, but these things always seem to find their way here at the right time. Thanks Mom! The candy was delicious…

I heard mixed news back from Microsoft today. They told me that they weren’t going pursue placing me with either of the teams I interviewed with. They did say however that they liked some of the things they saw and would like to interview me again, this time for a Software Test Engineer position. Test engineers test the code written by the other engineers for correctness. They said they’d like to fly me back out there as soon as this Friday, 2 days from now. I told them I’d need a night to sleep on it, but I think I’ve already figured out that I won’t be taking them up on their offer. It’d be great to work at a place like Microsoft, but not doing something that I wasn’t passionate about. I really like the work I do for @hand, and I love Austin. I also already live 200 miles from my family, I’d rather not make it 2,000.

The jury is still out at National Instruments. I’m hoping to hear from them by the end of the week.