March 2011 Archives

March 31, 2011 @ 23:48 EDT

Drumming the night away


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos

March 27, 2011 @ 10:42 EDT

Progress on the Home Front

Just need to paint the trim and caulk the edges of the floor, and it's done! It took longer than expected, but that's because I got sidetracked with another project:

Yup, that's one more room with hardwood down; excuse the purple but it's going to have an 8-year-old sleeping in it. Aside from painting the closet and installing the quarter round, this room's done too.

This is where most of my spare time's been going during the past couple of weeks. Now that this stuff is almost done, I'm looking forward to having some leisure time on my hands again. Then I can finally go back to my other projects, namely finishing the trim around my um, hole, and repairing the kitchen cabinets. And the master shower drain. And .. oh, isn't homeownership great?


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos, Life and other BS

March 22, 2011 @ 22:39 EDT

Red Menace


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos

March 22, 2011 @ 10:24 EDT

Every Yoda has its Day

This is one of an awesome sequence. I'm really loving this recurrig puppy therapy thing, hanging out at the dog park with Kim and her mother's dog. Or even without her.

And now, your moment of zen:


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos

March 09, 2011 @ 16:24 EST

Beach Babes

Kim and Crystal at the beach.


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos

March 09, 2011 @ 16:08 EST

The Times They Are a-Changin'

For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it's ragin'

It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'

-- Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin'

It's a beautiful song, and it rings as true today as when it was first released in 1964. It's been covered hundreds of times, but I have to say my favorite version was sung by the amazing Candice Night (of Blackmore's Night)

Nearly every aspect of my life is now in flux, and how things will settle down is anyone's guess. I finally faced up to the fact that the excuses I'd been using to coast along for the past two or so years were just that, excuses, and that it was time to move on.

I came very close to walking away from my life here and just starting over somewhere else. It's something I've done several times already, and each time it was a good thing, but this time.. I couldn't say that. I had nothing to go to. But once again, I decided to stay in Melbourne and try to build something.

The first time was when I decided to buy a house. My plan had been to sell it after five years and use the modest profits to finance a move somewhere else. When I moved in, I met the GirlNextDoor(tm), ended up marrying her, and.. just shy of that original five-year mark, our divorce was finalized. I wanted to move on, to leave, but I used the excuse of a horrid real estate market and the fact I was still employed as an excuse to just.. not do anything, to not exact the change I needed. I simply wasn't ready.

The subsequent two years were both the happiest and most painful times of my life. I found a place, family, love, and a sense of a future while trying to deal with the pain of my failed marriage. In the process realized I had more, deeper truths to face and accept. I had to work on myself, and build what I wanted. I took baby steps to that effect, but never quite took the plunge, never directly acting like someone under his own power; gated everything on other people, and never accepted that the elephants in the room were my responsibility to act upon.

Those elephants were my house and my job; and they were the reasons I used to justify my not making necessary changes in my life. The job more so than the house; despite my not being particulrly happy with it for a while, I worked for GoodPeople(tm), and .. it's hard to justify just up and quitting a decent paying job, even in a good economy. I'd been expecting the business to go too, so my plan basically consisted of sticking to it, paying off all my debt, and building up a cash reserve. Once the job went away, I'd just...leave. I even knew where I'd go.

That dream came to a crashing halt in October, in a way that could only be described as betrayal. I'l spare my readers the details, but I fell back into a numb despair, once again coasting along with the status quo, using my job and house as excuses, unable to muster the will to effect any meaningful change in my life.

Things began to turn around a bit in December, and the relationship with Kim was both a catalyst to and a consequence of my feeling better. I began to feel myself again. But the drama that pushed us together also pushed us apart, and my discontent returned with a vengance.

It's funny, how seeds you sow come back to haunt you later.

My discontentment finally snapped, and I had a hell of a fire lit under my ass. It was time to decide what I was going to do, what I wanted to do. I was unhappy in Melbourne, unhappy with my job, unhappy with my house, unhappy with my life. And I was holding myself in that miserable state. One way or another, it would have to change.

On the house front, I called a realtor, got some numbers and my options...and then put off a decision, because of a much more interesting development...on the job front.

I've been offered a new job. It'll take me back into the realm of device drivers and other low-level hacking, working for a small hardware company. And it's literally half a block up the street from where I've been working for nearly eight years.

Eight years, wow.

What makes this interesting is that these guys were one of our clients, and we'd been doing more contract work for them lately. They floated the idea of just hiring us as full-time employees, and after a great deal of conversation well above my pay grade, it came down to a formality of an interview this past Friday and a job offer on Monday.

Oh, and my personal life taking another bizarre turn over the weekend. Yes, Kim and I are back together, and she's once again planning on moving in when her lease expires in about six weeks. What takes this into the stratrosphere of strange is that I'm also back with Crystal, and they're back with each other. The details probably don't belong on a public blog, so that's all I'm going to say on that front for now.

Over the course of a week, I've gone from "give me a reason to stay" to having several good ones. They all came together at just the right time, and they're actual reasons to stay instead of the vague "it feels wrong to stay, but feels more wrong to just leave" sense I had before.

So on Tuesday, I accepted the employment offer. In principle, that is -- Until my old and new employers can agree on a start date, I can't sign anything. And then there are the two problematic clauses in their boilerplate nondisclosure/noncompete/IP agreements that I pushed back on.

A lot has happened very quickly, and where things settle remains to be seen. But you know what? I'm looking forward to it, and no matter the outcome, I'll be better off than when I started.

Don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin'

For the loser now Will be later to win For the times, they are a-changin'

Damn, I love this song.


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Life and other BS

March 05, 2011 @ 18:12 EST

Puppy therapy


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos

March 01, 2011 @ 23:30 EST

Well, that was brief..

Just as I announced its beginning to the world, I'm now announcing its ending. Kim and I are officially single. The reasons are very much private, but I will say that it was mutually agreed upon, we separated on good terms, and will remain in each other's lives.

It's for the best, but that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed.


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Life and other BS

March 01, 2011 @ 19:08 EST

Frame Drum Skee Ball


Posted by Solomon Peachy | Permanent link & Comments | File under: Photos