Catching up for the week.

I have been really busy over the last week, so I have not had a chance to post here until now.

Work is going great! I am settling in and I am making good progress and learning a lot. I would like to say I have been making the same progress with my HTML studies, but just haven't had time to sit down with the Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML book lately. I am hoping get in so study time over this weekend. Even though I have a job, I still want to develop and improve my skill set, and I definitely need to clean up my web sites. I also will continue to develop my interest in web accessibility.

I am going to drop the Apache, PHP, and MySQL studies for now, and start up with C# shortly. Studying C# will not only help me at work, but also may be beneficial with my robotics work using Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS) from what I have been told. I will be using the Lego NXT system to start with because it can be used with MRS and it's easy to work with.

Given that it's now "that season" in the Seattle (cloudy, rainy, dreary) I'll be taking my astonomy interest inside and play with some of the free astronomy programs that come with Ubuntu as well as working with the Astro Link Blog and the Cloudymidnights Blog. I'll also be playing around with my CoCo, though I'll be posting more about that on the 8-Bit Retro Computing Blog.

I think I'll be busy for quite some time. Cheers! :)

JPEG vs. GIF

I don't think it's the same level of techno-religious argument as Vi vs. Emacs, but Chapter Five of Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML did go into the differences between JPEG and GIF and why one may be better than then other for specific applications.

I really never gave it much thought until I started in with this chapter. In the past just posted images in whatever format worked for me at the time. Now I have a better understanding, and I will try follow to the guidelines in the book. It may take a while for the rules to sink in enough to where I don't need to regularly go back to the book to check, but I will get the hang of it as I build my own sites.

Moving on to other things, I am finding that I define my purpose more and more, it is becoming easier to get rid of a lot of the stuff I kept around the place for projects that just never got off the ground. As the stuff gets tossed, I am finding it easier and easier to focus on my goals, and that really helps me to stay positive right now. Clearing out all of the books over the next few months will really help.

Tomorrow is my 50th birthday, and Saturday will be one month since I was laid off, but more importantly Saturday will also be the 26th aniversary of my first job as a "technician". I think that now is a good time for a change and I really feel good about my chances.

I'll be adding another "Interesting Employment Opportunity" tomorrow. I'd do it tonight, but I've been working for almost 16 hours now, and it's time to get some Zs.

Slow progress, but still going at it.

I have made some progress with my studies, but I am finding that both the job search and going through and clearing out all the stuff I have is cutting into my time.

There is nothing I can do about the job search except streamline the process, and find a job of course. That is a priority right now.

As for clearing out the stuff, I have given up on selling the books and I am now listing all the technical books for free, and I will exchange the non-fiction and fiction books at a used book store for some books I can use such as books on web development.

Being flexible and adapting to changes in your circumstances is necessary to getting through times like these.