It’s oh so quiet…
By Rob Jones | April 21, 2010
Since I returned from my trip to England, life has rushed up to me and enveloped me in its embrace.
The day after I landed on Amsterdam, I had planned to visit the DevDays 2010 in Den Haag. I have already briefly mentioned this before in an earlier post a couple of weeks back. All-in-all, the DevDays were pretty interesting! It was a little disappointing to see that the sessions about the Entity Framework and MVC were not quite what I had expected, but otherwise there were some very good and informative sessions. I had planned to write a post about everything I had seen and heard, but I simply couldn’t find the time to sit down and order everything into a logical post. For those unlucky people unable to go, or for the ones who’d like to see some additional sessions: they have all been uploaded to Channel 9!
I wasn’t allowed to have any rest, for immediately after the DevDays, I was supposed to show up at my new job. After having listened and absorbed a lot of information in the days before, the new job started in a similar fashion. My first two days on the job, which were also the last two days of the week, were spent listening to colleagues and absorbing as much information as possible on the new systems that I would end up working with. Trust me when I say that a week filled with absorbing information and listening to others can be very wearisome! I was particularly glad when it was Friday afternoon and I could go home and try to recover from my flight home, the DevDays and the first few days at my new job!
In the last couple of weeks I have had to adjust myself to a new schedule and a new way of looking at work. Compared to my old job, the atmosphere here is truly relaxed and so far it’s been very enjoyable to work here. I’ve not had a chance to actually be of practical use, since my job is all about moving the current Java applications onto the .NET framework. There is a lot of research to do, as well as starting to get to know the products that will have to be rewritten from scratch! So, even though I’ve done little practical development lately, I’m simply loving the job and the people. I can say I honestly do not regret the decision of taking a new job in a new environment!
While I tried settling into a new rhythm, guild-life continued a usual. I don’t get to raid as much with my Stormcrows as I used to, due to having less free time as well as being a little fed up with Wrath of the Lich King. Bring on Cataclysm! I’m yearning for a fresh breeze, or rather an eruption of stone and lava to tear Azeroth apart.
Speaking of my Stormcrows, yesterday was our second birthday and some of my closest friends in the guild had prepared a surprise gift for me! I had no clue about it and was even more surprised to find that the design had been drawn by my own girlfriend. Hmpf, sneaking around behind my back like that! Nah, just kidding… I absolutely loved the gift and it will get a nice place on my wall! What gift am I talking about? Click on the picture at the start of this paragraph, stupid! 
So, you can see for yourself. Life has continued and it’s been quite hectic! I’ll try to post more regularly, so I won’t have to write these stupidly long posts anymore! Help might be on the way though, I’m considering to buy a small laptop that I can take with my on my travels to and from work. This would allow me to write my posts in the train and I’d simply copy and paste them on the site when I come home! I might even get started on one or two (short) stories I’ve had in mind for a while now…
