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Why France is best place to live in world – CNN.com

Interesting article about International Living magazine’s top 10 countries to live in. France is #1 for the 5th year in a row. The US is #7. Last year the US was #3.

Why France is best place to live in world – CNN.com.

Hmmm, maybe we should move to Paris? I enjoyed Paris on our 1st Wedding Anniversary back in 1995. I think it would be quite interesting to live in Paris. I could go for that.

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• Bonjour, Eiffel Tower (chris.pirillo.com)

New Year’s Resolutions

2010 is upon us and as is customary, it is time to make New Year’s resolutions. Except, I don’t make resolutions. The problem I have with New Year’s resolutions is that they are implied to begin at the stroke of midnight on 01 January of the new year. As such, people think that at the stroke of midnight on 01 January of the new year, they have to immediately begin fulfilling their resolutions. I think that’s one of the reasons so many resolutions are broken within days of the new year. People make these promises to themselves and can’t fulfill them immediately upon the start of the new year, so they drop them. For example, I’m willing to be that thousands of people resolve to quit smoking each new year. That implies that at the stroke of midnight on 01 January of the new year, they must quit smoking. So say you set this goal and you’re at a New Year’s Party where people are drinking and smoking. It’s now midnight. Are you really going to stop smoking in the middle of a party? Not likely. So you tell yourself, “I’ll begin in the morning when I wake up.” The morning comes, and you want a cigarette. You have one figuring you didn’t quit smoking when you said you would and already broke your resolution. So why bother, you say to yourself.
Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions…

Photos of New House

These are posted on Facebook, but for those of you who are resisting Facebook, here are the photos of the house we live in.

Moved In

So to continue my updates, after Stacey left to go back home to Las Vegas, we moved about 12 miles away to Stanardsville, VA. We now live in a tri-level house in a community called Greene Mountain Lake. It’s quite peaceful, usually, except when the hunters and target shooters are out. We live across the street from the lake. In the summer, we don’t have a very good view of the lake and Blue Ridge Mountains, but in the winter, when there are no leaves on the trees, we do. We can hear the geese on the lake at night, and sometimes ducks too. I’ve seen a couple of white swans on the lake occasionally. It’s been unseasonably cold so far this winter, although there have been some warm days; I noticed the lake has had a very thin sheet of ice several times. I took some photos of the lake and the outside of the house when the leaves were turning colors this past autumn, but I can’t find them. I guess somehow they got deleted. I’ll have to take some more, sans leaves, when we have a nice sunny day. I’ll have some pictures of the inside of the house soon.

Moving Again

Stephanie and I decided several months ago that we would not be staying in the house we’re currently renting beyond the end of the lease, which is September 30, 2008, because there just isn’t enough room. So, for the past couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at internet ads and driving out to see houses. We found one in Greene Mountain Lake, near Stanardsville VA. It’s about 12 miles or so from where we live now and about the same from where I work. Here’s the description from the ad:

Newly available 2,526 square foot, 4BR,2 bath well maintained home in Greene Mountain Lake with 2-car garage, finished basement, paved driveway and private patio. Home offers spacious master suite with attached ceramic tile bath: soaking tub, separate shower and dual vanities. Gourmet kitchen with cherry cabinets and granite counter tops. Home is situated on a 1.27 acre lot with views of the lake and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Long or short term rental available. Pets are possible with additional deposit. Seller would also consider a lease purchase. Convenient location, short distance from Route 33.

The pictures from the ad are below, but they don’t do it justice. It’s a tri-level house. The master bedroom is cavernous and the master bath is huge. The master bath has a soaking tub, two separate vanities and a separate enclosed shower. There are three smaller bedrooms, two upstairs and one downstairs. One will be the guest bedroom and one will be Stephanie’s office. The downstairs bedroom will be my office/music room. There is a room off of the family room, which is downstairs, that we will probably use as an exercise area. It has a two car garage with an automatic door opener and a spacious patio/deck. We have views of the lake. The lake is private to community residents, so we can go boating (no power boats) or canoeing, fishing, etc. There is a beach area with BBQ pits to use too.

The lease starts August 1. We decided to overlap our leases so that we have plenty of time to move out of the old place and clean before the old lease is up. So we’ll probably be moved into the new place before Stephanie’s birthday on August 20.

I’ll take some pictures and post them when we get the keys.

2007 Retrospective: The Year That Was

As we prepare to kick ol’ man 2007 out and turn the page of life to 2008, I thought I’d take a look back at 2007. Enjoy.

In retrospect, not much really happened during the first half of the year other than a couple of job changes for Stephanie, first CHSI, then Wynn Las Vegas. I continued to plug along as QA Manager at Bally Technologies.

In July, the year kind of kicked us in the ass! I was let go from Bally Technologies in the middle of July. It was quite a surprise considering my annual performance evaluations had always been stellar. Nevada is a right to work state (meaning the employer can let you go without explanation), so I wasn’t given any explanation for my dismissal. I have my suspicions as to why I was dismissed, but really have no way to determine their validity since the few people who know the real reason won’t or can’t talk about it. In reality, I had been exploring options before I was unceremoniously dismissed as there had recently been a change in my management chain that made me a little nervous. Well, nervous isn’t really the right word, apprehensive might be a better description.

After being unemployed for a few weeks, I landed a job with MGM Mirage. I had actually interviewed over the phone while still employed at Bally, but it took several weeks to get the on-site interview, offer and start date. I think it would have been a good job, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out. While waiting for MGM Mirage, I was contacted for a second time by a company in Virginia. The company flew me out for an on-site interview and I got an offer about a week and a half later. It wasn’t the offer I was expecting, which was disappointing, but it was still a good offer. After some deliberation, we decided to go for it. So, after only two weeks at MGM Mirage, I left.

September was a whirlwind: entertaining quotes from movers, talking with real estate agents, rental property managers, going through virtually everything in the house and garage and getting rid of everything we didn’t need or want, another trip to Central Virginia to find a suitable rental house, setting up the movers, getting utilities set up in Virginia and probably some other stuff I forgot. Stephanie left Wynn. The packers came on September 20, boxing everything up and the truck was loaded on September 21. While the packers were doing their thing, Stephanie secured a contracting gig for technical documentation at the same company I was going to be working at. Talk about a stroke of luck and great timing. So now we were moving across country and didn’t have to worry about jobs!

We hit the road for 5 days on September 22, stopping in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Memphis, Tennessee; Bristol, Tennessee; and finally Charlottesville, Virginia. We had a day and a half to rest up before the truck arrived on September 28.

I started my new job on October 1 and Stephanie started her contract position a week later. Weekends in October and early November were spent shopping for things we got rid of or found we needed in our new place and unpacking. We still have a little of that to go; it’ll get done when we get motivated to finish it. It turns out that the company we both work for is absolutely terrific. There are a lot of great people here and the senior management, all the way up to ownership, really seems to care about their employees. And I have yet to see any real corporate politics like you find at larger corporations; you know, where everyone is so busy covering their asses to keep from getting fired, not taking responsibility for their actions and always trying to blame someone else, and all that other crap. It’s a refreshing work environment.

My Mom and Dad visited for a weekend in late October, which was a really nice visit. We spent Thanksgiving in South Florida with Stephanie’s Dad and his wife, Judy. We had a really nice time, for the most part.

Things have quieted down a bit for us since Thanksgiving. Our house rented out just before Thanksgiving (on my birthday) and our tenants moved in December 1. Thanks to the wonderful invention of online shopping, most, if not all, of our Christmas shopping was done quickly online without crowds, lines or waiting until the last minute; although we found that the Fashion Square Mall in north Charlottesville wasn’t super crowded on the Saturday before Christmas (except for the GameStop… it was pretty packed). Target and Best Buy weren’t either on the Sunday before Christmas.

We had a nice quiet Christmas… just Stephanie, Juneau, Cinnamon and I. We opened our few gifts in the morning and gave the puppies theirs (some toys they’ll never play with and some treats). We had a traditional Christmas dinner. I did the turkey and sweet potatoes on the barbeque and also made a pecan pie with pecans from Mom & Dad’s pecan trees. Stephanie made the mashed potatoes, stuffing (probably her best ever!), green bean casserole and orange jello salad. Everything was delicious as usual.

Today it’s back to work, although there isn’t much to do this week really since probably three-quarters of the company took vacation. New Year’s Eve isn’t a day off and since I work the evening shift, we probably won’t do anything for New Years. We’ve been invited to a friend’s home for the evening. If I get off work early, then we might try to go.

So, that’s a quick look at the year that was. We took a calculated risk in coming to Central Virginia. We left behind some family, good friends, an empty house, a comfortable (albeit sometimes quite hectic) life in Las Vegas and exchanged it for new jobs, new surroundings and a big dose of uncertainty and not knowing what to expect when we got here. But, everything has been great here so far. Our household possessions arrived virtually unscathed and we moved into our rental house without a hitch. The company we work for is absolutely fantastic and appears to genuinely care about its employees and their families. We love the area, which is rural, but there is a small city just 10 miles away. We’ve met some really great people in the short time we’ve been here. We’re really glad we took the opportunity given to us. Our house in Las Vegas got rented pretty quickly and we’re both as healthy as ever. So far, so good.

Finally, we both hope everyone had a very Happy Holiday season and wish you all health, happiness and the best of everything in 2008. Each year is a new adventure. Who knows what 2008 will bring. Maybe we’ll win the Virginia lottery!

Long Time Coming

Hey everyone,

Yes, yes, I know it’s been more than three weeks since the last post, but we’ve been busy with new jobs, moving in, unpacking and getting settled in. So here’s what’s been going on for the last three weeks…

Home Life
As I mentioned in a previous post, the house we selected to rent isn’t perfect. It didn’t scream to us “THIS IS THE ONE!” As such, we’re dealing with some compromises. Our living room furniture wouldn’t fit in the living room without everything being crammed in, so we decided to put the sofa, entertainment center and big screen TV in the “family room.” That room is quite large and also has room for both of our office desks and my guitars and music equipment. I hung my guitars on the walls to save some floor space. So as soon as Stephanie’s new desk arrives, the family room will be pretty much done except for putting a few things in cabinets or shelves. The master bedroom is pretty much complete as well, although we are waiting on a vanity for Stephanie. It’s necessary because both bathrooms are tiny as is the master bedroom closet. But a new dresser helped with clothes storage. We were able to match the color to our existing bedroom furniture and nearly matched the style. The kitchen is also very small, but Stephanie was able to find room for the essentials and still have room for foodstuffs. Not a lot, so we’ll have to go to the market more often, but it’s literally just down the street… less than a mile. The living room is nearly complete. We put our two red chairs, the TV stand from the entertainment center, a TV and a couple of lamps in there. Since the dining room is small, especially with the china cabinet, we also put a couple of the dining room chairs in the living room too. The diinng room is too small for our dining room table and the china cabinet, so we decided to push the dining room table against the wall; that’s why we put two of the dining room table chairs in the living room. The dining room is between the family room and the rest of the house. It was too narrow for walking before we pushed the table against the wall. The two spare bedrooms, nicknamed Red Room and White Room because of carpet color, are still disorganized. Those rooms still have boxes that we need to go through and repack. All in good time. Once the Red Room is clear, we’ll get a bed and two nightstands for guests. In the backyard, we replaced the fence for the landlord. I asked if he’d provide partial compensation for the money we spent improving his property, either cash or some other form of compensation. He said he’d think about it, but I haven’t heard back from him yet. Hopefully, he’ll compensate us in some manner. But the new fence makes the backyard safe for the puppies. I also set up an automatic water fountain for them this weekend so that they have water when they are outside.

Work
Work is great. I really like all of the people at my new job. The company culture is really great too. Very laid back… jeans and t-shirts are more often than not the uniform of the day. I’ve even seen people come to work in shorts and flip flops. They cater lunch every day and soft drinks and juices are available for no cost to employees. The work is great too. I get paid more than at my last position with less responsibility. Basically, I’m doing what I did about four years ago, testing slot machine software, and getting paid way more than I was then to do it. Stephanie’s a contractor at the same place: documentation specialist. She really likes it there too. There’s talk of her getting hired as a permanent employee, but it’ll probably be a little while before it happens. There’s also a push by a couple of people in QA to get me promoted to the night QA manager. But like I keep telling everyone, “Whatever happens, happens.” I’m not concerned. I like what I’m doing for now. Testing SAS over and over will probably get boring after a while, but for now, I’m enjoying it. The office is out in the middle of nowhere in a rural setting. It’s really peaceful. I’ll take some pictures soon and post them.

Charlottesville
We haven’t really had much tome to explore Charlottesville and the surrounding area much yet. But we will. Locally, there is Jefferson’s home, Monticello, Madison’s home, Montpelier, and Monroe’s home, Ash Lawn, go visit. There are a few fall festivals going on the next few weeks that we might check out. There are also Revolutionary and Civil war battlefields we can go visit if we want. The Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park are less than an hour drive too. Of course, DC is only 90 miles or so away and there’s a lot to do and see there, national monuments, museums, sporting events and more.

Weather
It was rather warm, upper 80s and low 90s, when we first got here, but it’s become more seasonable with temps in the 70s. Still, the weather reports tell me that 70s are warmer than normal. But that’s ok with me. It rained on Friday, which was good. The lawn needed it (no sprinklers). The leaves are just starting to turn colors and fall off the trees. Before long, I expect to see an explosion of reds, yellows, oranges and browns all around.

So, we’re pretty much settled in, with a few things to do before we can really say we’re moved im, but the major stuff is done. It’s really peaceful here. We sit on the deck in back and can hear the hoots of owls, thocks of woodpeckers and songs of many different birds. We see squirrels run around occasionally and butterflies flitting around the neighbor’s flowers. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of Vegas. We don’t miss much about Vegas: friends, jacuzzi and good rock radio. Guess I’ll have to find a good site on the internet to keep aprised of the new rock and metal music. Guess I could listen to KOMP online. Maybe Xtreme radio has Internet broadcasts too. [UPDATE: KNAC! Now this is ROCK!]

Well, that’s it for today. I promise to update a little more often than every three weeks!

House Hunting Part 2

Update from Tuesday: thankfully, my luggage arrived sometime between 10:30 PM Tuesday and 7:00 AM Wednesday.  So I didn’t have to make that trip to Wally World for luggage and clothes.  

House hunting is finally complete. I toured or drove by 6 properties, 3 Wednesday and 3 Thursday. None of the houses were slam dunks, meaning I didn’t walk into any house and immediately know it was the one. So we picked the one that was the best for us out of the 6.

House Hunting

Well, I’m off at midnight tonight to fly out to Charlottesville, VA to find us a house to rent. Tonight is the rough night as I have a long layover (all night) in Phoenix before continuing on. Unfortunately, Stephanie cannot accompany me, but I’ll be taking plenty of pictures.

Wednesday, I’m touring 4 houses that appear to meet our needs: 1 in Charlottesville, 1 in Ruckersville that is a mere 3 miles from where I’ll be working and 2 in Palmyra. The 2 in Palmyra are in the Lake Monticello community. It’s further out from work, but from what I’ve read it’s really nice and the rents are very reasonable. It has a 350 acre lake, tennis courts, barbeque areas, pools, jacuzzis… sounds really nice. All 4 properties will accept our dogs, Juneau and Cinnamon. I’ll be taking a lot of pictures. Wednesday night, Stephanie and I will select one over the phone.

Thursday, I’ll call the management companies with our decision ad meet with the “winner” to sign and finalize all of the paperwork. Then I think I’ll have a little time to relax.

Friday, I have a really early flight. I’ll be back in Las Vegas by lunch, just in time to start preparing for the LAST BIG BILLCANGRILL BBQ BLOWOUT EVER IN LAS VEGAS! That’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to it. BTW, if you were invited and have RSVPd, please do so. I’d like to know who is coming!