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It's been a little while since the last update, so I present to you a recap of the things that have been going on in the past few weeks...

The New Job
On Wednesday, October 29, 2008, I started in my new position at Georgetown as the Manager of Information Systems and Technology Contracts. So far it has gone fairly well, at least as far as I can tell. As with any job, there is a certain learning curve involved, so I've had to ask quite a few questions. Once I get the basic procedures down. though, I can start working on making it my own. I already have a couple ideas that I think would help the processes out a little bit. I just want to make sure I'm comfortable with everything before I start messing with any existing processes. One thing that I am really happy about with this position is the fact that I'll get to telecommute once a week. I've been looking for a position that offered that for a while now, and finally have it. I've decided to telecommute on Mondays, but won't be starting that until around Thanksgiving - when I should be more comfortable with everything that I'm doing.

Halloween 2008

Halloween
I haven't gone out to do anything for Halloween in quite a few years. This year, since I would be going out by myself meant that I was going to attend a few parties that I'd been invited to. So, the first stop on the evening was to a party hosted by a few guys I play softball with. The picture you see here is a shot of all the guys who were at the party who played for our softball team (the Money $hot$) during the summer and fall leagues. (As a side note, after the team finished 0-18-0 in the summer league, we finished 9-8-1 in the fall league). Anyway, it was quite a good time, as with the number of people who attended, they ended up going through three kegs by midnight.

I'm the guy in the blue and yellow face paint. My shirt said "Go Ceiling" on the front, and "Ceiling is Number 1" on the back. What was I? A ceiling fan. A little humor for you there.

I ended up not making it to the second party ("by accident"). When I got back to Shirlington I got a call from a friend who lives in my building and I met his wife and him at Bungalow for another hour and a half. After shutting the bar down (and playing some pool), we went back to the club room for a little while. I ended up being up until a little after 4 AM - the latest I'd been up in a few years.

All in all, a great Halloween.

Fitness
I've been fairly dedicated to my workout routine for the past two months. This weekend marked the fact that I've been on a weight training program for an entire month. I have noticed that it has gotten easier to get my butt downstairs to work out the more I've been doing this. Based on the exercises I've been doing (as well as the cardio I do nearly every day), I can definitely see results. I've lost about 25 pounds since June, and I can see a change from the weight lifting, which is what I really wanted. They say if you can continue to do something for 60 days, it becomes habit. If I can get through November and keep this up that whole time, I should see some fairly significant changes. I've already seen about 15% increases in the weight I can lift.

Travel
In the next two months, I'll be traveling to a few places. Over Thanksgiving, I'll be returning to Michigan again. I'm actually hoping they see some snow on Thanksgiving again, because I rarely get to see any measurable amount here in DC. I'm planning on driving up, and may go to Canada as well for a day or two. In December, my mom is taking us to Disney World. She took me for my law school graduation, and she's going to be taking everyone again as Tom will be graduating from PA school next summer - but this was the best time to go, as over the summer it was likely both Tom and his girlfriend would not be able to go. I'm sure it will be quite a bit different than the last time I went to Disney, but I'm really looking forward to it. We're going December 20-24, which unfortunately means I'll be flying back in to DC on Christmas eve, and won't be spending the actual holiday with my family. I might go up for New Years and Tom's birthday, but haven't decided yet. It all depens on the financial situation.

So, that's the story for the last couple of weeks. I'll try to update again soon with some more thoughts....

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The quote in the title is by George Will, and it describes perfectly my life over the last several weeks. (On a side note, George Will also made one of my other favorite quotes, stating on The Colbert Report that he was an agnostic because he is "not decisive enough to be an atheist.")

I actually held off writing a blog entry on this for a few days because I wanted it to sink in to myself before I told everyone else about it (though if you Facebook, you probably already knew)...

Continue reading "The future has a way of arriving unannounced" »

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm in Arizona this week, attending a conference on Identity and Access Management presented by CAMP - the Campus Architectural Middleware Project. Here are some random things that have been said or some of my random thoughts from the sessions:

"Bar codes on students are really handy."

A question was asked about what the rationale for giving applicants to a University an identity at the University, before they are accepted. It was suggested this was for a sense of community, and another person spoke up and said "branding." The reply was, "We don't brand students anymore. We stopped doing that 20 years ago." There were also several "yee-haws" yelled.

Continue reading "Blogging from CAMP" »

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember that law firm I worked for for a couple of months? Remember how I didn't like it?

Looks like they're in the news: "Don't Post This Cease-and-Desist Letter, Or Else"

Absolutely hilarious. Having worked there, I'm not suprised at the bad press. I certainly did not enjoy my time there, thanks mostly to what I would deem horrible management. Of course, that is only my opinion as a former employee. Reading the comments on the websites that are covering this story is pretty fun. I hope that the story gets more press in the future.

In my opinion, you'd have to be nuts to have that firm represent you. But hey, if you want someone who is, in my opinion, similar to an attack dog - go for it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyway, pass that link along if you think someone is interested in it.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, Volkswagen of America announced that they are moving to Herndon, VA yesterday. For those of you who know me, I'm sure you understand that this was troubling news. For those of you who don't know, my father works at VW's headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI - and has worked for them as long as I can remember (since they were located in Troy, MI, at least)....

Continue reading "Drivers Wanted (Unless you live in Michigan)" »

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been a while since I've been in the 'ol blogosphere, so it's time for a few updates and thoughts:

1) I am once again a college student. This time I am taking classes at Georgetown University, pursuing the Masters of Science in Computer Science degree. I'm actually pretty excited about this. This is the first year GU has offered this program, so I'm in the inaugural class, which is neat in itself. I'm also pretty happy to be continuing the CS part of my education. The fact that it is free, thanks to Tuition Assistance from GU, it a huge bonus.

I'm taking two courses (as a half-time student), Databases and Software Engineering. I'm more nervous about SE than DB, but they should both be good experience. I have not decided what I want to focus in yet, though it will likely be SE.

2) I missed my 10-year High School Reunion. I'm not sure if I'm upset about this or not. I suppose it would have been nice to reconnect, but from a couple people who I talked to who went, nobody I hung out with back them was there. Meh.

3) I absolutely HATE phonebooks. With a passion. I feel like buring the next phone book I see. If you work with me, you know why.

4) Fall Hockey Starts Soon! I've got a pretty good team lined up - the Washington Wolves. With about 6 guys from Richmond, one from Hopkins, one from St. Joe's and a couple of guys who are good players, I think it will be fun. Plus we got the sweetest color jerseys. EVER. Hopefully I hear from the Hockey Director at Kettler Capitals Ice Plex soon about the start of season. I suspect it will be after the Capitals' training camp.

5) Visiting Tom. Went to Marietta College to visit my brother, who this summer started his Physician Assistant program. You can see an awesome picture of him here (scroll to the bottom), where he discusses the fact that he is very excited to begin his clinical rotations. Anyway, after visiting, I have to say that there is definitely something to be said for small-town living. The fact that we ate at a nice Mexican restaurant for under $8 a plate was great. That doesn't happen in DC. Maybe someday I'll end up in a small town.

That's about it as far as the updates go. I've got a couple other posts in my mind, and hopefully they make the screen in the next couple of days.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today we were evacuated from work at our off-campus location of Georgetown University. About 11:15am or so we were told that a bus hit the building, and we had to evacuate. While I didn't feel it - I'm on the opposite side of the building, several others said they felt the building move. The rumor right now is that the driver left the bus unattended, forgot to set the parking brake, and it rolled down the hill, plowing through a van and then into the building.

Now, all of the news stations are reporting on the accident. I'm sitting at the helpdesk on main campus now, waiting for a 1pm meeting on main campus. Apparently, the building is closed until they can determine it is structurally sound. This is a problem, seeing as how my car is parked in the parking structure under the building, and I can't get it out until the building is deemed safe.

Mickey, co-worker of mine, took some photos of the accident right after it happened, before most of the emergency response and TV cameras got rolling.

Nice. Hope I can get my car in time to make it to my softball game at 6:30pm...

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been holding off posting this entry for a while, mainly because I was still at the job, but now I want to let you all know - I'm moving back to DC.

The reason is simple - the law firm job in Richmond did not work out for me the way I had hoped. In all honesty, it was a mostly miserable experience for me (save for my co-workers), and I couldn't deal with it any more. I could go on and on and tell you about why I felt I had to leave, but I'd probably get sued for defamation or something. So, if you're interested in hearing the details, please feel free to email me or give me a call. Suffice it to say, I wouldn't have wished it on anyone. Even with a detailed explanation, most people don't understand the dynamics of that place. It's tough to explain, and I'm not sure even my fiancé believes it was as bad as I make it sound.

Luckily, my former employer, Georgetown University, has offered me my old position back with some added incentives. Unfortunately, it sort of feels like I'm returning with my tail between my legs, in some respects. When you leave a job, I don't think the intent is to go back if the job you left for doesn't work out. That being said, if there is one place I would go back to, it would have been Georgetown. I just hope things aren't incredibly akward with me returning there - I know I probably upset some people when I left, and I hope that doesn't effect things too much. I really can't afford any more mistakes, so let's hope it works out and isn't akward...

So, I've started the task of moving things back up to Arlington. I only signed a six month lease here in Richmond, which is good, but it still means I have the apartment through July. At least that gives me plenty of time to move, right?

If anything, being back up in Northern Virginia will allow me to help Martha with the wedding planning. Though I'm not sure exactly what still needs to be done, it is getting close. Very close. I hope that after the honeymoon, we'll be able to focus on getting things paid off, saving money, and maybe getting a nice condo in the area.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 02:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)