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I s'pose it's time for an update...
Unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks, the federal government shutdown is over and offices are now open until at least January or February next year. In my case, I was able to go back to work sooner after SecDef Chuck Hagel found a loophole that allowed DoD civilians to return to work after the first week of the furlough. But the upshot is that I'm back to work and will be gainfully employed until at least January. Beyond that, well... I'm not even gonna speculate anymore. :P
In other news:
My Guard unit will likely be deactivated sometime next year. We're not sure when this will happen, but we've already lost our full-timer and a couple others are due to leave in the next few months. As for me, I expect to be gone within a year or less myself. When I first joined the unit, I actually looked forward to drills, but that has changed significantly. With the unit's potential demise and the Guard cracking down on PT failures (of which I'm one), it's no longer worth it to stay in. In a little over two years I'd hit sanctuary, meaning I'd be within two years of retirement. But I suspect what'll happen is that I'll be separated just before that point, and I'm still chewing over whether Guard retirement is really worth it. For one thing, benefits don't kick in until age 60, and for another, the retirement benefits package is getting smaller and smaller.
A few days ago I came across this article in which a third of middle class Americans polled said they expect to work until they become too sick to do so or die. Right now I count myself among that percent -- not to mention I also enjoy doing what I'm doing. And even if I didn't have the extra financial baggage that I do, I'm still planning to stay on the job past retirement.
( Whiny BS stuff that I'm hiding behind a cut tag for those who don't want the added drama )
The Slingbox died last week. Decided to bite the bullet and get a new one. So far the new one is working great, and it's nice to be able to watch TV in the bedroom instead of having to go out into the living room... especially when my A/C is in the bedroom and we're in for a hot, humid and voggy weekend.
The MacBook Pro was also out of commission for almost a week after one of the cooling fans started making a grinding noise and finally died. Decided to replace both fans even though the other fan was working since it's likely the second fan would probably be going out as well. I found that replacing the fans was a fairly easy DIY project as opposed to having Apple service the laptop (though DIY projects don't come with any warranty of any sort).
A few weeks ago I managed to meet up with a pawful of 808 furs so I'm gradually meeting a few other local furs. Depending on my schedule I may try to make more local fur meetups but we'll see how it goes.
Anyway, that's the latest and greatest on yours truly. If I forgot anything it'll be in my next update.
Unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks, the federal government shutdown is over and offices are now open until at least January or February next year. In my case, I was able to go back to work sooner after SecDef Chuck Hagel found a loophole that allowed DoD civilians to return to work after the first week of the furlough. But the upshot is that I'm back to work and will be gainfully employed until at least January. Beyond that, well... I'm not even gonna speculate anymore. :P
In other news:
My Guard unit will likely be deactivated sometime next year. We're not sure when this will happen, but we've already lost our full-timer and a couple others are due to leave in the next few months. As for me, I expect to be gone within a year or less myself. When I first joined the unit, I actually looked forward to drills, but that has changed significantly. With the unit's potential demise and the Guard cracking down on PT failures (of which I'm one), it's no longer worth it to stay in. In a little over two years I'd hit sanctuary, meaning I'd be within two years of retirement. But I suspect what'll happen is that I'll be separated just before that point, and I'm still chewing over whether Guard retirement is really worth it. For one thing, benefits don't kick in until age 60, and for another, the retirement benefits package is getting smaller and smaller.
A few days ago I came across this article in which a third of middle class Americans polled said they expect to work until they become too sick to do so or die. Right now I count myself among that percent -- not to mention I also enjoy doing what I'm doing. And even if I didn't have the extra financial baggage that I do, I'm still planning to stay on the job past retirement.
( Whiny BS stuff that I'm hiding behind a cut tag for those who don't want the added drama )
The Slingbox died last week. Decided to bite the bullet and get a new one. So far the new one is working great, and it's nice to be able to watch TV in the bedroom instead of having to go out into the living room... especially when my A/C is in the bedroom and we're in for a hot, humid and voggy weekend.
The MacBook Pro was also out of commission for almost a week after one of the cooling fans started making a grinding noise and finally died. Decided to replace both fans even though the other fan was working since it's likely the second fan would probably be going out as well. I found that replacing the fans was a fairly easy DIY project as opposed to having Apple service the laptop (though DIY projects don't come with any warranty of any sort).
A few weeks ago I managed to meet up with a pawful of 808 furs so I'm gradually meeting a few other local furs. Depending on my schedule I may try to make more local fur meetups but we'll see how it goes.
Anyway, that's the latest and greatest on yours truly. If I forgot anything it'll be in my next update.
