The "what have you been up to thread"

[JIMINATOR]

Hi guys......
work is going well, I thought I was going to get laid off last year, but that didn't happen. They did have a nice severance package though, and others in my field were able to get comparable jobs, so it wouldn't have been a biggie. It probably would have been more driving through the ATL traffic though. As is I am pretty busy based on the reduced staffing.

for the soul, I am currently working "a new earth" by eckhart tolle. I find the book to be absolutely amazing in describing the inner workings and mechanisms of the ego, pain, suffering, and the relationship to time and now. Well worth reading if you think you might like to break your pain/suffering cycle which appears to come from being born into this world. I read a lot of the same 20 years ago and did not really understand it then.

for family - seems like I am going through a lot of welcome changes. I am working on putting family first. Mainly that means spending quality time with them, talking and communicating, as compared to wasted time online.

for gaming - very not much happening now. Stalker was great from last year, bioshock also was good. I also liked both of the supreme commander series. Crysis was a little disappointing, it felt like a letdown overall, maybe expectations were too high. Halflife orange box was pretty fun overall. I don't really play online at all. The witcher (euro version) was also fun.

other - I am doing a little bit of trading. Take a look at WB, it has swings from low to high that are $1+ on a daily basis. When timed correctly it can result in huge gains. Of course the opposite is very true too... So that has been interesting. Painful too at times.

[BobtheCkroach]

Glad to hear from ya, Jim...we've missed ya around here :)

Sounds like things are going well for you and I'm glad to hear that.

I would have to agree w/ your game picks there, overall - although I thought Crysis was a pleasant surprise, except that I didn't find the alien/mech creation thing at the end all the fun - the 1/2 with the Koreans was more fun in my eyes. I somehow never managed to get my hands on Stalker last year, but that's on my short list of games to play right now.

Again, glad to have you back - hope we hear from ya from time to time :)

[ME BIGGD01]

Jim, always glad to see ya and happy all is well.

For me, life has changed a lot. I decided to close out my accounts with my clients to take a position in my friends office in Manhattan. I actually was pushed to do so only because I could not afford the health insurance out of pocket anymore. The past 2 years were doable at 1260.00 a month but last September they raised it to 1600 + 40 dollar copays for visits and prescriptions. honestly broke my heart giving up a business I built up over the years but could not keep up. The overall expense monthly took me well over 2000 a month just for health situation with wife. So I have been getting up much earlier to head in to Manhattan every day unhappy. The hours are long and the prices have really hurt considering the Tolls, Trains, Gas and you name it here has gone up. It seems like a winless game because I am spending a lot on expenses which puts me in that same position. Scary as I get older seeing life getting harder.

As far as family, my wife is on her third kind of chemo as the others failed. She is still a strong person and lets nothing bring her down. She has her good days and bad days but that is expected. Going on the third year with this ordeal I must say it seems to be catching up with me on a stressful layer. I guess everything just builds up but I continue to maintain as long as family stays stable.

Gaming has become very hard for me as well. I once in awhile jump in to a cod4 map but i get bored because the lack of maps and the size of them just ruin it. I also do not have the time as I use to where I pretty much made my own hours. At the end of the day I usually do my daily chores and crash.

Hobbies--By the time the weekend comes I am pretty much drained. I have a ton of stuff to do but rarely have the energy. I use to enjoy my computer stuff but with stuff lying around I see my hunger for it has appeared to die out. I know I miss it but I just seem to never get around to do it any more. I do take pleasure driving the Mustang but the almost 4.00 a gallon of gas really takes the joy away.

Daughter is my bright spot in the world. Coming home to hear her scream Daddys home 3 times ( I think she is acting at this point but nonetheless she knows it's what I look forward to) always makes me smile. She is in kindergarden and doing very well. She has my personality in many ways which is funny but scares me for some reason:) .

Soul---I can not comment but I know I have become a bit bitter with some things I have no way of changing. I don't get to BS with my friends like i use to and have adopted a routine I have no choice but to do. I keep the words of a very close black woman I knew in Alabama in my head which is keep your chin up. I will and hopefully things become brighter.

Other than that life is great:thumbs:

[EXEcution]

Hey Jim! Great to hear from you and I'm glad that everything is well with you and your family.

As for me I'm still in college. I decided to change my major at the very end of my freshman year from Computer Engineering to Management Information Systems (MIS). It was a pretty significant change, since I was going from a BS to a BBA, but thankfully when I confronted my advisor he said that MIS was a good major to get into. So far I've been really enjoying all my courses and understanding how business "works".

My family is doing well. It's unfortunate that we haven't yet been able to buy a house even in these times when one should be able to get a relatively good deal.

I am also reading a VERY interesting book called What the BLEEP Do We Know!? by several authors. The book is actually based off a movie by the same name. It covers a wide range of topics (from consciousness to quantum mechanics) but the general idea is that everything is essentially connected in some strange way. What boggles me the most about the book is how the authors attempt to explain this very radical concept of being able to influence reality with our beliefs and thoughts. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is normally a very skeptic and doubtful person, like me.

As for gaming I just started playing ssam again and it's still fun playing with my clan members and all. Nothing has changed and I'm kinda glad. You might see a ssam movie by the end of this coming summer but don't quote me on it. :)

Other stuff. Well lets just say that I am having a very on and off (mostly off) relationship with a girl at my school.

Anyway hope to hear more from you Jim!

[Asian Invasian]

Life has been pretty amazing for me lately. I think for my age, now 19, I am doing awesome.

Work.. well I only work 3 days a week now but its full time those three days. I was promoted to a full time weekend supervisor at my job, it was stressful at first, now its getting a whole lot easier. The company is doing great too and I make double what most of my friends make.

I also changed majors because I couldn't stand Electrical Engineering or see myself doing it at all in my life. I am changing to Business and I think I am going to concentrate it on a Finance major. I have a full ride next year thanks to grants, and no longer have to pay out of pocket or take out loans. I currently go to Colorado State University, I did take this semester off due largely to the fact that I could would have had to take the elec eng classes and had them count as electives since I was switching majors... no thanks.

Family is going great, and yesterday was my 2 1/2 year anniversary with my GF.

Hobbies and video games have not changed too much. I play mostly halo 3 on my spare time with friends and no longer play competitively. I am awaiting some of the new titles coming out. I no longer really play any serious sam but I will get on for a few games here and there to remember the good times with this game. Other than that on my spare time I love to work on my car, and mod my car, and drive my car. I bought myself a 350z.

Good to hear from you again btw.

[Nitro]

Life has been pretty amazing for me lately. I think for my age, now 19, I am doing awesome.

Work.. well I only work 3 days a week now but its full time those three days. I was promoted to a full time weekend supervisor at my job, it was stressful at first, now its getting a whole lot easier. The company is doing great too and I make double what most of my friends make.

I also changed majors because I couldn't stand Electrical Engineering or see myself doing it at all in my life. I am changing to Business and I think I am going to concentrate it on a Finance major. I have a full ride next year thanks to grants, and no longer have to pay out of pocket or take out loans. I currently go to Colorado State University, I did take this semester off due largely to the fact that I could would have had to take the elec eng classes and had them count as electives since I was switching majors... no thanks.

Family is going great, and yesterday was my 2 1/2 year anniversary with my GF.

Hobbies and video games have not changed too much. I play mostly halo 3 on my spare time with friends and no longer play competitively. I am awaiting some of the new titles coming out. I no longer really play any serious sam but I will get on for a few games here and there to remember the good times with this game. Other than that on my spare time I love to work on my car, and mod my car, and drive my car. I bought myself a 350z.

Good to hear from you again btw.

Glad to see you joined the Finance crew :D

[He Is Legend]

Halo 3 is the sux0r.

I'm doing ok, I'm currently living in New York to help out my family since they're going through some rough times and could really use my help around the house with the kids and the animals since they're full time workers.

As for gaming, my aunt and uncle just bought a 32' Sharp Aquos 1080p tv..so I went out and bought the xbox 360 too with COD4 and that new Condemed 2 game. I play that as much as I can since I dont have much time to myself or anywhere close to a " ok " computer to game on, ha..I still play VERY competitively on every game I play, play to win.

Well those damn kids just spilt milk all over the damn cats, take care everyone..and good hearing from you Jimmy boy

[Asian Invasian]

Glad to see you joined the Finance crew :D :D

[EXEcution]

:D

:D

[Bingo]

Eh, for me nothing too exciting

I'm looking pretty seriously for work around Atl as I really am ready to move back there. Even posted my Resume on careerbuilder though that turned out to be a pretty crappy site.

I've gotten back into photography a good bit. Finally bought myself a good quality camera a few weeks ago. I post my pics on Flickr (IMO, the best photo site there is)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bingo2/

Still play some games when I can though I don't have near the time I used to. Plus I'm just flat out trying to spend more time away doing stuff.
When I do play, I still like TF2, UT2K4, SS of course and a few others. It's been a while since I've found a game that really sucked me in.

That's about it really.

B