Furniture store & automobile dealership employees should be legally barred from being allowed to star in their own TV commercials.

Up until this point, I have generally avoided blogging about work minus a couple of occasions. That is all about to change. I refocusing my blog to be more career-oriented with my recent move to work independently. The main reason for this change of direction is to get myself more closely involved with the online Flash community, though there are other factors involved as well. Of course, it goes without saying, I will not blog about specific projects during development to maintain client confidence, but occasional revelations & experiments which arise because of those projects will be shared here.

Will I still blog about my personal life? Yes, probably about as much as I do now. So please excuse the long lapses.

It’s now 3 weeks since I left Trailer Park to go on my own as a freelancer. I am definitely busy with the freelance projects I picked up since starting at the beginning of the month. Most of my clients to this point have been people I have known and worked with through my career. It is encouraging that my connections I made in the past are now coming back to help me build my future.

The adjustment for the last 3 weeks has been a bit easier than I expected. Despite the desire to sleep in just a little bit later, JJ continues to wake Theresa and I by 7:30 every morning. Not to fear though - our cabinets are stocked full of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee *the best coffee in the world*. I am generally at my desk working by 8:30 to 9:00. Since I am home without a commute, morning web surfing to catch up with the world can be done earlier.

On the days that Theresa works, JJ goes to daycare. The apartment is unusually quiet those days — so some music or an audiobook from the library keep me company as I plow through the project of the day.
On the days they are home, Theresa does a great job of keeping JJ from bothering me. This is especially impressive since my office is in our living room. Should things go well for the next few months, I am pretty sure we will upgrade ourselves to a 3-bedroom apartment with the 3rd room being the office.

Anyway you cut it though, it has been a great month - one of the best I can remember in my career.

So 24 has begun again.

And with it, Dave Barry has begun his real time episode commentaries again. I need to thank Deb for introducing me to these. For anyone who is a fan of the show, this is a must read.

http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/24/index.html

For those who need a reminder of my own rules for 24land, here you go:

http://www.andyandtheweb.com/blog/?p=139

So far as I can tell, numbers 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14 and 15 have all come into effect this season and we are only 4 hours in.

I should note #7 seems to have failed me, unless Curtis proves to be the highlander.

Although #10 seems to have been broken, I believe the caveat that greater portion of the terrorist activity is occurring in Los Angeles during this 24 hour period still holds this rule as true.

Should #12 hold water for this season, Milo or the smooth talking foreign smart-ass will be moving on to a better place this season.

Also, on a non-rule related note, when did Chloe become the office hottie / slut?

I’ve been hesitant to commit to an opinion on the forthcoming Transformers movie. Until the most recent trailer came out, I was sure it was going to be a disaster. Then I saw the trailer & gained a gleam of hope that it could be a fun movie. Then I saw this image of Megatron this morning.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=119712

Now I want to see the movie a bit less than I did before. It could just be me, but he looks like something Home Depot threw up.

January 5 has come and passed, and with it my resignation from Trailer Park became official. It was definitely weird. I worked with a lot of the folks there for about five years give or take a few months in either direction. At the end of the day, there was cake & I was actually left speechless when asked to say a few words.

The weekend was one of celebration.

Dinner with Matt & Kathy on Friday.

A surprise costume birthday for Mitch on Saturday. I went as Professor Chaos — Mitch, I need a picture of it.

And then we topped it off with Theresa, JJ & I going to Disneyland for JJ’s first trip there. The weather was perfect, traffic was minimal & crowds were likewise. Overall, I think JJ’s favorite ride was the Monster’s Inc. (there is a small 4×5 tv screen in the car which brought a big smile to his face). He was not so fond of the Pirates ride and seemed indifferent about the Winnie the Pooh ride as he was more infatuated with the fact that there were doors that swung than the ride itself. Adding a nice topper to the day, James & Weena joined us for dinner in Downtown Disney.

That’s it for the moment. There are some pics of the Disneyland trip in my gallery for anyone who cares to check them out.