Last Week In The Rain Forest

I looked at the weather for Houston today: 95 – feels like 107. Yeah. Hot. Here, the weather was: 73 – feels like 73. Nice. Unfortunately, my tenure in Portland is drawing to a close. [Or rather, fortunately since I get to spend some time at home – which rarely happens.] Next week is my last week here in Portland. Following that, I will be producing project documentation from the house – yes: a week totally AT HOME! It will be a welcome time – that is if I can stay focused! All in all, I rather like Portland and Oregon. The people are friendly and the land is beautiful. However, as nothing on this earth is forever, this project is over and I’m ready for a change. After this I’m not entirely sure where I’ll be, but I’m trying to scam a long-term European project. But then: don’t I always try that? Since I keep whining on how I never know where I’m going to be, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to changing that – possibly looking for a new job. Yes, I have been with my company for almost 9 years now [something unheard of these days in the IT industry] and they have treated me somewhat well [at least at first they did] and definitely kept me fed. But they are unable to provide me with any long-term stability. I need that now. I’d like my vacations to be a break in the routine – not yet another trip. I’d like my family life to be more than “just visits on weekends”. I need to feel a part of a community and the only “community” I get is work… and work sucks as a substitute. Enough. I needed to vent. Signing off: I have to catch the shuttle to the Max [light rail in Portland].