flewellyn | What's this? An update?!

SO, yeah, haven't updated in a good long while. I've been okay, just really really busy.

I've been working on this website for some new customers of ours, which lets them do all kinds of nifty mapping and imagery stuff. In the process, I've been learning about all kinds of things, from database management and programming to web design to dynamic generation of web content to PDF creation. Lotsa stuff. I'd say more, but I'm not sure how much I should talk about in public. Suffice to say, I've created the beginnings of an online Geological Information System, usable entirely on the web. Eventually, it'll get all the way there, to the point where users can view and create new GIS data, analyze it, generate reports and charts, and download it...all with only a browser on their computer.

This is not something other companies have yet. As far as I can tell, this is not something other companies have even thought of trying to do yet.

So, as you might imagine, I've been rather busy. It's been fun, though. And may prove quite lucrative: if I can get all of this stuff working, I'm due a raise.

A few noteworthy things have happened in the past...oh...month or so. I've been to my first Mongolian grill, had a nice barbecue for the Fourth of July with the social club folks (it was potluck; I brought about 40 turkey burgers and buns, and a watermelon), and got to hang out with friends a bunch.

I'm writing this from work, during some downtime. I'm winding down a day in which I created some code to automatically generate a PDF of a web-page report for our clients. Kind of nifty stuff, and I was very glad that it only took one day to finish up (I credit having good tools).

It's rather lucky that I don't have much else to do for today, since it's hard to work right now. The Blue Angels are practicing outside my window, see; they're here for this weekend's Fargo Airsho, and are currently engaged in very noisy and distracting death-defying stunts of aerobatics. I can't help but jump when I see two F/A-18 Hornets fly at each other at full speed, only missing each other by about 10 feet or so. Nor can I help jumping when one of them flies right over the rooftop with full afterburners. These guys are wonderful pilots, and absolutely insane. I'm pondering whether to go to the Airsho or not; I do like aviation, and planes, and watching highly skilled crazy people barely avoid killing each other.

Not a great deal to report right now, but I find that happy times are not very exciting to talk to others about. Precious little drama or excitement, but I'm liking it that way.

"So, that's the new from Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above-average."