Snow!!!!!!!!

Weatherman says we're due for about a foot of snow.  I say bring it on!  I'm ready.  Who am I kidding.  It's going to be a lonely ass weekend when I'm stuck alone in my apartment.  It will be a long weekend of movies, gaming and surfing the internet.  That plan could go down the pipes super fast if the cable gets knocked out.  Man would that suck.  Then I'd be stuck with reading one of the dozens of books sitting on the shelf.  I suppose that wouldn't be so bad.  I do have a lot of really good books I've been meaning to read.  Meh, one day.

I'm glad it's finally the weekend.  This week has been all kinds of crazy.  I've been training with one of the "engineers" at work in the past few weeks and consequently stopped working on all the side projects that my boss had me working on.  Well that kinda backfired.  This week my boss asked for updates on all those research and development projects that he assigned to me.  Apparently he expects me to be able to train AND conjure up results on all these r&d projects.  He's not much of a realist.  On top of that, Terry (the guy I'm training with) is catching wind of my plans to work in Germany.  He doesn't know exactly whats going on, but he has been saying all week that he knows something is going on and that he's going to get "fucked."  As of January, he is supposed to begin his retirement plan by moving to 3-day weeks.  He's pretty sure that won't happen.  Somehow he can sense that the company is going to dick him over and ask him to stay on full time.  I feel pretty terrible because I know that by going to Germany I'm basically fucking up his retirement.  There's no way that I can turn down this opportunity though.  I can't pass this up, no way.  I'm going.....Sorry Terry.

Aside from being busy at work, I heard from my old roommates that the realtor is trying to make us pay for January and February because we didn't tell them that we weren't renewing the lease. That's pretty messed up.  The original lease that we signed didn't have a renewal option checked off.  We signed a new lease when we changed roommates 1 year into the lease.  Well that one had the "Lease will automatically renew unless tenant provides 60 days written notice to landlord" option checked off.  Fucking con artists.  They changed the terms of the lease.  I'm mostly mad that I didn't catch it earlier, but I'm still pretty mad that they want money that they really don't deserve.  The owner of the house called us a while back and asked if we were renewing and we informed her that we were NOT renewing.  She didn't say anything about it so we assumed we were OK.  Then someone got a call from the realtor.  Con artists I tell you.  The owner actually went to the house today with a realtor and put the house back on the market.  I wasn't there (because I moved out and I was at work anyway) but my roommate Karyn told me that the owner didn't say anything about the extra two months and that we might be off the hook.  Well she and I both agreed that until someone starts asking for that money we're keeping our mouths shut.

In other news, rockandsnow.com awarded me $25 for all the climbing gear purchases that I've made this year.  Sweet!  They are a really great climbing store in New Paltz, NY.  They also have a website that allows for online shopping and they ship super fast.  Maybe it's because they're in NY and I'm in PA, but I swear they send me an email on the day I make my purchase saying that "your item(s) have shipped."  Before I know it there's a package at my door and I'm super happy with my new gear.  So I think they're great.  I'll probably use the $25 to get carabiners or something.  A few more never biners on your harness never hurts.

Speaking of climbing and online-purchases, I just bought a really cool Osprey travel backpack from moosejaw.  Check it out.  They are another company that I LOVE ordering gear from.  I can't wait to spend all the reward points I've accumulated.


Until something more exciting happens, wood signing off.

Auf Wiedersehen

I have officially moved into my new apartment.  With the help of my parents, my brother and a friend, we were able to move everything in one day.  It was a long day, but I'm glad we got it finished because it's pretty nasty out today.  I went out this morning to pick up some food a few other things.  It's pretty miserable outside.  I should be more excited about being in my own apartment.  I don't have to worry about the headache's that come with having roommates (four actually).  I have all the privacy and freedom one could ask for.  It kinda sucks that I won't be here for very long though.

My boss called me into his office on Friday.  He more or less started off by asking "You're single, right?"  I'm thinking to myself 'yeah, what of it?'  After responding "yes" my boss goes on to tell me about a product design team that is being assembled for the development of a new product and how he would like me to be a part of it.  Then he proceeds to tell me that I would need to move to Germany for 12-18 months.  WHOAH!!!  My first thought was 'I can't go to Germany, is this guy nuts? I just got a new apartment.'  Then he tells me that the company would pay for an apartment in Germany, the early termination fee for my newly signed-for apartment here, and of course all the travel expenses.  Not only that, but my salary would increase.  After calling a few people I calmed down a little bit and decides that this is an amazing opportunity.  A free ride to Germany for over a year!  I'd be close to tons of mountains.  Most notably would be the Dolomites. 

I'm pretty hype about the whole trip.  Now I just have to sit here and wait until it's time to leave.  It probably won't be until the end of January or early February.  Between now and then I have to figure out a few things.  First, what I'm going to do with all my stuff.  Most likely a big ass storage unit.  Second, I'll have to learn to speak German mighty fast.  I don't want the locals trying to pull one over on me.