End of a chapter?

I know I've been terrible at updating my blog. If my sole reader (you know who you are!) didn't update hers, I wouldn't be writing this right now. Ever since I came back from my trip from Asia, things went back to normal with a dash (ok more a slab) of disappointment an annoyance in the professional level (5 interviews later, rejection, massive overtime at work, realizing i'm at a dead end job), I had an epiphany and decided to drop EVERYTHING I have here and try my luck on the other side of the world (literally). Drop my current job, family, friends, everything. Going into a foreign country with no job waiting for me on the other side. Scary you say? You betcha. Exciting? Hellz yeah!

It took me a while to realize that I have always been "babied" all my life and had a safety net called "parents". If something goes wrong, ask parents for help. If something breaks, somebody was there to clean up the mess I made. I was never fully independent. This is an opportunity for me to have a taste of independence, a 6 months trial. If all fails, I'm going back home. GO BIG OR GO HOME, at least that's what they said.

Ottava rima

From wikipedia:
Each stanza consists of three alternate rhymes and one double rhyme, following the a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c pattern

I had to write one for a job application (don't ask)

a geek who loves to code and think

who designs, tests and debugs too

he also likes to play and drink

there are very little thing that he cannot do

strong are his skills in php, sql, and with r-sync 

weak his poetry and rhyming is but not his kung-fu 

before this ends, saying this he must:

all your bases are belong to us

Day 7 and 8: Singapore and the hostel life

Singapore. The port city. A city/country that I though had the biggest prohibition ever: no smoking, no drinking in public, people do not swear. You can imagine my reaction when the cab driver said: "This bus is fucking pissing me off driving slowly like that". I was even more shocked when I saw singaporian smoking cigarette in the streets and ex pats drinking wine on the bridge. I guess I have a lot to learn about this country. There is one thing I have to mention about Singapore: THE HEAT. Picture a summer humid heatwave, but CONSTANT all year long. I nearly passed out at the botanical garden.

This is the first time where I have stayed in a hostel, and I have regret not doing this earlier. No only that the rent is ridiculously cheap, with the proper research, you can find a very good hostel with incredibly clean washroom and very friendly staff. I also got to meet various people that are in different stages of their life. A Spanish civil engineer in his 30s looking for a job in Singapore, a brazilian (and VERY pretty :P) student who is travelling, two british girls who are on their graduation trip, a german orthodontist who quit working after 10 years, an american geek in his late 30s who left North Carolina to be with his singaporian girl friend who he met online during a game of MUD, the list goes on . They all have a different story to tell, all uniquely interesting and approachable. If i ever have to travel, I will stay in a hostel. No questions asked.

Day 3, 4 and 5: Living the life of a TVB character, big buddha and Macau

I had a mild case of food poisoning on Wednesday so after popping some meds for safe measure, I passed out in my bed.

Day 3: Living the life of a TVB character
A few years back, I was a closet fob. I was listening to tw/canto/j/kmusic and was watching k/j/tw/ch/canto/sg drama (yes i kid you not, all of them). Now that I am actually in Hong Kong, I recognized several landmarks from various drama. There is a ferry that connects Kowloon to HK island called Star Ferry and I realized that every single drama has a scene where the characters are jumping on a ferry to get back home/go to work. While I was waiting for the ferry, I had a sudden epiphany that it was this exact ferry that they take! How awesome. Upon the arrival to the other side of the sea, I arrived on Hong Kong Island, the financial hub of the country. There can only be one word to describe my initial reaction: OVERWHELMING. Overwhelming in the sense of HOLY SHIT THERE IS 10X MORE PEOPLE THAN IN KOWLOON type of overwhelming. After getting lost on the small streets, I stumbled upon a very steep road where there is an escalator that goes up to god knows where (I stopped half way and I still don't know if that is a stairway to heaven) called Shelly Road (part of it leads to SoHo, yes, just like in NYC). Once again, a mental flashback of a drama scene came to mind and I then realized how common this area was too!

Speaking of life of a TVB character, women characters are usually uber sweet or uber bitchy mean, i-am-going-to-fuck-you-up-if-you-are-in-my-way type of mean and jump on the first rich character. I had dinner with a friend who lives in HK and she's telling me how all the girls here are fighting to find a rich man and hope to marry him and not have to work ever again. Rather scary if you ask me

Day 4: Big Buddha (Tai-O)
To be honest with you, this is a destination where you do it once in your life to say "I DID IT" and carry on with your life. The highlight is there is a GIANT statue of Buddha and the scenery is BEAUTIFUL. That's about it. If i were to come back, it will be for hiking since there are a myriad of trails and the mountain sceneries are just breathtaking. I just don't know how people deal with the heat... imagine 20km of roads to walk.. in a mountainous area?

Day 5: Macau
Yet another greatly overrated destination. Sea sick people beware, the ferry ride can get bumpy and if you have a sensitive stomach, chances are, you'll get to see what you ate prior to the ferry. Macau is known for two things: cathedral/ruins and casinos. The ruins are literally ruins: one of the main highlight is a cathedral that is built next to one of the biggest fortress in Macau. The catch, all that is left of the cathedral is the front wall (And the arches) that's it. The rest burned down a few centuries back. The other ruins are the remains of fortifications. The casino itself are also pretty underwhelming. Maybe I had expected something like Vegas where there are BIG statues with lights and what not. I went to the Venitians and if it wasn't for the sign that says: "Venitian hotel", I would have never guessed. The outside looks like a typical 5 star hotel. Inside, it's golden, big and nice. The casino area has a surprising amount of bacarrat tables, a bunch of slot machines and your usual games (craps, blackjack, roulette etc) and ONE poker table area (with a 500$ buy in which is about 60$) where it's a cash game. My biggest beef is that people can SMOKE. Terrible.

Day 2: Hong Kong - Lost, dazed and confused

After a somewhat good night sleep on a bed that is exactly 6 feet long (I am so grateful that I'm not a mutant like Yao Ming) and waking up at 6am (thinking i have over slept), I have ventured into the urban wilderness of Hong Kong. First thing I learned was to to look RIGHT before LEFT, something I have forgotten since my trip to the UK 4 years ago. I finally arrived in Mong Kok for the quest of a new cell phone (for those who do not know, my current cell phone is an ASIAN model, which means it lacks the 850 band which seems to be mandatory around my house). My coworker referred me to this placed called "Sin Tak" which apparently tells 2nd hand phones. What I didn't know was that it was a PLACE (ie mall) called "Sin Tak" and not the store.

The heat is another thing I'm having trouble coping with. Growing up in a country where the temperature is below freezing point for about 3/4 of the years, a 38 with humidity area is quite a shock for me. I think i downed about 1L of water within an hour and I had to buy more. This is something I have to get used to and quick because once I exhaust my desire to shop (which will probably end tomorrow), I have trips which involves walking around non air conditioned area and then I have singapore which is worst. Oddly enough, night time is as bad, minus the heat, but it seems that everybody comes out at night. It's like i'm living in a twilight movie or something :P

As for food report, there isn't much to report today. I am still taking it easy on the "exotic" food just to avoid weird surprises, so I went to Cafe de Coral (it's a fast food chinese chain) for char siu and duck and rice, and dinner was fried lo mien on a street corner. The language barrier is going to be rather tricky since I barely know any cantonese and my mandarin is mediocre at best. Speaking english is the equivalent of putting a huge "I'M A TOURIST" sign above my head.

Going to try to exhaust myself by staying up as much as i can and hope to get a good night sleep. My objective is to NOT crawl back into my hotel and take a nap. If i have to drink 10 coffees to stay awake, then dammit that's what i will do!!!

Day 1: Hong Kong - The adventure begins

After over 7 years, I am returning to Asia, but this time, I'm going there alone. After the usual 20+ hour long flight, walking through a maze called HKG and having the shuttle bus drop you off at a corner where the hotel is nowhere to be seen, I have arrived in one piece! I'm hoping jet lag won't kill me tomorrow. I have already ventured around my hotel (which is conveniently located a block away from the Temple Street night market) and went on a hunt for street food, mostly something easy to eat (read snacks) and also to scout the area and see what there is to offer around here.

Between the overwhelming feeling of what seems like an infinite amount of stalls selling knock off tshirts, random accessories and cell phones and tourists, I found a few places which sells meat on a stick. With my incredibly limited cantonese, I pointed to squid and this thing that looks like sausage and said one of each. Quite interesting, the squid is not really my cup of tea though, boiling it isn't hitting the spot, probably grilling. It's amazing how there are so many tables outside taking over the corner of the street. One thing for sure, I'll check out those restaurants.

Speaking of food, I just have to comment that Delta Airline has one of the worst food I've ever had on a plane. My flight from Montreal to London on AIR CANADA was better. Note to self: when they offer a CHINESE and a WESTERN menu, stick to WESTERN. The chinese one was just a plain insult to the cuisine

Changes...

Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed.  ~Irene Peter


Phew.. wedding season is over for 2010. Two weddings, two weekends, back to back. Weddings are great occasions to meet new people but more importantly, catch up with people that we haven't seen in years, even decades. My cousin's wedding is a great example: it's the first time in almost a decade that the cousins have been in the same house. We all grew up and changed: one became (is going to be) a doctor, another one is in the air force. We are older but yet the complicity is the same, we still had fun reminiscing about the past (while having a few/lots of drinks). 


Last weekend was one of my childhood's friend's wedding. I've known her for well over a decade. I also caught up with one of her cousins who spent every summer of his pre-teen life in Montreal (he was from Dallas). The minute we said hi, it felt like time has never stopped and we picked up where we left of, 15 years ago. There was no awkwardness nor weird silence. Just laughter and old stories.


We might all grow up and change physically and mentally, however, there is always that one element that defined us as a kid that will never change. No matter what we experience in life, a person will never change.

How Awesome Are You?

Tell me once, and I’ll believe ya. Tell me multiple times, and I’m gonna get more skeptical each time. The same goes for any of a slew of statements that I’ve heard friends assert recently. Statements like these:

“I’m perfectly happy being single. I am. I don’t need a boyfriend.”

“Girls are easy to talk to. I could talk to those girls if I wanted to. They just look stuck up.”

The more you broadcast statements like these, the more you broadcast your underlying insecurities. So now, I guess we’re left with just two lingering questions….

source: http://musingsonlifeandlove.com/2009/12/02/how-awesome-are-you/

5 things you should know before dating a programmer

My friend sent me this article the other day, and it inspired me to write my version of the article, but with my point of view as a programmer.

You're at a party and start to mingle. You start to talk to a rather interesting person, things goes well, you're having fun. "So, what do you do as a living?" you asked. "Oh, I'm a programmer at X" he answers. All of a sudden you picture a cool swave Ryan Phillipe hacking to a server. Before you ask for his number and hope for a happy ending, here are a few things you should know about programmers.

1. No, we will not fix your computer. If that is first thing that crosses your mind, then give up. Stop. Do not pass go, do not collect 200$. There is nothing more annoying that assuming that a programmer can fix your computer "because it's so slow that I can't go on facebook". In fact, we hate fixing our own computer. Our solution to a slow computer? Erase the damn thing and reinstall everything. Actually, if you reply to "Oh I'm a programmer" is,  "oh, so you know how to fix computers right?", we will instantly pretend to not know anything about computers and slowly walk away.

2. We are smarter than you. It's not really our fault. The IT industry is very competitive. Programmers are a dime a dozen, so the only way to stand out is to be the best and to be the smartest person in the room. Google, Apple, Microsoft, amongst others, only hire the best and the smartest people out there to create the next best thing. Due to the competitive nature of our field, we tend to be arrogant and prove that you are wrong and we are right. Furthermore, a lot of programmers have masters or phD degrees.

3. Work trumps everything, including you. We are passionate about our work and give the extra mile to get things done and to make it look good. Sometimes we even forget to eat or sleep to meet our deadlines. When we are absorbed in work, we are in our little bubble world, especially during crunch period. So if we forget to eat or sleep, don't expect us to call you back. We are borderline OCD perfectionist, so we spend our waking hours trying to make our project as close to perfect as possible.

4. We love our toys and gadgets. Don't be surprised if we jump like a 5 years old when we see a new gadget in the wild. It's usually something that we have been reading and hyping up for the past 5 months, so it's only normal to be excited when we see it in real life.

5. We are worth your time and effort. We consider our job as an extension of our personality. If our work is an extension of our personality, chances are, our relationships are the same, for better or for worst. If the disclaimer above is putting you off, consider this:

The fact that we won't fix your computer doesn't mean that we cannot fix computers, we just don't want to because we've done it so often. As a matter of fact, any good programmer started their life with fixing computers as a hobby,  usually at a rather young age. But if fixing your computer gives us the opportunity to see you and ask you out on a date, we will gladly fix your computer, and we'll even do it with a big smile! (see point 1)


We like to use our brain to create the coolest thing out there. That also means we always have something smart and interesting to say. Beside, with all the research that we do, we are bound to have something in common with you (and if you think our research is uniquely about computer stuff, think again, we love to read about non-related work) and we can show you new things that you might never know you liked before. (see point 2)

Our passion for our work shows that we are dedicated to our relationships. Yes we might ignore or forget to call you back, but we DO call back (caller ID!), but most importantly, we will give the extra mile in the relationship and make things work. (see point 3)

Always fed up with unoriginal and boring gifts? Our love for toys and gadgets can remedy that. The fact that we love new toys and gadgets means that we can give you the most unique and cool things that nobody will ever think of. Once again, just because we like our toys and gadgets doesn't mean that it has to be geeky and nerdy by nature. We are the best at finding the quirkiest and cutest thing which will make you laugh or smile. (see point 4)

Ladies (and gentlemen), despite all the bad press and stereotypical concepts you have read/seen, and the 5 things you should know before dating one of our kind, let me reassure you that we ARE worth your while.

Flashfoward

Last night was the series finale of Flash Forward, an amazing sci-fi tv series that ABC decide to cancel due to bad ratings (don't get started on that). The premise of the story is that on October 6th, the entire world blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, allowing them to see 6 months into the future (which is called a flash forward). Some saw the impossible, others saw their everyday life, others saw nothing (which we learned that they died). It got me thinking. If I had the chance to see my future, would I want to see it or just leave it as a huge surprise? At first, I thought I really want to see what my future has in plan (will i get married? Will i die alone and miserable? Will I still live with my parents 5 years down the line? [i really REALLY hope not]), but the more I thought about it, the less I want to see my future, especially if it's a positive outcome. I think that if one see a positive outcome, one will take the result as granted and might not take the effort create that future. For example, in my flash forward, I see that I'm a really successful doctor, racking up awards and patents, etc. Knowing that I'll be great and successful, I might just sit on my ass, saying "oh i'll be rich and famous and amazing, because i saw it in my flash forward", rather than working really hard at it to achieve the future. If it was a negative outcome, one might be depressed and just say "why bother, i'll be miserable in the future". Not everybody has the will power to change their own future. Let fate do its job, don't play with it.

Given the choice, would you want to see your future or let fate do its thing?

Leap of faith...

Taking a small leap can be so hard and challenging. Sometimes it just takes a little push in the back, other times you just need to be reminded that you can do it on your own. Thank you for believing in me and reminding me that I can do it.

opportunities...

When an opportunity knocks at your door, what do you do? Do you open and welcome it with arms wide open, or do you shut the door and ignore it? I'm a firm believer in: "things happen for a reason" and fate (to a certain extent). If an opportunity shows up, it either means one of two things: either it's something good for you to take, or it's just a test to see if you are on your toes. I usually think it's a good thing. However, what do you when an opportunity comes but you know the outcome for choosing it isn't what you fully want? Do you still take it and hope for the best or continue to look for that "perfect" opportunity?

writer's block

I seem to have a hard time starting my blogs, or any form of writing for that matter (e.g. cover letters). I have millions of ideas in my head, will well constructive sentences, but once i'm in front of my computer, ready to type, poof, it's gone, like if those thoughts were a work of fiction. I admire people who can write interesting blogs or news posts. They have the knack of either starting their post in an interesting way, keeping their readers hooked or being able to impose the tone of the post within the first few sentences. They also manage to have a very rich vocabulary and seem to be able to express themselves in such colorful ways.


Being a former book work myself, one would think that I'll be able to pick up a few writing skills here and there. I guess I was dead wrong. I would stare blankly at my screen, for dozens of minutes following this algorithm:


1) start typing
2) delete a few words
3) retype
4) sudden flash of inspiration, edit post with more colorful and interesting structure
5) delete entire post because it's crap
6) repeat 1


Then finally, I give up. And then, one day, I get a sudden flash of inspiration, type and save. This occurs once every week or two. I should figure out how i get these flashes of genius and repeat it.

Tell me what you watch (on tv) and i'll tell you who you are: Monday part 2

So Mondays seems to contain alot of shows.. part 2!

Greek is the closest show to my reality. Rusty is the engineer underdog in the greek system. He is a genius in school but is socially awkward and has trouble fitting in, until he joins a fraternity. Then not only he manages to date several women, he even managed to date two girls at the same time (to his defense, he was trying to figure out which is the right girl.. and he choose right.. yay Rusty!), all that and still manage to stay in the honors program! Rusty is almost my counter part, replace the polymer science engineer with a computer scientist (beside, Eng and CS are almost the same.. ENCS). He has the perfect (almost) balance between being a geek and a frat brother, juggling between parties/keggers and his passion for engineering. I, on the other hand, sort of managed to juggle that, although it did result in a disastrous 1st semester.

Adventure, spy, geek/pop culture references is what Chuck is. College genius geek (i detect a pattern here...) drop out Chuck Bartowski has a super computer in his brain called the Intersect and is forced to be a Buy More employee by day and super spy by night. His handlers are stone cold John Casey and a ridiculously hot and equally deadly

Sarah. I think this is the adventurous in me talking, with a splash of geek pop culture (i'm not kidding, i think i'm a walking encyclopedia of random pop culture). The idea of going on secret missions, having a super computer in your brain which allows you to instantaneously have super kung fu powers or being able to hack a super computer. It's like having the Matrix plugged in your brain! All that and save the world while hooking up with ridiculously pretty girls (Kristen Kreuk being his latest.. DAMN YOU CHUCK DAMN YOUUU). Burn notice can also fit in this category (spy? check, stuff blowing up? check, guns and things go boom? check)

Castle is the mystery novel freak (book worm in general) in me. Ever since I was a kid, I loved mystery novels. By the age of 12, I read almost all of the Hardy boys and by 15, I read all of Chrystine Brouillet's book in the Roman + collection. Richard Castle is a successful mystery writer who has the writers blocks and decides to shadow a detective (who just happens to be an ass kicking and very attractive) using his mystery novel writing experience to solve crimes. He is incredibly witty and is still a child at heart (sometimes, it feels like his daughter is older than him). He has a wonderful relationship with his teenage daughter and is known as the "cool dad". That the future me who hopes that one day, I can have a smart daughter that knows the difference between right and wrong , who comes to me for advice and comforting.

Stay tune for part 3.. and more shows

Tell me what you watch (on tv) and i'll tell you who you are: Monday part 1

Wise friend told me the post was too long so i'll break it down in a series of post, separating by the day the shows airs. I have 5 shows which I religiously follow on monday so i'll break that in part.


Some people identify themselves in books, others in songs. As for myself, it's probably TV shows. I watch a ridiculous amount of TV shows (last count I think I follow about 20 odds shows?). Why do you ask? Because I have a lot of time to kill and I'm bored.. ok not really true (ok.. partly). The real reason is that TV is a form of escape from reality. Every show has an element of my personality which represents me, which is understandable since I seem to be an agglomeration of different personalities. In order to make this easier,   I'll only consider the TV shows that I have to watch every week and will break down if I don't.

Let's start with one of my all time favorite sit com, How I Met Your Mother. For those who have been living under a rock for the past 4 or 5 years, it's the story of 5 friends and how one of them met his wife. The setting is in Manhattan, which so happens to be one of my favorite city. Our protagonist Ted is a hopeless romantic, on an eternal quest to find his future wife. Marshall and Lily are a dysfunctional couple but yet somehow make it work. Robin is the resident gun ho proud canadian who loves her hockey and canadian roots. Finally, we got our AWESOME Barney with his wacky theories on picking up women and his quest of a perfect week. Oddly enough, each of these characters represents a part of myself: the hopeless romantic, the envy of having a relationship like Lily and Marshall (they still manage to have fun, do crazy things and not be a boring couple), the crazy hockey crazed canuck in me and the desire of being the super Barney with the suits, the bachelor pad, the storm trooper and the women!

Next is The Big Bang Theory, story of 4 stereotypical nerd/geeks with a ridiculously hot neighbor. As far as reality goes, none of those guys should be able to score a girl like Penny, yet Leonard manages to. Raj, Howard, Leonard and Sheldon are my inner geeks. Their obsession with Lord of the Rings, comic books, manga, gaming, all the nerdy stuff, that's me. Leonard gives me hope that I can one day find a pretty girl who accepts my geekiness and try to make an effort to enjoy and learn about the geek culture.

me, myself and i day (weekend)

The brother was in toronto all weekend, my parents are somewhere in the middle east doing touristy stuff. The house is empty, I'm the only one in here. What do i do? Throw a big ass party? No (pre and post clean up? HELLZ NO.. way too lazy for that). Went out till the wee hours in the morning completely hammered? No (i'm too old for this shit). I had some me time. Just me, myself and I. As much of a social butterfly as I am, sometimes it feels good to just be on your own. There is no stress to run and try to be on time for a gathering, no need to have some chit chat with other people. Just me and my thoughts.

It felt great to walk around the city on a beautiful sunny day, exploring parts of a city that I know so well. Granted I did spend the entire afternoon hunting for that ONE coffee shop that is not too crowded, yet not too modern but not too rustic with a couch. Something like Cafe Perk (see Friends) where I can enjoy a nice book while sipping a good coffee.

Is it so hard to find in Montreal? (ignore the lights on top)

After hours of walking, I found my secret hideout where I can hide away from the world with a book and my playlist. 

I really should do this more often.

je suis canadien///i am canadian...

Those 3 words (english and french) sums up the Vancouver ceremonies (both opening and closing). I haven't seen the opening ceremony and I've seen bits and pieces of the closing ceremony (I was busy watching Mythbusters blowing stuff up with explosives.. who doesn't like seeing Adam and Jamie blow a steak up with c4???) and I am going to say this: SHUT UP WITH THE I AM CANADIAN SHIT! It's fine to be proud of being Canadian, but they really took it over the top. Flying beaver, mooses, Michael Buble dressed in a Mounty uniform singing a song about.. CANADA, that was just cheesy and pretentious. I understand that we want to show everybody what Canada is all about but do they really have to use all the stereotypes? No wonder why people think we live in igloos and dress in red flanel shirts.. YOU ARE BASICALLY TELLING THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT WE ARE NORTHERN REDNECKS! Where is the multiculturalism? All i heard was native dancing and french quebecois people... where are the immigrants that was part of this country? Where is the history of Canada? 

I am happy that this is over, that was ridiculous

i should learn how to shut my big mouth

Throughout my entire life, the one thing that got me into so much trouble is my big mouth. I either blurt out something I'm not suppose to say, or tell people stuff that should not be said to other people. 27 years down the line, this thing has gotten myself into trouble. Here is what happened, I used to brag about how much I can drink and how on my 25th birthday i allegedly drank enough to send myself to the hospital to this one group of friends. And then I was talking about all the shots i had in the past and all and the drinking debauchery in Vancouver.. now they want me to do a drink off over the weekend.. wonderful because "they never saw it, it's only stories". Well liver, i apologize in advance for making you work overtime. I got a reputation to defend.. (i'm going to regret this)

I thought that the brain learns through errors and experiences. I guess I'm not one of those.. i think if i was an endangered specie, i would probably be weeded off, nature vs nurture.. damn you Darwin

Updates

It seems it has been ages since I have last posted something on this blog. To be honest with you, not alot has been happening until lately. The best friend is in the hospital, and it was quite rough on me, mostly because I couldn't do anything to help her. I felt totally helpless and useless, seeing her suffering at the hospital was killing me. I tried calling a few people that works at the hospital but they all gave me the same speech. At least she's going to be discharged soon, but I truely hate this feeling.

Work evaluation is coming up soon. The problem is I don't know how to tell my manager that a) I do not want to continue to work in QA (the only reason why i have accepted this is to be a transition, a period for me to recover from the 2009 downfall) and b) I have no intention of staying in Montreal (see 5 year plan in previous post). The hardest part is trying to determine the objective for the upcoming year (how about, finding a job in development and leave montreal???). I don't want to burn any bridges here, nor do I want to corner myself and be stuck here for another 3 years. Ah decision, decisions decisions

Twenty Ten

So twenty ten has finally arrived. New year, new decade and.. new chapter of my life? After finishing my bachelor degree, I gave myself a 5 year plan: 5 years into my career, I will be living somewhere outside the province in Quebec. I consider the start of my career when I had my first professional job as a programmer at Gameloft, which places the start in January 2006. With the help of basic math, my deadline is up in January 2011, which pretty much leaves me to the end of this year to secure myself a job. 361 days remaining.

Do I still want to leave Montreal and live in another city? I will answer this with a big fat YES in a heart beat. 2009 was roller coaster year leaving a bittersweet after taste. I think I'm a point in my career where I'm ready to tackle something new and challenging. My current job is satisfying for the time being. The work environment is definitely a step up from my previous work place but the workload is, boring. I am learning new things and acquiring new skills which is always good, but if you think hard enough, you can find positive points in any working experience.

Am I ready to actually take that big leap? I am not quite sure. Sure there is a scary factor to jump into the unknown (which is a motivation on its own for me) but there is a part of me that doesn't want to leave my current workplace, mostly out of loyalty. Another part of me lacks the confidence to find another job. I fully admit I'm not the best coder out there and my experience is extremely scattered (I consider myself as a jack of all trade, master of none) which is good and very bad at the same time. I am very skillful at selling myself when it comes to interviews but asking me questions right on the spot is a whole different ball park. The realist (and pessimistic) in me tell me the market is terrible and chances of hiring somebody from out of town/province/country is slim to none. And another part of me is just too damn lazy to update the resume, write cover letters, searching for jobs, apply, etc. Once I convince that part of myself to unlazy itself, then I can do it. That should be one of my 2010 resolutions.