A really great performance from a really great band. Also, Max Weinberg is officially the man!

And I feel pretty damned good about it. On January 1st, yours truly finally landed himself a girlfriend, and what a girlfriend! Her name is Maggie, and she’s absolutely amazing and gorgeous. Two days later, I started my new job at elephants & ants. At the cost of a bit less pay, I got a shortened commute (15 minute walk > 1 hour bus ride), a downtown workplace, and a wider variety of work. It’s my 4th day at the job, and while there haven’t been any fun projects to write home about just yet, it has been very nice to be part of a smaller and more closely knit group.

Another sign of a good start for 2008 has been the presidential primaries. My man Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses, and is currently leading the polls in New Hampshire. Both victories have been a huge upset for the other candidates, but it’s still way too early to get comfortable. Whatever happens, it seems like 2008 will be a make-or-break year for us here in the states. Hope for the former, prepare for the latter.

About a month ago, before I left Seattle, I got a phone call from JetBlue telling me that my flight from Las Vegas to New York City was rescheduled from 1:10 a.m. to 9:10 p.m. on the same night. No biggie, right?

Well, today, I tell my mom that my flight was rescheduled, and that she would have to bring me to the airport a few hours earlier. She did, we had some coffee and talked before I headed to the gate. On my way to the gate, I checked the schedule of my flight and discovered that it has been delayed until 11:35 p.m. This isn’t a big deal, because I have plenty to keep me occupied. However, a few minutes later, they announce that my flight has been delayed even more… to midnight! Again, not really a big deal, but why the hell would you advance the departure time when you’re just going to be late anyways. It’s like “indian scheduling”.

Update: I’m at the airport right now, and I just overheard that due to a power outage earlier in the day, all flights at McCarran Airport have been delayed. Sux0rz.

Today was my last day working at Microsoft, which means I am now officially on vacation. This also means that I’m unemployed, and boy, does it feel good! Don’t get me wrong, I loved working with my team, FUSE, but I think I love not working even more… well, at least for the next 3 months.

Yesterday, the gorgeous people at FUSE threw me a “surprise” going away party. I walked in on them blowing up balloons and hanging up streamers. Karen turned to me and said, “hey, don’t you have to use the bathroom for 15 minutes?” After I came back, I found blue and green streamers and balloons (the FUSE colors), cakes baked by the wonderful Karen, and most importantly, my awesome friends/co-workers “surprising” me with big smiles. If I weren’t so tough and rugged, I might’ve cried. The fabulous Jerome came in a little later and gave me a beautiful flask with my initials engraved on it. He even took the extra step and filled it with Dewar’s! Of course, I had to do a taste test; I concluded that it tastes really good with coffee, especially at work. People came in throughout the day bringing good luck wishes and bon voyage farewells, but I think they really just came for the delicious cake.

As excited as I am about my upcoming adventures, it’s still pretty sad leaving such a wonderfully awesome group of people.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/a/aegiswingxboxlivearcade/default.htm

Aegis Wing is a side-scrolling space combat game reminiscent of classic eighties arcade hits. It features alien-busting action, slick graphics, an orchestral soundtrack, and devastating power-ups.

Also included is a unique cooperative mode of play in which up to three additional players can “attach” to the leader’s ship and become independent, 360-degree gun turrets.

This game was originally pitched and developed by a group of students who were interning here at Microsoft last summer. However, the game got put on the shelf after the students returned to school. It stayed on the shelf, collecting pixel dust, until Carbonated Games picked it up and decided to finish what the interns started. At the time Carbonated picked up the game, it only had one level which was half way finished, no level bosses, less than half of the textures needed, half of the enemy ships, no special weapons, and no online connectivity. Chris, my lead at FUSE (the design team for Microsoft Casual Games, in which I work), and myself got asked to help with the branding and UI for the game; I did the logo, achievements, and helped Chris with the UI. After months of working on it, we finally got it through certification, and it will be available for download tomorrow. Better yet, it’s free!