genfab

It’s been so busy this past month at work, I’ve neglected my old friend genfab.com. I apologize. Mike was getting on my case that there hasn’t been any updates in a while. I know it’s been overdue.

So what’s been keeping me so busy the last month? Well, primarily a couple of business trips, along with switching jobs. It’s been hectic to say the least. In July I was actually in New Orleans for a few days. Seems crazy to see the destruction that’s going on there now, and to think I was standing right there. I stayed in the French Quarter, where I heard on CNN the other day that the water was 3 to 6 feet high. Insane! Bourbon Street was crowded on a nightly basis with drunken tourists and now it’s just a wasteland. It’ll be a long time before that place is back to normal.

I was also in HCMC, Vietnam a couple of weeks ago for my first assignment in my new role. It was great to be in Asia again. It made me pumped about the new job, and confirmed for me that this is what I really want. It was a stressful time getting ready for it, but being able to hang out there around my old co-workers from Asia made it all worthwhile.

Now, it should just be a matter of a few weeks before the move. There’s no official move date yet, but it should be determined soon enough…

The weather’s been great here in Ottawa for the last little while - you might even say it’s been hot! Most days this past week have been around 30 degrees and humid. So, what better way to get out and enjoy the weather then to take in a boat tour? And what better place to do it than the nearby 1000 Islands? Just under a 2 hour drive south west of Ottawa makes them appealing for a day trip, so that’s just what we did last Saturday. Check out all the madness in our pictures here.

Last week marked my first anniversary of being back in Canada. And what of significance has happened this year? Compared to last year, it doesn’t seem like much. Even though I’ve done a bit of traveling this year (San Francisco, Washington, Dominican Republic, etc.) and bought all the things I was longing to buy, nothing seems as noteworthy as the time I spent living abroad. It’s hard to fathom why. When I was in Japan, all I could think of was how great it’d be to have some normalcy in my life. Now all I can think of is how to put things in a state of craziness again.

Is the grass always greener on the other side? Well, if it wasn’t, then I don’t think we’d have much to strive for. And after all, that’s what keeps us going…

It’s been raining all weekend here, and there’s no sign of it letting up for the next couple of days. Can’t really complain I guess, with all the good weather we had at the beginning of the month. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that next weekend will be nicer. The current plan is for us to drive to Toronto so that Makiko can get her hair cut. Apparently there’s no decent Japanese hairdressers in Ottawa. I don’t blame her for the apprehension - it was pretty traumatic for me to go to get my hair cut in Tokyo. Not so much of a problem now though, with my new “no maintenance required” ‘doo. But I digress…

We’ll be rooming with Alex and Junko for the weekend, which will be cool as we haven’t seen them in almost a year. We visited them last summer and took a trip to Niagara falls together. I’ve got some pictures from that, which I actually thought were already up here (apparently they were hidden - my bad). Anyways, it’s been a while since we’ve had a Japanese weekend so we’re about due. Maybe Alex & I will even get out and throw the disc a bit like old times. That’d be sweet…

Those of you still tuning in are probably wondering what’s been going on lately. Well, the sun is finally shining after a long winter in Ottawa. Believe me, it was a long harsh winter for someone who hasn’t been through one in 3 years. It’s nice to see the weather getting nice. Today is a beautiful 19 degrees! This is the stuff I moved back to Canada for.

I’ve already got my summer activities all planned out. I’m playing on two Ultimate teams (Tuesday and Wednesday nights) in addition to the company softball team. To broaden my Ultimate experience, I’ve been working with my pal Andy to set up and help captain the Tuesday night Ultimate team. We’re called the Dukes of Hammered, and we’ve got a great crew from what I can tell thus far. Our name may be cheesey, but we’ve got a kick ass logo designed by yours truly. Stay tuned for upcoming pictures from our owning of the lower OCUA tiers.