Party with David and Gene

Isn't that a wonderful photo? I really love my new camera! I have some more pictures in a photo set here.

Last Sunday, David and Gene invited me up to their place in Bel Air for their Christmas Party. These guys are so wonderful that David drove down to Baltimore to ferry me back to their place, about a forty-minute trip each way, just to make sure I would be there.

I was there early enough that I could help out Gene in the kitchen as he made final preparations and also assist David in setting things out for the buffet. I also took the opportunity to snap some photos of the ornaments.

They have a lovely home and wonderful friends. It was a fantastic evening. Gene had been working on the foodstuffs since Wednesday, and David had gone wild all over the house making with the decorations.

The folks I remember meeting were Charles, Christian, Stuart and Bill, Elwin and Scott, Mary, John, Joe and Pepe, Paul, Russ, Vaughn and Rick, Herb and Dennis, Don... hm, that's all I remember. Still, not bad for nearly a week later!

Towards the end of the evening, after many of the guests had made their goodbyes, we sang Christmas carols, accompanied by Gene on the piano and Dan on an instrument that was a precursor to the cello. It's about three hundred years old!

David and Gene offered me a guest bed for the evening and a ride back into town the next morning, which I gladly accepted. I don't get to visit with them nearly enough. We connected my camera up to their computer to download my photos, and they exclaimed over my shots.



I also got some photos of David's teddy bear collection, some of which are also in the photo set that I linked to above. David creates teddy bears and costumes them, then sells them on eBay. As you can see, he has quite the collection!

I slept very well, and the next morning Gene prepared a leftover lunch for me and drove me back home. I had a fantastic time!

Job Update

On Tuesday, I interviewed with about seven people from the development team, each for about half an hour. Everybody seemed very nice and easy to get along with. I felt very comfortable. One recurring comment was that COBOL wasn't going anywhere, and in fact is more popular than before.

My mom always wanted me to learn COBOL, and in fact I did take a semester of COBOL programming twenty years ago. If I had listened to Mama and pursued a career as a COBOL programmer, I'd probably be much better off today. My mom had a long career in information technology, and knows what's she's talking about.

Anyway, the latest word is that my hire is a "done deal", although I won't let myself relax until I actually have the offer letter in hand, which is still being drafted, I'm told. Then there will be drug testing and a background check. It looks like I'll be starting as soon as I get back from Martha's Vineyard in January.

Yay!