Adam Soltys

I've effectively switched gears from playboy to programmer again. I tend do that every once in a while just to maintain a healthy balance. I've been catching up on my tech reading and trying to get caught up at work. I never took any computer networking or systems courses in school and I'm starting to regret that. I've been trying to self-educate myself a bit by reading up on the basics of TCP/IP, experimenting with tools like tcpdump and Wireshark and skimming through RFC's although they're a little too detailed for me. I've also been reading up on the history of the Internet, bio's of Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn, Jon Postel. I've also been looking at the history of UNIX, Linux and open source and reading bio's of Ken Thompson, Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, and others. I'm also contributing to the Redmine project again and have been trying out Rails 3 and a NoSQL database called Riak. Whew! Lots of nerdy stuff.

I'm going to restructure my finances soon. Right now, I have a self-directed Investor's Edge account through CIBC that I was going to use to buy mutual funds. I never got around to picking any though so the cash has just been sitting there for months. I don't like having to pay management fees for mutual funds. With stocks I at least feel like I can go and look at the company's financial statements and do my own research, even though I'm really not qualified to be doing that. I've also got RSP money sitting in low-paying GIC's and (not-so-)high-interest savings accounts at both CIBC and Coast Capital Savings. Chelsea's got her RSP in a GIC at Coast Capital too. She's earning money now so I think what we'll do is both open RSP accounts at Questrade and get her a TFSA there too (I already have one). Then we'll consolidate everything there and put it into stocks. I'm hoping Questrade will pay most or all of our transfer-out fees.

I've done so much since my last update. Highlights include my road trip to San Francisco and Sasquatch music festival with Andrew, visiting with Alan and Unni in Stockholm and Prague, motorcycling through northern Spain with Chelsea, countless beach and BBQ days with Aydin and my Vancouver pals, camping trips on the island and to Weaver lake, and finally riding across B.C. to arrive at my new home in Edmonton.

I really like our new apartment. Chels got us some nice furniture and took care of decorating it before I arrived. There's a pretty good gym in the building that I expect I'll be taking full advantage of. There's also a shopping plaza right next to us with a Save-On Foods and a bunch of restaurants. And apparently there's a pool just around the corner which I've yet to check out. I'm about a 10 minute walk from work and if I get really lazy in the winter I can even take the subway. The office here is really nice too. Everyone seems friendly.

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Android phone today through Bell so I've finally jumped on the smartphone bandwagon. Apparently this model just came out today. I like it. I also signed up for a 3 year contract on a promo plan that gives me unlimited long distance and texts to 10 people of my choosing -- perfect!

I'm liking Edmonton so far. I'm excited to get onto a self-development spree again. I want to learn sign language, contribute to some more open source software projects, continue with my French and Spanish learning, do some motorcycle maintenance, rock climbing, and volunteering for an adult literacy program. I hope to do a lot more reading too.

Chelsea and I went over to Victoria last weekend for her graduation ceremony. I skipped the actual graduation and just visited with our pals all weekend. Had a great time. Nothing beats the feeling of hopping on the motorcycle and riding to the ferries on a sunny Thursday afternoon with a long weekend lying ahead.

Now I'm back in the office trying to dust off my JavaScript skills, listening to My Morning Jacket, and reading some past journal entries that I wrote to myself after the olympics, new year's, and an epic November. Once in a while I'll write myself these private emails with a detailed account of what I've been doing and what I've been thinking about. Going back and reading them is always a treat and writing them helps me sort my thoughts out and get a feeling of assurance and organization when I'm anxious or scattered. I highly recommend it. Being a fast typist definitely helps.