Well, at the request of all my readers (both of you!), here's an update.

I finished* my first project at work last week, and finally got some sleep. Everything went relatively smoothly, aside from exposing the fact that when you have a strict deadline, you sometimes have to do things in advance. If you don't, launch day is longer and much more stressful. Now I'm moving on to my next project(s), which seem less overwhelming, and also don't have a do-or-die deadline. Finally, I can relax.

Outside of work...well, there really was no outside of work there for a couple weeks. I did get the opportunity to see my first 2 Mariners games, against the Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Who Had, For A Short Time, Come To Seattle To Play A Series With The Seattle Mariners of South Downtown. Both were good games, although the Angels game was excellent - Felix Hernandez, the Mariners' up-and-coming starter, threw a complete game in 95 pitches, walking none, allowing 5 hits and no runs. Quite a game.

Then, work work work. Friday I got to see Jeff Bezos speak for the first time, presenting to the company his thoughts about the (recent) past and the future. I can't share specifics, of course, but when you're a CEO, you have to have a knack for making outlooks seem rosy. I also saw a video demo for the new Nintendo Wii, and I think I might have to get one. They've eschewed the "3 d-pads is better than 1" idea prevalent in most recent game consoles, and totally overhauled how you play games with the gyroscopic Wiimote. It looks like a lot of fun, and I'd rather have lots of fun and not get arthritis than pay $600 for graphics that are marginally better than some other box and gameplay that was clearly an afterthought.

Plus, the Wii's going to be much cheaper than the 360 or the PS3.

That's about all to report. Mikey and I are shifting the hell out of lots of paradigms, putting together a new application using Extreme Programming (in general, the practice of having a few people develop an application at the same console, in constant communication) despite the fact that we're 1000 miles apart. Maybe when we get a working copy of it, I'll tell you what it does and post a demo here.

Or maybe I'll just keep it nebulous and raise lots of venture capital with which I'll buy Ferraris and marble busts of myself which I'll admire for two weeks before declaring bankruptcy. I really haven't decided yet.

Thanks for listening.

*aside from stuff we're going to fix later.