As many have mentioned previously Diego (Flameeyes) has left the gentoo project. Unknown to many people is that he was probably one of the few who I talked to quite often about everything from technical to just frustration with the project. As we both had some of the same issues. He also talked me into taking a break to avoid burning out which I never really took…just sort of slowed down unintentionally when the dev box died.

This is a loss of a friend and developer that I’ve felt quite heavily, and makes me really consider what is going wrong with the Gentoo project currently. If some of the best developers are leaving, then what is the root cause of it. It’d be nice to have the easy answer but that is never the case. Its not the users who ultimately, even with good intentions piss developers off (and they really do at times). Its something within the developer knit community that is the issue. There is some hostility of course but…there is more to it. I guess I just don’t really know and in some ways don’t want to know the root cause of it. Like most people, we’d rather stick our head in the sand then poke around to find the cause.

Scale was heck of a good time, as others have talked about.

It actually started for me in the elevator up to my room the first night. Where I ran into Josh and his wife Melanie. They got onto the elevator after me, and Josh looked at me..and said “You’re Joshua arn’t you”. I looked over and said yes, and he introduced himself and his Melanie. Which by the way the lucky boy, married a cute younger intelligent woman.
That night we met for drinks down in the bar, and pete who picked us up at the airport entirely missed that I was sitting beside him, and was too embarrassed/shy to ask if I was who he thought I was, and well…he was in a conversation that I didn’t feel like it was my place to join so that’s the first talk pete and I had. When everyone else showed up down to the bar, it started off slightly mellow. Everyone did slowly loosen up, and I’m sure one or two will say that I was quite the flirt, with both Christel, and Melanie. Who after I sat in her lap, and got off Josh got a little jealous and went over and sat on her arm rest and wrapped his arm around her. It was SOOOOOO cute, they really do make a cute couple.

Second day was filled with talk about surprise buttsex, users and general chaos as it was by far the busiest day. Omp took the lead on burning dvd’s in part probably because he was the shyest of the bunch of us and I’m sure felt a little out of place. I’m happy to report though that he did come out of his shell a bit on sunday and it was good to see him interacting really well with both the crazy dev’s talking exactly like we do in dev (it really wasn’t any different), and the users.

Users, are an interesting lot….I had 4 developers come up to me and ask if I was a package maintainer, then proceed to go on about how their package in our distro is out of date and I have to update it for them to be current. I of course give them the submit a bug or maintain it yourself and find a dev who’ll be a proxy, but that’s not good enough and all of those conversations end up the same way.

I by far had the most fun talking with the other developers, and like all of us I think our opinions of each other have changed for the better. People who I possibly thought were somewhat of an ass, are really decent good folk in person. A lot of their behavior now makes sense and we can laugh and joke about it instead of getting angry at each other. It really made me think that we should just get as many developers as we can together for a giant (blackace’s suggestion) paintball day, and shoot each other silly… Not only will the people that everyone think of as the assholes get shot a lot…and I would expect a lot, but you’d be able to go why the heck and talk it out in person. People might even begin to change.

That night we went out to a Thai place where half the people got lost by following their gps maps. After that there was a group that went to buy a bottle of vodka, which was then promptly consumed. Including when the rest of the party arrived, I got a paper cup from christel that had more then 3 shots in it..I’d say 4 actually, and it was good enough that it actually started to eat through the paper cup mixer I had. It also resulted in a contest between the tipsy christel and myself to see who could finish first, with an unclaimed bet of undisclosed terms. Again that night I didn’t sleep much and disappeared to try and get water into christel and her two roommates so that they didn’t wake up with massive hangovers.

Sunday was slow and got to talk with Melanie for a few hours and hear about herself, and Josh, how they met got together and it was just a really cute story. I kept her from grading the homework she brought though for three hours though which was a bit of a =/. Followed by the last meal together and sad goodbyes.

Also, christel and I discussed a going away gift for josh and melanie, and actually on sunday I asked how she’d of taken it. As was mentioned earlier about buttsex, christel and I came up with the hilarious idea of getting her a strapon, just for suck a purpose. She when I asked her about it….laughed about it and told me that it wasn’t the strangest thing to happen at her bachelorette party. She said josh would laugh about it as well..but we didn’t actually do it…should of but didn’t? Just figured everyone would laugh about it.
For being very nervous about going, it ended being a really memorable time, with quite a few interesting situations and memories…some probably scarring ones as well.

Well my car’s gone into the shop today for a bit of repair. The positive battery terminal corroded to the point that it was no longer able to clamp on the post. It wasn’t a simple repair as its not a normal clamping terminal, and I don’t want to take apart a wiring harness and possibly make things worse (Electical systems in cars…I just don’t really like mucking with)so it went to to the mechanics I trust. Always need to have a mechanic you trust. Thus, I had a nice heavy car that wouldn’t start.

Luckily enough like my parents I keep AAA around for just such a situation. It was a simple call to them and out came the tow truck to take me to the auto mechanics. instead of the 150 + cost it would be otherwise to get towed down the road for 10 miles or so.

It also made me realize, that you really do put a lot of trust in the people who tow your car, as they could very easily wander off with it and you’ll never see it again. I can say that I’ve never had that happen but the possibility popped into my mind as I was looking at my poor baby being hauled onto the back of the flatbed. Hoping to get off fairly light on the cost, but I still need to get new tires on her. The joys of auto ownership.

Luckily I only have 7 more months til my insurance drops quite a bit so. That will make my wallet much happier with me, and I can start taking that extra money and putting it to use in other things.

Well, I finally broke down and signed up for netflix. I am doing the 2 dvd trial for two weeks and will see how fast I gorge on movies to see if the 3 would be better for me for a few bucks more. I figure that as long as I watch about 4 movies a month, it will cover the cost of the membership of doing the same number at the brick stores. Also I’ve noticed that there is a great big list of movies I’ve been meaning to see but never found at the stores that I can get at netflix.

Its a nice treat and simple to use. The algorithm they use to recommendations has been fairly accurate for me and I’m surprised how many movies it recommends that yes I’ve watched and enjoyed. So far my queue is up to about 40 without much effort. I’ll see how it does for shipping and returning movies once I get the first few movies to view.

As you will have noticed, there’s a few developers who are quite interested in financial matters. We’ve had quite a few great discussions about investing and various options of money making in the developers channel. As well, we’ve helped some developers gain a wiser understanding of their money situation and how to earn a better return on they money they worked for.

I’ve recently noticed how lucky I actually am. I’ve put enough away in the last two years to have a decent start to a retirement account, between the last job and now maxing out a roth ira every year..I’m well on my way to hopefully a independent comfy retirement. as well, every month I’ve been putting a bit away in two accounts thanks to being able to save money at home. One is of course the emergency fund to save me if I should be out of work for an extended amount of time.

The second on the other hand is quite a sizable for me at least downpayment for a first home. At the currently market value in my area it would seem like its about a 10% or so down payment that I have. I’m amazed that I’ve managed to get that much money in one spot for a goal t hat is in all reality quite scary. As you are willingly going to heavy debt to  afford the house.

I’ve been in true debt two times before, the first of course was student loans that I paid off relatively quickly, no doubt in thanks to my grandfather who paid for the beginning of my schooling, and the parents helping me out as well with more money then they really could of afforded to give at the time. The second time was by choice on a car. I didn’t have any real credit history at the time, so taking out a small loan on a car that I could of paid off right away was a perfect way to build up that initial credit score and then get onto the credit card train that I of course pay off every month.

Now I’m considering a 30 year repayment play on a home, that I’d like to think I’d pay off much sooner but with the reality of the paycheck I bring home, wouldn’t be that much sooner no doubt. It also means that I plan on living in an area for a while, that I’m tying myself down instead of where I’m at now..that if need be i could pick up and go if that’s what really needed to happen. I’m just not sure what I really want. I just look at the market, and see that renting is the same price as buying..if I can get a house in the range that I could afford the loan at. If you notice I said what  I know I could afford, not what the real estate agent or loan company say that I could afford.

Its a confusing time for me right now…and having talked with a few friends who are barely making it on the income of one person..makes me feel really lucky financially. Just need to avoid women who are attracted to the guy who has money….