Time = Dime

Most people probably aren't familiar with this phrase (since I'm making it up right now), but "I've got the time, so I'm gonna drop a dime" and give ya'll an update on the haps. (Nice blend of urban jive and country drawl, eh?(Canadian))

It's only been one week, so this still counts as a regular update...I just decided.

Anyway, since I'm rigorously boring and rooted in structure, I'm gonna skip intelligent-sounding prose and go for list format. To wit...

1. I'm so close to being productive. I can't believe it's actually been more than 2 weeks since I last played Starcraft (only one mission away from completing the Zerg missions), and have been tackling other projects. I've scanned 650 photos so far (mostly high school and years 1-2 of my Biola years.) Also, I'm want to get all the Biola Chorale and Winds concerts I have into digital format so I can share them with everyone.

2. TRQ (Tolkien Reading Quest) So far, it's going splendidly. I finished The Hobbit a couple days ahead of schedule...and as of right now, I am on the last chapter of FOTR - which is "due" by Monday. No sweat.

3. High Quest - I don't think I've shared about this yet on my blog. Over a year ago (August, 2007) on the Men's retreat, I met a couple guys with whom I started an accountability group. 14 months later, we're still meeting...every Saturday at 8:00 am. It's awesome. For the majority of the time, we had a loose structure: each guy share's what's going on with them, then prayer. At this year's men's retreat in early September, we decided to "step it up a notch" and go through a study together. A lot of guys in the church do the High Quest thing, so we're doing it...and it's been good.

4. Work: lots of changes - hopefully for the better! It's a long, complicated story (especially for those not familiar with the government contracting industry) but let's see if I can sum it up briefly and clearly. Here's the corporate structure: Nana Development Corporation -> owns 4 management companies (of which my company, KPSG, is one) -> each management company has under it anywhere from 4-15 subsidiary companies.

Basically, almost a year ago, to help improve performance and cut costs, Nana (top of the food chain) decided to merge it's 4 management companies into 2 management companies. So, we (KPSG) are being absorbed into one of the larger platforms. Due to many unknowns, they can't guarantee us job security, but they're saying 99%, because the contracts we manage are still active and need support...so we're logical choices, already being in place.

Whew! That's a mouthful, and I don't blame you if you skimmed all that. Essentially, this "re-org" is to take place over the next year. So we'll see how things sit in September, 2009. At least I recently got a 6% raise to help this next year out!

5. The Novel - ach...now I feel sheepish. I've had 2 people so far send me back some great feedback/suggestions. Perhaps I erred in deciding to wait to write more until after receiving feedback from most (if not all)...for I fear the "bug" has left me. I haven't added a word to my story in a month!! It is in no danger of being abandoned. In fact, if anything, this TRQ I'm on is inspiring and stirring me to dive back into my own world.

6. Lastly, just for fun...a guy is building a model city of Minas Tirith out of matchsticks! Looks pretty cool!