Back in the saddle again

For what it's worth, I once again have a day job that pays well. It's engineering work. The hours are flexible, which leaves me free to pursue other job leads if I want, and to run a couple of LLCs that I'm involved with.

The day job is contract work with a small, Colorado-based hardware division of a large, Washington-based software company. It's interesting work, and I enjoy it.

One of my LLCs is the therapeutic computer game company that I've already told you about.

The other LLC is a renewable energy company. I've been a practical environmentalist for a long, long time. My 8-week summer internship with NREL really opened my eyes to the possibilities out here. Northern Colorado is to renewable energy today what Santa Clara Valley, California, was to semiconductors in the 1960s. Now I can do something engineering- and energy-related that really makes a positive difference in the world.

And while I'm waiting for InstantAction and Torque 2 to go, I'm still working on all the other Torque engines. The more I can learn, the better. I'm also learning the nuts and bolts of both OpenGL and DirectX. Oh, and C# and XNA.

(Dear Santa, I want the HALO 3 edition of the Xbox 360 for Christmas. And a GeForce 8800 GTX -- no, an 8800 Ultra. And a new computer to put it in.)