Michael Fogleman

Note: Be sure to check out the pictures I've been taking up here in Connecticut! Whenever there are new ones I just add them to this page!

I've been told that people want to know what's going on with me! So I figured I'd go ahead and write my once-a-month post. =) In short, things are going well. My "new life" can pretty much be split into two categories: work-stuff and not-work-stuff. After all, I'm a working man now so a very large portion of my day is spent at work. So let's go through them two separately...

Work

I'm enjoying my job, as much as a job can be enjoyed. I'm basically in charge of developing a second version of TopCoder's Technical Assessment Tool, which is used by companies to screen candidates before hiring them by having them actually write code. The code is automatically tested and the hiring manager at said company can view their results: their code, how long it took them, how many test cases they passed, etc. I'll admit that I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the moment. I have a ton of ideas of new things that should be added for version 2, and it's going to be a lot of work. But I always feel that way at the beginning of a project so I'm not stressing out or anything. I just need to stay focused!

My co-workers are cool too. Most of them call me FogleBird or FogleMonster already, so that makes me feel at home. =) We go out to eat pretty often so that's cool too. This past week a bunch of us played poker which was a lot of fun. Somehow I won and actually got some money out of it! That was the first time I ever played for money. Despite winning, I'm definitely not about to go put up a bunch more money on another game!

Life

Outside of work, things are also going quite well. I've met quite a few people and hopefully some of them will become good friends. This past Wednesday I went to the Hartford New In Town meetup and met lots of cool people. There were about 16 of us! We met at a Starbucks in West Hartford and then went and got some pizza around the corner. I had a great time and I've been in touch with some of the people I met there. We're trying to set up some events (ice skating, dining, etc) so we can all meet again!

So, being from NC, I thought that when I came up north everyone was going to be not as friendly or something. You know, we have that southern hospitality down in NC. Well, I dunno, maybe Connecticut is an exception or something. Granted, it's just the little things I notice, but everyone seems very polite. In crowded stores everyone says excuse me, people say thank you if you do something nice, I haven't had any mean waitresses, etc. So there's something for you guys to ponder. Another thing that really stands out (to me) is that up in CT there's this global, all-covering question -- "All set?" The waitress brings my food: "All set?" Yeah, I guess! She comes by a little later, "Everyone all set?" The lady at the DMV gives me my new license: "You're all set!" I mean, it makes sense to me and everything, but it's overused and is obvious to me. I guess what I'm used to hearing is "Need anything else?" or "How's the food?" or "Here you go, that's everything." You know, more specific questions or statements. But up here, "All Set" covers just about everything. None of my co-workers understand my fascination with this.

Lastly, there's my apartment. Unfortunately it's still pretty bare. My last paycheck got eaten up by rent and car insurance so I'm waiting till next week to get some more money (which I've deemed all free spending money!) So I'll have loads of money to blow on furniture! Yay! However, I did spend a little money to finish up decorating the dining room. I hung up a couple big pictures and a nice clock. It looks nice!

Speaking of car insurance, it is definitely more expensive up here. At first I figured I could just transfer my insurance up here or something, right? Nope, the Nationwide lady had to start from scratch and give me a quote. Before I go into this, let me tell you I was spending just over $400 every six months back in NC. Well, the first quote I got from the Nationwide lady was $1125!!! I was in shock. A couple days later she somehow magically lowered it to $775 just because I graduated from college. Still way too high. I did an online quote with Progressive and it was also $1100!!! WTF?! Finally I check out Geico... $550. With slightly BETTER coverage than I had in NC. I love that little lizard! Needless to say this is the one I chose. And I did it without even talking to anyone! I just filled in the (tons of) information on the website and it was all taken care of. They've been sending me lots of documents that I guess I should be printing out. So now I can go register my car in CT and get my license plates. Then I'll be all set. =)

Phew, lots of typing. One last thing. Next weekend I'm going down to Maryland and DC! Christina will be up there visiting her grandparents so I figured I'd go down to see them since it's only half the distance I'd have to go otherwise. I met her grandparents back in high school when me and Christina were joined at the hip. According to Christina, "[I'm] still her nanny's favorite". So I'm sure they'll love to see me again. =) We're gonna go to all the museums and stuff in DC, which should be pretty awesome... I've never been!

I miss all you guys back home! Keep in touch!

posted by Michael  # 8/06/2005 01:32:00 PM 5 Comments