It's My Last Weekend Being "Gainfully Unemployed"

I've had a lot of ways of spinning my year-and-half off of working. I've used the term "gainfully unemployed" to emphasize that I'm doing more with my time than just playing video games (though playing video games has been a significant component). I've used the term "self-financed sabbatical" to further press the idea that I am working on education and creativity during my time off. I've also used the term "convalescing" to remind myself that there is a strong element of healing, both physically and emotionally.

And as I reflect on my last weekend before starting my new job, I have this sense that all of these terms are accurate and true. The amount of good that this time off has done for my physical health is apparent in a 5 second glance at the mirror. The good it has done for my mental health can be discerned by a momentary reflection on my mood, which is generally relaxed and cheerful these days. The amount I have learned in the last year and a half is enormous. Then there's the experiences I gained from living in another city with wise and intelligent room mates and their wise and intelligent dog.

I'm a bit nervous about the new job, but that's to be expected. I also feel confident that I'm up to the challenge. I'm excited about the fact that it's a long but reasonable walk and close to the kung fu studio's new location, so it'll be easy to get lots of exercise while working a desk job.

I'm a little bit sad that I'll have less freedom. On the other hand, I will have to carefully consider how I use my free time in order to still be constructive with it without undermining the restorative necessity of it.

And it'll be nice to have a new desk to store some of my toys. In the game industry, it's not just possible to be an unapologetic nerd, it's an asset.

Should be a good time.

'Sup, Beamdog?

Just a quick bit of news:

I have accepted a job at Beamdog, a video game developer in Edmonton famous for updating old BioWare titles for modern consumption, especially on mobile devices.

I'll be heading in for my first day this Monday. :)

Condolences, Fort McMurray

How soon is too soon? Then again, maybe the real problem is that it's getting to be too late.

What's happening in For McMurray is a tragedy. It's inspiring to see Alberta working together, spontaneously, to assist, to encourage, and to empathize.

It would be crass to use this moment for any kind of political manoeuvring, or to push any kind of agenda. But at the same time, this suffering is exactly what makes it so important that we talk about why this happened, and how we can prevent it from happening again, even if this topic is unpopular with many Albertans.

There have always been fires, of course, but fire fighters have stated that this one is especially destructive because of soaring temperatures and dry conditions. Increased temperature and reduced moisture are what models of climate change predict for our province. Without climate change, this fire likely would have occurred anyway, but it wouldn't have been able to spread so quickly or inflict so much harm. Climate change doesn't cause fires, but it does increase the chances that they will be bigger and more devastating.

Of course, we've seen economic disaster in the oilsands region this year as well, thanks to plunging oil prices, so many Albertans are afraid that if the world turns away from fossil fuels, we'll lose many livelihoods. But solar panels and wind farms don't install themselves; there will be many jobs implementing these solutions. It's just as possible to create jobs with renewables as it is with fossil fuels. And how useful is it to create jobs with fossil fuels, when those fossil fuels then destroy everything that so many people worked to acquire?

I hope this doesn't come across as opportunistic or partisan. This is just a plea to see this tragedy as something more than a stroke of bad luck: this is our future if we don't do something to change it, and the solutions are not only good for us environmentally, they're good for us economically. We can't turn off the oil and the pipelines tomorrow, but tomorrow we *can* invest in developing more solar, wind, carbon capture, and nuclear solutions that don't destroy the lives we're working so hard to create.