Collisions
Many things are coming to a head at once.
* Going to SoVA for the weekend to visit family
* The Nation's Triathlon is next weekend - yipe!
* My final drill as an officer in the Army is next weekend - out processing, etc
* My first and last dining out with the Army is next Friday - along with last minute uniform purchases here I come)
The Resignation
I've had mixed feelings about getting out of the service. 11.5 years of service is a long time. The time has been under contractual obligation (my enlisted contract from April 17th, 1999 and my Officer contract from December 18th, 2003).
Lord knows I'll miss the people. Some of the most interesting and incredibly kind people I've met have been soldiers. Recently, I've been getting letters back from my comrades (senior officers and my junior enlisted soldiers) to the effect of, "we're going to miss you a lot".
I feel a bit selfish and guilty walking away. In the same token, I've served which, I guess, is more than most. I've fought hard to make this step happen, 2 letters to a senator and being stuck in a holding pattern 13 months of waiting for the Army to recognize my resignation...has been tough on my sense of progression and on the promises I've made to my family.
Sure, I could gut out another 8.5 years, it'd be tough. I wouldn't have as much control of my destiny. The monthly side-pay is nice. Having those weekends free to train for chores, triathlon, and programming assignments/study/test prep would be even better. Honestly, grad school's been my focus. I also see collisions between military career commitments and my civilian career goals.
Like most new chapters in life, this is scary terrain to negotiate. I'm leaving what my father calls the "comfortable blanket of military life". Something I've known for almost 30 years with a small bit of trepidation. There's a great bit of uncertainty. It's nothing like what my sister is experiencing with medical school, but, it's something.
Cliches that come to mind, "God hates a coward" and "Change is hard".
Other Beginnings and Preparations
The week has been pretty good. Got 3 miles of swim training in after work. Started up my class (CMSC714) for the semester and it's getting a nice, slow burn.
It's in parallel computing, a domain I've past familiarity, depth, and experience working. Should be hard, complicated, and fun.
The Game Begins!
I finally managed to get a demo of PandAI working with demo code from their site. I refactored most of it to work within the confines of the game. Audio and AI are working in tandem, so, I'll be working on a new demo and the next iteration of the code this coming week.
If I can get all of that work completed by Christmas, the only hold up for the game will be the Physics Engine (Bullet) we're gluing into Python. If we can get that knocked out and operational, we'll finally be able to start coding up game entities and working on content (art, music, etc).
* Going to SoVA for the weekend to visit family
* The Nation's Triathlon is next weekend - yipe!
* My final drill as an officer in the Army is next weekend - out processing, etc
* My first and last dining out with the Army is next Friday - along with last minute uniform purchases here I come)
The Resignation
I've had mixed feelings about getting out of the service. 11.5 years of service is a long time. The time has been under contractual obligation (my enlisted contract from April 17th, 1999 and my Officer contract from December 18th, 2003).
Lord knows I'll miss the people. Some of the most interesting and incredibly kind people I've met have been soldiers. Recently, I've been getting letters back from my comrades (senior officers and my junior enlisted soldiers) to the effect of, "we're going to miss you a lot".
I feel a bit selfish and guilty walking away. In the same token, I've served which, I guess, is more than most. I've fought hard to make this step happen, 2 letters to a senator and being stuck in a holding pattern 13 months of waiting for the Army to recognize my resignation...has been tough on my sense of progression and on the promises I've made to my family.
Sure, I could gut out another 8.5 years, it'd be tough. I wouldn't have as much control of my destiny. The monthly side-pay is nice. Having those weekends free to train for chores, triathlon, and programming assignments/study/test prep would be even better. Honestly, grad school's been my focus. I also see collisions between military career commitments and my civilian career goals.
Like most new chapters in life, this is scary terrain to negotiate. I'm leaving what my father calls the "comfortable blanket of military life". Something I've known for almost 30 years with a small bit of trepidation. There's a great bit of uncertainty. It's nothing like what my sister is experiencing with medical school, but, it's something.
Cliches that come to mind, "God hates a coward" and "Change is hard".
Other Beginnings and Preparations
The week has been pretty good. Got 3 miles of swim training in after work. Started up my class (CMSC714) for the semester and it's getting a nice, slow burn.
It's in parallel computing, a domain I've past familiarity, depth, and experience working. Should be hard, complicated, and fun.
The Game Begins!
I finally managed to get a demo of PandAI working with demo code from their site. I refactored most of it to work within the confines of the game. Audio and AI are working in tandem, so, I'll be working on a new demo and the next iteration of the code this coming week.
If I can get all of that work completed by Christmas, the only hold up for the game will be the Physics Engine (Bullet) we're gluing into Python. If we can get that knocked out and operational, we'll finally be able to start coding up game entities and working on content (art, music, etc).
posted by ct @ 5:46 AM
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