Hoping to stay working with computers (and not always possessing the skills listed in the "requirements" section of a job posting), I decided that I could improve my chances of landing a job that I wanted if I put some effort into learning more of the stuff that a prospective employer might want me to be able to do. (Quite a stretch, I know.) Even if what I learned wasn't exactly applicable, I felt that showing a background with, and aptitude for, working with software would be beneficial. Before leaving for England, I had set up my two computers at my father's house in Maryland. My plan was, at the end of January, to jump into "doing things" with those computers while sending some resumes to job postings that seemed interesting.

As the end of my planned stay approached, my brother and his family asked if I'd be willing to stay. They knew that other than my loose plan, I had no compelling reason to return to Maryland except to see my father. They really turned the screws by convincing him to come to England if I stayed.

I surfed the Web for some information on doing the Open ACS problem sets from Ars Digita. I decided that there was fairly little I could learn in the next month in the States that I could not learn by setting up my sister-in-law's old computer in England. Her name is Susan. (My sister-in-law, not the computer.)

I committed to staying another month. I also committed to doing Weight Watchers with Matt and Susan, something they had committed to starting on Monday. Matt, who is 20lbs lighter than me, whines about his weight as soon as he's finished dessert and his nightly cheese plate. The pants to a suit he has to wear on the 9th are uncomfortably tight, even to look at. I was looking forward to cooking Weight Watcher's compliant meals. You can keep tabs on my recipes here.