Dear E2 and whoever else is reading this, but mostly E2,
I try to refrain from writing of my personal life, but that doesn't always happen. Tears on a writer's page tend to make their ink run. I have been a noder per se for less than a year, yet I love E2. I have been actively talking to noders, ones I would not otherwise know except for E2, on a regular basis for over a year now. E2 has become part of me, and I would like to think that at least in some small way, I have become part of E2. So far I have less than twice as many nodes as I produced during IRON NODER. But hey, it's quality that counts, right? I haven't been doing so well in that department either, but we press on. The third and final piece of my not-so-short short-fiction series is still incomplete. I have had nodes nuked, I have made Cream Of The Cool. Also, pipelinks work less than optimally IRL.
Society seems to think that time has made me no longer a teenager. I am not a number, I am a free man. Ah, yes, time. It's been five years since I was where I loved. The past twelve months have been interesting, depressing, exhilarating, amazing, and useful. I have been clubbing, I have stayed out overnight, I have been to my first LAN party. I have acquired new hardware, including my first "real" handheld computer, which I bricked then recovered within the first two weeks. I finally updated my kernel, and still didn't get it perfect. I have spent large amounts of money, and regretted more than I wished I had.
Oh yeah, speaking of money, I finally got paid for last semester today. Who set the catbox topic earlier, by the way? I nearly used "BTW" there. "lol" has finally made its way from sarcastic speech to my written vocabulary. Son, I am disappoint. Back to money though, I have another job. Not a job packing shelves or feeding people heart attacks on a plate, a job working where my passion lies. They asked me back for a second interview, and basically handed me the contract as I stepped in the door. I've changed universities, and yesterday I officially became no longer a student of any kind. There is more than just a page break in my life here.
Un-job-related though... I attended art shows and gained an appreciation for art. I was asked to speak at a conference on electronics. My musical tastes and library have expanded beyond what I ever expected. Same with movies, and I even went and watched a movie at the cinema by myself. Now, come on, I only ever used to watch movies to be sociable to others who were watching them. I continue to go interesting places. I still don't remember all of that night, but I've lost another day a different way. I fell forever in love with my best friend, and I went on my first date. I have been suicidal, I have welcomed the first of the next generation to the family. Noders have touched my heart, not only through nodes, but through personal conversation. I have had trust shattered, I have found friends where I never expected. I travelled 160 kms to see someone for an hour because I could.
I went to see a doctor, willingly even, for the first time in ten years. I've moved house, again. There is even less stuff set up here than the last place. I built an HF antenna myself for the first time, a special compact type due to space limitations. I still occasionally catch the wrong bus routes. Living here though, I am close to horses again, something I have grown fonder of since knowing tenty. Currently I get to be around them more than she does. I have played with fire and explosives and high-voltage. I have finally bought actual climbing gear, but CAT5e still takes my weight fine. I've sort of given up on ever gaining weight, at least I've stopped losing it. I got a Facebook account, then ended up actually using it for its intended purpose rather than what I got it for. I have not been arrested lately.
My life is good, mostly.
-Scout