Another PT person's sabbatical story

This time, it's a piece about Thom's sabbatical.



Thom chose to stay in this area and work at a very cool local charity.

I'm so proud of the work he and other PT folks choose to do during their sabbaticals.

The next upcoming film that looks to be pure fun

is Kingsman 2:  The Golden Circle, the sequel to the wonderful Kingsman film, which I very much enjoyed.



The locale shift in this one gives me pause, but I am going to hope that the filmmakers handle it well and create a worthy second movie in this universe.

Regardless, I'm going to see it.

I'll report back late in the month, after the film opens.

If I'm slow to respond to you, it's me, not you

I've been using an outdated and unsupported version of Exchange at my email host service for many years.  They've been warning me for some time that they would have to update my email service soon, and today, they finally had to do the update.  It's now over, but I was without access to personal email for a while, and now my only access is via the web interface.  The next step is that I have to rebuild my account on each of my various systems and devices, and I have a lot of those, so it's going to take a while.

I'm catching up on email as I can via the web interface and will soon be doing so via an account on my main home system, but until I fix everything, I'm going to be running behind on email.

So, if you've written me and are wondering why I haven't answered you, it's not you, it's me.

I'll be back to normal in the next day or three.

Don't forget: I'll be at the Cameron Village Public Library this Sunday!

As I wrote in a post last week, I'm one of three area writers who will be taking part in a Local Author Tea at the Cameron Village Public Library this Sunday, September 10, at 2:00 p.m.

Click the image to see a larger version.

The library is supplying tea and cookies, and we authors will, I'm sure, be doling out tasty nuggets of writerly wisdom.  Or, we'll be talking; close enough.

If you're in the area this Sunday and have some spare time, come to the library and enjoy some tea, cookies, and conversation.

A miracle occurred at Panciuto last week

Last week, our family gathered at Panciuto, one of our all-time favorite restaurants, to celebrate (late) Ben's birthday.  During the meal, chef/owner Aaron Vandemark treated us to samples of two veggie burgers he's been working for some time to perfect.

This incredibly nice offer presented me with a dilemma, because I love Aaron and Panciuto and the great food there, and I will eat anything he serves--but I really do not like veggie burgers.  I've tried tiny tastes of quite a few, and I haven't liked a single one.

Still, Aaron made them, so I tried his.

That's when the miracle occurred:  they were amazing!  They had all the mouth feel and rich flavor of a good burger--and in the second case, of a good cheeseburger--but with none of the weight afterward.  They were simply fantastic.

If Aaron puts them on the menu, I will order them--but only sometimes, because he's still a magician with pork, which he serves often and in many ways, and which I adore.

I now must also openly confess that I have enjoyed--nay, loved--two different veggie burgers.  Unfortunately for veggie burger fans everywhere, you can't order them yet--but you should still go to Panciuto and try the food.  It's a wonderful place with a great team.

PT is hiring

As frequent readers know, I work at--and am one of the founders and owners of--Principled Technologies.  I happen to think it's a pretty great company and a great place to work--but, of course, I would.  Still, I genuinely believe it is, and so do a lot of the folks who work there; ref., for example, the fact that we've been one of the winners of the Triangle Business Journal's Best Places to Work contest for four straight years--all of the years we've participated.

Anyway, if you're interested in working there, we're currently hiring.  To see the available jobs, go to the PT careers page.

I'm not listing the jobs here because the list changes as we fill them.

One note:  we're not looking to relocate folks, so you need either to be in the Triangle area or to be willing to move here.

Why I'm not at DragonCon

A lot of folks have asked me why I skipped DragonCon this year, so I figured I should answer the question here.

Basically, I've been traveling so much--and have so much travel ahead of me--that I wanted some more time at home.

I'm also trying to focus more on some projects, and time at home is best for that.

The other, related question folks have been asking is whether I'll be there next year.

I honestly don't know yet.  It will depend a lot on how well I do on some of those projects, as well as on my other travel.

Finally, I hope no one takes from my absence from the con any negative feelings on my part about it.  I've always had a good time at it, it's a great convention, and I'm sure I'll return at some future point.

Just not this year.