I’m not going to start off saying this has been the worst week of my life, but it’s certainly in the top 10. Between getting back into the rhythm of classes, playing my newest gaming obsession, and my wife ending up in the Emergency Room twice in two days, this one certainly qualifies.

I always decide to start playing a new game right when things become the most stressful in my life. I think it’s because gaming is my stress relief. If there’s no stress, there’s no desire to game. This time it’s Guild Wars. I like to think of it as World of Warcraft with all of the things I hate about WoW removed. Seriously.

It’s going to take me a few weeks to get a new routine going. I had a nice rhythm going which allowed me to get everything done in a week that I wanted to get done. Now new class assignments have sort of screwed that up and it will take a little bit more planning to get the podcast recorded and posted plus have my case studies completed by Thursday when they are due. Don’t forget about reading the chapters from the book and participating in the class discussions about the case studies my classmates post.

My wife has been in two different Emergency Rooms in two days. Once for a bladder infection which we thought had moved to her kidneys and the second time for high blood pressue. The first trip ended with good news on the kidneys, but bad news with the dianosis of an ovarian cyst (the 2nd one for her — the first one removed when she was 15 weeks pregnant with our first child). She was following up on the cyst on Monday whent he Dr. sent her to the ER because her blood pressure was too high.

They did manage to get it down with some new medicine, but the cyst continues to cause her pain. The doctor wants to keep an eye on it to see how it does (grows, shrinks, or stays the same) before scheduling surgery. The problem is that she has to take hydrocodone for the pain and it’s keeping her non-functional most of the time. That means most of the things she normally does around the house falls to me.

*sigh*

I do have some help. Many of the members of our church are volunteering to help chauffer kids around, cook meals, and even help clean the house. It’s just hard for me to accept help from people, especially when it’s so willing offered (if that makes sense). I guess I just feel like I’m taking advantage of people’s generosity.

Next will be better. I hope to finally get my new work laptop and get rid of the piece of junk I’ve been carrying around for 3+ years.

Some time ago, the e-mail address for my podcast  made it onto some kind of distribution list at O’Reilly. For months, every time O’Reilly released another book I would get an e-mail with an offer for a review copy or to interview the author. Most of the books didn’t interest me, but I finally found one that did: the third edition of Google Hacks by Rael Dornfest, Paul Bausch, and Tara Calishain.

To make a long story short, I requested a review copy and received it last week. So, as soon as I finish the book I’m currently reading I’ll give it a go. I’ll most likely have both a written and an audio review. Stay tuned.

In other news, this weekend is a four day weekend for me since I’ve taken Friday off and I’ll be observing the holiday on Monday. I will be without wife or kids and I plan to enjoy my first such time all year. I guess this will be my last hurrah before classes start again on Tuesday.

I guess I’ve never really mentioned it, but I am working on my Master’s degree in Information Technology at the University of Maryland University College. I guess that’s because I took the summer off and haven’t really thought about it much. This semester I’ll be tackling MSIT 650 – Systems Engineering which is described in the course catalog as:

Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to developing complex systems that satisfy a client mission in an operational environment. Information technology is at the heart of most systems. This course is an examination of the systems engineering process with special emphasis on computers and software systems. The course includes an overview of system theory and structures, elements of the systems life cycle (including systems design and development), risk and trade-off analyses, modeling and simulation, and the tools needed to analyze and support the systems process. Case studies from the information technology domain will be used to illustrate the systems engineering principles.

MSIT 650 is the last core class and marks the halfway point towards the goal of getting my degree. Next semester I have to decide on one or more elective tracks and start down that path. At the end, there’s a capstone class to wrap it all up. Not bad a for a degree that can be completed entirely online.