If it's not Raven, it's crap...

Pro tip: Don't estimate the amount of time it will take to review your citizenship application based on the amount of time it took to get the results of your citizenship test. So far, this has been the area of the German-side of the process that ran a little closer to my bureaucratic expectations, namely, if an official expresses a length of time -- e.g. 3-6 months -- things will start moving closer to the six month mark than the three month mark. Getting down to the wire, I was (and still am) slightly concerned that this would drag on and I would have to renew my U.S. passport first, since it's getting kinda close to the point where it's only valid for six months. This would have cost me 1.) more money 2.) plus a trip to a consulate that actually does shit for U.S. citizens 3.) money and time off work for a trip to Bremen, Berlin, or Frankfurt. As luck would have it, I finally received notification that the Germans are letting me in! The full term is that they are...

How's my driving? Nearly halfway in and here's what I've been up to... My longest Duolingo streak: 31 days. Cuánto español puedo hablar? Más que Mike N. Back to School: My project management course is under way. The streber in me rejoices. Breaking Bones: See previous post Coding/Ruby:  Kind of backseat at the moment. I will revisit this topic in August. I think my new rig will help (see below) I got a really nice new laptop yesterday. You can't see it, of course, because I don't think it can take a picture of itself. Maybe... I've avoided Windows 10 for a while now and haven't taken a look at the feature list. Anyway, my phone is also all the way across the room and I'm really comfy on the sofa under all these blankets, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.  The whole thing was an early birthday surprise from Duncan  and, I think, a clever ploy to get me to stop schlepping my work laptop between the office and home. Or maybe ...

I'd never broken anything before. That's because -- aside from a few traumatic near-drowning incidents and a tragic slip-n-slide accident -- I was basically the safety police as a child. As an adult, I think I most feared a slipping in the bathroom-type accident. You know, those close call moments when you step out of the shower, your foot slips a bit, and your life flashes before your eyes. "This is how I die," you think. And then a split second later the moment has passed and you put some damn clothes on. My bathroom slip kind of snuck up on me. Ok, the floor was wet. But it was probably the dancing and being a slightly drunk at the time that did me in. And I didn't even have time to think. I was just suddenly on the ground. At the time, I didn't even realize that I broke my toe. It wasn't until I got up the next day and basically tried walking and decided this was definitely ER-worthy And that's how I lost my broken bone virginity. Highl...

I'm working on a crime drama loosely based on my life as a project manager. Here's a sneak preview of Episode 1 "The Whiteboard Marker Bandit" Rayvan Bronx: Thank goodness you made it, Office Police. You have to catch the s.o.b who keeps stealing my precious whiteboard markers. Office Police: Ma'am, the Office Judge granted us a search warrant. There are thousands of whiteboard markers in your home. And, like, six sticking out of your pockets right now. Rayvan: (sobbing) Alright, alright... it was me! You caught me, damnit! I'm addicted to whiteboard markers. I don't even realize they're in my pockets anymore (long, snot-filled sniff) Please help me. Help...Me... Office Police... Please.  **End Scene**

Work experience isn't a common thing in the U.S. I don't know anyone who's had to do it voluntarily, much less mandatorily. Here in Germany, however, it's very common for school kids do a two- to three-week "internship" (of sorts) at a company. Generally, they are around 14-16 years old. I've hosted five such "interns" in my team(s); the last two were with us back-to-back at the end of January and beginning of February. It can be exhausting and, in the last couple of years, I've struggled to figure out what to do with them (with varying results). Like a good citizen of the internet, my very first step was to let me Google that for me . Unfortunately, the internet wasn't as enlightening as I would have hoped and there wasn't really anything related to the games industry to help me out. So, if you're an enterprising person given the task of organizing a work experience for a youth (*coughcough* Project Manager) in the game indu...

Here's how 2017 is going so far: I've registered the domain ravenbrooks.de. There is nothing there, but I have it until 2019 and intend to migrate...because 1.) I could put the URL sickpimpin.blogspot.com on a business card, but I'm heading into my 40s.. and 2.) I've been learning Ruby and I need some kind of blank canvas upon which to do things. I've done zero additional Spanish learning at this time, but I have made a convenient bet... which I am thinking I should make into an inconvenient bet. Basically, I have agreed to have a conversation with a specific Spanish person on June 1st, 2017. This person determines the topic and whether or or not my Spanish is sufficient. If I don't pass....I buy her dinner. If I do pass... Duncan buys her dinner. Either way, she gets dinner. The conversation of a more drastic stake came up (e.g. I clean her apartment). After a month of avoiding anything Spanish... I feel like this is a sufficient threat.... I've had ...