z-kaz

Meanderings of Z.

Name:
Location: United States

Friday, August 26, 2011

Time and Accomplishments

It is hard to believe how much time has passed since my last post; almost five years. Where do I begin? A while back I wrote a post titled "V4.0". It was about a change in jobs that I was about to undertake. Just over five years later now, I am on V5.0 of my career. After taking on a challenging problem for the National Archives (NARA) in the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system, I have moved back into Commercial software development.

While I learned a lot during my 5 years on the ERA system, the overhead of government contract work, and the heavy processes of a federal integrator couldn’t take a back seat to the problem domain. Since the contract was winding down, it was time to find something new. And new, is exactly what I found. A commercial software company using bleeding edge technology to change the way people work. The next year is going to be really exciting.

But even with all the long hours at work over the past few years, I managed to achieve a goal with my two children that I have always wanted to attain; a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Ever since I saw my first martial arts movie and heard the commercials for Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do in the Washington DC area, I wanted to study. When my son came home from school one day after career day, and said he learned about a local martial arts school. I was instantly compelled to take him for the free lesson he had been offered. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the sign indicating that this was in fact a Jhoon Rhee style school. I was instantly transported back to 1978, sitting in front of a TV, watching his now infamous commercial.

After hearing about the program, I immediately sign him up. After making her wait a few months to make sure she was serious about it, I signed up my daughter. A few months after that I decided to stop being a spectator, and step into the role I wanted since the 70s; that of a martial arts student. This past April, we all tested for our 1st degree black belts, and passed. Part of the process involves writing an essay on our experience, and how it changed us. Perhaps I will post that here.