To China & Back- Not

To say that December 2008 was a bloodbath for the advertising agency is an understatement. It was a pre-christmas week that saw many tears, sacrificed 401K’s and retirements, and many a paranoid programmer such as myself waking up clutching the next hot programming langage’s manual to his chest for fear of soon going obsolete. A 1500 page book of code doesn’t seem so heavy after you watch more than 200 people in your companies’ North American drop like flies just 2 weeks after a first round of layoffs and less than a week before christmas.

With word of Q1 2009 being even worse, my previously trip planned to Asia for Christmas / New Year’s didn’t seem like such a good idea. After a number of weather delays, it seems that I’m grounded permanently, but what better time to improve my skill set.

… entering 2009 with a cautious spirit.