I have an opportunity to fly to Anchorage to interview for a job up there and I'm going tomorrow evening to interview on Thursday.  I've been to Alaska, but it's been 17 years and it was only as far north as Glacier Bay - hardly a scratch.  Everyone I've talked to thinks we'll love Anchorage since we enjoy hiking and outdoor activities.  My brother-in-law even mentioned making sure that we budget for at least one week per winter to fly down to sunshine.

I'm excited at the prospect of moving to Anchorage, now I just have to make sure I do it for the right reasons.  This is one of those times when I feel like I'll be interviewing them more than they'll be interviewing me.

My biggest hesitation is the fact that I'm already 1,000 miles from my mom and adding 1,400 flight miles (almost twice that to drive) isn't going to help when it comes to assisting my mom if she needs me.  But first!  I have to get to the interview and see if it is a beneficial setup for both myself and my prospective employer.  Should be interesting!
 
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I'm not sure who had more fun last night - the crowd or the performers!

Either way, w00tstock 2.0 in Seattle last night was oh, so very awesome!  I had taken Marty to a Mythbusters night last year which he enjoyed, so I coaxed him into going with the promise that Adam Savage (@donttrythis) would at least be someone he would enjoy.  Turns out, he enjoyed a lot more than that.  AND Adam showed Marty's favorite video clip of all time - a drunken Adam running on (and falling off) a treadmill in super slow motion.

Wil Wheaton's (@wilw) reading was awesome - I always enjoy hearing authors read their own stuff, you get so much more of the depth of the writing.  All of his other various appearances throughout the night were very fun as well.  Trolololo, anyone?

Stephen Toulouse (@stepto) - HILARIOUS!  The only thing missing was them hitting themselves in the head with tablets as they left the stage a la Holy Grail.  That's all I'm going to say - the rest you'll have to watch on YouTube.

Adam was great and the behind the scenes Mythbusters stuff was priceless! - video

Paul and Storm (@paulandstorm) did a great set to end the night.  After having performed "Opening Band" to start the show, they did "Mother's Day Song", "Frogger! The Frogger the Musical", "Nugget Man", "Nun Fight", and (of course!) "The Captain's Wife's Lament" with Wil and Adam joining them on stage.  Arr!

Their reactionary tweets have been fun to read - I need to go back and compile them before they start getting all excited about doing Portland tonight and I get too jealous.
 
When switching service providers, it doesn't help when the one you're leaving tells you how stupid you are for going with their competitor. 

Open letter to my former cable internet company:

I realize that the other guys aren't as superior as you, but right now I don't care, they are treating me better.  And when this "honeymoon" period of wonderful customer service with the other company is over, I won't be going back to you because apparently I'm too stupid to know what product I'm using and how it is delivered to me anyway. 

Yes I know you get what you pay for and if it's cheaper it might not be as good, but your tone was quite condescending and I don't appreciate it.  (I live with a 12-year-old - tone is a hot button topic for me).  Yes, it is cheaper and slower than your product, but your product is over priced and when I lose my job, I refuse to put up with your crap anymore.

I do appreciate you reminding me of the non-financial reason that I am leaving your company: crappy customer service.  It's like an abusive relationship - I've been putting up with it for so long that you think you can keep treating me this way and I'll never leave.  Yeah, not-so-much.

kthxbai.