Well, I've made it a month at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. I made a career centric move to lead a development group on Mobile web. Things are slightly different than I though going in, but I'm fairly happy so far. The main thing is, I'm getting exposure in the mobile computing space -- which is like the Internet was 10 year ago and I fully expect it to grow like the Internet did. Getting in on mobile now is going to really help my career in the long run.

The group at Blue is smaller than in SC. I had over 3 years to develop a strong working relationship and friendship with many co-workers in SC and now starting over in FL has it's challenges. I have to earn my veteran status, prove my abilities to a new crowd, and learn the ways of a new company all over again. However, in the long run, I think it will be worth it.

Jacksonville is a nice town. Large enough that it has many of the typical attractions of a larger city yet traffic isn't terrible (like Atlanta). I'm really liking being only 10-15 minutes from the beach. I've been taking frequent trips to walk/jog or with the family when they are in town.

Next step is to perform the actual move here. Ledy is busy packing apartment and making sure things are ready to go and I'm trying to coordinate everything needed for the move (truck, labor, etc) while working 50+ hours a week at work.

Overall, things are going well. I'll post another update soon (hopefully).

After 1am on Saturday morning, I took my camera out for an hour for some night shots in my apartment complex. I think I got a few good ones. Enjoy.

I took Ledy to see Avatar in 3D at the Regal Cinema here in Columbia. I enjoyed the movie and the 3D really enhanced the experience.

Overall, there are a few issues with the film -- like mineral "unobtainium" that is highly desired. Really, we can bring an incredible moon of Pandora to life in 3D but no one could think of a better name for this mineral? In general it had a good story and plot, but there were parts of the storyline that felt like a screenplay from Al Gore. It felt sorta like "Cowboys and Indians" for the 22nd century -- except the Cowboys are the bad guys. Some might say it paints the military in a bad light, but I would like to point out that the military in Avatar is controlled and directed by a mega corporation -- which I don't see ever working out well for very long. There are a few attacks on capitalism, like a remark about how stockholders wouldn't like bad the PR (from a slaughter of native peoples), but would like a bad quarterly earnings even less. Well, at least in the current economy, the majority of stockholders in publicly traded companies are common people (mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc) and I would think if those folks knew in advance that a company was killing lots of innocent people in order to profit that most folks would choose to invest elsewhere.

Other than the lefty overtures, Avatar was a good flick that really benefits from 3D. I'm thinking this becomes the new standard for the movie going experience. I think later this year, we will see more movies delivered in 3D (with a non-3D choice too). Avatar would have been a good film without the 3D, but it really complements and enhances the experience.

As part of our debt elimination goal for 2010, I'm in the process of setting up a special checking account solely for dealing with committed expenses (savings, rent, utilities, and other bills). We opened up a checking account, savings account, and a Christmas club savings account at South Carolina Federal Credit Union here in Columbia. We also setup a "Kids club" account for each of the girls, which we will use later for teaching them how to handle money. The primary mission was for the free checking account that we will use to setup all of our automatic bill payments. Using this method, I will be able to direct deposit the amount needed to always meet my bills and the automation will ensure the bills will get paid on time. With utilities that vary each month, I simply took the 12-month average and added some "buffer". Either way, I will seed the account with enough to get started until the pay checks catchup (biweekly pay vs monthly expenses). Our current primary checking account (Wachovia) will get the rest of my paycheck to use for all other expenses like groceries, debt payments, entertainment, etc.

We are basically following the Dave Ramsey approach, just automating the "envelope system" by using a couple of checking accounts, and a few savings accounts. I'm hoping this works out.

The next step in this process is to submit the changes to the direct deposit information so my paycheck can get redirected accordingly.

Now that we are at a the beginning of a new year and new decade (debatable, but I'm a programmer so I always count starting with a zero), many folks are making, and by now, breaking resolutions. I am taking a different approach. I prefer new year "goals" instead. Goals must be challenging yet obtainable, and most of all, measurable. I think that is what a resolution fails to be and why so many folks don't keep them. There are no milestones or progress reports to see how well we are doing. Everyone makes the same "lose weight" resolution, but a goal would be "lose 20 pounds in 5 months". Also, in this example, we can set milestones -- say "lose 4 pounds each month". So, I'm working on what my 2010 Goals are going to be -- here are some of mine:
* Lose 20 pounds in 6 months (January was recovery from December)
* Workout for 30 minutes or more at least 4 days each week (so far so good, part of weight loss goal)
* Pay off all debts except the mortgage (I have these figures, I just don't want to blab them all over the Internet)
* Be on a written cash flow plan the entire year (part of debt elimination goal)
* Dedicate one evening or afternoon per week with one of my daughters (alternating each week)
* Do at least 4 paid photography events by the end of the year
* Read (or listen to) 1 non-fiction (audio)book each month
* Read (or listen to) the entire Bible this year

I'm sure I will think of some more, perhaps my goal for January will be to simply finish this list.

What are some of your "goals" for 2010?

I have settled on using the traditional copay option for our health care for 2010. The premium is a little more (still less than the previous company) than the High Deductible Plan, but I don't have the ability to use it with the Health Savings Account (HSA) this year since I already committed to a Flexible Spending Account. There isn't away to convert an FSA to an HSA for the same tax year, so I will have to wait until next year to enjoy the HDP and HSA combo. The HDP and HSA would have been a very good option for us because of the tax advantages. I still have the FSA, but the maximum amount for that is only $2500 per year -- which is far below the family maximum out of pocket for the HDP option. However, the new copay plan isn't bad at all -- cheaper premiums and lower copays across the board, and better coverage/terms -- so I'm happy with the choice. Also, my company is playing for a good dental insurance plan worth up to $2,000. Considering dental insurance plans, that's actually a very good benefit. Overall, I'm fairly happy with the arrangement. Cost is still very high, but less than what would have been a nearly $370/month increase.

I'm evaluating the difference between the new health insurance plans. One is a High Deductible plan with a Health Saving Account (HSA) and the other is the "traditional" copay/coinsurance 80/20 plan with a Flexible Spending Account (FSA).

If I were single and/or relatively healthy, the HDP w/ HSA would be an excellent choice. The opposite side can also be true -- relatively high costs could be controlled with the HDP and the deductible side would be funded with the tax free HSA.

At least this year, my employer offers the FSA (tax free) which has a max contribution of $2500 per year. If I don't use all of it, I loose the difference. HSAs roll over each year so they are like a "medical" IRA with a max of about $6100.

Time to go into bean counter mode to see if the HDP makes any cents.

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year.

Hey, I'm looking around for some nicer headphones. I have the default earbuds that come with my iPhone 3GS which are "ok" for working out, and I have a $40 Sony noise-canceling phones open ear headphones that annoy my ears after an hour or so of listening. I really like the closed/over ear headphones that sound good and are still fairly light. I have a cheap pair that are a bit heavy/bulky and make my ears sweat after a short while.

I like the sound of the Bose headphones at Sam's Club (just under $140), but I've been looking at some Audio-Technica ones too on Amazon for around the same price (maybe a little cheaper).

My entire library is ripped to "itunes plus" format (AAC-LC M4A at 256 kbps VBR). I listen to everything from hip-hop/ska to classical, audiobooks, and podcasts.

Thanks for the suggestions in advance.

"Hey, just downloaded about 20 free Christmas tunes form Amazon's MP3 Download store. These are high quality (256Kbps) files from some well known artists.

The store is located under Digital Downloads > MP3 Downloads

You do have to look a few places for them:
1. 25 Days of Free -- Amazon's daily free Christmas song (an Ad-like image on the right side of the main page)
2. Look at the Best Sellers: MP3 Downloads: MP3 Songs (lower right side box on main page)
3. When you click on a free song, scroll to the bottom of the page to see "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" -- many of the songs listed here are also free.

You can click on each song to bring up a page for the song, "play" icon will allow you to preview each song before you "purchase" it. Although there are a few duds (not worth downloading), the majority I have found so far are great songs, particularly for the price.

Just thought I would share.