So I've taken an internship this summer with the consulting company, Smart Software Solutions, Inc.  I've worked with SSI since last November and have been loving the experience.  Well, some what anyways.  The fact of the matter is that I'm a code monkey.  I think Johnathan Colton's song, Code Monkey, describes it best; if not at least it's catchy.  Regardless, I'm learning far more than I could ever learn in a classroom.  SSI does web application development for p@nda c0uch clients (who I swear no one else would take), or other firms that outsource to us.  Mostly PHP and MySQL development.

Anyways, the internship has required me to return home to my parent's empty nest.  I swear, complete coincidence that Smart's home office is in Pierre.  To be honest though, I've missed my family who I haven't spent more than a couple of days with since last summer.  Unfortunately, my unemployed, vegetarian sister with a dike haircut and my deviant brother are also home over the summer.  Ok, I love them too; vegemite or otherwise.

Actually, the real problem is the fact that my parents decided to remodel the basement while their nest was empty.  This remodeling involves my old bedroom.  I think it's great and all, but everything is still kinda half finished and it leaves me without a room of my own.  So I've worked out a little nest tucked in the corner between some bare wall studs and stacks of drywall.  This quiet literally 5 ft by 5 ft space includes a couch (my bed), a tv stand for my computer, and a make-shift closet (runner in ceiling).  With my clothes dangling above my head, I can still smile at the glow of my 20" wide-screen lcd.  I just wish I wasn't still paying rent and utilities for two months for a spacious apartment no one is living in.

Oh, by the way, my girlfriend, Abby, is on the other side of the country 1400 miles away at an internship with Nasa.  Which is also why our apartment is empty.  We've been apart two days. I suspect this old couch will feel quite cold and lonely tonight. The sacrifices we make for the promise of a more prosperous future...