Laura and I went to Flora for dinner tonight. The Company picked up (most of) the tab, as a bonus for all the hard work I've been doing lately. That's super nice of them, especially since I don't think I've been working especially hard lately. As hard as I usually do, surely, but nothing extraordinary.

Flora was awesome. On the expensive side, but definitely something I would consider again for a special occasion. A full review will be forth coming.

I realized something today. Before I took this job, I used to constantly read technical books. I'd always try to stay on top of the latest trends in Computer Science. I'd pick up new languagues like C# or Ruby on my own, just based on their intrinsic coolness. Some times I'd read books that would help me become a better programmer, like the highly recommended Pragmatic Programmer. Or Writing Solid Code.

The thing is, I haven't read a single technical book since I moved up here about 2 years ago. I'm not sure if this should worry me. Maybe I'm losing my drive to become a better programmer. It could be, instead, that my job is simply pushing me in ways that no previous employment has. I feel very fulfilled at the end of the day. I have a constant supply of interesting and challenging projects to work on. It helps that I'm of the opinion that the end product doesn't have to be all that interesting for the work to be interesting. (I mean, I don't have any desire to work at a game company). I just enjoy solving programming problems every day. After working here for 2 years, I finally feel that I'm in a position where I could go anywhere and pick up any new job easily. This, of course, is something that I won't have to put into practice for some time. Its a nice feeling nonetheless.