I'd like to mention a couple thing in this post. First, I'm happy to report I still have a job, at least in the short term. As some of you know, the company I work for, Electronic Arts, laid off 6% of its workforce today, amounting to 600 people worldwide. I was, thankfully, not included in that group of 600.

I should have known something was up when I arrived at the studio this morning to see an animator standing outside with a whole bunch of stuff with him, talking with someone. I was told the impact on Blackbox was minimal since we're still considered a profitable venture. Companies have axed entire game teams at once but nothing like that happened today at our studio. Though one of our designers was let go which was tough for me since he and I have worked together closely for about two years.

Such moves in the games industry are not unheard of. If you've worked at any of the big publishers like EA and Activision, such adjustments happen every once in a while. Just a few months ago, Activision canned two teams worth of people at Radical. I still feel bad for those let go though. I have heard, however, that the severance packages awarded today were quite generous. I don't know exact amounts of course but I'm hoping people will be taken care of well past the holidays.

For me, there's nothing else I can except keep on working to get skate 2 out the door.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to mention that this Saturday would have been the day I took possession of the top-floor, one-year old with view of the Fraser River apartment that I agreed to buy in late August. Had it been not for the shady seller who probably will reincarnate as a dog turd in his next life I probably would be positioning my rear surround speakers on the weekend in my new living room. As it stands now, I'll probably be working both days of the weekend instead.

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I admit I am looking forward to next Tuesday, when US voters choose their next President. I also admit I feel a bit of shame in that I'm much more invested and interested in a foreign election as opposed to one that just occurred in my home country.

Just a few more days to go.

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I relented last night and turned on the heat for the first time since last winter. It's been getting quite chilly at night and the evening before last, I tried sleeping without the heat. I woke up with the room seemingly colder than it was when I slipped into bed. I also had a headache. That was enough to convince me to at least turn the heat on in my bedroom.

Didn't I just put away my winter coat last week?

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A few evenings ago, I enrolled in one of them new fancy tax-free savings accounts. They technically don't exist until January 1, 2009 but ING has decided to get a head start on things. Colour me financially naive but I didn't know we in Canada got taxed on interest that we receive on savings accounts. So these new accounts won't tax us on that. Given that the interest rates on savings accounts are generally quite low, the gubberment doesn't take that much away from us. Every little bit saved helps these days, so I'm glad I got in on this early.

I suggest every Canadian who is eligible to open such an account to consider doing so. Saving money, if possible, is always a good idea and doing in a tax-free manner makes it even better.

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On the weekend, I met with my real estate agent for the first time in several weeks. I wanted to hear her perspective on the current real estate market in Vancouver. I also value her advice since she's been an agent for over 20 years.

Having been through a couple of the ups and downs of the market, she told me I'm in great shape for the next several months. According to her, I have a job that pays me decent, I have no pressing nor dire need to buy immediately, and not all my financial resources are tied up in the stock market (I love you shoe box in the closet). Based on her experience, she believes it could be possible for me to buy a place in the area I really want to live in, as opposed to an area I'd tolerate living in. My realtor also foresees foreclosures starting to appear in the next several months as the stalling global economy causes people to be unable to pay for their homes. Her general and short-term advice is to just be patient and wait. How long I wait really depends on what happens to the economy and if there's something out there suitable for me.

While I don't envision myself picking up a new two-bedroom loft in Yaletown for a buck twenty, I am somewhat optimistic economic forces will finally bring reality back to some of those greedy mofos who turned Vancouver into an overpriced market.

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