Weekly Update 12/06/25 – 12/12/25

This has been a relatively uneventful week. Most of it has been rainy, as the Pacific Northwest has been sitting squarely in the bullseye of an atmospheric river. It dried out a bit toward the end of the week, but I’m told the rain is expected to return next week.

On the job front, I’ve sent out several hundred copies of my resume to companies that use PxPlus (Providex), BBx, UniBasic, Sage 100 (MAS 90), or Infor FACTS. Since these are all cold contacts, I’m not expecting a large number of responses, but I only need one. Past mailings have led to a few contacts. Among them is the Irvine position for an Infor FACTS developer. Early in the week, I heard back that I’m still being considered. At the same time, I’ve seen the job posted on several boards, including Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter. So while I’m not out of the running, they are clearly still looking. I haven’t heard back from the London role yet, but I’m still hopeful. I was hoping to start something this month, but with the holidays approaching, it’s starting to make more sense that any new role may begin in the new year.

I also spent some time working on a blog post about the Odell S Hathaway(s) family history. I found some interesting references pointing to a Col. Odell S Hathaway. I won’t finish or publish that post until I find a job. I’m on a very tight budget right now and don’t want to spend money on additional research until things stabilize.

On the technical side, my personal Microsoft 365 subscription expired last week, and I moved fully to a business account. I did this so I would have full access to Microsoft Teams, which is included with the business plan. It ended up costing less than keeping the personal account and adding Teams separately. The transition required some cleanup, but everything is now working correctly.

I also spent time working with Astra (ChatGPT) on what they call a “Master Prompt.” This is a prompt I use at the start of conversations that defines how I want Astra to behave and how I work through problems, priorities, and decisions. I deliberately shifted Astra away from a cheerleader-style tone and toward a mentor, advisor, and technical collaborator. The result is fewer platitudes and more direct, practical feedback, which suits me much better.

Previous Weekly Update (11/29/25 – 12/05/25)