My Husband. My Hero

Pretty much all of you know that my husband Dan works for Microsoft. Most of you know that he works at Microsoft Games Studios, specifically for the XBOX 360 games. Some of you know that he’s on a team for a game called, Gears of War. A few of you “hard core gamers” might know that Gears of War is the most anticipated game this year and is being developed by Epic Games, exclusively for the XBOX 360. In fact Dan’s hard at work as we speak, on location at Epic Games in North Carolina, doing very important stuff. He’s been highly favored by pretty much everyone he comes in contact with and this game would not be the same without him on the team. See that’s one thing that most of you don’t know about Dan. He is a very hard worker and he’s also the most technologically talented person that I’ve ever met. (Okay so I haven’t met very many, but…) Everyone that Dan’s worked with so far, think he’s an absolute whiz at his job and has got skills to boot (I’m not talkin’ Napoleon Dynamite “skills” either). He’s always getting praise for his work and for the last year the buzz around the office is that they're making an action figure of him (totally kidding of course!). Even people, who’ve never met Dan, know who he is. Dan has been so dedicated to his team, to this game and for his company, that he’s sacrificed his home for the last 2 months by being out in North Carolina, working long hours, so that this game can be shipped out at its highest quality to the world. Not that he’s put his job before his family and home life, but that he’s doing what’s best for his family by doing his best at work, and with Dan, that means putting 200% into what he does. It is a major sacrifice to be away from your home, your spouse, your friends, for any length of time, but Dan is my hero, in that he’s been so strong to endure this part of his job and being away from home. He tells me it helps that I’ve been so supportive and that I’ve kept myself busy and social at home so that he’s not spending the days wondering if I’m alright or if I’m lonely, so that he can concentrate on his work. And it does help that we don’t have any kids yet and that I have been on my own before and know what to do with myself and don’t necessarily need him to take care of me in a physical sense. But we’ve got nothing to complain about. I mean people are separated at times for longer than we have been; soldiers go to war for years at a time without talking to their families, it’s only been 3 weeks that we’ve been apart. What’s to complain about? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I talk to Dan daily and get to hear about all of the exciting things that he’s been doing and all of the people he’s met and worked with. This is an exciting time in his new career and he gets to be a part of a lot of great things. In fact MTV has been filming a “behind the scenes” look at the making of Gears of War, out at Epic, and Dan’s been on camera talking about it. I mean how cool is that?

Well this whole shpeel has not been about bragging that my husband’s job is so cool or anything, but it’s about time I give props to Dan and all of the other people who work so hard in putting out a video game and all of the sacrifices they make just so that you can drop in a game in your latest high tech game device that you spend your hard earned cash to buy. Next time you do, remember that real every day, above average people, spent long hours and years to make that piece of technology and they’ve put their ALL into making sure you get a solid, top grade piece of entertainment. If you have a minute check out the website for Gears and check out what Dan’s been a part of for the last year. I mean the game is not recommended for everyone; it’s rated M for Mature and it’s not a game that we plan on playing, (besides the fact that we sold our XBOX 360) but if you want to see a video games that’s highly advanced and has never been done before, then do so, and be pleased to know that Dan is a part of it. Now how cool is that? I say, very cool. Very cool indeed.