I'm out in Cali for another vacation. I think this is my 4th time to the west coast this year. I've got a pretty busy weekend ahead of me.
I'm meeting up with Carolina and Sonja Selena Duarte for Sonja's farewell party in Palo Alto. She has joined the cast of Blast! and will be leaving for Japan next week. Great news for her.
I'll be meeting up with Ma, Cory and a whole crew of engineers several times this weekend. That should be interesting.
The trip started off not so well. I ended up missing my first flight ever. I was supposed to go to SJC at 6:10. I got the next best flight to San Francisco at like 7:30 which put me here a bit later. Also made me miss a meeting with Carolina tonight. I was going to try to meet up with her for dinner or something if I got in at a reasonable time. So much for that.
So I'm in this Marriott Suite and its pretty large. I may have overpaid for the hotel. oops. I'm picking up Kathy tomorrow at the airport and we'll be staying at another Marriott in SF in or near the South Park area of SF. That will probably rule.
We have a full weekend of things to check out (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=104998986066977447486.00000112bf473213e3573) so it should be quite excellent.
I gotta go find a local pub.
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
San Francisco and my new goals
I got a chance to go to San Francisco a few weeks ago. I'll tell ya, it is now my favorite place in the entire continental U.S. (thanks Jason for the accurate portrayal of my feelings). The place was outstanding. There were two things in particular that were just perfect.
- Jobs - In terms of technology, this is where its at. Companies like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, VMWare, Twitter, etc. are really driving so much of what is important to me. Hint Hint: This is why I went out there.
- Biking - Someone described this as the most biker friendly area in the country. I'd buy that. There were bike lanes on so many of the roads that I went on. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a massively inefficient way of getting from point A to B in that area.
Met up with Jon Ma as well. He is a clown. We got completely annihilated twice there in what I would call some of the most successful nights of drinking I've ever had. So many absolutely hilarious memories I can't even believe it. Also pictured are Jinen, Slin and Dileep. Son.
I also got so see the lovely Carolina and Sonya Selina Duarte from my Glassmen days. Oh the memories :(. Sonya knows about the horrible pictures that came out of that night. I totally made Carolina cry, but in a good way, it was awesome.
On the way out there, I ran into a friend from LM ELDP. That was outstanding. We talked the entire flight out there. He is up to some REALLY big things. Best of luck to him. While talking to him, we ran into a girl who was interviewing at Facebook. Pretty cool stuff. She was very nice. Turns out she got the job, so she will be leaving the DC area very soon for the greener pastures of Palo Alto. Speaking of that, Facebook has a pretty fun job application process.
So basically it was like the best weekend in a very long time. I fell in love with the area and I would love to get out there more.
Onward, I've been biking quite a bit lately. I think I'm getting out about 3 times a week which is pretty decent for me. I went out on a group ride a week or 2 ago and we were out for about 6 hours. Sadly, due to like 4 flats and horrible road conditions, we only covered about 55 miles. That sucked. I was so hungry.
I'm going scuba diving next weekend. Stoked.
I've got nothing else.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
How to know if your job is making you unhappy
Just a quick blurb, I saw this article and it mentioned how to "Know when it's not about your job". I thought the list they gave, which briefly states the definition of a good job, was quite interesting. Here are my initial thoughts on each point:
- Your job stretches you without defeating you.
- What if your job doesn't stretch you at all? All of the decisions being made are driven to such an esoteric end so deeply that even the customer for which these decisions are made doesn't even care.
- What if your job doesn't stretch you at all? All of the decisions being made are driven to such an esoteric end so deeply that even the customer for which these decisions are made doesn't even care.
- Provides clear goals
- What if when you ask for detailed requirement or undetailed requirements or informal requirements or an e-mail asking what the customer wants and you are ignored time and time again? What if every time you finish what you think is expected they take things in a whole different direction which requires a rewrite? Maybe this is agile development.
- What if when you ask for detailed requirement or undetailed requirements or informal requirements or an e-mail asking what the customer wants and you are ignored time and time again? What if every time you finish what you think is expected they take things in a whole different direction which requires a rewrite? Maybe this is agile development.
- Provides unambiguous feedback
- Maybe not unambiguous, but what about entirely contradictory feedback. One day you are being praised for your work because it far exceeds what the customer wanted (probably because I didn't know what the customer wanted) and you are asked to present progress to the customer, the next day the entire effort is stopped with zero explanation. That's bunk.
- Maybe not unambiguous, but what about entirely contradictory feedback. One day you are being praised for your work because it far exceeds what the customer wanted (probably because I didn't know what the customer wanted) and you are asked to present progress to the customer, the next day the entire effort is stopped with zero explanation. That's bunk.
- Provides a sense of control.
- Pretty much entirely laughable at this point, being tossed around from project to project with no hope at all of attaining any career goals leaves one with little sense of control.
- Pretty much entirely laughable at this point, being tossed around from project to project with no hope at all of attaining any career goals leaves one with little sense of control.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
I don't post often enough
IPhone
Its been quite awhile since I've been so excited about a product. I got an email about 20 minutes after it was announced from my roommate Sen. We had been looking into smartphones lately. To the point where he had actually ordered one but it got canceled. He sent me the e-mail about the latest toy. Paraphrased it said: "Get the iphone".
Its been out for like 3 days now so if you haven't heard of it you've basically been locked in a cave. Its all over the internet, tv and radio. I can't believe how stunning it is. The last time I was so excited about a product was google maps. This is the type of thing that is really going to revolutionize life. Maybe that is an overstatement, but the thing is a totally fresh perspective on a pretty stale market. My old philosophy on phones was that they needed only Bluetooth capability, quasi-reliable service, must be small, and must not have restrictions set forth by the SP (Verizon). That's about it. The last phone I got, the shoddy Razr was acquired specifically because I got paid to take it.
Anyway onto the phone. Its amazing. Just amazing. I guess I won't describe it, but it'll be the best thing ever. I'm getting one. Link. It comes out in June. My 18 month upgrade option comes around in July. I think Cingular gives you ~$150 off of a phone. That brings the price down to about $450 for me. Kathy said she would go in on some of a smartphone for an Xmas present. For me its a no brainer.
I guess just thinking of the possibilities. You can switch to a wifi connection if possible and use a VOIP client and not use any of your minutes. OMG, how ridiculous is that? Its running OSX. So you can write software for it or install select COTS products. Sick. They have a graphical vmail interface. Its rediculous. It just makes more sense. Its Cingular (WAHOO). Its great
Anyway, not so boring for reader things:
I started a website. I want to see how much money you can get from ad revenue. Googles ad program doesn't tell you how much you get until you sign up. So I signed up. I'll figure it out once the site gets ramped up. I won't link to it here. And I won't have my name on there anywhere. Someday I'll link it. Its just an experiment.
San Diego
I'm going to San Diego today. That'll rule. I think I'm gonna get some surfing in this week. Its supposed to be ridiculously cold, so I got a 7 mil wetsuit. I've never had one on in cold water so I'll see how that goes. The real reason I am going is to see Meredith, George and their baby Maya.
New position
I started back in Silver Spring last week. So far the commute has been way more tolerable. Not that the metro sucked, but I have much more time to myself at the house. That's cool. Though I get less reading time in. That sucks. I feel like now I have a ton more to read too. Double suck.
New Years
The most relaxed uneventful New Years ever. I did kill a bottle of sparkling white though. That was eventful.
Wii
How could I forget. I've decided to get a Wii. I returned my PS2 to bestbuy under warranty and they sent me a $160 gift card. Why not just shell out the extra $100 and get a nice new must have system? Oh I know why not, because even God couldn't find one for sale anywhere. No worries, I'll just wait till they are more available. I have enough ish to do without worrying about that right now. But if I wanted to, there is a pretty good
Its been quite awhile since I've been so excited about a product. I got an email about 20 minutes after it was announced from my roommate Sen. We had been looking into smartphones lately. To the point where he had actually ordered one but it got canceled. He sent me the e-mail about the latest toy. Paraphrased it said: "Get the iphone".
Its been out for like 3 days now so if you haven't heard of it you've basically been locked in a cave. Its all over the internet, tv and radio. I can't believe how stunning it is. The last time I was so excited about a product was google maps. This is the type of thing that is really going to revolutionize life. Maybe that is an overstatement, but the thing is a totally fresh perspective on a pretty stale market. My old philosophy on phones was that they needed only Bluetooth capability, quasi-reliable service, must be small, and must not have restrictions set forth by the SP (Verizon). That's about it. The last phone I got, the shoddy Razr was acquired specifically because I got paid to take it.
Anyway onto the phone. Its amazing. Just amazing. I guess I won't describe it, but it'll be the best thing ever. I'm getting one. Link. It comes out in June. My 18 month upgrade option comes around in July. I think Cingular gives you ~$150 off of a phone. That brings the price down to about $450 for me. Kathy said she would go in on some of a smartphone for an Xmas present. For me its a no brainer.
I guess just thinking of the possibilities. You can switch to a wifi connection if possible and use a VOIP client and not use any of your minutes. OMG, how ridiculous is that? Its running OSX. So you can write software for it or install select COTS products. Sick. They have a graphical vmail interface. Its rediculous. It just makes more sense. Its Cingular (WAHOO). Its great
Anyway, not so boring for reader things:
I started a website. I want to see how much money you can get from ad revenue. Googles ad program doesn't tell you how much you get until you sign up. So I signed up. I'll figure it out once the site gets ramped up. I won't link to it here. And I won't have my name on there anywhere. Someday I'll link it. Its just an experiment.
San Diego
I'm going to San Diego today. That'll rule. I think I'm gonna get some surfing in this week. Its supposed to be ridiculously cold, so I got a 7 mil wetsuit. I've never had one on in cold water so I'll see how that goes. The real reason I am going is to see Meredith, George and their baby Maya.
New position
I started back in Silver Spring last week. So far the commute has been way more tolerable. Not that the metro sucked, but I have much more time to myself at the house. That's cool. Though I get less reading time in. That sucks. I feel like now I have a ton more to read too. Double suck.
New Years
The most relaxed uneventful New Years ever. I did kill a bottle of sparkling white though. That was eventful.
Wii
How could I forget. I've decided to get a Wii. I returned my PS2 to bestbuy under warranty and they sent me a $160 gift card. Why not just shell out the extra $100 and get a nice new must have system? Oh I know why not, because even God couldn't find one for sale anywhere. No worries, I'll just wait till they are more available. I have enough ish to do without worrying about that right now. But if I wanted to, there is a pretty good
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Exciting times
It's crazy. has quit his job to move out to Cali. Damn, he's only been here like 8 months. Unbelieveable. He leaves today for his interview trip. He lands in San Jose :( in about 12 hours. Crazy. I wish I were that spontaneous (not that he did it on a whim or anything).
It's just crazy.
I've been getting busy doing interviews and stuff for new "rotations". Got a few cool ones coming down the pipe. The most interesting one I would say would have to be Japan. Yeah...Japan. Sweet. I don't have much detail on that one though, they haven't given much. What I do know is that it'd be a year and the customer is in Japan (that makes sense). More details will definitely be coming later.
Running/Biking is awesome. I've got a little running schedule that I've been keeping up with. It is 3 runs a week. There are 2 shorts and 1 long. So far my long is 4 miles and my short is 3miles . My next long however will be 5 miles. And that is on Saturday. That should be fun.
Once I get the server up and running I will be able to post my runs like I did in the last post. That is a ton of fun to do, again, I need to get my server up.
Ok....I guess times aren't THAT exciting. At least they are for Cory.
Check that, times are exciting. As soon as I leave work(at least yesterday), I feel like I have a whole lot to look forward to in terms of potential happenings in the form of phone calls. I'm being vague but I think you probably get the point. If you don't, it will be apparent when something crystalizes.
It's just crazy.
I've been getting busy doing interviews and stuff for new "rotations". Got a few cool ones coming down the pipe. The most interesting one I would say would have to be Japan. Yeah...Japan. Sweet. I don't have much detail on that one though, they haven't given much. What I do know is that it'd be a year and the customer is in Japan (that makes sense). More details will definitely be coming later.
Running/Biking is awesome. I've got a little running schedule that I've been keeping up with. It is 3 runs a week. There are 2 shorts and 1 long. So far my long is 4 miles and my short is 3miles . My next long however will be 5 miles. And that is on Saturday. That should be fun.
Once I get the server up and running I will be able to post my runs like I did in the last post. That is a ton of fun to do, again, I need to get my server up.
Ok....I guess times aren't THAT exciting. At least they are for Cory.
Check that, times are exciting. As soon as I leave work(at least yesterday), I feel like I have a whole lot to look forward to in terms of potential happenings in the form of phone calls. I'm being vague but I think you probably get the point. If you don't, it will be apparent when something crystalizes.
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