Is it July already?

Once again, quite a long time has elapsed since my last post. A little over half a year since my New Years Day post for 2014. I'd like to say that the reason I haven't posted is that I've been extremely busy and preoccupied with other things, but that is not the case. However the year so far has had some noteworthy events to share with you all.

Since the last post, the one year anniversary of my time here at Echostar/Sling passed. Along with a fairly decent annual review and raise. I am definitely enjoying my time here, and still believe that getting laid off from my Northrop Grumman position was a blessing in disguise.

My one year anniversary at Echostar is noteworthy, but so far the highlight of the year (and perhaps the last couple years) is something that I would never have thought possible a few years back. It pretty much deserves its own post, so I will only touch upon it here. Last month, June, my daughter Reagan came to California for a visit. In her 13 years, this was the first time that I had the opportunity to spend time with just my daughter. I'll expand on her visit in another post, but overall it was a pretty good time.

That said, there is still not much else new. Still putting off getting my hip surgery, and two of the three motorcycles still need repair of some degree. Hell, the Dyna even now seems to be starting to make a little top end noise. At 36k miles, it likely needs a valve adjustment and perhaps a look at the cam chain. But, if I do one thing well, it's procrastinate.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll have some time to write about Reagan's visit sooner rather than later. Until then, take care and enjoy the day.

Return to Work

In my last post I informed you all that I was no longer employed. Not being too worried about the situation I called it my 'Trial Retirement'. I also told you about three prospects that I had been pursuing. Not too long after that post I was informed that an offer was in the works. Even better was it from the company that I had applied for outside of a recruitment agency! I came close to getting an offer from the number 2 prospect, Cisco, but I was informed that they had rehired a former member of their team.

Apparently though, there was some administrative confusion and an official offer was delayed. But that was a good thing. Still a little unsure, I was able to enjoy the holidays and a few weeks just relaxing and not worrying about searching for a new position since I figured I had one almost in hand. Then, about mid-January I did receive a formal offer for the position. After a background check I was cleared to start. My 'Trial Retirement' officially ended January 28th.

Where did I end up you ask? I'm a Senior System Engineer at EchoStar / Sling Media here in Foster City. That's right, Foster City. My commute is now about two and a half miles. But it's not just the commute I like. As I felt that in the past couple years my talents were wasting away at Northrop Grumman, the work at EchoStar is challenging and engaging. I will have opportunities to learn and utilize new technologies that were the domain of a different team in a different data center at Northrop Grumman. While at the same time, utilizing skills and experience from my past for other duties.

At this point, I am really glad that I didn't accept the first offer that came along just because it was an offer in hand. I also cannot help myself from pointing out that Romans 8:28 comes to mind. I posted that passage on Twitter and Facebook not long after I was laid off from Northrop Grumman. In the end, all things have worked together for good. But I have to say, I was getting used to not using an alarm clock...

Until next time my friends.