Summer 2013

We're about a week into Summer of the year 2013. I wish I had something witty to write, but unfortunately I do not. I also wish I was writing this post because of some exciting revelation or discovery, and again, I do not. As I'm watching the final laps of a NASCAR race postponed from yesterday due to rain, I'm writing this to pass some time. You see, I am somewhat stuck home or close to home for the next 24 hours. I am having a routine medical procedure tomorrow that requires me to have a diet of clear liquids today. I am allowed tea and coffee, and even with sugar. But no creamer or milk. I am also allowed to have Jello, so I have a batch of Lime Jello in the refrigerator. Obviously I am off from work tomorrow. With Thursday and Friday being days off for the Independence Day holiday, this is going to be a short week at the office.

So what else is new? Not very much. The status of the two non-running motorcycles has not changed. I still haven't scheduled having my hip replacement surgery. Actually, the hip hasn't been too bad recently. Sure, there are days when the pain is bad, but overall it has been bearable.

Speaking of the new job, I'm still learning the ins and outs. But I have been able to contribute much more over the past couple months and I am settling in. Definitely enjoying my new gig.

That's about all I have for now. So until next, take care.

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.

Trial Retirement

When I first got the news I was being laid off, I jokingly referred to my unplanned sabbatical as my "trial retirement". One thing I didn't mention in the post "All Things Must Pass", was that I have saved a bit of cash over the years, so I wasn't in a panic about finding something else right away. As a matter of fact, I could probably skate for close to two years without breaking a sweat.

So I first thought that I'd relax for a few weeks, enjoy the time off. There was the long weekend in Las Vegas to help celebrate my sister's birthday, followed by a week in Florida visiting with my dad for Thanksgiving that were coming up. Funny though. On one hand I knew I could relax and not worry. But on the other hand there's that feeling of urgency and that I if I'm not looking for a new job I may miss a really cool opportunity.

I updated my resume and posted it to Dice, Monster, and CareerBuilder. Almost immediately my phone and email were blowing up. On some days, fielding and responding to inquiries was more of a full time job than work ever was! I think it is because it is so interrupt driven. And some recruiters, what a pain in the neck. One particular recruitment agency seemed to be focused on jobs from one particular company. Seems this company had a bunch of similar positions open. But I would get calls and emails from different people at this one agency for these positions. Each time I would be asked to answer the same pre-screening questionnaire, supply the same references, send the same current copy of my resume. Yet, after 10 or 12 times, never even resulted in at least a telephone screening with the company looking to hire. Talk about a waste of time...

The three leads that did go anywhere had nothing to do with that agency. One resulted in a job offer that was withdrawn because they didn't want to wait a few days while I had final interviews with two other companies. The second one is through a recruiter that is definitely much more professional than the one previously mentioned. There was a face to face interview last week, and I am waiting for the final word. Hopefully tomorrow. Monday December 17. The third is a result of me applying for a job online. I have a final interview scheduled there on Tuesday. I would prefer the last because it is a full time gig, but I would be happy with a job offer from either of these last two.

If I don't get a job offer, I think I will take a few weeks off and enjoy my "trial retirement". Send a resume here and there, and respond to inquiries about opportunities that really excite me. At least that's what I want to do. I probably wouldn't feel as burnt out or overwhelmed if not for the recruitment agency that overloaded me with calls and emails for positions at one company that went nowhere. More than one person has told me that when they were in a similar position, they regretted not taking the opportunity to enjoy the time off.

All in all, life is good. I still have money in the bank, a roof over my head, food in my belly, and a couple of toys in the garage. Maybe, I need to finally put my passport to use to really call it a trial retirement.

Random Ramblings

Well, once again a long time has lapsed since my last post. I had good intentions if that counts. Some time ago I started on six drafts. But that was about it. As I've said in a few of my previous posts, I just can't seem to get into the habit of writing more regularly. Odd, I used to enjoy the daily journal that was kept as part of Mr. Cooney's 8th grade English class. Or was that Social Studies?

Now the tricky part is that I don't want to dive into any of the topics that I started on drafts about. At least not too deeply if at all. So I think I'll just give a quick look at what's happening lately.

At work, we had to let one of the Unix/Linux Systems Administrators go a few weeks back. I am somewhat surprised at the lack of qualified applicants applying for the open position. You figure that with 10 or 12 percent unemployment that I'd have people beating down the door. But no. Some applicants are the same that applied for an open position last year, so obviously I'm not the only one who thinks they're not qualified. A couple that had real interesting resumes were quickly unavailable as I was scheduling interviews. They accepted positions somewhere else. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I don' think I am (think the people still looking). But at this point, I may have to revisit some of the resumes that my team and I passed on.

I'm am still digging the Challenger SRT8 and no regrets about purchasing it. Scheduled its 12 month/12K mile service for next week. But the beast has only 4600 miles on it! By the way, I've given her a name. Her name is Arion (or Areion). A horse from Greek Mythology. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areion for more information about the mythical horse. Lately I've been thinking of a somewhat major upgrade to her. A little voice in my head is telling me to buy an Edelbrock E-Force Supercharger. I have to check with the local speed shops and see how much installation would cost me.

I did purchase season tickets for both the SF 49ers and the NY Jets again this year. Haven't made plans to head to NY for a Jet game, and so far I've only been to the 49er home opener. I sold the tickets for the Niners/Cowboys game on Craigslist a couple weeks back. I have a bunch of tickets for both teams listed on both Stubhub and TicketExchange, but no bites so far.

Back in August my good friend JJ Connelly was out this way. We headed up to Arcata for some outdoor type stuff. I had a blast, even though there was a few issues. But I think I'll cover that in more details in a separate post.

As we enter October I am definitely looking forward to my annual trip to Florida for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if I'm going to spend time with my daughter Reagan, but I'll probably go down again in March around my birthday and spend a few days with her before visiting with dad again.

As I'm sitting here watching the season premier of "Fringe", I am running out of things to ramble about. So dear readers I think I'll call this post done at this time. For now, a goodbye and goodnight.