I am thankful that I have the discipline to relax today. The week was a roller coaster, very busy, and there were too many things going on in my head.
I relaxed for a few hours in the morning, did a few loads of laundry, organized our song folders for a gig in the evening. And then, at 5, Katrina and I left. We went to a church building (turns out it was the wrong one) for my quartet to sing at a church function. We got to the right building late, but it was okay, and we sang for about 25 minutes while the audience was eating. It worked out well - we weren't too loud, they weren't too loud. And then we went to Dairy Queen, where I had dinner and Katrina had a dessert.
A nice day. Relaxing. A little overdue.
Both of us are very much looking forward to the interview, and excited that soon we'll have some clarity on where to focus. Right now we have to be laser-focused on 3 different job things, as well as keep our home and kids in shape. It's not working out so well, but it will soon pass and we'll be back to our normally-harried selves. The frantic selves will be put away until the next Big Thing comes, usually every 2-3 years.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
365 #9 - Friday, January 13
Today I am simply thankful the kids are all in school.
We woke up this morning, got the kids out the door, and I cleaned the garage while my dad textured the walls in our new hallway. He left, I filled the garbage can, and I was tired. So at 11am I took a nap. The house was quiet, and no one told on anyone else. And I woke up at 3. I wrote a couple emails for the job hunt, and then made dinner - pancakes, sausage, and hashbrowns.
Nothing important for the evening, either. Just a slow day. Nice to have one of those for a change.
We woke up this morning, got the kids out the door, and I cleaned the garage while my dad textured the walls in our new hallway. He left, I filled the garbage can, and I was tired. So at 11am I took a nap. The house was quiet, and no one told on anyone else. And I woke up at 3. I wrote a couple emails for the job hunt, and then made dinner - pancakes, sausage, and hashbrowns.
Nothing important for the evening, either. Just a slow day. Nice to have one of those for a change.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Book Review: The Dispossessed
Ursule K LeGuin is much more of a genius than I gave her credit for. I have been a fan of Earthsea since I was a kid, and have read every book in the series: most of them twice, some 3 times. I recently picked up a volume of Annals of the Western Shore from the discount bin. Then I read the other books in that series. And then I read about her in Wikipedia. So I read a book that I had purchased as a 12 year-old but had never read.
The Dispossessed stars a physicist. He lives on a habitable (but dry and inhospitable) moon that orbits an earthlike planet that is very rich. The moon's population are the descendants of Odo, an anarchist rebel from the home world. Eventually, the home world got so sick of the anarchists that the rebels were offered the moon. So they left. But how might an anarchist society fare after 200 years? In LeGuin's hands the anarchy breaks down into bureaucracy. Our hero is an anarchist among the bureaucrats that call themselves anarchists.
The story is both a personal journey for him and a societal journey for the propertarian (a word she uses with alacrity) and anarchist societies.
Like Orwell's 1984, the parallels between this future and our present are striking, disturbing, eye-opening, and refreshing at the same time. I can understand Occupy Wall Street better now on a personal level. The economics and politics made good sense to me before, but I understand it personally better then before.
It seems that LeGuin does nothing poorly. The Dispossessed belongs on a Kindle, a shelf, or at the very least, in each of our brains.
The Dispossessed stars a physicist. He lives on a habitable (but dry and inhospitable) moon that orbits an earthlike planet that is very rich. The moon's population are the descendants of Odo, an anarchist rebel from the home world. Eventually, the home world got so sick of the anarchists that the rebels were offered the moon. So they left. But how might an anarchist society fare after 200 years? In LeGuin's hands the anarchy breaks down into bureaucracy. Our hero is an anarchist among the bureaucrats that call themselves anarchists.
The story is both a personal journey for him and a societal journey for the propertarian (a word she uses with alacrity) and anarchist societies.
Like Orwell's 1984, the parallels between this future and our present are striking, disturbing, eye-opening, and refreshing at the same time. I can understand Occupy Wall Street better now on a personal level. The economics and politics made good sense to me before, but I understand it personally better then before.
It seems that LeGuin does nothing poorly. The Dispossessed belongs on a Kindle, a shelf, or at the very least, in each of our brains.
Movie Review: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Last night we saw a silly movie. This one was sillier than most.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a dumb movie. Sheerly dumb. Dumb enough that it distracts from the action sequences. The viewer is left thinking, during the action scenes, "Where did that come from? How come the professor is a martial expert on par with the much younger Ethan Hawke? Why is it that chicks who fight in movies have huge boobs? How can a random piece of electronics dropped in a ventilation shaft upload a general's security profile? And why do they call it downloading when it's actually uploading?'
The premise was pretty good. The beginning is intriguing. About 1/3 of the way through, the script gets measurably worse. And it maintains a steady, edge-of-your-seat worserness as the movie progress. Impossibly worser. And the further along the movie goes, the more broken the whole movie becomes. By the end, it has become a montage of crazy action sequences that happen to add up to about 2 hours. And that's it.
Too bad - I like PG-13 action flicks. The recent James Bond, Batman, and Bourne movies have all been excellent. We even enjoyed Sherlock Holmes. But don't waste your time on MI: Ghost Protocol. Let it rest in peace.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a dumb movie. Sheerly dumb. Dumb enough that it distracts from the action sequences. The viewer is left thinking, during the action scenes, "Where did that come from? How come the professor is a martial expert on par with the much younger Ethan Hawke? Why is it that chicks who fight in movies have huge boobs? How can a random piece of electronics dropped in a ventilation shaft upload a general's security profile? And why do they call it downloading when it's actually uploading?'
The premise was pretty good. The beginning is intriguing. About 1/3 of the way through, the script gets measurably worse. And it maintains a steady, edge-of-your-seat worserness as the movie progress. Impossibly worser. And the further along the movie goes, the more broken the whole movie becomes. By the end, it has become a montage of crazy action sequences that happen to add up to about 2 hours. And that's it.
Too bad - I like PG-13 action flicks. The recent James Bond, Batman, and Bourne movies have all been excellent. We even enjoyed Sherlock Holmes. But don't waste your time on MI: Ghost Protocol. Let it rest in peace.
365 #8 - Thursday, January 12
Today I am thankful for divine providence. I don't know what else to ascribe recent events to, other than that.
This morning, I filled out the final online application for the NY job. They use this information to determine the offered salary. At this point, I have a second interview to do, but they have everything they need. It's entirely possible that they will have an offer printed and ready to give to me next Thursday.
And then it was time to clean. I did some laundry, put away some things we weren't using, took out the garbage and recycling, the odds and ends of housekeeping. At noon, we had another mover come to give us an estimate. Then I got dressed for the interview, my dad came over, and I left to buy a tie. Because I have terrible fashion sense and don't trust myself, I went to Macy's and asked for help. I brought 2 ties home, which I hadn't intended. I had intended to buy ties, put one on, and go chill in a parking lot close to the local company. But I had forgotten printed copies of my resume, as well as to write and print out a sheet of references. So I got that done, and headed back out.
The interview went much better than the earlier one had. The job is essentially the same job I had at Nikon, but this company is growing much faster. At the end of the interview, the interviewer told me he wanted to offer me the job. He still had some discussion with other people at the company, but that was likely my final interview. It would take some time to put an offer together.
This has been my first normal week of job hunting. I have had 3 interviews with 2 very interested and solid companies with good opportunities. In the next 2 weeks, the whole process could just be done. I expect we'll have 2 offers, and to have made a decision by Feb 1. Really unbelievable. All I can do is be grateful that by sheer, dumb luck, I was asked to interview for an interpretation contract at Nikon in 1998. Since then, I have been blessed beyond belief. And all those things that have happened since have brought me here.
This morning, I filled out the final online application for the NY job. They use this information to determine the offered salary. At this point, I have a second interview to do, but they have everything they need. It's entirely possible that they will have an offer printed and ready to give to me next Thursday.
And then it was time to clean. I did some laundry, put away some things we weren't using, took out the garbage and recycling, the odds and ends of housekeeping. At noon, we had another mover come to give us an estimate. Then I got dressed for the interview, my dad came over, and I left to buy a tie. Because I have terrible fashion sense and don't trust myself, I went to Macy's and asked for help. I brought 2 ties home, which I hadn't intended. I had intended to buy ties, put one on, and go chill in a parking lot close to the local company. But I had forgotten printed copies of my resume, as well as to write and print out a sheet of references. So I got that done, and headed back out.
The interview went much better than the earlier one had. The job is essentially the same job I had at Nikon, but this company is growing much faster. At the end of the interview, the interviewer told me he wanted to offer me the job. He still had some discussion with other people at the company, but that was likely my final interview. It would take some time to put an offer together.
This has been my first normal week of job hunting. I have had 3 interviews with 2 very interested and solid companies with good opportunities. In the next 2 weeks, the whole process could just be done. I expect we'll have 2 offers, and to have made a decision by Feb 1. Really unbelievable. All I can do is be grateful that by sheer, dumb luck, I was asked to interview for an interpretation contract at Nikon in 1998. Since then, I have been blessed beyond belief. And all those things that have happened since have brought me here.
365 #7 - Wednesday, January 11
Today I am thankful for unwitting assistance. My old employer does not match 401(k) contributions. They give every employee 3% instead. For the last 10 years, we have not put a penny away for retirement. But our employer, just by sheer luck for us, has saved a significant amount for us.
This morning we went to a local investment office to discuss what to do with the old 401(k). We ended up putting it all into a rollover IRA for now. The adviser was very friendly and knowledgeable. We like him. Turns out there are a lot of LDS financial planners.
We came home, and I ran around the neighborhood doing errands: drop something off, go to Goodwill, this and that. I got home, had lunch, and still felt very unsettled. I needed to study the things my new equipment lines would be doing. I needed a physics textbook. So I went to Powell's. The main store had some cheap Le Guin stuff I hadn't read. I hadn't touched any of her stuff except for Earthsea and Annals of the Western Shore until last week, when I read The Dispossessed. Which was phenomenal. So I picked up 3 books for $11, and headed across the street to the technical bookstore. I browsed through physics, had a book I thought might be useful and understandable, and had just about given up, but decided to ask before I left. The clerk pointed me to a small section on semiconductors. I read every spine, and after a few minutes I found Fundamentals of Microfabrication and Nanotechnology. It was perfect. It has 60 full pages, including useful diagrams, on the equipment the NY job uses. And the copyright on the book is 2012.
In the evening, still a little freaked out by the upcoming interview and lack of preparation for the NY interview, I left the house around 5, and hung out at the church. In the evening I met with the young men and talked about my time as a missionary in Japan.
Meanwhile, of course, Katrina found some more houses in NY, and we discussed things regarding the move. Never ends.
This morning we went to a local investment office to discuss what to do with the old 401(k). We ended up putting it all into a rollover IRA for now. The adviser was very friendly and knowledgeable. We like him. Turns out there are a lot of LDS financial planners.
We came home, and I ran around the neighborhood doing errands: drop something off, go to Goodwill, this and that. I got home, had lunch, and still felt very unsettled. I needed to study the things my new equipment lines would be doing. I needed a physics textbook. So I went to Powell's. The main store had some cheap Le Guin stuff I hadn't read. I hadn't touched any of her stuff except for Earthsea and Annals of the Western Shore until last week, when I read The Dispossessed. Which was phenomenal. So I picked up 3 books for $11, and headed across the street to the technical bookstore. I browsed through physics, had a book I thought might be useful and understandable, and had just about given up, but decided to ask before I left. The clerk pointed me to a small section on semiconductors. I read every spine, and after a few minutes I found Fundamentals of Microfabrication and Nanotechnology. It was perfect. It has 60 full pages, including useful diagrams, on the equipment the NY job uses. And the copyright on the book is 2012.
In the evening, still a little freaked out by the upcoming interview and lack of preparation for the NY interview, I left the house around 5, and hung out at the church. In the evening I met with the young men and talked about my time as a missionary in Japan.
Meanwhile, of course, Katrina found some more houses in NY, and we discussed things regarding the move. Never ends.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
365 #6 - Tuesday, January 10
Today I am thankful for common sense. I can not imagine how hard life would be if I were bereft of common sense. It helped me immensely in my job search today.
The NY company did not get back to me with travel arrangements yesterday, but I did have the HR person's name. So I did a little research, found her email and telephone numbers, left her a VM and email, and got on my way. I spent a few hours with my aunt on family history research, and we found some new things, and got some other things starting to roll. Often family history consists of 2 hours of searching and finding clues, 30 minutes of requesting a document, and 2 weeks of waiting.
While I was there, the company called to set up travel. I came home, sent my career counselor an update, booked a flight, and then got a call from the company's HR rep. She switched from a travel-to-the-interview mode to interview-the-candidate mode. We spent 20 minutes talking about pay and benefits. All the advice on interviews told me to not talk about this stuff until later in the process, but the company brought it up. So, with a dash of common sense, I engaged in the conversation and found out some things. At the end of the call, she sent me the company's complete benefits package, like I'd see in an offer letter.
The evening was spent at Cub Scouts - we made mousetrap catapults and used a block and tackle. Pretty cool stuff.
The NY company did not get back to me with travel arrangements yesterday, but I did have the HR person's name. So I did a little research, found her email and telephone numbers, left her a VM and email, and got on my way. I spent a few hours with my aunt on family history research, and we found some new things, and got some other things starting to roll. Often family history consists of 2 hours of searching and finding clues, 30 minutes of requesting a document, and 2 weeks of waiting.
While I was there, the company called to set up travel. I came home, sent my career counselor an update, booked a flight, and then got a call from the company's HR rep. She switched from a travel-to-the-interview mode to interview-the-candidate mode. We spent 20 minutes talking about pay and benefits. All the advice on interviews told me to not talk about this stuff until later in the process, but the company brought it up. So, with a dash of common sense, I engaged in the conversation and found out some things. At the end of the call, she sent me the company's complete benefits package, like I'd see in an offer letter.
The evening was spent at Cub Scouts - we made mousetrap catapults and used a block and tackle. Pretty cool stuff.
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