Monday, June 19, 2006
Ocean View
I just switched cubes. I'm now sharing an office with 4 people, but there are cube partitions. The interesting part is that I have an ocean view! I'll admit it's a somewhat small view of the ocean between some trees, but still a lot better than a view of the next cube.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
New Job, New Place, New City
A few things have happened since the last post, hopefully I'll catch most of them but I'll probably miss some.
I had my last day at work which went fairly smoothly. Of course there was some awkwardness, especially at the very end when I got around to telling some of the people in the extended group I worked in, but nothing too bad.
Finding an apartment was an interesting experience. I drove down to San Clemente a couple of times and looked around at what's available. Finding apartments is such an odd experience. Everyone seems to think that first come first serve is this obviously fair system but I think it's really just terrible for everyone (well the buyers, I'm sure it works great for the sellers). Not sure what I would replace it with but the line the apartment will probably still be available next week but someone could come and take it at any moment just says to me that it is a bad system. I sorta see how it would benefit sellers, but if the buyer has any backbone it shouldn't make that much difference. Anyway enough of that rant.
So I decided on two apartment communities I like the most (I know community is a bit silly, but they aren't really apartment buildings since it's a group of buildings and you enter your apartment from the outside). After going back and forth I decided to save some money and go for the cheaper one. I went through the hoops required to get a reservation without being there in person. Next day I called to discuss the reservation I put on 15G and they mentioned they actually had 6J which was in a better spot so I switched to it. Then that night I started having some buyer's remorse. Next day I call again and find out that 6J won't be available when I need it and 15G was just rented by someone else. It took me a moment to get over the fact that while the situation was absurd there was nothing they could/would do. So I canceled the reservation (took a couple repetitions of "it's your fault so you won't keep any of the money I sent you" before they caught on), faxed an application to the other place before they even opened and then called and claimed the one available one bedroom.
Anyway soon after my last day at work my dad flew out to Carp to help me move. This move was the full do it yourself budget truck move, although luckily between my dad, brother, and Jess helping it turned out to not be too bad and I enjoyed spending time will all of them. Thank you Dad, Eric and Jess! Especially thanks to dad for flying out and dealing with sleeping on my floor, having you out here was a huge help and it was fun spending time with you. I'm doing a terrible job of telling this in order but somewhere in there I saw Len and Stanley to say goodbye and it was good seeing both of them.
One funny moving story is that Susanna and I had bought an old fold out couch off craig's list when we moved to carp. I always thought it was quite ugly but was cool with the low price as a starter couch. Moving a fold out couch is not something that I was looking to do so I tried out craigslist but with little luck (I think I made the mistake of posting a picture). So I gave up and called the salvation army (yes I do have some issues with the salvation army, but goodwill wouldn't come out to carp and I really didn't want to move the thing myself). So the salvation army guys came out, took a quick look at the couch and decided that it wasn't in good enough condition for them to take it. I don't think I'm particularly rich but I would like to think I'm beyond the charity won't take my stuff point... Well, my dad offered them $20 and all of a sudden they were willing to take it and throw it away for us. Not quite sure if they were looking for a tip or if they really couldn't use it but that was a bit of a shock (especially since it happened at 8 am and I still had the morning daze going).
So far I really like San Clemente it's still a beach town but bigger than Carpinteria so a bit more going on and more interesting beach. I can't walk to the beach like I could in Carp but it's a short drive. At first I was a little bummed about not being able to walk to the beach and then I mentioned it to my brother and he gave me an are you crazy look and since then I've gotten over it.
I went to my first 3 days of work. I can't imagine that many people have had an exciting first 3 days of work and this didn't break the trend. But it does look like things will pick up very soon. Well it did pick up some on Friday when at 10 am my boss's boss stopped by my cube to tell me that since the senior analog engineer isn't around they want me to interview a technician at 10:30. Luckily I was able to spend the 45 minutes quizzing the guy and avoided him asking me any questions about the company I had worked for for 3 days. Friday was also fun because a group of people from work played flag football during lunch. I think the last time I played a sport during work was golf during an internship in high school. Football was a lot of fun and did a good job of breaking up the day. Another thing I like about the company is they know how to motivate young workers - free food. It's nothing like the stories from Silicon Valley during the '90s but there's some free drinks and dinner at 6:30 and bagels Friday morning. One other thing I find interesting and somewhat amusing is that it sort of reminds me of The Office - not all the terrible, super uncomfortable stuff in the show, but more the background of a smallish group of people occupying one floor of a building with a receptionist at the front door (Cameron actually has more than one floor but most everyone I interact with is on one floor). Also since the company is small enough I'm not tucked back in an engineering area so there's a greater variety of people and people are more social (I'm sure at most companies certain areas are very social but if you create large enough of an engineering only area I think it gets very quiet). I realize this is a bit odd but I also think the people are more attractive (both men and women) than at other companies I've seen. It could just be that the people are younger or that I'm just making something up or being in the OC or the whole not being surrounded by engineers thing again. I'm not trying to say that engineers are ugly, silent people but I do think there are certain trends.
One new thing I'm trying since moving into the new place is not getting cable. Somehow my brother convinced me to try it. It's working fairly well so far (I've spent more time out and I've read a few books since moving in). The only issue I've had is since I need a constant noise source it takes a bit more effort to make sure my radio or something on the computer is playing.
A few other events - met up with Eric and Jess a couple times since moving down here. First time was for a bon fire on Huntington Beach (thanks for the hot dogs and s'mores) and second time they came down here and we hung out on the beach and went up to Laguna for dinner. Both were a very good time.
This weekend I did some more beach time and some reading on my deck. Ah - one interesting aspect of the new apartment is that the deck has a nice view of the hills (well a few power lines mess it up a bit but I ignore those) and part of the view is Camp Pendleton. Not a whole lot to see there other than barracks but if you're on the deck and real quite you can sometimes hear them yelling yes sir and once heard the horns playing.
So overall I'm pretty excited about the new place and new job. If you're ever looking for a beach vacation just let me know and you can have free accommodations with pool and hot tub, 5 miles from the ocean.
I had my last day at work which went fairly smoothly. Of course there was some awkwardness, especially at the very end when I got around to telling some of the people in the extended group I worked in, but nothing too bad.
Finding an apartment was an interesting experience. I drove down to San Clemente a couple of times and looked around at what's available. Finding apartments is such an odd experience. Everyone seems to think that first come first serve is this obviously fair system but I think it's really just terrible for everyone (well the buyers, I'm sure it works great for the sellers). Not sure what I would replace it with but the line the apartment will probably still be available next week but someone could come and take it at any moment just says to me that it is a bad system. I sorta see how it would benefit sellers, but if the buyer has any backbone it shouldn't make that much difference. Anyway enough of that rant.
So I decided on two apartment communities I like the most (I know community is a bit silly, but they aren't really apartment buildings since it's a group of buildings and you enter your apartment from the outside). After going back and forth I decided to save some money and go for the cheaper one. I went through the hoops required to get a reservation without being there in person. Next day I called to discuss the reservation I put on 15G and they mentioned they actually had 6J which was in a better spot so I switched to it. Then that night I started having some buyer's remorse. Next day I call again and find out that 6J won't be available when I need it and 15G was just rented by someone else. It took me a moment to get over the fact that while the situation was absurd there was nothing they could/would do. So I canceled the reservation (took a couple repetitions of "it's your fault so you won't keep any of the money I sent you" before they caught on), faxed an application to the other place before they even opened and then called and claimed the one available one bedroom.
Anyway soon after my last day at work my dad flew out to Carp to help me move. This move was the full do it yourself budget truck move, although luckily between my dad, brother, and Jess helping it turned out to not be too bad and I enjoyed spending time will all of them. Thank you Dad, Eric and Jess! Especially thanks to dad for flying out and dealing with sleeping on my floor, having you out here was a huge help and it was fun spending time with you. I'm doing a terrible job of telling this in order but somewhere in there I saw Len and Stanley to say goodbye and it was good seeing both of them.
One funny moving story is that Susanna and I had bought an old fold out couch off craig's list when we moved to carp. I always thought it was quite ugly but was cool with the low price as a starter couch. Moving a fold out couch is not something that I was looking to do so I tried out craigslist but with little luck (I think I made the mistake of posting a picture). So I gave up and called the salvation army (yes I do have some issues with the salvation army, but goodwill wouldn't come out to carp and I really didn't want to move the thing myself). So the salvation army guys came out, took a quick look at the couch and decided that it wasn't in good enough condition for them to take it. I don't think I'm particularly rich but I would like to think I'm beyond the charity won't take my stuff point... Well, my dad offered them $20 and all of a sudden they were willing to take it and throw it away for us. Not quite sure if they were looking for a tip or if they really couldn't use it but that was a bit of a shock (especially since it happened at 8 am and I still had the morning daze going).
So far I really like San Clemente it's still a beach town but bigger than Carpinteria so a bit more going on and more interesting beach. I can't walk to the beach like I could in Carp but it's a short drive. At first I was a little bummed about not being able to walk to the beach and then I mentioned it to my brother and he gave me an are you crazy look and since then I've gotten over it.
I went to my first 3 days of work. I can't imagine that many people have had an exciting first 3 days of work and this didn't break the trend. But it does look like things will pick up very soon. Well it did pick up some on Friday when at 10 am my boss's boss stopped by my cube to tell me that since the senior analog engineer isn't around they want me to interview a technician at 10:30. Luckily I was able to spend the 45 minutes quizzing the guy and avoided him asking me any questions about the company I had worked for for 3 days. Friday was also fun because a group of people from work played flag football during lunch. I think the last time I played a sport during work was golf during an internship in high school. Football was a lot of fun and did a good job of breaking up the day. Another thing I like about the company is they know how to motivate young workers - free food. It's nothing like the stories from Silicon Valley during the '90s but there's some free drinks and dinner at 6:30 and bagels Friday morning. One other thing I find interesting and somewhat amusing is that it sort of reminds me of The Office - not all the terrible, super uncomfortable stuff in the show, but more the background of a smallish group of people occupying one floor of a building with a receptionist at the front door (Cameron actually has more than one floor but most everyone I interact with is on one floor). Also since the company is small enough I'm not tucked back in an engineering area so there's a greater variety of people and people are more social (I'm sure at most companies certain areas are very social but if you create large enough of an engineering only area I think it gets very quiet). I realize this is a bit odd but I also think the people are more attractive (both men and women) than at other companies I've seen. It could just be that the people are younger or that I'm just making something up or being in the OC or the whole not being surrounded by engineers thing again. I'm not trying to say that engineers are ugly, silent people but I do think there are certain trends.
One new thing I'm trying since moving into the new place is not getting cable. Somehow my brother convinced me to try it. It's working fairly well so far (I've spent more time out and I've read a few books since moving in). The only issue I've had is since I need a constant noise source it takes a bit more effort to make sure my radio or something on the computer is playing.
A few other events - met up with Eric and Jess a couple times since moving down here. First time was for a bon fire on Huntington Beach (thanks for the hot dogs and s'mores) and second time they came down here and we hung out on the beach and went up to Laguna for dinner. Both were a very good time.
This weekend I did some more beach time and some reading on my deck. Ah - one interesting aspect of the new apartment is that the deck has a nice view of the hills (well a few power lines mess it up a bit but I ignore those) and part of the view is Camp Pendleton. Not a whole lot to see there other than barracks but if you're on the deck and real quite you can sometimes hear them yelling yes sir and once heard the horns playing.
So overall I'm pretty excited about the new place and new job. If you're ever looking for a beach vacation just let me know and you can have free accommodations with pool and hot tub, 5 miles from the ocean.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
The David Driving Challenge
Do you dare take the David Driving Challenge?
Rules:
Pick an 11 month period of time. Drive a stupid number of miles.
How to win:
Drive more than 27,000 miles (approximately 2,000 miles greater than the Earth's circumference) in those 11 months.
Bonus points:
During this time use approximately 1,125 gallons of gasoline (approximately 22 barrels of oil).
Double bonus points:
Do it all because of a girlfriend who becomes an ex during those 11 months.
Prize:
You just made a major contribution to destroying the environment - you don't get a prize! (Well, unless you count driving along the coast in your convertible.)
Round Two:
Live within 5 miles of work for the next several years to average out all the damage you have done.
Rules:
Pick an 11 month period of time. Drive a stupid number of miles.
How to win:
Drive more than 27,000 miles (approximately 2,000 miles greater than the Earth's circumference) in those 11 months.
Bonus points:
During this time use approximately 1,125 gallons of gasoline (approximately 22 barrels of oil).
Double bonus points:
Do it all because of a girlfriend who becomes an ex during those 11 months.
Prize:
You just made a major contribution to destroying the environment - you don't get a prize! (Well, unless you count driving along the coast in your convertible.)
Round Two:
Live within 5 miles of work for the next several years to average out all the damage you have done.
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