Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Job Hunt Slow
This job hunt is moving along slower than I'd like. I've been on a few interviews and talked to dozens of recruiters, but I'm not getting anywhere. So it's time to step up my efforts. I've created a new HTML version of my resume. I've set up Google Analytics so that I can figure out what's bringing people to my resume, and I've set up Google AdWords to drive traffic to my resume. But I want feedback from you my loyal readers. What can I do to improve my resume? What can I do to raise interest in me as a contractor? What would you do if you were me?
Thursday, October 12, 2006
On the Market Again
So it's not 100% official yet, but the word is, my contract with the Bank is going to end prematurely. This isn't through any fault of mine, so get that idea right out of your head. Turns out, that the contractor slots I and two others occupy were allocated for one year (starting at the beginning of the year) and even though I've only been contracted to the bank since August, those slots go away at the end of this year. And on top of that, since all the billing has to be completed by the end of the year, the actual time the contract comes to an end is roughly mid-November. Needless to say, I've spent the day on the phone with recruiters and updating my resume.
So the call goes out to anyone who may be reading my blog who happens to have a great job for me. "WILL WORK FOR FOOD!" OK, that's a little inaccurate. "Will work for money." Doesn't sound as good, but it's a lot closer to the truth.
So the call goes out to anyone who may be reading my blog who happens to have a great job for me. "WILL WORK FOR FOOD!" OK, that's a little inaccurate. "Will work for money." Doesn't sound as good, but it's a lot closer to the truth.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The roads are not safe!
It's been a long time since my last post! Too long maybe, but there really hasn't been much to report on. I'm still working, and my daily commute is so long, there's really no time to do anything worth talking about. I think the one big piece of news of late, and the reason I'm posting tonight, is that Zuli got her driver's license! So clear the roads! Here she comes!
OK. Well, so that's all I had to say? I guess so. Maybe once I get a new laptop with bluetooth that I can be online while I'm on the bus, I'll start blogging more. I have been working offline lately on a little project of mine that I'm not ready to go public with -- too many idea thieves out there who might do it before me if I let it out. Once again, it'll probably have to wait until I get my new laptop before I can really go anywhere with it.
I guess I did have a little more to say than I thought, but now I'm done. Really.
OK. Well, so that's all I had to say? I guess so. Maybe once I get a new laptop with bluetooth that I can be online while I'm on the bus, I'll start blogging more. I have been working offline lately on a little project of mine that I'm not ready to go public with -- too many idea thieves out there who might do it before me if I let it out. Once again, it'll probably have to wait until I get my new laptop before I can really go anywhere with it.
I guess I did have a little more to say than I thought, but now I'm done. Really.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The results are in! Out little Brittany won a one year contract with the Atlanta Film and Fashion Board for being "Best Child Talent" during the talent search finals. And we've got the DVD of the entire show for your viewing pleasure. Congratulations to Brittany. And now that she's got her own modeling career started, I'll be setting up her very own blog sometime very soon. Stay posted for the address.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
We just got back from Brittany's modeling finals. There was a photo shoot, a talent show, and a fashion show. We got video of the latter two, and I've got it up on Google Video. Everything went great except Brittany forgot her dance routine. :) Here's the video:
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
What a weekend! Or should I say, what an expensive weekend!
For starters, there was the party. It wasn't as big as last year's party, but there was still plenty of booze, and way too much BBQ. If you couldn't make it this year, maybe you can make it to the next one. We'll try to announce it a little more in advance this time. Don't yet know when it will be, because we're trying to get to Panama for Christmas this year. But if we're here, we'll probably host another New Year's party. If it's anything like last year, it should be a good time for all.
After spending Sunday recovering from the party, we spent Sunday shopping for outfits for Brittany's modeling finals next Sunday. We found most of what we needed, but there's more shopping coming this week.
That brings me to the most exiting news of the weekend. WE WON THE LOTTERY! Now before all my long lost cousins and new best friends start climbing out of the woodwork, it wasn't the jackpot. But we did win $300. Not even enough to pay for all the clothes we bought, but at least it paid for the party.
I've written enough now. My stylus hand is starting to cramp up.
OUT
For starters, there was the party. It wasn't as big as last year's party, but there was still plenty of booze, and way too much BBQ. If you couldn't make it this year, maybe you can make it to the next one. We'll try to announce it a little more in advance this time. Don't yet know when it will be, because we're trying to get to Panama for Christmas this year. But if we're here, we'll probably host another New Year's party. If it's anything like last year, it should be a good time for all.
After spending Sunday recovering from the party, we spent Sunday shopping for outfits for Brittany's modeling finals next Sunday. We found most of what we needed, but there's more shopping coming this week.
That brings me to the most exiting news of the weekend. WE WON THE LOTTERY! Now before all my long lost cousins and new best friends start climbing out of the woodwork, it wasn't the jackpot. But we did win $300. Not even enough to pay for all the clothes we bought, but at least it paid for the party.
I've written enough now. My stylus hand is starting to cramp up.
OUT
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Here I sit on the bus for the second time in as many days. For those of you who haven't yet heard, I've started a new contract. Well, I guess you could call it a contract. I got screwed into a W2 contract, which is almost as bad as a full time job. The taxes are every bit as high. The only saving grace is that I'm paid for the work I do, unlike those poor fools on salary stuck working 50, 60, or 80 hour weeks and not making a penny more than the slacker sitting next to them who makes no extra effort.
So the pay sucks, but the commute is worse. In order to arrive in time for my 8:30 daily status call, Brittany and I have to leave the house by 6:30, so that I can drop her off at school and still have time to drive 20 minutes to catch the bus at 7:00 to get to the train station by 8:00 to get to the office by 8:15. The return trip is just as bad.
So why am I putting myself through all of this? Two reasons. First, I need the money. My last gig had slowed to the point where I wasn't making enough to live on. Second, it'll look real good on my resume. I'm going to be doing performance analysis and capacity planning for a bank with 27000+ servers. It's huge! It's a great stepping stone on a career track towards becoming a Systems Architect large companies pay top dollar to have come in and plan a new system.
Anyway, my train is arriving, so off I go!
So the pay sucks, but the commute is worse. In order to arrive in time for my 8:30 daily status call, Brittany and I have to leave the house by 6:30, so that I can drop her off at school and still have time to drive 20 minutes to catch the bus at 7:00 to get to the train station by 8:00 to get to the office by 8:15. The return trip is just as bad.
So why am I putting myself through all of this? Two reasons. First, I need the money. My last gig had slowed to the point where I wasn't making enough to live on. Second, it'll look real good on my resume. I'm going to be doing performance analysis and capacity planning for a bank with 27000+ servers. It's huge! It's a great stepping stone on a career track towards becoming a Systems Architect large companies pay top dollar to have come in and plan a new system.
Anyway, my train is arriving, so off I go!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Brittany got the chance to audition for some modeling scouts. And she was chosen as a finalist! Here's the video of her audition.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Mmmmmm.. Baby Back Ribs!
Since they couldn't make it into town for Alex's graduation, Mili and Floyd and Richard came for a visit this past weekend instead. Since I was on call, and there wasn't much else to do, we decided to cook out and get drunk.
Zuli called and invited Micki and Dan and her brothers to the party and of course they accepted, but they showed up on "Panama Time", meaning the party didn't get started until 5pm even though it was planned for 3pm. Even though we got started a little late, it wasn't long before everyone was three sheets to the wind. We brought out the Ron Abuelo and the Seco, and Micki made margaritas. We even did a round of tequila shots.
Once the food was all cooked and eaten, the guys went downstairs to play a round of Texas Hold'em. This was my first time playing TH for money, but I even beat "Poker Floyd", the semi-professional poker player. Too bad it wasn't higher stakes!
Check out the pictures.
Zuli called and invited Micki and Dan and her brothers to the party and of course they accepted, but they showed up on "Panama Time", meaning the party didn't get started until 5pm even though it was planned for 3pm. Even though we got started a little late, it wasn't long before everyone was three sheets to the wind. We brought out the Ron Abuelo and the Seco, and Micki made margaritas. We even did a round of tequila shots.
Once the food was all cooked and eaten, the guys went downstairs to play a round of Texas Hold'em. This was my first time playing TH for money, but I even beat "Poker Floyd", the semi-professional poker player. Too bad it wasn't higher stakes!
Check out the pictures.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Well, my two week project out here in Silicon Valley is over. It's time to go home. It'll be good to get back and sleep in my own bed, even if it's only for a week or two. Because as it turns out, it looks very much like I'll be back here in just a short while. And this time, I'll be bringing the wife and kids, and we'll be staying awhile. That means in short order, I need to find a lawn care service to take care of the yard while we're away, and a new cell phone provider for while I'm out here. Normally, I'd just stick with what I've got (and I will), but T-Mobile pretty much sucks out here. I don't get any signal at all at the office where I'm working, and it's spotty at best in my hotel room and other key locations. I've already made reservations at a nice extended stay facility. Two bedroom apartment for the same price as a hotel room. Not bad. I could probably get something MUCH cheeper if I went through a realtor, but since the client is paying for T&E, and they'd normally be paying for a hotel room, I don't have a problem taking an apartment that costs the same amount. Makes my life easier when I don't have to also worry about setting up utilities.
Well, I've stayed up way too late mucking with my computer. After several hours of trying to get a desktop I liked out of Windowblinds and failing miserably, I just gave up and went back to my standard "Windows Classic" desktop. Black background, standard colors. Nothing fancy. Exactly what I was looking for in Windowblinds and couldn't find. That's the trouble with skins. They're almost always fancier than what you want. I like nice clean interfaces that don't have a lot of extra crap. Maybe that's why I like Google so much. For all the information they give you, it's extremely low key and clean. Google Talk is the same way. That's why I chose to use Gtalk as my primary interface and even set it up to communicate with my Yahoo!, MSN, and AIM contacts.
But I'm running on and on again.. It's really time I got to bed. I've got to fly out tomorrow and need to get some sleep.
Good night!
Well, I've stayed up way too late mucking with my computer. After several hours of trying to get a desktop I liked out of Windowblinds and failing miserably, I just gave up and went back to my standard "Windows Classic" desktop. Black background, standard colors. Nothing fancy. Exactly what I was looking for in Windowblinds and couldn't find. That's the trouble with skins. They're almost always fancier than what you want. I like nice clean interfaces that don't have a lot of extra crap. Maybe that's why I like Google so much. For all the information they give you, it's extremely low key and clean. Google Talk is the same way. That's why I chose to use Gtalk as my primary interface and even set it up to communicate with my Yahoo!, MSN, and AIM contacts.
But I'm running on and on again.. It's really time I got to bed. I've got to fly out tomorrow and need to get some sleep.
Good night!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Ok, so after I went to Napa, I took a quick look in the old GPS to see how far it was to Reno. I knew it wasn't too far away, and since I've never been, I figured I'd go check it out if I could. As it turns out, Reno is only a 2 hour drive from Napa. Plenty close enough for me to get out there by dark and start gambling.
Driving out there, I was quite surprised to start seeing small patches of snow. Keep in mind, I live in Atlanta, GA. We get a dusting of snow once or twice a year. This is late April. Spring time. Shorts and T-Shirt weather. I was NOT expecting snow. It had never even entered my mind. I knew I'd be driving through the mountains to get to Reno, but SNOW? And not just a little bit. There were stretches of road where the snow plowed to the side of the road was easily 9 feet deep. I just had to take some pictures. Besides, it was pretty too from the mountains.
The downside about not planning your trip to Reno is that there's no guarantee there will be anywhere to stay when you get there. Just about everyone was booked up. I got lucky after checking 5 other casinos and managed to get into a room at the Nugget which had just opened up. I dropped my "bags" in the room and went downstairs to find a place to eat. The buffet was closed, and the only food to be found that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg was in "Ruby's Cafe". Basically, Waffle House grade food. Actually, no. Waffle House food is better. But it was sustenance, and that's all I wanted.
I got to gambling around 11:30 or so. The only game I really like to play is Roulette. I found a $1 table and changed a Franklin. It took a little while for Lady Luck to find me, but after I'd lost about $60 or so, I went on a winning streak that shot me all the way up to about $250 dollars. I should have quit then, but I was there to play, not to win, so I kept going. Met some nice folks while I was at it. Even had a lengthy discussion about the origins of the word "Gringo" and the goods and the bads of illegal immigration with a local Mexican who was playing the table as well. The dealer said it's rare that he sees people talking about important stuff while playing and drinking, but it was a refreshing change. As it got later and later, my luck started to dwindle. I went back down to around $20, and almost gave up. I put my $20 on the middle column and it hit, putting me back up to $60. I did it again and went to $80. Then I hedged my bet by putting another $20 on the first column. Lucky thing I did, too. So I finished the night right where I started. Nothing lost, but nothing won. I went to bed about 3:30am.
That's where it got ugly. My lovely bride had apparently been calling for quite some time from Panama. I apparently had no signal. My lovely bride is very jealous. Put two and two together, you get one angry latina. It's two days later and she's still ticked at me. And I still don't know what I did wrong.
But that's life in the fast lane!
Driving out there, I was quite surprised to start seeing small patches of snow. Keep in mind, I live in Atlanta, GA. We get a dusting of snow once or twice a year. This is late April. Spring time. Shorts and T-Shirt weather. I was NOT expecting snow. It had never even entered my mind. I knew I'd be driving through the mountains to get to Reno, but SNOW? And not just a little bit. There were stretches of road where the snow plowed to the side of the road was easily 9 feet deep. I just had to take some pictures. Besides, it was pretty too from the mountains.
The downside about not planning your trip to Reno is that there's no guarantee there will be anywhere to stay when you get there. Just about everyone was booked up. I got lucky after checking 5 other casinos and managed to get into a room at the Nugget which had just opened up. I dropped my "bags" in the room and went downstairs to find a place to eat. The buffet was closed, and the only food to be found that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg was in "Ruby's Cafe". Basically, Waffle House grade food. Actually, no. Waffle House food is better. But it was sustenance, and that's all I wanted.
I got to gambling around 11:30 or so. The only game I really like to play is Roulette. I found a $1 table and changed a Franklin. It took a little while for Lady Luck to find me, but after I'd lost about $60 or so, I went on a winning streak that shot me all the way up to about $250 dollars. I should have quit then, but I was there to play, not to win, so I kept going. Met some nice folks while I was at it. Even had a lengthy discussion about the origins of the word "Gringo" and the goods and the bads of illegal immigration with a local Mexican who was playing the table as well. The dealer said it's rare that he sees people talking about important stuff while playing and drinking, but it was a refreshing change. As it got later and later, my luck started to dwindle. I went back down to around $20, and almost gave up. I put my $20 on the middle column and it hit, putting me back up to $60. I did it again and went to $80. Then I hedged my bet by putting another $20 on the first column. Lucky thing I did, too. So I finished the night right where I started. Nothing lost, but nothing won. I went to bed about 3:30am.
That's where it got ugly. My lovely bride had apparently been calling for quite some time from Panama. I apparently had no signal. My lovely bride is very jealous. Put two and two together, you get one angry latina. It's two days later and she's still ticked at me. And I still don't know what I did wrong.
But that's life in the fast lane!
Rather than be trapped in my hotel for the weekend, I decided I'd take a road trip to Napa Valley on Saturday. I did a quick google search to see what wineries were in the area, picked one that I knew the name, and sent the address to my cell phone. I'd say that's a pretty good use of Google Maps. Anyway, I then went to the car and transcribed the address from my cell phone to the GPS and off I went to the Beringer Vineyards.
Now, I know next to nothing about wine. I know my favorites are White Merlot and White Zinfandel. The true white wines are too sweet, and the full red wines leave a bitter taste in my mouth. But I figured I'd learn something, so I signed up for the "Taste of Beringer" tour. I had to wait a couple hours for this, so I amused myself by taking some photos with my cell phone, and browsing through the two gift shops. I didn't find anything really great to buy, but I couldn't leave without at least buying something, so I picked up a variety pack of wines and a DVD that teaches about wine (after the tour of course).
So the tour wasn't very exiting. As predicted, they took us into the caves, showed us a bunch of barrels they use for aging wine, showed us Jacob and Frederick's wine collection, and gave us a lot of pretty useless information. What I did like was the wine tasting. I've never done a wine tasting before. The tour included a "flight" of 3 different reserve wines, a Chardonnay, a Merlot, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I could stomach the Chardonnay, but neither the Merlot and the Cabernet appealed to me. I'm not saying that means they were not good wines. There were plenty of people there who were quite impressed by the quality of the reds. I just don't have a taste for red wine -- yet. I didn't have a taste for beer when I was 16 either, but boy did that change when I got to college! I'm going to take a crack at learning to drink wine like a connoisseur, thus the DVD. Maybe I'll even make a hobby out of it.
Well, as the great Forrest Gump used to say, "That's all I have to say about that." Not the greatest ending to my fine story, but there's really nothing more to tell.
Now, I know next to nothing about wine. I know my favorites are White Merlot and White Zinfandel. The true white wines are too sweet, and the full red wines leave a bitter taste in my mouth. But I figured I'd learn something, so I signed up for the "Taste of Beringer" tour. I had to wait a couple hours for this, so I amused myself by taking some photos with my cell phone, and browsing through the two gift shops. I didn't find anything really great to buy, but I couldn't leave without at least buying something, so I picked up a variety pack of wines and a DVD that teaches about wine (after the tour of course).
So the tour wasn't very exiting. As predicted, they took us into the caves, showed us a bunch of barrels they use for aging wine, showed us Jacob and Frederick's wine collection, and gave us a lot of pretty useless information. What I did like was the wine tasting. I've never done a wine tasting before. The tour included a "flight" of 3 different reserve wines, a Chardonnay, a Merlot, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I could stomach the Chardonnay, but neither the Merlot and the Cabernet appealed to me. I'm not saying that means they were not good wines. There were plenty of people there who were quite impressed by the quality of the reds. I just don't have a taste for red wine -- yet. I didn't have a taste for beer when I was 16 either, but boy did that change when I got to college! I'm going to take a crack at learning to drink wine like a connoisseur, thus the DVD. Maybe I'll even make a hobby out of it.
Well, as the great Forrest Gump used to say, "That's all I have to say about that." Not the greatest ending to my fine story, but there's really nothing more to tell.
Monday, April 24, 2006
I'm sort of starting to think about maybe someday moving my ergophobia.org domain away from my "free" web hosting company. I've recently moved my DNS to FreeDNS by afraid.org, and my e-mail to Google for Domains. I've been using Flickr for awhile now to host my photos. And since I'm both a Google fanatic and a lazy slacker, I thought I might as well move my blog to a free hosting system owned by Google. Now the only work I have to do is post (a massive undertaking for me, I'll admit). Granted I lose a little bit in the functionality department. I did have my blog in Wordpress that I could do just about anything with using plug-ins, but I'm using an old version and don't feel like making the effort to upgrade it. Besides, my free hosting is only free until the hosting provider realizes I haven't given them any money in a couple of years and shuts me off. Can't have that happen!
It's a shame Blogger doesn't give me the ability to import. I guess this will just have to become my first post on the new system. I'll keep the old blog around for as long as I can, but since nobody reads it, I'm sure it'll die off sooner than later.
So welcome to my "new and improved" Fear of Work blog! Maybe this time I'll keep it more up to date!
It's a shame Blogger doesn't give me the ability to import. I guess this will just have to become my first post on the new system. I'll keep the old blog around for as long as I can, but since nobody reads it, I'm sure it'll die off sooner than later.
So welcome to my "new and improved" Fear of Work blog! Maybe this time I'll keep it more up to date!
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