The Crooked and the Straight

Well, I made it back to Cleveland in one piece, and with all my luggage intact. I flew there from Seattle through Charlotte, which might seem odd to some people, but it avoids Denver, Chicago, and Detroit (the 3 most common connecting points for SEA->CLE) which I feel is always wise to do in the winter. Plus, the Charlotte airport has these awesome rocking chairs scattered throughout the terminal. Best layover chairs ever.

My flight out into Cleveland was on a little Embraer EMB-145, which is a little 3-across jet. The attendants at the gate first announced that the flight was overbooked, so I volunteered to give up my seat in exchange for a seat on the next flight 4 hours later, plus a free lunch and a free round-trip ticket anywhere the airline flew. But (un)fortunately, they had several no-shows for the flight so I was able to get into Cleveland as scheduled. Not that I minded avoiding a 4-hour extension to my layover, but a free ticket would have been pretty nice. Maybe next time I'll have the fortune of being more unlucky.

Today was my first day of work and they let me drive a forklift. I even managed to pick up palettes of stuff without causing too much destruction. Assuming that they can patch up the roof and that the lift still works after they put the fire out, I might get some more practice soon.

Posted at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This weekend will be my last in Seattle for a while. On Sunday night I'll be flying back to Cleveland for Christmas, New Years, and a new job doing some independent consulting work. Since leaving Microsoft, I've decided on following a course of action in two parts: One, to find a job--preferably at a small company--that is very different from the one I had at MS but where my skills are still applicable. Two, pursue a graduate degree in a field unrelated to Computer Science.

The first part is important to me because I really believe that variety is the spice of life. The only way I can find new and interesting things to learn is by trying something I've never done before. The beginning of a new project where I am at the bottom of a new learning curve is the most intimidating time, but also the most exhilarating time. The prospect of learning new skills and gaining new knowledge is almost as motivating as the prospect of successfully delivering a finished product.

As for part two, well, the biggest regret I have from all the time I spent in school is that I didn't take the opportunity to really immerse myself in the study of anything outside of the CompSci curriculum. (Some might argue that I didn't take the opportunity to immerse myself in the study of CompSci either, but those people suffer from a peculiar kind of delusion.) I'm not sure what it is I'd like to study, but for the sake of throwing out a crazy idea, I'll just say that the field of environmental economics looks rather appealing. And importantly, that subject possesses a sufficient geek quotient so as to ensure that I remain forever and tragically unhip.

I haven't yet been able to satisfactorily fulfill Part One here in Seattle, so for the time being I am casting a wider net and heading Midwest-ward to take up work that will involve computers, hardhats, and (possibly) forklift-driving.

So off to Cleveland I go.

Continue reading "GOSUB Cleveland" »

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Last year, I took part in the NaNoWriMo project whose goal is to get people to write 50,000 words or more of original fiction during the month of November. I reached the word count last year, although the result was about 2,500 words of readable fiction lost in a sea of 47,500 words of utter nonsense.

My second attempt this year proved a dismal failure; I barely eked out 2,500 words. There are plenty of excuses I could offer, but my heart just wasn't in it this time around. Maybe next year. I had a grand scheme for a story based on the premise that there are three things, three levers, that determine how people live and interact: money, politics, and religion. The problem is that I never really figured out what kind of story it was supposed to be. Since I never sorted out the overall shape of the story in my head, I couldn't get it down on paper.

I've posted the unfinished start of the story, for whatever reason: The Lever of Faith.

NaNoWriMo is a really amazing project, though--I strongly encourage people to sign up come next October and give it a try. I'm sure I'll be back again.

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Dare sums it up pretty well in his entry, "On Moving On From Microsoft in 5 Years ":

...I don't think the Microsoft culture and the direction from its executive leadership lends itself to building great consumer-centric software... Of course, it's not only customers that get the short end of the stick. Employees also have the consequences of this kind of thinking to deal with as well. The primary way this manifests itself is integrated innovation, a buzzword that translates to more dependencies among shipping products, less control of one's product destiny and longer ship cycles. A lot of the frustration you see in the comments in places like the Mini-Microsoft blog are a direct consequence of this focus by our executive leadership."

I don't miss Microsoft. A few years ago I never thought I'd say something like that, and it makes me a little sad.

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Dear Dad,

I'm sorry, but every time I get an email from you it freaks me out a little. You'd think that I'd be used to it by now, us having the same name and all. I mean, how many years did we have to sort the mail? For a while it wasn't a problem: Bills--Dad. Highlights magazine--Me. But once I got into high school and college, it got a little stranger. But never that difficult.

Heck, we still have to put up with it. Like the time I got a call from GEICO asking me about an auto insurance claim that they said I made in Ohio? When I was living in Seattle? (By the way, they still seem to be confused about that, the poor bastards. I guess I still have some phone calls to make.)

Regardless, I still do a double-take when I get an email from you, though, because I always think it was something I had sent to myself (or CC:ed to myself or something)--because I do that kind of thing for perfectly understandable reasons of course--and I start reading it and I'm thinking to myself, "What the hell? I don't remember writing this at all!" And then I do this little mental dance to try and figure out if it's been a full moon recently or if I've been ingesting any strange potions from test tubes or sleeping in coffins and avoiding garlic. And then I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror to make sure I haven't lept into my body at some other point in time in my life because I'm here to set right something that once went wrong. Nope, no holographic womanziers around or anything.

Then about two or three sentences in, I've got it all figured out. "Ah ha!" I cry, usually just to myself in my head (but sometimes out loud...okay maybe usually out loud), "I'm not crazy!" And then I do a little yay-I'm-still-not-completely-insane dance. And then sometimes it starts raining. (I don't know why, but it might have something to do with the head dress or the voodoo effigies.)

Anyhow, I'm really glad that you're all hip to this email thing, Dad, but really--couldn't you just ring me instead?

Love,
--Joe
(your son Joe, not you, Joe)

Posted at 03:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The rest of the Alaska pictures are up: Alaska trip

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I've discovered a fatal flaw in my clever plan to have a mobile phone as my only phone: When your mobile phone goes on the fritz, it's hard to call technical support.

Long story short: A few days ago, phone workey. Sometime after that, phone no workey. (For making calls, workey. For receiving calls, no workey.) Joe wonder why nobody call him back. Joe discover phone broken. Joe visit Cingular store. Joe explain problem. Cingular give Joe new phone. New phone no workey. Try new SIM card. Also no workey. Joe get angry. JOE SMASH. Cingular say "We are working on it." Joe cry.

Hopefully things will be resolved tonight but until then, if you've been trying to get in touch with me, I haven't been ignoring you. Please try email.

[Update: phone works again.]

Posted at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks, Mom! For the next year I can claim to be perfect.

Posted at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been told that I haven't been writing enough here lately. "Hey Joe," they say, "you quit your job and you seem to have a lot of free time, so what have you been up to?"

Sadly, the answer to that question isn't as nearly as interesting as you might hope. The simple answer is that I've been relaxing, decompressing, and enjoying my free time.

For right now, though, I am thoroughly enjoying having an almost entirely unstructured schedule. Suck it, Outlook!

Posted at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was my last day at Microsoft. I decided to leave to do other things. It was a bittersweet ending, but it was the right decision to leave.

This is the email that I sent to my friends and coworkers when I announced I would be leaving:

My last three years at Microsoft have been tumultuous, challenging, and rewarding. It has been my pleasure work with all of you--I am enriched by your creativity, your intellectual curiosity, and your camaraderie. Now I’ve decided that it is time for me to find new adventures and new challenges. My last day of work will be Wednesday, May 4th. For those who wish to reach me after that date, you may do so at joe@headblender.com. You have been my teachers and mentors; I will miss you and I hope to hear from you again.

"One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to him, 'Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?' Manjusri replied, 'I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?'"

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, be they in the realm of atoms or of bits.

Take care,
--Joe

I feel like I should write more about it. Maybe later.

Posted at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Things i have been amusing myself with, now that I wear glasses:

• reading signs at a greater distance


• practicing looking over the top of my glasses at someone in a questioning manner


• covering my left (good) eye and reading a book with my right eye


• taking my glasses off with one hand and then dramatically rubbing my eyes with the back of the same hand so as to indicate fatigue


• resting my chin on the back of my hand holding my glasses and trying to look like I am deep in thought


• when someone asks me a question, taking off my glasses, looking down, and rubbing the lenses with my shirt while saying "well, that's a very intersting question..."


• judging distances with greater accuracy thanks to a more acute perception of depth

Posted at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

As it turns out, I need glasses. So I'm getting some.

Guy Helping Me Pick Out Frames: "What kind of frames do you want?"
Me: "I don't know. I've never had glasses before, and I have a giant melon of a head."
Guy: "I think I can help you out there."
Me: "Cool."

Come next Wednesday, we shall see how helpful he really was.

Posted at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This is my blog. There are many like it but this one is mine.

Okay, we're back. New name, new layout. All the old entries are gone, so all your hyperlinks have been broken. No, the old entries and comments aren't coming back. I stopped writing for many reasons, but mostly because it wasn't fun any more. Hopefully I can figure out how to make it fun again.

I thought I'd try a clean start, but I make no promises. I'm only here to entertain myself, although you're welcome to come along for the ride.

Posted at 02:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)