My Job is Like ... A Roller Coaster! Baby, Baby!

Well no details, but there's alot of ups and downs. I'm just wondering if it ends as all carnival attractions do: a vague sense of nausea and a lingering feeling you just got ripped off.

Anyways....

Facebook is pretty darn interesting. I've connected with folks I haven't seen in decades in some cases. Much cleaner interface than MySpace and fewer cam girls. I think that's actually a bonus all things considered.

The apartment is shaping up and I've finalized my to-buy furniture list:

Bookshelf (I've hit critical mass)

Small Dresser (combination night stand and storage)

Small Coffee Table (with some storage and also with wheels)

Small Bookshelf (yes, that much overflow)

Throw Rug for the living room (something with geometric patterns)

I also need to pick up cork for the legs of furniture, chairs etc. The laminate floor is easier to maintain, but it's pretty cheap: it scratched when I dropped a peanut butter sandwich on it.

And maybe, no probably a bed frame: the one I have I inherited from one of my parents. It has a busted wheel and is all bent out of shape. So I do need a new one, preferably with a headboard and bed posts. You know, all grown-up like.

I could make a joke about bedposts. And not about gum. But I won't cuz that's just depressing. Or maybe encouraging?

Fortress of Solitude

Yessir, the FoS is shaping up okay. I have the bathroom, kitchen and most of my room set up: now it's just about arranging furniture and storing Lego.

There's a couple of little idiosyncrasies of course.

First there's the bathroom: I can see the bottom of my chin in the mirror, but nothing further up. Which is probably a good idea first thing in the morning.

Second: I have no idea where to put my garbage.

Third, the dishwasher, which you have to lug into position and attach to the kitchen tap, doesn't attach to the kitchen tap.

Laminate floor also hurts your feet when you walk on it after a while.

But all in all, its pretty good. I'm going to like it here. As soon as I can get rid of the garbage...

Objects in Motion. Heavy Objects.

Well the move is done, save the cleaning. The old place needs to be scrubbed a bit more, but I was too damned tired to finish. The new place needs a good scrub as well. The previous tenants went from "out a week before hand" to "we don't wanna go!". Still, my land-lady gave 'em the bum rush. I just have to clean up a bit.

Thanks great and large go to Capa, London Bridge and Medium Dave. They actually made the move fun. Food and drinks after was a blast as well.

It's so quiet here. Almost no street noise and no street "people". I don't know if I can get used to this. Wait, yes I do.

Anyways, short post as I'm am in rough shape. At least there was no snow this time around.

Prozac?

Okay yesterday's post is a bit harsh. I kind of figured out today that nobody where I work has done enterprise level software, including the architect (hoo-boy...). My assumption was they have had at least a taste of it.

I have my work cut out for me.

And of course, what did I say the other day? That the only thing that could go wrong would be my truck rental? Am I psychic or what?

I called U-haul to confirm my truck reservation. They still had my reservation and then told me that I can only have the truck until three in the afternoon. I can't move into my new place until 5:30 that day. I've called my new landlady to see if I could move up the time, but I haven't heard back.

Go Google "Uhaul sucks". I am not alone.

So for those who are helping me out, I'm not sure what time we'll be done. There may be a good 3 hour stretch where I'm guarding all of my belongings sitting on a sidewalk.

Love moving....

Update: My new land-lady, I mean building manager has allowed me to move in to the new place Friday afternoon. I'm not used to having a building manager who is sympathetic, kind and willing to out of her way to help.

Have I mentioned that she is cute? She is cute.

To Quote Han Solo...

... ahhhh, you know how it goes.

The new job is starting to be, well, annoying. Maybe that's not the right word.

As reported earlier, the guy who hired me quit about a month after I started. Which means he submitted his resignation two weeks after I started. Which means he was already thinking very, very hard about leaving when he hired me.

But with this market, it happens. So if everything else is okay, it's just a blip on the radar.

That's not the only contact on the screen though.

Since I started, most of my team has either been on vacation, away on training or both: so trying to implement team-wide changes tends to be difficult when you can't get them in the same room. As holiday season closes with the long weekend, this shouldn't be a problem anymore. But I've already seen that a healthy work ethic is ... I won't say absent, but it ain't doin' too hot.

When trying to implement the smallest of changes (say, for example, that I want a chance to review all service tickets before they are closed to get an idea on how much and what we do for maintenance) it took about three weeks before I was getting over 50% of them.

Don't get me started about trying to get them to report their time on a weekly basis.

Today raised a huge red flag: a big project I got dumped on me had to be architected, as the newly appointed architect was away on afore-mentioned training and holiday. It's pretty basic stuff: abstraction of the interfaces to a third party provider.

One of the developers (the one I know is going to be a continual source of resistance) didn't understand why I designed it this way. So I explained it.

When I got back from interviewing a guy who had no business calling himself a software developer, I found the member of my team with the questions asking the architect on why it's being done this way. After it was agreed that we were doing this way. And not just "agree-to-disagree". The developer did say that advice from the architect was needed, and I agreed to that. I had thought that it would happen when I was actually present.

At first, the architect defended the design, agreeing that a level of abstraction was required. The developer persisted and under an onslaught of pestering, the architect relented and said he'd think about it. The really annoying thing is that the developer is really good technically at a code level, but a severe lack of understanding of building enterprise-level applications is pretty much pervasive in the team.

Does not bode well. And something tells me I shouldn't be publishing this.

But then again the three-month probationary period works both way, and we're half way through. I don't particularly like the idea of starting the job hunt all over again. If I learned one thing from my last place of employment though, it's that you need to look after your own damn self.

A bit mercenary, but so was our dear captain of the Millennium Falcon.

Hate. Moving.

So I'm mostly packed up. Except for one each of: bowl, spoon, knife, fork, plate, frying pan, sauce pot, coffee mug, tiki mug in the kitchen and clothing for the week.

And some other stuff, like the bathroom in it's entirety. And my DvDs are in boxes, which I've dug through twice to find "The Beastmaster". And Akira Kurosawa collections.

Oh! And my computer of course.

One ray of sunshine: the landlord wants to do the walk through on Saturday evening, so i have a whole day to clean.

Now I just have to confirm my truck reservation; it's the only thing stopping me now! That and snow. Or getting hospitalized for some reason.

hate. moving.

Load 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out!

Little bro' is now in his dinky little rented room, which means I have the place to myself. But no wild parties: it's packing time!

For the past week I've been going though the accumulated detritus of the last year. I haven't accumulated all that much within that time, but the monstrous baggage of being an alpha-geek (okay, maybe a theta-geek) mounts up.

The famous Lego collection is still intact, with a few additions in the past little while. My DvD collection has doubled in the past few months due to some wonderful discoveries in the bargain bins. I've moved on to my third comic-book box (although I will be doing a purge of that in the new place). Surprisingly, my computer game collection has barely expanded at all. In fact after today it will shrink by quite a bit.

All in all, the "toys" will account for about half the boxes to be moved this Friday.

It's kind of odd though. I seem to have hit a kind of glass-ceiling when it comes to this stuff. I don't own a stereo, my TV is neither Hi-Def nor flat screened, and I have not acquired a "next-gen" console. All because of having little room to move. Or rather too much to move into a little space.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, having those things would be "nice to have" but I don't feel the drive or urge to get them now, now, now! On the other there's a part of me that wants to get stuff that may (despite evidence to the contrary) give the appearance of "grown-up". Nice furniture, dishes and cutlery that matches, knick-knacks that aren't half-naked characters from Japanese manga, that sort of thing.

But there's no real pressing need.

Maybe somewhere, deep in the cockles, I really believe the mantra from "Fight Club": that the things you own end up owning you. So I'm owned by books, Lego, comic books and computer games. Better than being owned by Ikea and Best Buy. Or gods forbid Walmart and Costco.

Today I'm packing up what I have, and Friday I'm moving it to a place where I will be (I'm hoping for over nine months this time). Inventories (physical and spiritual) will be taken at that time.

Anyone got any packing tape?

So it Goes

They say you shouldn't drink and email so drinking and blogging is probably a mortal sin. Or maybe just a venal sin, I'm kinda outta touch with being Catholic thing.

Got acosted by Mormons today. They asked me if I had found God and so I told him I didn't even know he was missing. Smoking a turd in hell for that one I'm sure, but it may have been worth the look on the self-rightous prigs face.

I have good friends. That's nice to know. they get you drunk, drive you home and then help you move! God (who is purely fictional) bless 'em.

I'm single. Sucks. I think I'll learn how to ride a motorcycle. That's probably a sign my miid-life crisis is kicking in. What the hell though.

Work, move, whine, whinge yadda yadda yadda. Typical blog stuff.

Dammit.

Hey, for all you out there who I've been friends with and have been a jerk, sorry.

Ah, apparently I have achieved "maudlin" in the inebriated stages. So it goes. Moving little bro' out tomorrow. then on Friday after a my on move I'll have my own place again. That's great but there's a little part of me that's going to be lonely again. But then I think of my Lego and I feel much better.

Right, may be why I'm single. I'm me as much as I can be and so life goes on and yadda yadda yadda once again.

Yes I miss Laroo. But so it goes. All the best and all that. It happens.

I have good friends, even though I may not appreciate them at times. Thanks again.

I dream of a quiet beach, a lover who can love my very soul and good food. anything else is just so much stuff.

Good night sweet internet! may have a slight headache and nausea on the morrow. What we partake of in the solarian descent rises as the sun, bright, shining and merciless. But the warmth goes deep and wakes the breath of hope.

Whoops, damn English degree.

Life is About Boxes

Since the move is still two weeks away, packing seems a bit premature. But what I have started is the purge. You know, where you go through your stuff, toss what you don't need, haven't used or can't identify.

So far, one defunct and stripped computer, one defunct Playstation 2, one defunct original Playstation, a bunch of game boxes (empty because they were expansions I managed to incorporate into the original game box) some programming books from 1991 and various junk.

Tomorrow, I start purging my desk (who really needs fifty pads of sticky notes?) and all the old wiring, computer cards a sundry electronics that I've accumulated in the past decade. And the old computer games I've been clinging on to for gods know how long. but the 5.25" disks are so retro!

Thursday? Old clothes. I did a pretty good purge last November but there's always more to go. Somewhere along the line I became a clothes horse. Obviously in terms of quantity not quality. I really don't need fifty pairs of white socks. Although that can be blamed on unoriginal parents when it comes to Christmas gifts.

So little bro' moves out this weekend. After that's done, I begin boxing everything up and putting into the vacant room. It shouldn't take me more than three nights. then cleaning.

I. hate. moving. Little bro' owes me big time.

Did I mention I had a job interview today? I had a job interview today. i didn't even apply for it: one of my old managers is pretty high up the chain at this place and my name came up as a Data Warehouse Architect. Not bad.

It's a pretty shitting thing to do though: start at a company and leave after two months. But this would be an upwardly mobile opportunity (i.e. mo' moolah) and I wouldn't consider it if it were just a lateral shift.

I think I did okay in the interview considering I've been out of the whole BI biz for a couple of years. The manager who interviewed me seemed to think I would be a good fit elsewhere. I know for a fact that there is an application data architect position open there as well. So we'll see how it goes.

Whalp, an hour before bed. Game time! not that there's anything to actually play lately...

Tiny Update

Not much going on: the job is progressing (wasn't a bad week) but I have another job interview set up for Monday. It came out of the blue, from an old associate of mine. May prove interesting. I normally wouldn't consider it, but it would be a helluva step up career-wise.

Going to friend's fortieth B-day bash tonight, so a hangover tomorrow is almost a certainly. At least if I have anything to say about.

After that, the packing begins! We got a pallet of boxes delivered yesterday, so books start going into boxes tomorrow. Probably be all I'm capable of.

Actually, I've been holding off on getting Guitar Hero Encore; Rocks the 80's because I know I wouldn't get anything done in the next couple of weeks. Besides, I started getting into the "hard" levels this week. My hand hurts. And not because I'm single.

Yes, I went there. Livin' the rock-and-roll lifestyle! Middle age version.

Laroo

A couple of days ago, Laroo broke up with me. Yeah.

The reasons are, well, her reasons. I can understand them but naturally, as the dumpee, you question what's behind them: what could I have done/not done? was it inevitable or is there something wrong with the way I'm wired? You know, typically sad self-pitying schtick.

Regardless, it's over.

Even though we only went out for eight months (or is it seven? neither of us are good at calendar math) it was the best time with a significant other I've had. She's smart, funny, honest, caring loves animals, hates morons and her smile made my heart leap every time I saw it.

So Laroo, if you're reading this, I really hope you find what you are looking for. Know that you are not just strong but have a lot to offer. I'm going to miss you a lot. And all that other stuff I said. I wish things could have worked out differently.

You made this geek happy. And I'll always remember that.

That's Interesting

The guy who hired me - my new boss - quit last week. He's done at the end of next week. To quote Han Solo (esq.): "I've got a bad feeling about this".

That's all really. Laroo is jet-lagged and has a summer cold, yet she managed to rip her upstairs bathroom apart all by her lonesome (except for some help with the sink from a neighbor. On purpose for redecorating. No I didn't do anything that bad. She's an unstoppable force when riled, whereas I'm an immovable object.

I also have been worrying about retirement. If I put away $10,000 per year, with a return rate of 5% I'll be able to retire when I'm 75. And that's not counting inflation. More reason to "spend it while you can".

Little Bro and mah-sel' is goin' ta Vegas fer Christmas!

Not much more than that I'm afraid. Updates as events warrant (and Ted Koppel is notified).

A Job Half Done

Well, I found a place.

About $200 a month more than I wanted to spend (actually, about $600, but rents have gone up). The location is good, it's a decent size and it's in a quiet neighborhood. And surprising it's one of two places I saw today that were tolerable. What won out was the aforementioned quietness, and also the layout of the apartment: There's a "dining room" that I can use as an office area. The kitchen is tiny but you don't need much room for Kraft Dinner.

So the next step is to actually figure out how to get from here to there. I'll find out Monday when the current residents will be gone: I hope it's before the 1st, maybe I can hire movers.

One (not surprising) came out of the various conversations with building managers: they're having a hard time renting out one-bedrooms. I heard that out of ten applications, only one or two qualify (something about not spending more than 1/3 of income on rent). And that was from more than one landlord. Can't say I feel much pity, but I can hope that rents will settle down a bit. What with what's happening with house prices down south, interest rates going up and the market actually slowing down (it may not seem like it, but those who can buy have bought).

I saw plenty of For Sale signs in the past few days. And it seems like they aren't going anywhere.

And joy of joys, Laroo (my sweet Laroo) will be back tomorrow. She'll be jetlagged, hungry and sorely missing her puppy (no, not me) but I don't care :)

Yay!

Now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my day reading comics, watching 300 and playing games. After that, I need to pack.

And the Hits Just Keep On Coming...

I'll make this quick, as I am now seething with rage.

Yesterday had two odd moments. First I stop off at the grocery store across the street from my new place of employment and check some old lottery tickets. The guy behind the counter shows me a "result receipt" he obviously just pulled off the counter beside him, he didn't even run it through the machine. After I get him to try again (and yes, his ass has been reported, it gets better) it says my ticket is worth 20 bucks. So yay!

He doesn't believe I have a legit ticket. So he tries calling the local lottery office and is on hold for twenty minutes. During my 30 minute lunch break. He finally gets through, I get my $20, he gets reported.

Fuck-wad.

Second was an odd moment on the way home from work. A very good looking young woman is pouring out tears whilst sitting on the stoop of what I assume was her apartment building. She was dressed in a very nice outfit that looked formal (who goes to something formal in the middle of a Thursday?). Anyways, she's sobbing to her friend on her cell, quite loudly. She's pregnant, her boyfriend isn't home, and her friend, Angel, needs to tell her what to do.

Awkward walking by that.

Then there's the hunt for new apartment, which has made me want to hunt landlords with a rusty spear. $1650 per month for a "two bedroom". You couldn't fit a queen size in the master bedroom and the second was (and I have the floor plan to prove it) nine feet by seven feet. And they wanted to charge me a non-refundable deposit (which in layman's terms is a fee, but apparently not in the eyes of the law) of seventy-five buck to fill out the application form.

So I'm getting a cheap, tiny apartment for a year. If this stupid housing situation doesn't burst by then, I'm buying. In Toronto. Or Kelowna.

I'm beginning to hate this burg....


Job's okay, marketing people need to be kept on a short, tight leash and Laroo still ain't back.

Grrrrrr....

Okay bad day.

Laroo is in England (which is great for her). I miss her already. Alot. But she's going to see a lot of stage productions (for "work"), gong to Stratford and taking a tour of Stonehenge where you can touch the plinths. The stones. The rocks. Whatever they are.

Last night I determined the combination of (a) an ISP that oversold so much they have brought their network to a grinding halt in my area; (b) a wireless router that I am finding out is the biggest lemon on the market (not just my opinion) and; (c) iTunes means I will no longer purchase music from iTunes. The service is slooooow here in the Great White North. Not to mention that they don't have the stuff I am looking for (although it's available in the U.S.A.).

And work got interesting. I discovered today that there is a huge flaw in this big project they are ramping up with ridiculous deadlines. There's no way we can do what Marketing wants us to do. I figured this out at five o'clock today and get to tell people tomorrow morning. Joy.

There's a bright spot though. The Order of the Stick is probably the funniest as well as the best written web comic I have ever read. 477 strips read in two nights.

It's geeky but if you have ever played D&D even once in your life you'll get the most of the in jokes. What makes it great is the writing: there are very well developed characters, incredible plots, real human drama (or demi-human) and something that goes beyond what you normal think of as "funny pages".

Don't let the stick-figure art throw you (like it did to me the first time I looked at it a while back). I'm accusing it of literature.

As soon as I get a permanent address, I'm buying all the books. And probably the "I dream of the day when I will learn to stop asking questions for which I will regret knowing the answers.".

I think I relate to Roy the most...

Restlessnessness

Kind of an odd day. After three days of having my back attempting to hunch me over like Quasimodo (Quasimoby?) I find myself at odds with myself. Not over anything in particular, but just a feeling of being bored combined with a feeling of being bore with my usual distractions. Gaming, reading, drinking coffee etc. I can' seem to do any f them for more than thirty seconds.

Laroo is spending most of the day with relatives fixing her deck. She's coming into town for dinner but I'm still booored.

The first week of the new job went pretty well all considered. I have myself a good team (despite the fact that I'm about fifteen years senior in years to all of them). I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not going to be 100% effective after five days. I am chomping at the bit though so next week I'll introduce some things that may or may not prove popular to everyone. Some of the people some of the time is the best I can hope for I think.

See now I'm bored of writing this. Twitchy. It's annoying.

Well there is laundry. Of course there's always laundry.

Not quite sure why this is happening. You would think that my first weekend after a new job I'd be more than willing to sink into my distractions, as I am wont to do. Something is fizzing in my brain but I can't for the life of me think of what it is. Did I forget something? Miss something? Not miss something. Frustrating.

Two Days, Still Employed

What a difference a day makes. Especially when that day starts with your alarm going off at seven AM. A sound you hadn't heard in over two months...

But so far, so good. I haven't started a new job in years, and it's kind of showing. Although I'm anxious to "get the ball rolling" on some ideas, I really need to reign myself in a bit (mixing metaphors). Okay hows about this, I'm chomping at the bit to get going but I need to reign myself in. Better.

It's interesting: so far most people have been giving the impression that I don't know what I'm getting into, it's pretty bad, disorganized, chaotic etc.

They have no idea. This is cake! So far at least. This old warhorse has gone into this battlefield before. I can see what can go wrong, what will go wrong if certain things happen and how to fix it. But it's only my second day.

On the home-front, I've given up on trying to find a place until later this month when people start to give notice for the end of August. I've called about a dozen places. Six don't answer their phones, five say they have rented out already and one, well I expect to look up and hear someone say "It rubs it on it's skin or else it gets the hose again!". Besides, now that rent is about a third of my monthly take-home pay, I'll use the money I would have to put down for over-lapping rents to hire movers.

And and by the way, much Love to Laroo. She got stung by some nasty wasps not once but twice last week. Her leg is swollen up like a thing that swells up really big. She's on antihistamines and antibiotics. Knocked her right on her keister (mmmmm... Laroo keister). Poor Laroo.

And huzzahs to The German. I'm surprised you're willing to go within fifty feet of Capa, let alone work with him. Work him over maybe...

Rent to Own

Naturally, since I'm looking for a new place, I decided to look at actually buying something instead of renting. In this burg you're looking at about $250k for a place with about 500 square feet. So did some math.

Base mortgage amount: $250,000 (and that's low end)
10 year mortgage at 8% (going rate): $96,848 interest
Condo fees: $200 x 120 (10 years worth): $24,000
$1508.02 a month in payments, paid bi-weekly.

So that makes it $120,848 in money paid above and beyond the actual cost of the place.

Renting the same place (given a steady rent, I know not all that realistic)
$1000 x 12 x 10 (ten years) = $120,000.

Steady rent is not realistic again, but consider your own place needs to be maintained, and frankly condo fees go up as well, so for the purposes of this exercise I'll assume they cancel out.

So I can rent and save up money to buy a place for cash (or come close) or buy and pay 75% more per month as opposed to renting. And wind up in the exact same place (capital vs savings).

Looks like I'll be renting with the caveat that I put away $500 per month towards a down payment on a place that is significantly larger than a closet.

Hot. Holy Crap.

Okay it's about twenty-eight degrees in my place. This is not a comfortable temperature for me. But that's okay as the view due to the heat from my balcony. Hot.

And this of course is the last evening of the mini-retirement, which I will be spending watching the Venture Brothers (Season 2) reading books ("Soon I Will Be Invincible") and playing computer games (name withheld due to NDA).

And it's too damn hot to even blog. So all I'll say is, work sucks, stick it to the man and people call the cops when you live on the fourth floor and go out on the patio with a soaked white T-shirt. At least if you're an almost-forty year old male computer geek.

Indentured Again

No I didn't just come back from the dentist. I came back from my new place of employment!

Yup, I signed my life away on the dotted line. My mini-retirement is coming to an end as of next Monday. So I need to do all the stuff I've been putting off for two month in the next five days....

The job looks okay: note quite the pay-cheque I was hoping for but they do have a bonus structure that almost gets me there. I'll be doing the exact same thing I was doing at my last place of employment: leading. As much as I ever lead anyways. But the difference is in my ignorance. I'm guessing (ie hoping) there will be less of "Do you have a sec" and "Can you do me a favour?".

And yes, for those who know me, I'll be happy to pass along a resume. Except for Capa, apparently he needs some long-term disability due to starting some exercise.

Wobbly Pops are good for what ails ya. Ale is good for what ails ya? That works.

Sooooo the next mid-life challenge on the roster is attempting to find a two-bedroom apartment that is within walking distance to work. And, of course, finding something for September 1st is the absolute worst time of year to do so in this burg...