polis

so, between bucking the system at work by running Ubuntu as my primary OS with Win running in Sun’s VirtualBox (pretty nice in linux, btw) for the *stuff* i still have to use windows for, and my incessant need for coming up with good ways to GSD (get s*word* done) i’ve decided to shut my browser down every time i’m not using it.

basically, this helps me not go “oooh, browser! i wonder if i have any new gMail, i wonder if there are any interesting posts on Engadget, etc. it’s a small thing, but worth a thought. i’ll let you know later if i decide it totally sucks and want to go back to firefox on it’s own desktop full time.

.jason

so, you’re ready to see the world! whether it’s for the first time, or you’re doing it all over again, i make a few small requests to make your trip more enjoyable for you and for those you encounter.

1. you don’t have to talk SO LOUD. try having a conversation over dinner or at a pub in a normal tone of voice, it’s amazing how well that works when everyone follows the same rules. please save the over-loud overload for your double-wide where you’re too lazy to get up and get your own can of beer.
2. if you’re not going to a country that speaks English as a primary language, make an effort (a real one) to try and learn some simple phrases to help you get around. what would you do if someone repeatedly said “Où se trouvent les toilettes?” and then got pissed and stormed off… yeah, that’s what kind of an ass you look like when you do that in other countries - especially when you speak LOUDER and SLOWER for clarity.
3. remember you’re not in Disney World - real people live where you are visiting and they have real lives, don’t be a jackass and expect them to want to help you out every time you can’t take the time to read the map and street signs.

all this to say, most people in nations outside of the United States are generally very helpful and quite friendly to you when you do try to be respectful of your environment. try it, you might be surprised. oh, and for the ones that are actual asses? try learning the local sign language.
phew. now back to work.

just a shot from my old apartment…

so basically, i changed jobs in march of 2008 (one year ago this week) in order to have the chance to grow professionally in an environment that was friendly to the fact that i was starting a family with my wife. we’ll - it seems like i found that in many ways and missed it in others. i think i asked all the questions to ask, i just think i was given answers that were not entirely correct, but i want to start a list of questions to ask in any future move - as i took *some* things for granted when i came here.

1. what’s the dress code and how strict is it?
2. what’s the flexibility in changing cube layout, if not getting back into an office?
3. do you allow working from home? really? do you mean it? in my position, on my team?
4. when you say four weeks of vacation, do you mean four weeks of vacation (plus two weeks sick time) or four weeks of PTO which is a lump of everything together, and completely lame?
5. how would you describe your management style? how would the people who work for you describe your management style?
6. do you have any idea how to work with or over a creative thinker, troubleshooter, and someone that generally doesn’t fit in a box?
7. are you *really* interested in the ideas of the “newbie” with over ten years of software development experience, or are you looking to fit someone in a box (see #6)
8. how about flex time? okay, can you *define* flex time for me?

that’s pretty much it, it’s not bad here, but let’s just say those exact questions were not actually addressed honestly, and we’ll see how things are working out whenever we get around to my year review in the next month or so…

work can get you so busy sometimes. still working on the latest release, but buried for the last month on pebcac support issues. i think that i have some of that diverted, so hopefully i can get my next release code done well before i head out for my honeymoon.

wish me luck.
;)

you work and work and work, a million miles a minute, you start to catch up, stop for a breath, and then *bam*… time to start running again.

well. it’s not all that bad. just would like to nail out the remaining SCRs and get back to normalcy and a few little projects that might be a little more fun than scraping the gum off the floor of this release :)

anyway… fingers crossed… almost to the point where i can start getting a regular and real update, and start contributing here in addition to my day job…

.aslan

almost done with the pile-o-code i’ve been writing. the major project is off the tarmac, and i’ve just got a few SCRs to address in other areas. looking forward to the release and the bit of calm that accompanies it before any (hopefully few) bug reports roll in.

on another note, i found a great recipe for irish brown bread (”soda bread”) this weekend and made it.

tasty, very tasty. a little brown bread, some butter, and a guinness. MMMMMMmmmm.

(or, in lieu of guinness, you can add some golden shred marmalade. i think i’ll get back to work now before i start drooling.)

hope to bring more here soon. (of course, i’m getting married in September too, so the whole summer may be choppy on the entry side, but hey… such is life)

.jason

there are days that i love writing code, and days that i do not… today happens to be one of the former, so that’s always nice.

when it really comes down to it, i can’t say that i ever don’t like code per se - it’s more that there are times where i’m not so very fond of the lame crap i’m coding.

yep, that’s right kiddies… being a gas station attendent/mechanic on the information superhighway isn’t always filled with glamour and fame. oh wait… it pretty much never is, unless your in a movie. i just need to get a little more work out of the way so i can work more on projects i want to code at home. anyway, that’s where i am lately, and why i’ve neglected this blog more that i would have wanted to… now… back to the current program… _e1t1protocolEnumHash.Add(….

later.

i’m obviously using wordpress for the main chunklet… more to come if i keep my head above water.