Uhhhh, Hi!
So, it's been over a year since my last post. *ahem*
Short version:
Got laid off from Pulsar in Aprilish '09, moved in with Andrea in Pasadena, kept looking for work.
Got only a few interviews, and almost got a job working at a data center by LAX, but they decided to axe all of their open positions just before the hiring manager could get the offer letter out to me.
By late August I'd given up on finding something in the LA area, and reached out to my friends by San Francisco, got recommended to two positions, but one of them was really slow. (Which sucks, because I could have stayed in LA and telecommuted.)
However, I ended up at IMVU with about 8 of my old internet friends, helping to run the servers. It's an awesome job, and I work with awesome smart people. I'm learning so much so quickly. I was genuinely wanted, too. Within two weeks of having sent my resumé in, I'd interviewed (including being flown up) and already received an offer letter. To make things that much more stressful, the entire thing happened while Andrea was working on the Station Fire and we weren't able to see each other while I was finding out that I was going to move to the bay area, although they did give her an afternoon off to spend time with me on my birthday, which was awesome.
I now live in Mountain View, the same city where Google is. My office is within sight of Stanford in downtown Palo Alto. I have a desk on the top floor by the window. (which isn't as cool as it sounds, damn ambient light makes it hard to see computer screens; I do try to appreciate the view though.)
You'd think that living in Silicon Valley, I could get some crazy awesome internet, but that is not the case. My options are rock solid but expensive and slow DSL, or cheap and fast but unreliable cable. I ended up with the DSL because I can't rely on AT&T for getting pages while I'm at home. Man do they suck in the bay area. I'm *this* close to jumping ship and getting an Incredible. (I have considered getting both DSL and Cable and routing things appropriately. I have the knowledge, but I'm already spending more than I want to, and I'd need to spend more on getting a router setup that can manage it.)
I make way more money than I expected to at this stage in my life, but am being good and not running out and spending it all. I just now finally bought a replacement for my aging laptop (which cut me the other day :-/) It arrives on Thursday, so yay. Still doing the Netflix/Gamefly thing, which works out well.
I think I can have my car paid off by the end of the year, and then that clears the way to start saving up for a house.
Still dating Andrea. We've been together for over two years now, and I love her more all the time. It's hard, though, because she's still working on her Masters and can't move yet. I end up spending quite a bit on airfare so that we can at least see each other at least a couple times per month. I spend so much time on the phone at night.
Let's see... books! I picked up Cryptonomicon just before I started at IMVU, and worked my way through the rest of Stephenson's works. I'm now back to rereading the Baroque Cycle already, because it's just that awesome.
Hm. It's been a long time. Any questions?
Short version:
Got laid off from Pulsar in Aprilish '09, moved in with Andrea in Pasadena, kept looking for work.
Got only a few interviews, and almost got a job working at a data center by LAX, but they decided to axe all of their open positions just before the hiring manager could get the offer letter out to me.
By late August I'd given up on finding something in the LA area, and reached out to my friends by San Francisco, got recommended to two positions, but one of them was really slow. (Which sucks, because I could have stayed in LA and telecommuted.)
However, I ended up at IMVU with about 8 of my old internet friends, helping to run the servers. It's an awesome job, and I work with awesome smart people. I'm learning so much so quickly. I was genuinely wanted, too. Within two weeks of having sent my resumé in, I'd interviewed (including being flown up) and already received an offer letter. To make things that much more stressful, the entire thing happened while Andrea was working on the Station Fire and we weren't able to see each other while I was finding out that I was going to move to the bay area, although they did give her an afternoon off to spend time with me on my birthday, which was awesome.
I now live in Mountain View, the same city where Google is. My office is within sight of Stanford in downtown Palo Alto. I have a desk on the top floor by the window. (which isn't as cool as it sounds, damn ambient light makes it hard to see computer screens; I do try to appreciate the view though.)
You'd think that living in Silicon Valley, I could get some crazy awesome internet, but that is not the case. My options are rock solid but expensive and slow DSL, or cheap and fast but unreliable cable. I ended up with the DSL because I can't rely on AT&T for getting pages while I'm at home. Man do they suck in the bay area. I'm *this* close to jumping ship and getting an Incredible. (I have considered getting both DSL and Cable and routing things appropriately. I have the knowledge, but I'm already spending more than I want to, and I'd need to spend more on getting a router setup that can manage it.)
I make way more money than I expected to at this stage in my life, but am being good and not running out and spending it all. I just now finally bought a replacement for my aging laptop (which cut me the other day :-/) It arrives on Thursday, so yay. Still doing the Netflix/Gamefly thing, which works out well.
I think I can have my car paid off by the end of the year, and then that clears the way to start saving up for a house.
Still dating Andrea. We've been together for over two years now, and I love her more all the time. It's hard, though, because she's still working on her Masters and can't move yet. I end up spending quite a bit on airfare so that we can at least see each other at least a couple times per month. I spend so much time on the phone at night.
Let's see... books! I picked up Cryptonomicon just before I started at IMVU, and worked my way through the rest of Stephenson's works. I'm now back to rereading the Baroque Cycle already, because it's just that awesome.
Hm. It's been a long time. Any questions?