Archive for April, 2008
OMG: Chicks a-comin’!
Johschmoh April 16th, 2008
Holy camoly! We decided to take the plunge and get our dang chicks, already… or actually, a friend at church who is also starting a backyard flock and likes similar breeds is picking them up from Linnton Feed Store here in Portland. TODAY.
Now, we don’t have any equipment or a coop or feed or anything. Our friend says they can live at her house until we’re ready, and the kids can even visit. Only the reason we’re getting chicks rather than pullets is because chicks are cute! And missing that is like missing the puppy stage of doghood! Or so said the person leading the Urban Chickens class Thaner took last year. Of course, I’m not much of a dog person, come to think of it.
Oh, and Thane leaves this Sunday for TWO WEEKS in Cupertino, for orientation at Apple (new job! commuting from basement!) and meeting the team. And I was reading, see, that the chicks start transitioning outside in 4-5 weeks, and ummm, Thaner’s not home until 2.5 weeks into that time period, and did I mention that we DON’T HAVE A COOP?
Now coop-wise, I love this pretty little thing I found on the internets, so I sent Thaner the link, and Thane? He LAUGHED at me. Said I married the wrong guy for that there coop. That he’ll build a coop, sure, and that it will look like BUTT. I volunteered that I would help build our coop, and paint it, see? Better, right? So Thane revised his description: it will look like PAINTED butt.
Something Good
thane April 10th, 2008
When I was interviewing at Apple, people would often ask me what I would do when I started. What would I fix or make better. My answer was something along the line of “The first thing I would probably do is make sure all the sample code worked. Did you know that the HID Explorer sample project doesn’t even compile?” Thus, it should be little surprise that the HID Explorer has been updated! What the hell am I going to do now?
The World Has Changed
thane April 4th, 2008
My world has changed. It will never go back to the way it was before. As a means of explanation, I need to give you some background.
Half a year ago or so, Wacom was experiencing some growing pains. This took the form of planning a new building where everyone involved in the planning was getting very irritated with the totally opaque and nonsensical process. Multiple people in Engineering were talking about leaving (almost half the department) at various times, and others were talking about collective bargaining. I got fed up and started putting out feelers and digging around for a new job. On 12/4/2007 I got a bite from a friend at Apple, asking if I was still looking. I sent him my resume, along with that of a friend, noting that neither of us was interested in moving. On 1/18 his old boss called me and decided I was a good candidate for the job. 2/1 I had two phone interviews with engineers. 2/18 I took a trip to Cupertino where I interviewed with nine different people in half a day. 3/7 was another day trip to California where I interviewed with five more people. At this point I have talked with almost everyone I could talk to in ‘my’ management chain, and with surrounding groups that I would have to interface with.
On 3/25, 113 days in and 17 interviewers later, they offered me a job working from my own home. As of 4/21, I will be an Apple employe, an I/O Kit Kernel Engineer. I will have to spend a lot of the next 6 months in California, trying to develop the network that will allow me to succeed at the job. Even doing that, my success is not guaranteed. This is going to be the hardest and most challenging job I have ever taken, from a professional standpoint, from a personal standpoint, and from a family standpoint. It is also one of the most exciting, most thrilling jobs I can imagine having. When I started looking, low those many months ago, I came up with a list of things the perfect job would have. This has all of them. It is even more perfect than the job I had imagined. It is like a dream.
People, if this is a dream, don’t wake me. I will kick your ass.
The Princess By The Sea
thane April 2nd, 2008