Diary of a Network Geek

for awhile, I hope.

Well, if you’re a big geek like me and have been following my adventures lately finding a new job, you know that I have, in fact, found one. Here’s the update… I never did go to that last interview at the second place. I was ready, but the headhunter agreed that it was pretty much a waste of time, since I was 99.999% sure nothing could change my mind about the Oceaneering International job. Also, the client, who was a large law firm, said the same thing. Basically, a waste of time all the way around. So, I didn’t go.
Now, I still haven’t signed the papers. Why? Well, first I have to pass a criminal background check and a drug screen. Neither are a problem, of course, since my background was good enough to work for a relatively high-security business. I mean, an armored car company has to be careful, you know? So, that should take a couple of days to get done and processed. I would imagine that Friday, I’ll be doing the last of the “yes-I-want-the-job” paperwork. Which is also when I’ll give my “official” two-weeks notice. Of course, I’ve alreayd told them that I’ll be going, so I’ll actually end up interviewing my replacement. Interesting….

Oh, I also got a package from the headhunters that placed me. They sent a copy of Who Moved My Cheese? with a couple of notes. It was actually pretty nice, though a little out of place considering my particular situation. I mean, I was the driving force throughout all this personal change. Still, I’ve been meaning to read the book, and now I have. And, it was nice.

Soon, I’ll have updates about the actuall new job!

Say what?!?

Okay, for those of you not familiar with Japanese culture, bento boxes are fancy lunches that co-dependant mothers make for their kids. They can get quite elaborate and are often quite tasty! Oh, well, yeah, you can get them at train stations, too. In fact, every little town along the railways in Japan allegedly have their own “specialty” bento.
So, this BentoMoBlog is the Japanese equivallent of an American school lunch blog. Nutty. But, oddly fun, too….

I’ve got the new job!

I got the call from the headhunter about 3:30pm yesterday telling me that Oceaneering International had met my minumum salary. So, in some respects it’s a bit of a lateral move, but the benefits are way, way better than anything I’ve had since I left Hyatt. And, of course, it’ll be a very interesting job and place to work.

The only small hitch is that, at the time of this entry, I couldn’t get the headhunter who lined up the interview I have this afternoon with the law firm on the phone. So, I may end up going to the interview, just to make sure no one looks bad. Crazy. But, whatever makes things look okay for both me and that headhunter is okay with me. After all, I may need them some other time!

Well, I’m sure there will be more details later, but this is the meat of it.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Friday Fun Link…..

After the past couple of weeks…

Well, let’s just say that I understand the whole idea behind getting away from technology for a bit. A sort of tech vacation, as it were. And, according to this article on Wired News, I’m not alone. The article talks about a conference dedicated to the idea of balancing our tech time with our non-tech time. Wow, what a concept!
Seriously, I have really felt the information overload lately. Two jobs, job hunting and family have all pulled me in so many directions that I hardly know which end is up! Not to mention the constant barrage of cell-phone calls and television and radio news. So, the idea that we need some help reorganizing our lives to be less technology intensive really resonated with me.

Anyway, it’s an interesting article and a timely subject, so check it out.

Sort of….

Okay, not really. I know I’m their “only candidate” and I know they’re talking to my head hunters, but that’s it. I’m fairly certain that the guy I’d be reporting to wants to hire me. We hit it off fairly well and he seems like a good guy. (He also has red hair like my current good boss. Coincidence?) So…
So, that must mean that it’s coming down to the “doh, re, mi”. The “cabbage”. The “green”. In short, MONEY. And, isn’t that always the way? I’ve actually tried three times now to get hired on at this company, because they’re a growing, dynamic, stable company that believes in technology and it all comes down to a few thousand dollars. The hell of it is, I’d work for less, if I could. I really would. The job is that good, at least on paper. But, honestly, I’ve given them my rock-bottom, “I’m starvin’ here!” price. God, I hope it’s low enough.

The real ugly part of it all is that now I find myself thinking,”What else could I possibly bring to the table to make me worth it?”. Like 10+ years of hard-core, hands-on experience with Novell isn’t enough, right? Like teaching myself PERL and Linux isn’t evidence of my ability to get in to it and figure it out? Like my years of supervisory experience doesn’t count for something? (Okay, maybe that actually doesn’t. I hated being a supervisor…)
Well, I do tend to play it low-key in interviews. I tend to not tout myself too much, lest I get in too far over my head. Besides, it’s the Scotty Factor. If I can surprise them the first week or two, I usually find that I quickly develop the reputation for being a miracle worker. You get more interesting projects when people think of you as the miracle worker.
So, here I am, to keyed up to do anything useful, questioning my own value as an IT worker, blogging to take the edge off.

God I want this job so bad I could vomit.

Or, pirate broadcasters?

You make the call! According to the people in this article on Wired News, they’re free-wheeling patriots just trying to get the message out via low-powered transmitters. But, the FCC says they’re pirates. I won’t make a call on that, but I do have to admit that I like the idea of running a little, local radio broadcast. The idea of being a wild, free voice spinning off into the airwaves with whatever I might want to say really strikes me as, well, fun. On the other hand, there is the time it would take. Shoot, I barely have time to post stuff in this blog, much less run a radio broadcast!
Well, if you want to do it, there are links in the article that will help.
Good luck!

Or is that “blues”?

Well, I got a call from the headhunter today. No offer yet. Still, I’ve been told that I’m realy their only candidate anymore, so I’m not worried.
What was worrisome, however, was the fact that the headhunter kept pushing me to see how low I would go on salary. Apparently, I’m a little bit more expensive than the client wanted to pay. On the other hand, how many CNEs with 10+ years of hands-on experience, who also happen to be Linux+ certified, can there be floating around Houston? How many of them, assuming that there are more than one, have broken NDS, on purpose, and recovered it? Twice? What is that worth? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow….
The truly hard thing is that I’d really, really like to take this job. But, I just can’t afford another pay cut. We’re living at the bare minimum as it is. Another cut and someone around here has to stop eating! (Of course, I could stand to loose another 15 pounds, or so….)

Well, based on the way things were sounding, I did some follow up on two other jobs that had come my way. We’ll see if anything turns up there. And, on the “plus side”, they still haven’t set a date for outsourcing, so I’m ahead of the game. If I can just find a good job that pays at least what I’m making now, before the outsourcing starts, I’ll be a happy network geek!

Hey, I just got a t-shirt from Novell!

I went to check the mail after doing that last entry and found a t-shirt from the Cool Solutions people at Novell. Apparently, they give out t-shirts now, when you give them something to use on their site. So, I had e-mailed them a tip, which they used, and they sent me a t-shirt. A purple t-shirt, I might add. There are six other colors and they promise not to send me the same color twice. So, I guess I need to give them six more good ideas….
Gotta’ get ’em all!

Not sure this is really a good thing…

I use MoveableType for this blog as well as a Fiction Blog on this site. I also use it on my other site and my wife uses it, too. So, we have a lot invested in this free software. But, I’m willing to pay for it. Especially if they’re adding features. And, there’s the rub. They’ve updated it, okay, and they added a comment registration feature, which is good, but that’s all they did. Well, they made changes to the API to make it easier to write plug-ins, but in the process, they may, or may not, have broken existing plug-ins. Now, that I’m not willing to pay for… On the other hand, what else is there? Nothing else seems to be as robust or extendable. At least, nothing that I’ve found yet. So, I have an e-mail in to them regarding my particular licensing issue, and we’ll see what they say. I may pay for the commercial version, based on the idea that my other site and/or my wife’s site will have commercial content, but we’ll have to wait and see…

Okay, so it’s not so much fun as funny.

Hey, look, the pickin’s are mighty slim on fun things for network geeks, so I’m forced to turn to funny op ed pieces. (Hint: If anyone has suggestions, I’m willing to check the link!) Anyway, this little number from Slate, compares loansharks to those paycheck/payday loan places. Frighteningly enough, the author makes a fairly good case for legalizing loansharks and outlawing the payday loan places!
Now, trust me, I’m from Chicago so I know from loansharks, okay? But, I’d rather be into them than pay the rates on those payday loans! Anyway, it’s a funny article, though it’s a sad subject.

I’ll try for something better next week, I promise!