job search
Wow… It’s now official…
I officially accepted the offer from Rovia today, sending back the letter signed and all. So I guess I am now committed to living with Massholes. :) I will make sure to watch alot of The Sopranos, however, so I don’t begin to develop some annoying accent. And also, never fear, a water fountain will never be a bubbler.
The letter said that my start date was May 1st, which I can stick to, but I will be busy these next few weeks finding an apartment and moving into it. I might live in Brighton near Adam and Rory, or perhaps somewhere else, but wherever it is, it will be near mass transit, since I don’t plan on having another car for awhile.
I am going to break Boston in right, though, by seeing a concert less than a week after I start work. :) I am going to go see Autechre at the Middle East, which I guess is actually in Cambridge, but whatever. I have been wanting to see these guys for a long time, so it will be cool to finally do so (and to see another concert, which is something I haven’t done since I saw Moby in Rochester). The concert is on May 7th, which is a Monday (odd, no?), and for those of you not in Boston, the 2 prior days they will be playing in New Jersey and NYC.
Payback
Ok, I have been terse, vague, and gappy for the past month, so I am going to try and make up for my insolence. :)
You know, many people think that doing nothing but having fun for a month and change sounds like quite a bit of fun. Well let me tell you something, they are right! This time off has really helped me work out a lot of the confusion in my life, and my relaxation levels are back to where they were before pre-school. It doesn’t bother me that it is all going to draw to a close soon either. Instead, I am truly looking forward to being an adult for a change (although I will only act like one 40 hours a week max). I am glad I didn’t set any truly noble goals for this time off, because I really have simply enjoyed the relaxation.
While at RIT, I would often contemplate whether or not my time there was worth it. Would the frustration, heartbreak, hard work, shitty weather, and close quarters ever pay off? I am sure that some of the people reading this think the same on occasion. To you I say that the answer for me was a resounding “yes”, I learned more in the past 4 years than I had to date, and most of my education was in subjects outside of Computer Science. We all learn at some point that some people can’t be trusted, but there is nothing you can do about that. Try as hard as you may, you will never be able to catch all the assholes out there (and more than likely you will get caught off guard anyway). I learned that shielding your feelings from the world will not keep the assholes away. I learned that there is no need to be so secretive, so closed to the world and, more importantly, there are some people you should open yourself to. I once thought that erecting a partition between myself and the rest of the world was the solution, but it just had the disappointing side effect of closing me away from new friends.
I have been offered a job which I am currently considering. It is a good offer, and I would get to be a city dweller for awhile. The company seems like fun, and I would get to work with a few people from CSH. I need to make a decision this week, so it is time to go for some long walks. :) If I did take the job I would probably live sans-auto for awhile, relying on the Boston public transit systems. They aren’t as good as NYC, but they aren’t the worst I have seen either. Rent is a bit steep there, but my other options weren’t much better. The weather won’t be as nice as other places, but so it goes.. The apartment search is something that I am definately not looking forward to whatsoever. I don’t want to live in a shithole, but I also don’t want to be raped in rent each month. I am aiming for a 1 bedroom with an office/den kinda thing (for my computer equipment), but I am flexible. Boston is also only 4 hours from home and 6 hours from Rochester, so it is a decent location in that respect.
If I do take this position, I might go out to the ArsTechnica Boston Party at the end of the month. It would be at Jillians, which is like one block away from my potential employer. Sure it will be geeky as hell, and has a high lame potential, but it might be a ton of fun. Plus, I have never been to a Jillians.
I think that is all for now, I think I am going to go outside and enjoy the lovely weather. Oh my god, I just looked at the thermometer and it told me it is 82 degrees outside! Later!
hehehe
Perhaps I wasn’t so greedy after all… :()
Hmmm…
I expect to have an interesting phone conversation on the other side of this upcoming sleep cycle.
Things are good also I hear
Back from Boston now, and while
The company seemed cool, and very small (25 employees, including execs) which is definately a bonus. I would get to work with some friends, and the work definately wouldn’t be boring (getting to work with a favorite open-source project on an intimate basis). But the big question is will they deliver the benjamin’s… I would consider the job if they will line me properly..
My MP3 player rocked on the trip too; it is nice not having to futz with cd’s or deal with the radio for the entire trip, and it ran off batteries the whole time, charging it overnight each night.
I will be more substantial later, but my brain is mush right now.
Out of the office
I am driving up to Boston in a few hours, so I might be out of touch for a few days…. I am not looking forward to the drive, but I am looking forward to seeing some friends upon arrival. :)
Later!
Yawn…
I finally have a decent interview prospect, but it won’t happen until April…. Not that I have anything against the prospect of not having anything serious to do between now and then, but I think I would seriously prefer having a clue of where my life is going.. :)
I am going to bed real soon… I am trying to figure out which Skinny Puppy CDs I need to complete my collection (in order to celebrate their entire catalog!). I am only a few singles off, so I might as well staple things up once I get some money… The discs are becoming more and more rare, as Nettwerk decided to discontinue the individual singles in favor of two CDs, one for the singles themselves, the other for the various b-sides. Since I already have most of the singles, I might as well get the 2 or 3 I am missing.
I have been trying to teach myself various meditation techniques lately, something I told myself I was going to learn before I left for RIT (yet never did). I am also going to plan some exercise into my day… it would be nice to at least achieve the moderate level of out-of-shape that I was in before I left for school. :)
Back to your regularly scheduled programming
I think I got most of the VoiceXML scripting out of my system for a while. I have a few other ideas buzzing around, some of which would be really cool. I was thinking of adapting the Quotable JLG and turning it into a “Joke a Day” system, or “Call a Joke” system or even a phone-based version of fortune(1).
Still looking for that job, I have had a few leads, but almost 9/10 of them are from recruiters who simply don’t understand my background. I have a primarily OOP background, so I don’t want to do any COBOL development… Grumble.
Anyway, I know something will come along, but I would kinda like something to keep me occupied during the day. :)
Now it becomes clear….
As I expected, today was the day of realization…..I am actually done with school. As I wake up and complete my morning e-mail checking/job-searching ritual, my friends in Rochester are beginning class. This is heavy.
Last night’s episode of The Sopranos reminded me of the first season… I think this season is shaping up well…. I am looking forward to next week. :)