I am here at work, learning the Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR), which seems pretty cool. I need to extend their socket routines, compressing the data that gets sent across the sockets… Using zlib, that shouldn’t be too hard.
rovia
OH NO!
Beginning of one thing, end of another….
My first day was fairly cool yesterday, but it was spent mostly trying to build the tree (which I finally successfully completed) and filling out paperwork (which I haven’t quite finished yet). I did the ride home, and started some laundry after I got there.
As I was leaving the laundromat, my mother called me to inform me that my Grandma had passed away. While I am none too happy about this, I have to say that if I had to go, I would want it to be chilling on the couch in my own home, under my own care, on a beautiful spring day, with the windows open, watching some television. She passed away peacefully and on her own terms, which is all she ever asked for. I am happy it worked out the way she wanted.
I am not going to be able to go home for the funeral, mostly because it is my first few days of work, and I am broke, but I can’t say that I am unhappy about that. I hate funerals (i can’t imagine that anyone enjoys them), but more importantly, I hate the idea of funerals (and as far as I can tell, my grandma did as well)…. My grandmother’s passing leaves a void in my life, but I don’t believe that mourning is in order…. She lived happily, died happily and in peace… Needless to say, it was a long night last night….
1st day
Today is my first day at my new job, which means lots of paperwork and setup. I have been working on getting the dev tree checked out and setup on my machine.. Whee…
I’m going back to boston, to boston, to boston
Around 2pm today I am going to leave for yet another trip to Boston, this time searching for an apartment. I tried to call some of these places yesterday, but all of them were closed for “Patriot’s Day”, which is a holiday that is only celebrated in New England, apparently (I don’t care, I will get it off next year. :P). So I have to make some calls today and set up some appointments tomorrow to look at places. I found a few that I am interested in, but I have to see if they are available now and if they are truly as cool as they looked in phosphor.
I am charging up my MP3 player’s batteries for the trip, and doing some laundry so I don’t have to be a dirtball while I am crashing at Adam and Rory’s. :)
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.