all hallows' eve

I figured this would be a good opportunity to get to know some of my coworkers.  Nice break from the drudgery of the typical work day also.









Me.

remote

Spent the first half of the day at a manufacturing trade show at the Pasadena Convention Center.  Met a guy who I had spoken to over the phone many times over the years at my previous company.  We talked about how odd it is sometimes to put faces to familiar voices.  It is possible to work with someone for years and not know a thing about them.  Business relationships are an interesting thing.

I have been at a random Starbucks since noon relaxing and getting some work done.  Love being out of the office.  My rhinoceros of a laptop can handle any engineering task I throw at it just as well on the road.  I could really get used to this.  I am free to take Facebook and Kindle breaks whenever I need, but it is not really affecting my productivity.  I work well while distracted.  I wonder if this is what life as a writer would be like...

sacramento

Made my first business trip at my new company. Currently sitting at Sacramento Internation Airport, waiting for a 5:30 plane back to Los Angeles.

After hearing about how stressful business travel can be, this was a breeze. Just met with a customer at their office, discussed a project I'm working on and saw the product in action in their test lab. Then we all went out for lunch at Chili's. Pretty nice. My boss is quite personable. He asked me if I would be willing to work at our San Jose office for a few weeks sometime in the future. Sounds fun.

nothing to report

I go back and forth between being really stressed and utterly bored.  I have five projects to work on, but very little information to go off of and nobody to ask.  The boss has been out since last Thursday.  Moorpark is a pretty small town.  I'm thinking if it might be fun to Metrolink into work one of these days.  It's not really cheaper than driving though.

memorial day weekend

No clever title this time. Too tired busting my butt at this new job. Got five projects already and I'm still trying to relearn software I haven't used since college. The senior mechanical engineer quit just before I started, so yeah. Promotion by default? No thanks. Not into working THAT hard at work.


Balboa Park with Rob








Oceans and islands?

  Doing silly things for the shot



Submerged plants look ghostly

 Big Bear Retreat with Evergreen SGV








It snowed briefly :)

four years

last week

After three years, eleven months and ten days of employment at Marshall Electronics, I am entering my last week here. Resignation handed in, letter of recommendation requested, cards getting written, happy hour being planned. I cannot believe the amount of hours I have spent in this building, behind this desk. Goodbye's are always bittersweet and difficult for me, but this feels good man. At least until the new job starts.

one day in nevada

The yearly tradeshow in Las Vegas has come and gone.  This year I went on a different day than my coworkers, so I ended up buying a monorail ticket and spending most of the day wandering the strip taking pictures. It was my first time visiting a couple of the newer casinos.  I love wandering.


Leaving the Convention Center

Lunch at Harrah's Buffet (Ribs, Clams, and Kindle) 



Gondolas at the Venetian 

Indoor shops at the Venetian, everyone has copied the indoor sky from Ceasar's Palace 

The Fashion Show Mall looks like Independence Day
Ferrari Store at the Wynn 

Fancy ceilings near the Ferrari Store 

 The car collection at Imperial Palace, I remembered this from when I was like 10 and stayed there with family



Among giants, yes that's a Yugo in mint condition

A Paris interior I believe, looks almost HDR'ed 

Moon over Eiffel Tower, never seen the real thing 
Outside the window on the way home 

For a healthy chunk of more pictures, visit the full set at flickr.

monday morning

One of the things that make the Monday morning routine bearable is reading Postsecret's weekly post. If you don't already know what that is, crawl out from under your rock it is a blog that people send anonymous postcards revealing a secret. Some are funny, some are raunchy, some are heartfelt. Once in a while, one will stand out and hit like a ton of bricks. This one did today, and I don't even know why...

cruel cruel fate

I have been periodically applying and interviewing for jobs for a few months. No offers. Until yesterday. I had applied for a patent examiner position at the Patent Office in Washington DC in November, knowing that they would take a while to get back to me. Earlier this month, they did, after I had forgotten about it. They scheduled a phone interview, which I thought I bombed, and offered me a position yesterday. A position with great pay, in a new city, and a couple friends already work there. Everything I was looking for.

Catch.

Because of a hiring freeze starting March 1st, I would have to start on February 28th. That's this Monday. I would have to give two weeks notice and move across the country in 6 days. Even if I had zero responsibilities that would be difficult. I had to turn it down. From what I hear, there is no telling when they will start hiring again. Mad disappointed. Closest chance yet to get out of this rut.

between 7:30 and 4:00...

...I am usually quite bored. That is all.

kinda cool work stuff

Review of a LCD camera-top monitor I designed:



They used the same setup to film the House season finale airing May 17.
Here's a pic of the rig they used.

This new thing won a couple awards at the NAB show a month ago in Vegas.



Pretty rewarding.

fisheye my desk

Coworker brought in a gaggle of off-brand lenses to show me. I bit. Cheap fisheye lens coming in the mail. This one. Hope it comes in time for road trip.

This is my desk at work. Why yes, I do have two giant Apple Cinema Displays. Main one is 30", secondary is 23". Yes, they are (kinda) necessary for work.

balance and coffee

I frequently have deep conversations over gchat at work in the middle of the day. Coffee helps.

12:53 PM me: this is probabaly contributing to my weariness

its so easy to put weight into human relationships

even though they will always fail

12:54 PM the other side of that is that we created to be social creatures also

i guess its about finding the balance between vertical and horizontal relationships

where you are invested in people but all the more invested in God

12:55 PM but when the scale tips either way, you either become a monk or a basketcase

A: haha monk or basketcase

me: i find that almost universally, all things involve some kind of balance

even though as humans, we want things to be black and white, good is good and bad is bad

thats not how things work

12:56 PM its more like everything is good in moderation, everything is bad in excess

maybe thats how evil can exist in a world that was created to be wholly good

A: so philisophical :] in a good way

12:57 PM me: haha

i feel like i shoudl blog this

lunch break

Need to retreat once in a while.
Wrapped in the roar of wind and wave, interrupted only by
Jet engines overhead.

Reminders of how to be still.
Pelican glides along sand, wing tip passing three feet from face.
Not quite a haiku.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
-Matt 6:26

not a resolution

I biked to work today.
9 miles, 1.5 hours.
Would have been 8 miles, 1 hour, if the stinking airport would let bikes ride under it.

It was worth it though, if for nothing other than this:

Next time, I'll bring the fancy pants camera.

As she sits.

I don't think I'm smelly enough for anyone to notice.
The hard part will be the other 9 miles back home.

why are you striving

An American businessman was standing at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

"How long did it took you to catch them?" The businessman asked.

"Only a little while." The fisherman replied.

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" The businessman asked.

"I have enough to support my family's needs." The fisherman said.

"But," The businessman asked, "What do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, sir."

The businessman scoffed, "I have a Harvard MBA and could help you. You could spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats."

"Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The fisherman asked, "But sir, how long will this all take?"

To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years."

"But what then, sir?"

The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the public and become rich, you would make millions."

"Millions, sir? Then what?"

The businessman said slowly, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos..."

my babies

[via]

frivolous stuff i read

Jalopnik - auto industry news, funny
Autoblog - auto industry news, serious
Cardomain blog - random car stuff
Bring a Trailer - vintage and interesting cars for sale

Gizmodo - gadget stuff
Engadget - more serious gadget stuff
Lifehacker - helpful tips
Unclutterer - get simple

Harmony Central Forums - music and music gear
Bimmerforums E34 forum - trying to fix car
Digg - useless browsing
FML - more useless browsing

Sometimes I'm shallow.

Bonus:
For those who nod off in class/at work

work and dreams

Last night I dreamed I got fired and I was actually upset. Kind of surprising.

Oh and check this out. I designed it. It was my first project and my longest running, headachiest design. Nice to be recognized. Oh, and the model a couple pictures down is my co-worker Emily.