I had sent my resume to unnamed technology comnpany's Linux group almost a month ago. Last night at about 18:00, I get a call:

Him: Hi, I was handed your resume the other day, and I'm very interested in your Linux skills.
Me: I LOVE Linux!!
Him: Good. Basically we're looking for someone to help us debug some kernel patches for a client.
Me: I LOVE debugging!!
Him: Good. Also, I'm just curious about this pastry chef thing. Tell me about that.
Me: I LOVE cooking!!
Him: Cool. Well, I'm going to hand your resume to my boss. Hopefully, you'll hear from us.
Me: I LOVE you, man!!
Him: I, uh... love you... too... man.... [click]

(The previous dialogue was a dramatization of actual events. This version is much more interesting.)

¶ 9:52 AM 2 comments

I have a feeling that Version 28 will be much better than Versions 27 and 26. Though I have to say, Version 21 was pretty dang cool. I'm a little bit (read: a lot) curious about what's in store for Version 28. My girlfriend seems like she's plotting something, but she won't divulge any details, other than the obvious. She wanted to take me tubing, but if I'm not allowed to work, then I most certainly can't go floating down a grimey river. My bosses are going to take us out to dinner in the evening to this Japanese restaurant that they've been raving about. Outside of that, I have no clue.

27 was a really good year for me, on many multiple levels. Actually, now that I think of it, I've been dreading getting older because I've been afraid that the daily drudgery of work would only get worse as the years wore on. Such is not the case anymore. I've learned a lot about life, love, adventure, passion, risk, and fear in the last year. Life doesn't have to get worse day by day. It can get better, and it has. The coffee shop has been a tremendous blessing to me for the last 10 months, as has my girlfriend for the last 2 months. Leaving unnamed technology company was probably one of the best moves I've ever made. While there exists the possibility of me ending up there again, now that I've tasted the Juice of the Cup of Adventure, I think (hope) it would be that much harder to end up an empty, depressed code monkey again.

Anyway, time to move on.... :-)


UPDATE: 13 Jun 2006, 1:32: Arguably the best birthday ever. At least it's right up there with 21. :-)

¶ 10:15 AM 3 comments

So, I'm at the wedding today, chop-chop-chopping away at some vegetables. Chop-chop-ch.... Wait, this sounds familiar.... On the plus side, now I'll have matching scars on my pinky and thumb, same hand.

I just got home. I've been going full bore for 4 days (since Wednesday). Today I was supposed to rest. I was supposed to stop, sit back, and let everyone else handle getting the wedding together. Supposed to. Did I do that? NoooOOOooo.... I had to go try to tie some ribbon bows, or try to saute some chicken, or try to move things around. And every time I did, my thumb opened up just a little bit, leaking red stuff into my gauze bandage and sending some tingliness down my thumb. Why can't I just rest?

I find I'm learning about resting, but also about not always having to be helpful. This is the first time I've felt really unhelpful, and at the same time really helpless. I haven't felt this helpless since my back went out almost 3 years ago. It's hard to be unhelpful when I'm so often driven by a desire to serve. I also must say, even though I did about 20 minutes of hard labor today, spending the whole rest of the day managing is equally draining, especially after spending weeks planning and preparing for this weekend.

The wedding and reception went swimmingly. Major crises left and right, but at the same time grace and creativity to make the surface seem smooth. It was kind of like the old saying about how a duck glides effortlessly on top of the water, but it's feet are actually going a mile a minute underneath. It was a good learning experience.

By the way, my thumb is fine (for the most part). One of the bride's maids is a nurse, so she was able to come and wrap my thumb up really well. So well that it makes it look a lot worse than it really is. And since I had to keep it elevated (after being scolded by two nurses, my boss, and my girlfriend), it was hard to keep it hidden from the wedding guests. That, and somehow word traveled fast around the reception hall that I had nearly cut my thumb off. On the other hand (no pun intended?), I was able to interact a lot more with the guests and answer questions about the food and whatnot.

All in all, it was a good wedding. It was fun to really get to experience first hand (pun intended??) the behind-the-scenes of such a large operation. We probably served around 140 guests total. Yeah, wow. Time for bed.

Zzzzz....

¶ 2:12 AM 0 comments

It's wedding day! (No, not mine.) ;-)

Today, my team and I are catering a huge wedding. This would be the biggest one yet for the coffee shop, and a very important one. The rehersal dinner last night went extremely well, despite numerous mishaps, and I strongly believe that the reception tonight will go according to plan.

I'm heading over to the site in about half an hour to get the setup plan for the reception hall, and start executing it. The last two days have been very hectic for me personally (to say the least), as I've had to make both the bride's and groom's cakes, plus organize all the food-related supplies for transport, while trying to perform my normal duties. I can't say things went perfectly, but I think they went as well as they would considering.

Seeing as how these are my first ever wedding cakes, I will be sure to get pictures of them all dolled up. Not perfect by any means, but they are pretty good, especially for me not having any formal training, and not doing it a lot (read: hardly ever).

<sigh/> Here we go....

¶ 7:01 AM 0 comments

I've sent out about a dozen or so resumes so far. Only one has resulted in a preliminary phone interview, which ironically was for a contractor position at unnamed technology company.

In another plot twist, I've just sent my resume to unnamed technology company for a position in its Linux group. Fortunately for me, unnamed technology company is so huge that I can stay pretty clear of where I was when I escaped. I'd been wanting to get into that Linux group for years, but they never had any openings until just before I left. And now it seems they still have an opening or two.

Here's hoping....

¶ 12:10 PM 2 comments