Awww.

I have an adorable nephew.

I did something very exciting this weekend.

For as long as I can remember, my top drawer has always held a variety of socks.

Mostly white socks. But socks bought at different times. Different sizes. Some that were smooth in the ankle-portion, others that were ridged, some that had a grey area at the heel and toe, etc. So any time I do laundry, I have to take the time to match them up. And if I lose one sock, there's a fair chance that the remaining one will be orphaned. But I can't throw the orphan away--what if I find its missing partner? So I accumulate a small supply of orphaned socks.

Now no longer! My world has been revolutionized!

On Saturday, I went to Target and bought two large bags of socks. And I took all of my old socks--ALL of them--and put them in a bag, and I'm going to take them to Goodwill. No more matching! No more orphaned socks!

There was also some big music festival this week in Austin...but forget that. I have a uniform supply of socks!

This was a truly wonderful evening. Subtle, deep, and silly companionship, Tom Stoppard, Chardonnay, Chianti, brandy, Boursin, cream cheese + raspberry chipotle (sounds odd but delicious), bread, crackers of various sorts. And an alligator fern named Frederick, to finally give Vanessa the pathos plant some companionship.

I've been rather derelict. My apologies. I want to post, but find myself distracted and lazy. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

*sigh*

It is late, and I must to bed. I post this now to place myself on the line. I have no excuse! I miss you all, and want to update you. If I tarry, thou must needs smacketh me upside mine lackadaisical head!

A good sign: I just noticed that I'm looking forward to going to work in the morning.

It's late, and I just got home, so, hopefully more this weekend.

So, I have a job now. I'll have to post soon about my job search, and my various recreational activities in which I've engaged since I last posted.

I'm starting tomorrow morning. It's a programming job at a start-up software company doing artificial intelligence. From what I know, it could be very cool. Best case scenario, it'll take off and I'll be involved with something very successful. Worst case, I'll have to find a new job in a couple years. *shrug* The people I'll be working with are great.


In the meantime, here's a meme:

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn't make sense. NO CHEATING!

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
The Current

WHAT'S YOUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE?
Theme From Twin Peaks-Fire Walk With Me

WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY THINK OF YOU?
Wheel

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Black Friday Rule

WHAT DO STRANGERS THINK OF YOU?
I Be An Retarded (Hah!)

WHAT DO YOUR EXES THINK OF YOU?
River

HOW IS YOUR LOVE LIFE?
Blue Paper (Hmm...)

HOW WILL YOUR LOVE LIFE BE IN THE FUTURE?
King Tut

WILL YOU GET MARRIED?
Jewels

WILL YOU HAVE KIDS?
You Speak My Language

ARE YOU GOOD AT SCHOOL?
Walking on Fire

WILL YOU BE SUCCESSFUL IN LIFE?
Super Good Feeling

WHAT SONG SHOULD THEY PLAY ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?
Judgment Fray

WHAT SONG SHOULD THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Near Wild Heaven (Heh.)

THE SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIFE:
A Long December

YOU AND YOUR BEST FRIEND ARE:
Midnight

HAPPY TIMES:
Phone Call

SAD TIMES:
Raining Again

FOR TOMORROW:
Downsizing

FOR YOU:
Adoration

WHAT DOES NEXT YEAR HAVE IN STORE FOR ME?
Battle of Someone

WHAT DO I SAY WHEN LIFE GETS TOO HARD?
Last Cans of Paint

WHAT DO I THINK WHEN I GET UP IN THE MORNING?
The Eagle Song

WHAT SONG WILL I DANCE TO AT MY WEDDING?
St. Louise Is Listening

WHAT DO YOU WANT AS A CAREER?
Pigeon Farm (Yess! I always wanted to be a Pigeon Farmer! They make their own fertilizer!)

YOUR FAVOURITE SAYING?
The World I Know

FAVOURITE PLACE?
Do You Feel Loved

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Barlow Girls (Heh.)

WHERE WOULD YOU GO ON YOUR FIRST DATE?
Hope to Carry On

DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Rehab (Hot Chip Remix)

WHAT DO I LIKE DOING MOST?
Anna Begins

SONG THAT BEST DESCRIBES MY BOSSES AT WORK?
K Car

WHAT IS MY STATE OF MIND AT THE MOMENT?
The Boogie Monster

HOW WILL I DIE?
American Dream

My goodness. Heroes premiers tonight? And Chuck? And Journeyman? I guess I know what I'm doing tonight.

I'll be in Minneapolis this weekend (Thursday-Monday morning) to visit Crystal and my old friend Jessica and her husband Jim, who now have a newborn daughter I've never met.

I think I've lost track of everyone who's living there now. :)

Short version:
I'm done with me intarrrviews. The one out in Sunnyvale, Califarrnia (near to the high seas) could've gone better. During part of it I felt like I was sinkin' to Davy Jones' locker. But it helped me to prepare for Monday's interview with AMD, which went extremely well. I should know by the end of the week at the latest. And I'll probably be able to take me tour of Europe before I start, plunderin' and pillagin' as I go.

Long version:
I flew out Thursday night. The flight was fine. I bought a garment bag for my suit, and I was able to hang it up on the plane, so I didn't have to fold it over at all. I picked up my rental car; they gave me a black Ford Mustang with satellite radio & a nice bit of power. Oh yeah, I felt cool. I went to my hotel, and practiced my presentation before going to bed. In the morning I showered, practiced again, studied up on a couple things, and then about 45 minutes before my first interview of the day I went to go put on my suit. Imagine my reaction, if you will:

My pants weren't in the garment bag.

I freaked.

Fortunately, I'd brought some clothes for going out that night, so I had more than just the khaki cargo shorts I'd worn on the plane. I had a nice going-out shirt, and a very dark blue--almost black--pair of, uh, well, jeans. But they were nice jeans. And the company is very casual--one person from the group with which I was interviewing was wearing regular blue jeans and a t-shirt. So... I wore them with my suit top.

Ouch.

The presentation went well. Most of the interviews went OK, except for one time when I was under-prepared for a couple somewhat basic questions to which I really should have known the answers. Insufficient study. And then I didn't have good answers for a couple questions the HR recruiter asked me about myself. *sigh* And I hadn't prepared my own list of questions to ask them. *double sigh*

However, it was excellent practice for my Monday interview. I was able to study up on the things I'd missed, which did help during the technical questions. Also, the final email reminder sent by HR had some interview tips, including a list of good questions to ask. So the night before I went through them, rewrote some of them, added a couple of my own, and organized them by whether I would ask them of the hiring manager or the "co-worker"-type people I would be speaking to. And that helped a lot. (I liked one question I came up with: "What's one of the best questions an interviewee has ever asked you?")

So, I should know by the end of the week. And it turned out I interviewed with two different groups (with similar job descriptions), so I have even more chance of getting an offer. Also, I asked about starting date, and it shouldn't be a problem to start in about a month or so. In which case I'll take a last-minute, three- or four-week backpacking trip to Europe. (More about that in another post.) w00t!

Also, yesterday I spoke to someone else from California who had been on vacation when I was there, so he had a couple brief questions for me. He mentioned that the feedback he'd gotten about me was good, so I guess it went better than I thought. I could end up with two offers.

I'm very excited.

Why, when I was a cabin boy I got an hour of sleep and was happy for it, because I'd eaten nothing but a pile of crumbs from a ship's biscuit the night before and I was expected t' clean the bilges wit' nothin' but me tongue!

[The first be the original sketch. I think the timing be best in that one. The last is with Alan Rickman and Eddie Izzarrrrd...they take a certain amount of liberty, me maties.]

"One woman juror said she wanted clarification on the difference between 'doubt' and 'reasonable doubt,' although [the judge] said later he doubted further instruction would help."
--It be from a news item on postmodernism in America a jury-deadlocked trial.

I'll fill you in on my weekend soon, at the moment I'm preparing for tomorrow's interview at AMD. I just wanted to share the terrible news: Robert Jordan has passed away.

I feel bad that I probably care more that he wasn't finished with the last Wheel of Time book than I do that a man just died.

I'm leaving for the airport in an hour. Wish me well!

Does anyone have good tidbits of advice for interviews? Or maybe a link to good articles with tips?

Question for the world (but especially Californians):

I have Friday night after 5pm free. Do you have any recommendations for activities in the San Francisco area? (Rated PG-13, mind you.) I'm staying in San Jose, and have a rental car.

I just finished listening for the first time to Relient K's latest album, Five Score and Seven Years Ago. The last song is called "Deathbed". Very sad, poignant, etc. Relient K has matured quite a bit since high school.



P.S. It's a long song. The Youtube copy is missing the end, where Jon Foreman of Switchfoot sings:
I am the Way
Follow Me
And take My hand
And I am the Truth
Embrace Me and you'll understand
And I am the Light
And for Me you'll live again
For I am Love
I am Love
I, I am Love

P.P.S. If you prefer, you can watch a music video of Deathbed interpreted as the story of Darth Vader's life.

She's a little girl.

This Friday on the Scifi Channel, the new episode of Dr. Who will be "Blink". I loved this episode. I watched it several times...And there's one short scene that I watched even more.

The author of "Blink" has won two Hugo awards for his prior contributions to the Dr. Who universe. In 2005 he won the Hugo for the two-parter "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", which was pretty good. In 2006 he won the Hugo for "The Girl in the Fireplace", which was great. "Blink", in my opinion, is phenomenal.

You should try hard to avoid seeing any spoilers--avoid the commercials if you can. It's one where surprise will probably enhance it for you.


In other news, the Canadian comedy Corner Gas will be launching in syndication on WGN starting the 17th. It's funny. JC (as in my brother-in-law) introduced my family to it a while back...I think a couple Christmases ago. Anyway, it takes place in a very small town in the very flat province of Saskatchewan. It's marked by wryly sarcastic back-and-forths (backs-and-forth?) and cameos from famous Canadians. I highly recommend it. You can watch the first two episodes online at WGN's website.

Here are some overdue updates:

The celebration I was talking about was for my graduation. I graduated from Texas Tech on August 11 with a Master of Science in Applied Physics. I managed to hold onto my college 4.0 GPA. w00t!!! Sadly, my family couldn't be there. My parents had a really good excuse: The birth of a darling little grandson.

Speaking of whom, he now has his own blog, at "www.josiahkarl.com". I set it up while I was in Milwaukee. He's sooooo cute. Sarah's going to use it to post all the Kodak Galleries and the like. And cute first-person posts like the most recent one.

Anyway, on August 17th, I finished my tour at AMD. I overlapped a week with my successor, so I spent some time training her and showing her around (including the good breakroom and the Wii in the cafeteria). Sadly, due to the slump AMD is in, there are hardly any open positions. Neither of the groups I worked in had anything. However, I did get excellent evaluations; they would have hired me if they could. So it might be relatively easy to get a position there sometime in the future, when the situation is better.

In the meantime, I've been doing some relaxing. It's very odd. For the last 2 years or so, I've been constantly either in school, or doing the co-op, or moving. Other than Christmas break, no real vacation. It's been nice. Reading, coffee shop, shopping, etc.

I've also been job-hunting, of course. For the moment I'm living off savings, hoping I can get something permanent soon. I'm also looking for some tutoring work and the like to get a little cash flow.

However, I may have a job soon. I now have two interviews lined up. I was contacted this week by someone at Spansion (they make Flash memory) in the San Francisco area. The job matches my experience at AMD really well, so I think I have a good chance. (They have two other positions open, too.) Sadly, I would have to leave Austin, which I really don't want to do. Today they told me they'd like to bring me out for an interview, so we scheduled it for next Friday. And I have to do a ~45 minute presentation. Ouch. I'll have to do some intensive work.

Then this afternoon I was also contacted by someone at AMD! There's a position open--not in the failure analysis group with whom I co-oped, somewhere else. They're looking for someone with exactly my educational background, so it's a great match. I'll go in for interviews next week. No big presentation, but it will require lots studying & brushing up on things.

I'm nervous!!!

Location: Milwaukee
Mission: Meeting the cutest baby boy ever



Status: In progress


I flew here to Milwaukee on Thursday, to visit Sarah and JC for a few days. Mom has been here for the last couple weeks helping out, and Dad drove out to join us on Friday. I haven't seen anyone in my family since January, so it's been really good to visit. And, of course, I got to meet Josiah. He's so cute! He tends to have a somewhat pensive expression. He's got some cute outfits that say things like "Lock up your daughters" and "Face it--it's time to call grandma" and "Pre-med". Dad and JC and I went to Cabella's for a couple hours (I got a pair of sunglasses), and Dad and I went to the Half-Price Bookstore. Then we stopped by Barnes and Noble, because I wanted to pick up a couple Jasper Fforde books. I bought The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime in the airport on the way out here--it's an investigation by DCI Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division, looking into the death of investigative journalist Henrietta "Goldilocks" Hatchett. (Meanwhile the notorious psychopathic murderer The Gingerbreadman has escaped from a mental institution.) But I've already finished it, so I picked up the first Jack Spratt book, The Big Over Easy, investigating the death of Humpty Dumpty. I also thought about getting the new Thursday Next book, First Among Sequels, but it was $25, so I think I'm going to get it through Amazon or something.

Oh, did I mention I have the cutest nephew ever?

Oh my. The Chinese government has ordered Tibet's living Buddhas not to reincarnate without permission.