It was a beautifully sunny day twelve years ago that Kelly and I tied the knot. While others might choose to spend the day feeling sad, today will always be a happy day of remembrance for me.
Checking In
A catch-all, catch-up post
There are 1,132 posts filed in Checking In (this is page 34 of 114).
Plugging away
Things are going very well on the job hunt front. I had a phone interview last week with a network management software company. I don’t think we ‘clicked’ on that one, so I don’t have high hopes that we’ll be speaking again. That one aside, I had a nice talk this morning with a recruiter for a local company. While there isn’t an immediate opening there, I’m hopeful something will come out of it.
This afternoon I had yet another phone interview with another local company. This conversation went very well. I’ve got a good feeling about this one.
Tomorrow I have another phone interview with another local company. I also have high hopes for this position as well. And if that weren’t enough there’s another interview on the horizon with yet another local company.
The bottom line is that I want to work in Raleigh for a company that values my contribution, both to the company itself as well as the city of Raleigh. I’m well on my way to finding this winning combination!
Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene spent the day moving lazily up North Carolina’s Outer Banks, rolling ashore this morning and exiting into Virginia this evening. By landfall the storm had weakened to Category 1 status: just barely a hurricane. Even so, the storm cut a wide swath across the state, though reports of damage (other than power outages) seemed few. Last I heard, four people had died from flooding accidents.
I watched the TV coverage of the storm all day and then wondered why I bothered. There were only so many things one can say about Irene and after the first hour I’d heard them all. I did enjoy watching the live video uplinks from the beaches all up and down the East Coast, courtesy of my Free to Air (FTA) satellite dish. As soon as the studio would cut away from the soggy reporters getting blown around on the beach, those reporters would whip out their Blackberries.
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Business ideas
I’ve got a few business ideas I’ve been kicking around. Some of them might have some legs and I’m now free to pursue them. If you’re interested in pitching in, drop me an email and let’s chat.
Moving on
Monolith Software, the small startup company for which I worked, and I parted ways today. I work in sales, though, and there’s not always much job security in sales. I think the tough economy finally caught up with my little over-achieving former employer. It’s a shame, though: I loved the job, the people, and the product so I’m sorry to see my time with Monolith end.
Fortunately, I’ve been consistently harassed by recruiters for the past few months, so I’m certain to land on my feet. If you’re looking for a top-notch sales engineer, check out my resume (on my About page) and give me a shout.
Earthquake in Virginia!
We just had an earthquake hit us on the East Coast. It was a 5.9 magnitude quake centered 9 miles south of Mineral, VA, about halfway between Richmond and Charlottesville.
I was at my desk in the upstairs office when I realized my desk was shaking back and forth. In a mild panic the dog came racing up the stairs.
Thinking the kids were playing with dynamite again, I yelled down stairs. “Why is the house shaking?” I yelled, getting angry.
“I don’t know!” came the reply from my daughter, Hallie.
Then I remembered that a builder had moved a house onto the lot at the end of the street. I had been talking to him this morning when he reassured me the home was in no danger of toppling over from the approaching Hurricane Irene. It weighs 100,000 pounds, he said. So if it wasn’t the kids tearing our house apart, my next thought was that the 100,000 pound house had just come toppling down.
It was when I watched the trees outside swaying rhythmically that I decided what I was feeling must be a mild earthquake. A trip to Twitter confirmed it for me (social media wins again).
It was the first earthquake I’ve ever felt, in spite of the three years I was stationed in San Diego. It was quite unsettling, to say the least. These things just don’t happen on the East Coast. What’s next? A plague? Will we see Godzilla next?
Anyone have video? Send it in and I’ll post it!
Back (but bagless) in Raleigh
We arrived in Raleigh this evening but our bags did not. Our flight from Seattle was delayed considerably and by the time we made it to Chicago Midway our brief layover was whittled down to nothing. We literally had time to check the departure board for our gate and walk over to join our boarding line.
Though we just made it on our Raleigh-bound flight, we wound up waiting with our plane at the gate as the crew waited for additional luggage to be loaded. We of course thought our luggage from our late-arriving Seattle flight would be loaded during this 40 minute window but apparently not. Several passengers from Seattle were disappointed to arrive in Raleigh with no bags.
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Last night on Orcas
I see now why shipbuilder and philanthropist Robert Moran chose Orcas Island to live out what he thought was his last days. I also now see why Moran lived decades longer than his doctor predicted: this place is good for your soul. Though I’m exhausted tonight from the whirlwind of activity with which we’ve managed to fill our days here, I will leave tomorrow with a smile on my face and memories that will tide me over until we arrive again.
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Staying active on Orcas
We’re in the middle of our vacation and making the most of every minute. Thus, no daily blogging.
We’ve tromped around Moran State Park a few times, strolled around downtown Eastsound, toured Rosario, walked along the low-tide East Sound beach, and visited my friend Ron and wife, Shelley. We’ve taken a sailboat with Ron out around West Sound, watched float planes soar a few hundred feet over our heads, visited our friends the Taylors at their rental home in Beach Haven, spotted young eagles perched in trees near the water, dove in 50-degree water, gone sea kayaking, spied seals frolicking in the water, hosted a dinner party, dodged multiple deer standing around in the roads and lawns, walked around an old lime kiln in a park, relaxed in our hot tub, and toured the amazing homes around Orcas Island. And we still have two days here!
Today we hope to get to the salmon hatchery to watch the salmon leap up the ladders. It should be an interesting sight. After that we may take another stroll around town and explore some more of this magical place.
In the meantime, you can see our pictures on my Facebook page from Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. More extensive blogging will have to wait!
On island time again!
View on Orcas Island
We’re settled into our home for the week on beautiful Orcas Island! We were fortunate to find lodging on the island Saturday night at the end of our travel day. As a result, we were able to spend more time on the island and not at one of the motels in Anacortes, waiting until the next ferry would take us out.
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