An insane pair of weeks... feel like I have been caught up in a Tornado...

Howdy all,

Today has been a day like no other, ending up two weeks I hope to not repeat. For those of you who have LiveJournal, let me know who you are, and I will likely add you so that you can read my entries. My profile is at http://cinnion.livejournal.com/profile. But briefly put, here is a rundown of the past couple of weeks... not good ones for the most part...

1) I had a set of nasty phone calls from my wife, during which time it was discovered that the boiler in the house up in Columbus, where she lives, had cracked and had to be replaced. Because of the way my wife has been spending money, I had to spend $6300 from my inheritance account to purchase a new boiler, then endure countless phone calls dealing with her anger at being cold, and that it was taking so long to replace the boiler.

2) I found out on Wednesday at 1:30PM my time that I was being laid off. I am getting paid through the end of the month, and if I sign an agreement, I get a couple of extra days which means I have insurance through Feburary, and they pay my COBRA for the month of March.

3) Because of the stress of dealing with her mother, that monthly curse, a change in her migraine meds having to be backed out, and the added stress of my being unemployed, my daughter ended up with a migraine which lasted two days... and I could not get her neurologist to even return my call to talk with me about what we took to be a side-effect of the meds. She missed enough days at the beginning of the school year that these days really needed a doctor's excuse which I do not believe was issued.

4) I have spent close to 4 hours dealing with legal paperwork which should get filed on Tuesday with the court.

On the good side...

a) The boiler was replaced and running several days before they said it would, and thanks to my checking around, I managed to get the work done for $1600 less than the original estimate.

b) Within 6 hours of being laid off, I had spoken to people in my network, and had three possibilities. Two of these resulted in a rapid interchange of email messages with a place I had been speaking with back in 2004/5 (Carnegie Mellon PDL), and another which is a startup where a SO of a friend works. Both of these are up in Pittsburgh, and even with a resume I last updated in 2003 (it reflects none of this last job, either as a contractor or a FTE), and by midday yesterday, I had phone interviews lined up for both today. After a 20 minute call, the PDL folks asked when I could come up, and after a call this evening, the other place is wanting to speak to me in person as well. Right now, it looks like I will be driving up with my daughter and a good friend who knows Pittsburgh, and I should be meeting halfway briefly with the startup Monday morning, then starting a 4 hour interview at the PDL.

The nice thing within all this... I am back to the point where I go to interviews wearing jeans and a sweater.

I suspect both of those possible positions would likely involve a $25K-$30K. But then, if I end up at CMU, I will be at one of the best CompSci/ECE schools in the nation... and able to take classes towards getting my PhD.

Of course, everything comes with a price... I would have to move away from the house I grew up in and just moved back into in June. <SIGH>

Well... I feel like killing some bugs...

I feel for you man.

Quite a while ago I made the decision that when I had a set back, it was time to kick it into high gear. It has worked out in my life that when I change my perspective then I am able to re-apply myself.

From what I have seen you write in posts in the past, you are a highly talented and learned person. Your type do not go long unemployed unless they wish to stay that way.

I kind of know how you feel as well, I took a pretty good financial hit recently. Beyond that, I was passed over for a promotion that I have worked like a dog to get for the last 3 years when a manager 3 levels above me decided to hire someone from "outside". I was pretty bummed for a little while.

Then the new person that they hired turned out to be very experienced and in his first few days of going over files he met with me and recognized the work I have been doing and gave me a bonus and a raise.

I hope the best for you and yours in this trying time.

Oh man, I am so sorry to hear about all this, Spacey! I was wondering how you have been (I don't have/use LiveJournal at the moment) but I know that you'll bounce back to a better situation.

Glad to see you posting and hoping for the best for you and your daughter! Let me know if I can help.

Well, I still feel like I am in a tornado, and will for some time given what all is coming up, with a very personal legal battle, a new job, a move, etc. A move you ask? Yep! I am having to move. Not 100% happy about it, but life is forcing me to do so. I am having to move from the place pictured in this photo album (which includes pics from my 25th high school reunion), to someplace in Pittsburgh. I do not know exactly where yet, and it will be complicated because of restraints I will have as I go through that legal battle, but I have all sorts of other things to consider in that move, including things like commercial broadband, a place where I can get a 120V/30A circuit added, good schools for my daughter, etc.

Now, I mentioned a new job... yep... unlike last time I was laid off (which was right before I got my last job), it did not take me 6 months to find a position to apply for and nearly a year to get a position. Instead, between talking to the place where I had been interviewing when I got my last job, and talking to the SO of a friend of a close friend, I ended up with those two phone interviews. The PDL in-person interview on the 21st lasted from 12:30 until after 4pm, and I got over to the startup around 5pm and was there until after 7pm. Both my friend and I were too exhausted to drive back that night, and were still exhausted the next AM, when my daughter should have been at school by around 10am. But between still being tired and icy interstates, we did not get back down home until after 5pm. <sigh> But from there, I spoke on the phone repeatedly with the startup the next several days, and PDL told me they were all happy about me, and that they were proceeding with the next step... after I actually put in my app, which happened within like 30 mins after I spoke with them.

Well, the benefits at the startup are spotty, with no vision or dental, and what looks to be a partial medical coverage. No 401K/403B, no bus pass or easy parking, no facilities like fitness center, etc. And, it seems that contrary to what I was told by several folks, the working day starts at around 9am and runs at least through a 6pm staff meeting every day (and seems to run until after 9pm). The position at the CMU PDL, which was officially offered to me verbally yesterday afternoon (and got me a "Woohoo!" back from them when I said yes) will not have any of those lacks, but I will be taking a huge cut in salary (to the tune of $30K+, or roughly 1/3 of what I was making). But with CMU PDL also being a place where I can work on my Ph.D. And thankfully, Avis is looking forward to this change. Now I just need to get through the process of finding some place to live, etc.

Oh... and the fecal material surrounding the boiler continues to have fallout, as does the termination. My termination pay was deposited to the join account, which means I will have a heck of a time getting any of it for my use (it still has not hit, as of tonight though, and I will have to check tomorrow). And the boiler was apparently leaking long enough and bad enough that the sump pump is smelling and making noises, indicating that the sump pump has probably been pretty much burned out. I had to deal with my wife calling and ranting/screaming at me today, and not letting me get a word in edgewise to answer her questions (such as to the question of "what will be done?" trying to say "well, call several places to see what they would charge to come out, check it and replace it...", and getting interrupted about how it should be checked out first, and how they charge to come out, etc.).

But yes, things will be better, and even in the scary transition, I will still be getting at least some of my paycheck for my use, even if that includes making the house payment for the house she is living in, and her van payment. I just wish I had something which was being dreamt of by two folks, even if several years off, back in the end of 2006 to look forward to as a possibility.

Oh... and on the Linux tie-in... take a look at this page, and know that in just that one row, there are hundreds of servers, some of which are running Linux. Part of my job will be to work on getting us virtual computers up as well, using higher density blades, etc.

Wow and to think I was going to start complaining about working a 20 hour day yesterday!

Commercial heating contractor + -30 degree temperatures for a week= 1 very busy and tired technician

What is the expression? When it rains it poors?

Spacey I just have to ask what do you need a 30A 120V plug for?

Sorry to hear it man.

I wish I could be there for you but the fact is not only is it a couple thousand miles but you don't know me from Adam.

Just the same, my thoughts, prayers (if you want them) and best wishes are there for you man.

If you do need someone you don't know to talk to, give me an e-mail.

Sorry to hear about everything. Just keep going and don't quit. I know things can get rough, but try not to let it get you down.

Howdy all... just an update... I have been without connectivity at the townhouse we moved into last weekend... no phone or DSL, and no TV. But I started my job at CMU on Monday, and my daughter started in her new school on Wednesday, after the school was finally happy with all the paperwork we filed, my proving our residence, etc. We even had a open house to attend on her first day. I still do not know when my connectivity will be fixed, but in the meantime, you can send me email (send it to cinnion at ka8zrt dot com)... I still do not have my IM up, and access to sites like LiveJournal, MySpace or here is probably not a good idea from work.

More later... I am at the house down in SE Ohio, grabbing some things on the way back from an SCA event in Huntington WV, on our way back up to Pittsburgh.

Oh... and I sent some email to some of you, like Untamed, Pyro, DarkSlayer and MandaPanda among others... read it and get back to me...

Oh... and the answer to what I need a 120V/30A outlet for...

http://www.ka8zrt.com/raw_photos/2008Jan29.2229/p1150042.jpg

With the exception of the four boxes from Trapeze which are near the top of the rack (the four units just below the black Xyplex terminal server), those units are mine. The UPS at the bottom is a APC SU3000RM, which takes the 120V/30A outlet.

Well, things in Pittsburgh are starting to settle down. The phones were finally up on Mar 3, two full weeks after they were supposed to be up. Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to warn about using the cell phones before 9pm to talk to folks other than other Verizon Wireless customers, and I got the latest bill last Friday, and there was an addition $300 due to minutes overages... ARRGH!!! But that same day, we also got our DirectTV setup, and the DSL followed the next day. However, DSL did not mean I had my machines I brought up with me working... that took more, including time I did not really have. And I did not have a desk for my workstation, so playing was still not possible. The best I could do is connect my laptop to read email and do a little web browsing.

This past weekend, I got the desk (one of the nicer Sauder ones), and assembled it Sunday. After that, I also arranged the table for my laser printer, setup the basic networking, and started preparing to connect my fileserver and workstation I brought up with me, along with the laptop and Av's machine, to the network. But no firewall meant either using a $500 server, or buying one... I figured buying one which also got me a wireless router (which I needed after sending all the gear back to my previous employer) was the way to go.

Well, last night I went out to Best Buy and purchased a D-Link DGL-4500, which is a gigabit ethernet switch, wireless router and firewall all rolled into one, complete with routing enhancements for gaming. I got things hooked up, but still had some changes to do. Tonight has been spent making those changes on my file server (which also does things like DHCP, DNS, and such) to handle the network up here, while permitting me to access the static networks down at the house and the few machines I left up in Columbus. I might just be to the point where hopping on to play a bit tonight is doable. We shall see. But tomorrow is the SCA meeting for the local barony (the one which hosts the Pennsic War), and Thursday evening has me driving back down to home for the first hearing for my divorce, where we will find out what changes the judge wants to make in the temporary orders. But when I get back on Sunday... I will definitely be up to killing some bugs.

Oh... and if I am lucky, in the next few weeks, perhaps Av, my friend Cat, and I may manage to hook up with DrkSlayer and MandaPanda who live maybe a couple of hours away... looking forward to hopefully doing that soon! It would be the first time I would meet DCers in person, unlike some of you lucky folks!