dad and gmail

Two things:

1. My dad has been moved to the INS or BCIS (or whatever they’ve changed their name to again) holding facilities. This means that he will be able to go to Korea relatively soon, I hope.

2. :O Active account holders at www.blogger.com are invited to get gmail accounts!!! So I signed up immediately. My new email address will start with [first part of my name].[second part of my name]. 😀 Woo!!!!

good offer

So, word on the street is that I’ll be getting an offer from company #1, possibly today. And my screener interview with company #2 went well today, and the person said I “may be a perfect fit” for the position/team. The next step is a java test via email, which will be tomorrow night.

job interview frenzy

So, I have a couple of exciting interviews lined up. I am supposed to meet two recruiters tomorrow and Friday, but more importantly, I’m going back for a second interview with unnamed company on Friday, and for an interview with unnamed company #2 that my fiancée works at on Monday. The unnamed company #1 would be exciting because I would be working with people I had worked with before, in a reasonably large and well-supported team, working in an area that is new to me, but with products types that I’m very familiar with. The unnamed company #2 is exciting because it is a bigger, more stable company, with a lot of benefits and protection that comes from being a part of a bigger organization. They already have good practices in place, so I don’t have to worry about someone with bad processes messing everything up.

Anyway, this means that I’m turning down the offer from the company I interviewed with last week. A part of me is really nervous, but after spending so much time with it, I’m as sure as I can be that I’m making the right decision. It wasn’t just the commute or worries about the future of the business; it was my worry at being one of the most senior people in the department. Everyone has had experiences with managers who were not technical enough to quickly understand why things were not going as planned in their teams. I feel that this job would have taken me more into a managerial role, which would undermine my need to acquire more knowledge from more senior people at this state of my career. It’s not that I’m not absolutely positive that I’d be up to the challenge; it’s that I want to be more technical and learn things more in depth at this stage.

Either that, or I’m just talking myself out of it. I sure hope that’s not the case.

birth!

Woo!! Baby niece was born last night! In local Korean time, it was actually in the middle of the day, but whatever. All her numbers are great, in really healthy ranges. Yay!!! Streamers and party hats for everyone!!!

baby anticipation

April 19th, 2004 (in the korean timezone, which makes this yesterday) was the due date for my new niece/nephew. My sister’s doctor wants to plan her c-section for the 22nd, but my sister is hoping the baby will drop lower before then, possibly allowing for natural childbirth. I am hopeful that everything will go well! I am quite excited. I will be visiting her and her family at the end of July, near the baby’s 100th’s day celebration.

job offer/inner conflict

So… I got a job offer today. It pays roughly 15% more than my current job, bringing me into what I believe is an equitable pay range, based on my talks with my former coworkers and current manager.

The people seem great, the workplace seems full of energy, and the business seems to be doing well. The only problem is that it’s quite a distance away from me. And being a relatively new driver, I’m hesitant to drive to an unfamiliar area that is roughly 3 times as far away as the longest distance I’ve driven in one stretch.

Eek. I have to give my response by Wednesday.

simple games for simpletons

My dog is extremely fond of a very simplistic game. He brings over his toy to me and nudges it around until I pick up one side of it. Then we play tug-of-war. After a little while of this, I tell him to sit, which he does in conjunction with releasing his end of the toy. He stays sitting while I count to three, then yell, “Go!” at which point I throw the toy in the air and he leaps for it. After he catches it mid-air or on the ground, he brings it back to me to repeat the process. Heh.

shop til i lock and pop

I am getting a bunch of stuff for my niece(s) for my sister. Sunglasses, boardshorts, an embroidered tee-shirt, stripey shirt, swimsuit (don’t even ask me about the two-piece nature of it — it just gets really hot in the summer in Korea), and floral tank, and for my sister, a diaper bag.

I know it’s a lot of stuff, but it’s easier for me to shop for stuff for my niece(s) than for my sis, since she’s at home pregnant. Plus, it’s fun! Tee hee.

update — but every blog entry is an update

I’ve been waking up a good 1-2 hours earlier every morning, since we got Mobi, because I’m worried that he’ll be so full of urine that he’ll wizz all over the place or in his crate on the nights that we crate him. Yawn. It has the effect of really finishing me off mentally by about 4pm, much more than 1-2 hours earlier than when I wake up later. It’s strange, but I just have to slog through it.

In other news, the problem with a customer (let’s call them SP) has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Yay. And my proposal was finally accepted, in its entirety. I don’t know why it took one whole week to accept it, when everyone agreed last week that it was the right solution. It’s probably because I’m a genius.

My mom and little brother are going to Korea from near the beginning of May to the beginning of August. I have to try to coordinate my trip to see them as well. I am so excited for my new niece or nephew (most likely niece) to arrive.

who are you and where have you been

A couple of days ago, I sent out an email to people from my high school to join our graduating class mailing list, as they are planning the 10th reunion already. I heard back from 3 people, two of whom I had been out of touch with for betweeen 3-5 years. It was really nice hearing back, especially one of the people and I were pretty close back in the day. It really made my day.