scott

Google Maps Rocks

by

I love the web based version of google maps. it is a fun tool to use. I can spend time just looking at locations satellite photos, or actually use the system to find locations. Since I live and work in Manhattan I don’t normally need directions to and from someplace. What I do need is to just see were some address is on a map. The satilite photos do that perfectly for me.

The really fantastic part about Google Maps is the new mobile version. I downloaded the Palm Version onto my Treo 680 (and previously my 700P). It is great when actually out and about and you are trying to find a location. Today it saved the day for me when I had some time to kill before lunch with friends. The only problem was it is freezing out and I am uptown on the west side no where near were I normally am. Out comes my Treo. I tell Google maps were I am and it shows me on the map. Then I say find a business, and tell it starbucks. I figured I could get a hot chocolate and maybe browse the web while I waited for my friends. Within seconds Google Maps told me there was a starbucks only a block away from my current location. I was out of the cold in no time. That is technology working for me!!!

Technorati Tags: , ,

Half Day With The Family

by

I took the afternoon and went out to my parents. I wanted to see them since I don’t normally spend enough time with them, and I had an other things I needed to do in their neighborhood. I needed to hit my safe deposit box and get my ID (Social Security Card) so I can have it for my W-2 paper work when I start my new job next week.

Since it was my sisters birthday yesterday we ended up going back towards her place for dinner. We picked up Morgan and Zack from the Nanny and meet my sister at the restaurant. We had a good dinner. Morgan was behaving most of the time and was being friendly. I like it when I get hugs and kisses without having to ask for them. Zack just doesn’t like to sit still. He is so funny and my mom is right he has such a personality.

Overall a good day. My only problem is that even without having to get up early for work I still couldn’t sleep. This is now 3 weeks and counting were I am having sleeping issues. With all the stress related to work, the job search, and now waiting to start a new job I am not surprised. I just thought after I gave my notice and I had a job lined up I would be able to sleep a bit better. I haven’t been. I think I am just anxious to get to my last day, and then actually start my new position. There are lots of unknowns around starting a new job, so I guess I am still stressing about that. Only 7 more days to go and hopefully I can sleep well.

And The Band Played On

by

That is what they said of the band on the titanic as the ship sank. I cannot fathom why. I understand the logic that people use when trying to explain it, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. I bring that up because I get the same feeling when I think about my current employer. It seems like people are delusional about how things are. Moral is fine I heard someone in a key position say. I guess he was in the band, because 5 people giving notice in less than two weeks time out of an office of 60 doesn’t give the air of great moral.

I wish them luck. Maybe I am over reacting, but all my friends and people I trust don’t seem to think so.

Yesterday

by

My exit interview was interesting. I spoke my mind, and HR took it all in. Surprisingly (or not) I hear that my feelings are not only my own. I know the guys in my group feel the same way, but it appears that others that have left may have eluded to similar issues.

Yesterday afternoon turned out pretty much like I thought it would. Jayson ended up coming with me to see Jeff. I ended up seeing Jeff, David, Nick, Jeffery, and others. It was weird to see so many people who used to work at Jeff’s company return to it. I think Lefty and I are the only ones that haven’t returned. David, Jeff, Jay and I went to Pete’s Tavern for lunch. It was nice to catch up with them.

Plan for the Day

by

My exit interview is in a little while. I am not leaving for over a week, but I was hoping to get some time off next week so I am doing it now. After that I am off to lunch with an old friend (and old boss) Jeff. I am going to meet him down by his office. It is usually too long between when we get together so I am looking forward to lunch.

Other than those plans, I am not sure what the day has in store for me yet.

The Brewery

by

After work yesterday a few of us headed over to the brewery in Union Square for some drinks and food. We meet up with John, Mickey, and Tom and had an overall good evening. John is trying to convince most of us to goto a poker tournament on super bowl sunday out on the island. I am still skeptical about the trip. Originally the buy in was high and I am not a fan of traveling way out onto the island if I can avoid it. I am waiting to see what the buy in will be for real before I make a decision.

Even-though I only had 2 drinks (in my defense they were rather large mixed drinks, but I know I am a light weight when it comes to drinking) I was pretty buzzed last night. I had my typical after drinking restless sleeping last night. I set my alarm for later than normal but still got up around my regular time since I was not able to sleep well most of the night.

Work Ethic

by

Here I am sitting at work with 7 more business days until I leave for my new job. I am winding down everything I have been doing, and answering questions from everyone who asks about this or that. Since others in my group are leaving soon we are all in the same boat. You would think that we would be the last to show up to work each day and the first to leave in the evening. Scary thing is that we are not. Take yesterday for example. Monday night I asked myself why I was getting up so early to goto the office normal time (for me at least) when 3/4 of the development team staff get in after 10AM. So I set my alarm for an hour later than normal. I figured I would sleep in a bit and maybe get some stuff done at home before heading into work. I wasn’t that busy on Monday anyway. Well even with getting up an hour later and puttering around my apartment for a while I still only came to work at 10AM. The funny thing was I walked in with a developer who ALWAYS does that. When I got to work at 10AM at least half the dev staff still wasn’t in the office. I just don’t get it. Even if these people are working allot at home (tend to doubt it though) the perception this type of work ethic gives off is terrible to everyone else. Is it me? Others in my groups say the same thing, so I don’t think it is me being overly sensitive.

If you are asking, hey maybe these guys work late so they can come in late. That is what I told myself for a while. But when my team comes into work on time every day and over half of them stay much later than any of their development counterparts you get to wonder what are these people doing? I would like a 10:30 to 6PM (6:30 maybe) job with an hour lunch built in. That doesn’t account for the playing with remote control cars or other stuff people do to waste time throughout the day. No wonder why some departments keep needing to hire more staff.

On the plus side as I said at the beginning of this post I only have 7 more business days to go. My exit interview is tomorrow with HR. I will be honest when asked questions, so it will be interesting.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Bored, oh so Bored

by

Since I gave my two weeks notice I have had not that much to do. In larger organizations a person in my position would very likely be asked to leave after giving two weeks notice. It is simply a security precaution. I would get my 2 weeks pay but asked to not show up anymore due to the level of access I have. At my current company they really need to have transition information so everyone that is staying (the few that are) can get up to speed as much as possible. In theory the two weeks transition is a good idea, but in practice it is not.

What have I done so far this week? I wrote up an document outlining the major areas of concern that people should look out for with regard to ongoing operations. I wrote a doc showing were most information regarding the department can be found. Oh, and I cleaned up my office. I got rid of most of the crap out of it, and wiped my laptop so it can go into storage until someone needs to use it. I had a meeting with my boss to go over some items and went to a staff meeting yesterday.

All told out of 16 hours this week of work, I probably needed to be in the office 3-4 of them. The thing is I am done with the major stuff I have to do. I don’t know what else I will be doing for the next 8 business days? Tomorrow I am going to our data center with my boss so he can get his security account setup and see our cage, but after that I don’t think I have much planned.

I am trying to swing it so I can take most of next week off. I have floating holidays that I am going to loose if I leave and I will be available in case of any issues anyway so I think it is a good trade off. My boss seemed to agree but he still has to authorize the time off in our HR system. If I get the days off I will be able to do some heavy sleeping and maybe some xbox playing. Not sure what I would do at home for that many days, but it is better than being stuck in the office. I will hopefully have an update soon.

5 Years and a Ton of Crap

by

I never realized how much crap stuff I accumulated at work over 5 plus years until I went to the office to start cleaning up and taking my personal stuff home. Jayson and I went in on Saturday to clean up. I didn’t want to be bringing tons of crap home every night between now and when I leave. It turns out that I will probably still be doing that at least for this week. I have just too much stuff and I don’t want to throw it all out. I have books, gifts, nick naks, etc that have materialized over the years. I totally forgot I had an overnight bag stashed away in case I had to stay overnight at the office. It happened during the blackout that I didn’t make it home so I now keep a bag.

I think I probably will end up tossing some of the books I have but almost everything else needs to get home somehow. I don’t know how people in the movies leave jobs with one little cardboard box. At least I am not Jayson who has to deal with giving away an entire salt water fish tank.

Apartment Cleanup

by

I spent the past 2 days trying to clean up the mess that is my apartment. It is not going well. I see no improvement to the situation. That is what happens when I decide to rearrange some piece of electronics gear. Everything gets moved around and messy. I should try and finish up tonight, but I am just tired. The events of last week have still not sunk in. It will eventually, but not yet.

Well I stopped writing and got off my but for a while and I cleaned up decent amount. I still want to tidy up a bit more. I have also decided to wipe my mini, and remove the XP partition on it. I also brought back my dedicated DVR Windows XP machine. The Beyond TV Link software and the dual booting the Mini was not cutting it for me. I will use my regular DVR machine on my TV until the Apple TV thing ships and then I will plug that into my TV as well. My Mini is now plugged into my KVM. My main Windows box is not feeling too well after the moving of stuff. I think the power supply went. It is over 2 years old so I don’t know what I am going to do to it just yet.

Still cleaning…