Crisis Averted!

Looking at the archives here, it's become obvious I've nearly forgotten how to blog since starting at Yahoo! almost a year and a half ago. It's not that I haven't been doing anything interesting, or come across interesting things to talk about — far from it.

I've been doing and seeing some of the most amazing things I've ever done or seen, from a career perspective. But, I have found that doing kick ass things at work has made me less likely to do kick ass things while not at work. And those non-work kick ass things are what I used to like to blog about. Doing kick ass things is a tons of fun, but it takes a lot of effort. One shouldn't do kick ass things all the time, or else one might run out of ass to kick. So I save my ass kicking energy for the asses that most need kicking.

Most of my time since joining Yahoo! has been spent working on SearchMonkey, and jumping between various other kick ass projects. Of course, there have also been a good number of not so kick ass projects. Again, it's important to not run out of ass to kick, or energy to kick ass. On top of that, be sure to kick the right ass, not just any old ass that comes along. Even if an ass appears to be begging you to kick it. Even if it offers you cash. Even if peer pressure makes you feel like you'd be less kick ass if you didn't kick this particular ass. There's not much worse than a wasted or misplaced ass kick. Kick ass wisely.

Anyway, late last year I had decided this here blog could use a redesign, and I could use a swift kick in the ass to get things moving again. But, now I'm not so sure. I haven't blogged because I haven't had anything much to say, and that's fine. Despite the kick ass things going on at work I just haven't found myself thinking, "Hey, I should blog about this!" The day I do have something to say (like today) it'll still be here waiting. In the meantime, for all the little blips of life from "whoa" to "wtf" there's always Twitter.

Last year I left sunny California to pursue a job in the rainy Pacific Northwest. The company was young, private and had a ton of potential. I was ready for something new. The timing was just right, and it was a great adventure.

Last month I left the rainy Pacific Northwest to pursue a job in sunny California. The company is mature, public and has a proven track record of success. I was ready for something new, and also something familiar. The timing was just right, and it will be an even greater adventure.

So long, Portland. Hello, Yahoo!.

Earlier today I finished reading Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. OK, so it was published in 1992 and I showed up to the party about 15 years late, but it's a great read, even in 2007. My only true complaint is that the middle 70 pages or so are lacking in the action department. More swordfights, please!

Some aspects of it are a bit contrived, and others most definitely dated. Yet others ring true today, and as a whole it succeeds in being fascinating. There are many concepts and theories covered that I wouldn't have previously considered — and that I didn't realize were included in the story — especially with respect to linguistics and religion.

Why is it that when a retail store's inventory system shows that one widget is in stock, invariably that widget is no where to be found? Sometimes the system says that two — or even five or ten — are in stock, yet none exist in the store.

It's always at the most inconvenient time, too. Like when you're in one location that's out of stock and an employee calls over to another location for a stock check. "Well, their system says they've got two in stock. I've put on hold for you."

They've got a widget! And it's got your name on it. You hop in the car, drive umpteen miles to the other location, and explain that you've got a widget on hold. The employee looks at you, perplexed, and begins to explain how their inventory systems are not to be trusted. "But we can have one special ordered and sent to a store location of your choice."

The other location specifically asked this location to place one on hold and explained to you how it would be waiting for you when you arrived. And now they're telling you otherwise?

You've now wasted two trips to two locations of their crappy store, and you have no choice but to blog about it in an attempt to blow off steam.

And that is why retail inventory systems stink.

I recently accepted a software engineering position in the Portland area.

I've got about one month to gather my things, pack them into the back of a U-Haul and drive 650 miles north.

What are some places/sights/activities one absolutely must visit/see/do as a new Oregonian in the Portland area, tourist and native alike?

A few months back I started a new job. A large part of this new job entails building and maintaining Java desktop applications. A large part of my life has recently been eaten away by terse API docs, vague explanations of core and advanced features, and minimalist and nearly useless code examples of said features.

Though it's a great change of pace from years of working mainly in PHP, it means I don't have much free time to work on things I like. Like Lace. At least for a little while.

I'm hoping that getting back into Java after a 5 year hiatus will be good for me. The Java landscape is difficult for me to accurately gauge, but it seems as though Java on the desktop is trending back into fashion.

Once I settle in to Java and my new role, I hope to be able to pick up my side projects again. It's unfortunate, but Lace and other projects don't pay the bills.