Ramblings

There are 171 posts filed in Ramblings (this is page 4 of 18).

Crazy week

About a month ago, I moved out here to work for a small software company. I no longer work for that software company… because we were acquired by a larger, public company. At first, I was a little nervous since I’m the new guy and the new guy is typically the first to go if there’s any kind of reduction in force. But, as I thought it over and spoke with my boss, I realized that I don’t have anything to worry about. First of all, the acquisition has been in the works for a few months, so they would’ve had to incur the cost of hiring me, moving me, etc., all while knowing they could let me go. Obviously, that wouldn’t make very much business sense and since I know the people I work for have a lot of business sense (they did just sell their company for a nice chunk of change, after all), I had to figure they wouldn’t make such a costly mistake. Also, a good friend of mine approached me about working there–I didn’t pursue the company so much as the company pursued me–and I couldn’t see my friend leading me to move out here, only to be canned a month later.

So, after a lot of thought and several excellent meals on my new company’s dime, I’m pretty sure I’m good to go. Really, the best thing is that I know have more career options since I now work for an 800-person company rather than a 40-person company. Before, the only vertical potential was basically my boss’ job, and I don’t think he’s going anywhere for a while. Now, there are several places I can go within the company, and I can probably get there relatively quickly since the company is growing very rapidly.

Florida Football winning, but battling silliness

It’s true that we’ve had some close wins against mediocre teams, and we’ve had some close wins against great teams. Our only loss was a close one to a good Auburn team on the road. I haven’t seen the strength of schedule numbers recently, but I’m guessing our schedule is one of the most difficult. So what I really don’t get is why USC is already being anointed as the one-loss team bound for the National Title game. They lost to an unranked Oregon State and they’ve only beaten two teams who were ranked at the time they played. True, if they win out, they will have played a pretty tough schedule, but they still don’t have to play a conference championship game, and they certainly won’t be playing any Top 5 teams in the next few weeks.

We’ve beaten two ranked teams (one Top 10) and our only loss is to a ranked team. We’ll also likely meet a Top 5 Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game. Another thing to consider is that the quality of opponent in the SEC is just better than that of the PAC-10. We’re a stronger conference, but because our teams play defense, we’re being called weak.

I just needed to get that off my chest. If we win out and don’t play for the title, I think we should offer to switch conferences with USC, Texas or some other “big” team for a season. That would be interesting.

Home, sweet home… When do we eat?

I’ve officially moved to Gainesville and I’m starving. I left yesterday morning around 10:00 (CDT) and I arrived in Gainesville around 3:00 (EDT) this afternoon. I think I made pretty good time considering I was driving a big moving truck with my car in tow. In retrospect, I’m pretty surprised I didn’t hit anything or flip the truck. Also, it turns out I’m pretty competent when it comes to backing up trucks with trailers attached.

Anyway, I haven’t eaten in about nine hours, so I’m going to get some dinner. Hopefully I’ll be able to partake of some kinda’ local food.

EDIT: I ended up eating at Mi Apa Latin Cafe. It’s a nice little Latin place near my old place (which is actually someone else’s old place). It was quick, tasty and their menu is pretty good. They have a lot of different fruit juices for those who like that kinda’ thing. The papaya juice was a little tart for my taste, but that’s probably because I used it as a chaser for my Coke.

I have a lot of updating to do, and I plan to start this weekend. I need to talk about my life since the move, Florida Football (I’ve been remiss vis-a-vis all things Gators lately) and probably a bunch of other stuff. I’ve been sick, so that’s my excuse.

My last night in Plano, TX

Well, after about two years and nine months, I’m leaving Plano to head back east. I’m mostly excited and a little sad to be leaving, but I think all the sad will be gone in the next couple days. I have been feeling very melancholy for a few days, but I think it’s mostly been due to my innate resistance to change and my fear of the unknown. Although I didn’t like it much, I have spent a couple years here making a life for myself and I’m about to leave that life for another. Intellectually, I know this is the best thing I could do; but emotionally, I feel like I’m giving up, like I’ve some how been defeated.

Of course, this is nonsense as defeat implies some enemy, which I don’t have. And I’m not giving up, but fed up and seeking something more fulfilling. I can’t wait to be near my family and friends, to find a church, to not spend most nights planted on my couch. It’ll be nice to have other peoples’ couches as options, too.

Two and a half years ago, I had dreams of becoming an actor, and I won’t concede that those dreams are dead. For now, I feel more inspired to pursue writing, but I haven’t closed the book on acting. As I move back to Gainesville, I’m not going to make any predictions about what I will or won’t do in the future. That being said, I do have some goals: write something meaningful, win a major poker tournament, find a fulfilling career path, and a few others which I can’t really articulate. For now, I’m just focusing on the present as I want to be sure I make this transition as smooth as possible.

I’ve spent the last several days tying up loose ends and seeking closure. I think I’ve done pretty well and I don’t anticipate feeling that I have any unfinished business out here in Texas. I’ve tried to go to all my favorite spots, see all my friends and say goodbye to acquaintances. Most importantly, I’ve reflected on my time here and how it’s affected me as a person. I have a very clear picture of who I was when I got here and who I am as I leave. I’m very pleased with how my time here has gone, and I’m anxiously anticipating the next phase of my life.

Au revoir, Texas. Au revoir.

Bittersweet transition: reflections on my impending life change

Without waxing poetic, I’d like to scribble down some of my thoughts over the past few weeks. These will mostly be disjointed, stream of conscious kind of thoughts:

I’m very excited about my move to Florida, and I know it is a completely positive change for me. Nonetheless, I’ve been feeling pretty miserable for the last few days. I think my problem is that, good or bad, I just don’t like change. Big transitions always scare me, and I really hate moving. I have an intellectual understanding that this change is necessary and will ultimately make me much happier, but I hate the idea of turning my life upside down.

I sent out an e-mail to many of my co-workers to say goodbye, and I was curious if it seemed appropriate, so I asked a friend to take a look at it before I sent it. He gave it his stamp of approval and said not to worry about it, he’s not very good at goodbyes either. That got me to thinking: Is anyone good at goodbyes? I’ve heard people say they’re no good at goodbyes hundreds of times, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone claim to be good at them. I think we’re all really awful at goodbyes because we’re built to create and build relationships, not extinguish them.

I can’t decide whether I should write a detailed account of my last few months at work here in Texas. On one hand, I think I learned a lot of valuable things and it may be good to write them down for future reference. On the other hand, I think it might be a good idea to just let everything kind of fade into the background. Most of my thoughts on the last few months would probably turn into criticisms of some form or another, and I don’t know if I want to write a long, detailed criticism.

A while back, I talked to a co-worker about my transition to Florida. When I told him I was moving back to Florida, he asked if I grew up there and if my family is there. I told him yes, and he immediately said it was good to try to live near family. He told me he’d turned down several job offers around the country because his family is here in Texas. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but then I saw him again today and he said, “You’re doing the right thing. It’s important to be close to your family.” It was encouraging to hear someone tell me I’m doing the right thing. Although I’ve been acting (and even feeling) confident in my decision, I realized that I had been ignoring a lot of doubt about whether this truly is the right thing for me. I didn’t even realize I needed encouragement, but it was nice to be encouraged.

This actually reminds me of my last night emceeing back at school. I had just finished up the meeting, business as usual and, on my way out of the auditorium, a friend just walked up and gave me a hug. This was pretty unusual for me because I don’t exactly give off a “hug me!” vibe. As stupid as it sounds, I really needed a hug and didn’t even know it. I was about to face a big transition and I was very anxious about it, although I didn’t let on. I’m not really sure what my point is… Maybe I’m just realizing that sometimes the little things really matter.

Moving back to Florida

I’ve accepted a job offer in Gainesville, FL and I’ll be moving back in a couple weeks. I don’t have too much to say about it now, but I’ll write more soon.

UPDATE: I’ll be leaving Dallas on Monday, October 2 and should be arriving in Gainesville on Tuesday evening. My original plan was to work through Tuesday or Wednesday, but I decided there’s just not much to do here, so I figured it’d be easier to pack and load the truck on a weekend.

The rest of my time here will go by very quickly. I’ve already started packing my stuff into boxes (my bedroom and closet are essentially done) and I’ll continue packing throughout the week. Friday night, I play a local Tournament of Champions, which is a single-table tournament with a $50 buy-in and an additional $2500 overlay. I’m positive I can win this tourney and it’s a deepstack event, so that makes it even more likely. Saturday morning, I’ll pick up my moving truck and start loading it up. I’ll work on loading the truck through Sunday night. Monday morning, I’ll start heading back to Florida. Right now, the plan is to stop off around Jackson, Mississippi on Monday night.

Once in Gainesville, I’ll start unpacking pretty quickly and hopefully be done moving in to my new place by Thursday. Then I have to do all the usual “new resident” stuff like getting my car registered in Florida and eating at Newberry Backyard BBQ. Saturday is our Homecoming game (homecoming indeed) against LSU. Sunday, I’ll probably visit a church and rejoin the basketball league I played in while at school. Monday and Tuesday will be more of the “new resident” stuff and I’ll probably start work on Wednesday, October 11 or so.

Have you seen the high waters?

I’ve noticed a disturbing fashion trend here at work: lots of dudes’ pants are way, way too short, or they’re hiked up way too high. I don’t pretend to be a fashionista (indeed, I have a pretty unique “style”, but it centers almost exclusively around comfort and largely ignores aesthetics), but I do try to make sure my pant legs cover my socks. I just think it looks a little odd when some guy shows up to work with a nice shirt and tie, capris pants ensemble.

Book recommendations for a buddy

A friend of mine recently called to ask if I would recommend some books for him. He wanted me to recommend good stuff that he was probably supposed to read in high school, but didn’t. He also mentioned that he wanted to read stuff that might be be fodder for allusions and pop-culture references. Finally, he’ll be listening to these books on audio books, which he’ll borrow from the library. Here’s what I recommended:

  • Animal Farm – Very short political allegory about the Russian Revolution.
  • A Prayer for Owen Meany – Long, but an excellent, excellent story. Occasional language, but not much at all.
  • Catcher in the Rye – Medium length, good, classic story. The language is occasionally kind of rough because it’s written from the perspective of a teenage boy.
  • 1984: This is a pretty long book, but it’s referred to a lot (both directly “Man, that’s straight out of 1984!” and indirectly, “That’s totally Orwellian!”). It’s very interesting, but dry reading.
  • Fahrenheit 451: Shorter book, and a pretty interesting read. It’s about censorship and how governments try to control people… I think one of the more interesting aspects of this book was that it was written in the 50s as a futuristic book, and some of the author’s predictions into future technology are spot-on.
  • Scarlet Letter: This is prototypical “Early American Literature”. It’s a medium-length book, pretty dark story. This is alluded to pretty frequently (I just saw it referenced on a TV show a couple nights ago).
  • Catch-22: This is a very, very funny book. Heller’s sense of humor is almost exactly like mine (very dry, sarcastic), and he’s a fantastic writer to boot. It’s basically a satire of the American military. It’s pretty long, but very good. I think there may be some mildly “dirty” content… it is about soldiers after all!

I was careful to let him know when a book might contain cuss words or otherwise risqué language because he has two young kids and I’d hate for him to be cruising along with his two-year old, listening to Catcher in the Rye when Holden drops an F-bomb, dirtying up junior’s vocabulary forever.

That is all.

Geometry Wars!

Rick: “Dude, have you played XBOX 360?!”
Me: “Nope.”
Rick: “Man, there’s this really awesome game called Geometry Wars!”
…
Me: “Go on.”
Rick: “If you played this game on LSD, your head would explode.”

Amazon knows me oh so well!

I just got the following e-mail from Amazon.com:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

We’ve noticed that customers who have purchased books by David Sedaris often purchased books by Nora Ephron. For this reason you might like to know that Nora Ephron’s newest book, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, is now available . You can order your copy at a savings of 40% by following the link below.

Sincerely,

Amazon.com

I think I’m gonna’ pass on that one.

Tired adventures

Tired adventures

Where to begin? I guess I’ll begin in the middle (beginning at the beginning is worn out and beginning at the end is feaux ironic). Saturday afternoon, I took my car to Discount Tire to have the tires rotated. I had been holding out because the dealer wants $20 to do it and Discount does it for free. So, I was in there for about a half hour when the guy came over and told me everything was done and “You know there were scratches on your wheels before you brought it in, right?” “Sure”, I said, thinking he was talking about some curb rash I likely incurred as I bumped a curb taking a turn the other day.

I went home and decided I better have a look at the wheels, just to make sure we were talking about the same damage. It didn’t take long for me to see what he was talking about: there were gouges in three or four places on each wheel, usually between lug holes on the spokes. I did not recall that damage, so I called to talk to the manager who requested I bring it back in. I did and he had a look at it. He said he wasn’t sure how that could’ve happened, but that it looked pretty fresh because the spots had no “oxidation” yet. I agreed that it looked fresh and asked him what was to be done. He said he wasn’t sure what equipment could’ve done that, but if it was new and I couldn’t think of any other cause, then they would have my wheels refinished. During our inspection, we also found some damage to the sidewall on one of the tires. That damage I could explain.

Now back to the beginning. A few days before, I had been driving to the gym when, in an attempt to play air drums with a double-bass pedal and drive, I accidentally clipped a curb on my way into the parking lot. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but I did look at my driver’s side wheels to make sure I hadn’t done any serious damage. I didn’t see anything on either wheel, so I assumed that only the tire had made contact with the curb and that the wheels had been spared. So, I had inspected at least two of the wheels only three days before my visit to Discount, and that’s why I was so confident that the gouges on the spokes weren’t there before said visit.

Back to the middle. So, I left Discount feeling pretty good and thinking that, even if they did mess up my wheels, at least they were taking responsibility and having them refinished on their dime. It wasn’t half an hour before my phone rang and another manager wanted to talk to me. He said he was there when they noticed the damage before they started the work and that it was definitely already there. I asked, “Well, if there was damage and you noticed it before you started the work, why didn’t you come in and ask me if I had seen that damage? If I was in that situation, I’d ask the customer first to avoid this kind of confusion.” He did some side-stepping and then continued to insist that those marks looked like “balance marks” and that, since they hadn’t balanced the wheels, they couldn’t have done that damage. He asked if the tires had been balanced before and I told him I thought they had not, but that I would call my dealer to be sure.

I phoned my dealer who informed me that the tires had been balanced in November, eight months earlier, during a regular service visit. He said that it was unlikely they had damaged the wheels and that if the guy at Discount said the damage looked fresh, then it probably was. I agreed. He also said that there was nothing they could do to help me out since someone else had handled the wheels and it’d been so long since the dealer had worked on them anyway. I told him I understood.

So, I called Discount back and talked to the first manager again and told him what the dealer said. He said that when he committed to pay for the refinished, he was under the impression that Discount had also balanced the tires and not just rotated them. I said I understood, but that I was still confident that the damage hadn’t been there before I brought the car in. I began to get frustrated as I felt he was backing off from their commitment and that, even worse, they may take no responsibility for the damage. Trying to at least get some assistance, I offered to go halfsies on the refinish and he reluctantly agreed. We set an appointment for Monday morning so I could swap wheels with some loaners and my wheels could be sent to be refinished.

Now to the end (yes, finally). On my way to Discount this morning, I noticed that my “low tire pressure” indicator was lit, and I immediately wondered whether the sidewall damage had caused a leak. I asked the Discount guy to take a look since he’d be taking the tires off to put them on the loaner wheels anyway. Sure enough, the tire had a slow leak and had to be replaced. Lucky for me, he had one in stock. He was kind enough to charge me half price for the tire and recommended I get Discount’s lifetime replacement warranty on my tires. I had considered this before since the dealership did not guarantee the tires when they sold me the car. I decided to take the warranty at $23 per tire and I wish I’d done it sooner (since it would’ve already paid for itself).

So, after going to have a tire rotation, I ended up getting all four wheels refinished, a new tire and a replacement warranty on all four tires for a total cost of $455.

Lessons learned (for those too lazy, or too smart, to read this whole stupid post):

  • Avoid air drums and other air instruments when driving around corners
  • Inspect personal property before allowing someone else to work on it (this goes for cars, houses, shoes and anything else that may or may not be damaged before or after having the work done)
  • Once a company has committed to something, don’t allow them to back down from it (like I did, which cost me about $250)
  • When buying new tires (or when buying a vehicle with new tires), get a replacement warranty on them in case you catch a nail or, I dunno’, clip a curb or something–it will be well worth it or, at worst, a small investment in your peace of mind

EDIT: I was driving to lunch on Saturday afternoon (almost three days after the tire was replaced and the wheels were re-installed) when my “low tire pressure” light came on. Of course I wasn’t too happy about this, but I thought it could be that the Texas heat had caused my tires to become over-inflated. So, I went out and bought a little tire pressure gauge and checked everything out. Turns out my front driver’s side tire was down to 16.5 psi, which is about half what it should be. I inspected the tire and saw that there was a mark on the sidewall and I suspected it could be another slow-leaking tire. I put some air in it and the light went off, so I was convinced that this was indeed the troublesome tire.

This morning (Monday), the light came on as I left for work, so I decided to swing by Discount to have them look at it. Turns out they never replaced the tire before, so they put a new one on (for real this time). Hopefully this whole tire hassle is over.