onotob

Originally uploaded by botono9

Even if it’s cold outside, there are upsides to riding the bus.

Posted at 4:36 pm.
2 Comments

You say some ign’ant shit in class: I would cut you, but I want to graduate

I Dont care How Comfortable Crocs Are, You Look Like A Dumbass.

If Sweet Tea Could Get Me Crunk, I’d be an ALCOHOLIC

Posted at 3:22 am.
2 Comments

There was a 5.6 magnitude quake about nine miles north of San Jose last night. To us, sitting in our living room about 40 miles away, it first felt like the neighbors were throwing furniture around. Then we realized that the bookshelf was rocking back and forth, and then a look at vertical blinds confirmed that something larger was going on. By the time I was able to say out loud “It’s an earthquake”, it was over. It felt like the entire building was undulating. A very unsettling feeling indeed.

We didn’t even have anything fall off a shelf, though coworkers of mine who live further south were up late cleaning up the damage.

First one’s free, I guess.

Posted at 11:37 am.
3 Comments

via videosift.com

Posted at 2:16 pm.
3 Comments

We’re still looking for a place to live. One of the only things that makes this search bearable is the often-hilarious listings on Craigslist, such as the following (emphasis mine):

2 BEDROOMS
1 BATHROOMS
* LARGE KITCHEN
* LIVING ROOM
* LAUNDRY & BACK YARD
* NEW PAINT
* STREET PARKING ONLY
YOU CAN CALL ME XXX-XXX-XXXX
FOR MAKE LOOK 24/7

Posted at 1:58 pm.
4 Comments

Today was my first day at IronPort and it was pretty great. The first half of the day was taken up with your run of the mill new employee orientation. I knew I had officially arrived in California when, on my tour of the building, I was shown the meditation room and it was presented as if it were a break room. “You know, if you meditate.”

The company seems to be filled with dedicated and hardworking people who also like to goof off and have fun. There is a game room with an Xbox 360 and a Wii, and some of the cubes have recliners in them, but there is also definitely an air of strong competitiveness and a real sense of purpose. Many people there feel like they are fixing email.

In other California news, it seems that beer is generally flat here. After 3 twelve packs of different brands of beer (the first of which was returned), Shannon and I were convinced that there was either a large shipment of beer that was stalled in Death Valley and became flat due to the intense heat, or there was some kind of crazy conspiracy designed to drive us slowly insane. JR gave me a lift home and we stopped and picked up a six pack (because we believed we had only flat beer at the hotel), and I’ll be damned if this new beer wasn’t also flat! JR, however, revealed that this is apparently how beer tastes in California, although I am not completely convinced. We had beers at JR and Ashley’s house the last time we were here and I don’t remember it tasting like this, and just last week we had a couple beers during dinner at Kookez restaurant and it seemed fine. Further experiments will be required.

So, with one whole day in the new job under my belt I’m feeling great about being here. I can’t wait to really start digging into the products and I can’t wait until I can really contribute.

Posted at 10:34 pm.
4 Comments

Shannon and I rolled into town last night at around 11:00 PST. The drive out here was pretty fun and leisurely. We stopped at the Grand Canyon and visited Shannon’s brother in the armpit of California (aka: Twentynine Palms). After you get out of Texas the drive is downright scenic.

So now we’re settled in our hotel room relaxing. I start my new job on Monday and we’ll probably do a little house hunting this weekend.

It feels a little surreal being in California and not planning on leaving any time soon. All the way out here we kept slipping and saying we’d do something “when we got back”.

So, now we’re here and we’re here to stay. Viva la California!

Posted at 12:23 pm.
5 Comments

We’re back at JR and Ashley’s house, taking a break between (possibly) visiting another property. Apartment hunting here is a frustrating exercise, but not in the ways I was expecting. When I read accounts of looking for living quarters, my mind was filled with visions of settling for the first place that didn’t horrify you and desperately throwing yourself at the mercy of the landlord, praying they would have mercy on your poor, renting soul and allow you to pay them thousands of dollars a month.

In reality, it is just harder to find a place that you feel comfortable putting that kind of cash into. Every property has something wrong with it. Apartment A is in a great neighborhood, but it feels like a maze inside, the “backyard” smells like dog piss and is mostly concrete, and the kitchen is laid out in such a way that you feel like you would go batshit crazy trying to cook your first breakfast. Apartment B is clean, spacious and has beautiful natural light, but it’s in a neighborhood that feels like it was built by the Stepford wives. Apartment C is mind-destroyingly charming, with great details in the hardwood flooring, natural light out the wazoo, and laundry, but you have to park on a 25% grade and the owner is twitchy, socially awkward and obsessive compulsive.

Apartment D looks perfect on paper: located in Noe Valley, within walking distance from our only friends in the city, garage parking, laundry in the building, owner is OK with our dog, shared backyard. But… but…. (there is always one of these) we can’t see inside it until Tuesday, at which point it will be our only choice, as the other properties will most likely have been rented. It may not be too late to make an offer on one of the others, but you never know. We will, however, not have any competition, as the owners know JR and Ashley and are giving us first choice.

So, we may just go to Golden Gate Park and listen to house music in lieu of searching for more living quarters today.

Right now I think I might go outside and drink a beer and smoke a cigar to take some of the edge off. I just want a place to live. Oh, and I don’t want to hate it.

Posted at 4:18 pm.
1 Comment

You will score his entry in the GMail/Threadless tshirt design contest.

Posted at 11:10 am.
4 Comments

Beginning September 17, 2007 I will be an official employee of Cisco, working for IronPort as a Software Engineer.  This will close my 6 years as an employee of That Company and begin my life as a person who can say they live in the Bay Area.

And so begins the frantic search for an apartment, the quashing of the waves and waves of panic as Shannon and I begin to decide just how much of accumulated stuff we must abandon in order to fit comfortably into a 900 sq. ft. apartment that costs around $2,000.

But, I’m very excited.  My last day at That Company is August 17.  I believe that Sandoval will be planning some kind of shindig to send me off, and I expect that it will occur close to the end of the month.

It’s been a wild, crazy, stressful, frustrating and rewarding ride so far, and I’m sure it’s only going to get better.

Posted at 4:53 pm.
5 Comments