I don't ask for it to make sense 
2014.11.20
Confession time: after some administrative work this morning (getting ducks in a row for claiming unemployment) and some cursory company research, the grimness got to me. Also, a touch of pre-vacation slacker brain. So, instead of job searching, I spent the afternoon cozied up with the fire and working on my massive recipe notebook. Jeff thinks I should convert it into a "Noms" section for this site, which I may someday do if I get a good bug up my ass about functionality, but for now OneNote makes it soooo very easy. What I really need to think about is whether I'll give up entirely on the handwritten notebook I've currently got. As quaint and charming as it is, its lack of digital searchability really hobbles it, and given that we have a dedicated kitchen computer, there's really little advantage to a paper version.
I've used OneNote more in the last year, and particularly the last couple months, than I had ever before. It's pretty unabashedly great. Being able to sync notes between my phone and my computer has been a godsend for job hunt organization.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched playing hooky
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings none scheduled today
- Administrative hours 2
- Jobs reviewed 3
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow (all next week) vacation in Colorado!
2014.11.20
Urbanspoon has been invaluable to me while traveling: we've never eaten better when on the road as when we use its nearby+cuisine searches in combination with my requirements around 10 minimum rankings and 85%+ (ideally 90%+) ranking. I love, love, love Urbanspoon when we're out of town! When using it to try to eat around Seattle, though, where strict "nearby" isn't as important, and we don't often have that specific "this is what we really want to eat tonight after driving all day" mentality, some of the deficiences start driving me up the wall. In particular: why, oh why, does the "popularity" sort not actually sort by rankings? Is it actually some sort of weighted sort factoring in number of votes? Totally unclear. Why, oh why, given that Urbanspoon often has access to hours-of-operation data, can I not filter to places that are open at a specified time/date? Why, oh why, can I not start filtering on a neighborhood but then choose to "zoom out" to find places in adjacent neighborhoods?
(Maybe someday I'll retry applying for a job with them so I could get features added, ho ho ho.)
Driving over to have lunch with my old team yesterday, I passed by the in-progress demolishing of the 520 Ramps to Nowhere. Odd to be nostalgic about a bunch of concrete coming down, but it didn't seem right to have that gap in the air above as I drove through. I never jumped from them, but I've many memories of canoeing below them with my family as a child. That my kid won't have those ruins to float through feels just wrong, somehow.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched SEO and analytics
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings none scheduled today
- Administrative hours 4
- Jobs reviewed 10
- Jobs applied 1
- Goals for tomorrow analytics and product management theory
2014.11.19
It occurs to me that I semi-applied to a job yesterday, but didn't count it. Hmm. After talking to a hiring manager who really liked me, I submitted for future consideration as there isn't a current opening that fits. Does that count or not? Debatable. Perhaps I should have noted it as .5 jobs applied? Yesterday also brought in the opportunity to pick up some freelance work from a friend, which seems as if it should count for another .5 or so. All up, perhaps I would consider it as a 1 for the day, and as I'm in the infinitely bigger than 0 camp on that front, I'll opt to consider that a success.
Quote of the day:
Skinnability cuts to the very heart of the MVC pattern. If your app isn't "skinnable", that means you've probably gotten your model's chocolate in your view's peanut butter, quite by accident.
I suppose some people like to mix chocolate and peanut butter, but I definitely prefer them in separate applications, thank you very much.
Today's Python toys are basic and tiny Fibonacci and prime writers. Getting used to the indentation model slowly; my fingers just itch to put in { } that they're so used to!
>>> def fibonacci(n):
... """Output Fibonacci sequence up to provided boundary n"""
... x, y = 0, 1
... while x < n:
... print x,
... x, y = x, x+y
...
>>> fibonacci(100)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89
>>> def find_primes(n):
... """Output primes between 2 and provided boundary n"""
... for i in range(2, n):
... for j in range(2, i):
... if i % j == 0:
... print i, 'is not prime (' + str(j) + '*' + str(i/j) + ')'
... break
... else:
... print i, 'is prime'
...
>>> find_primes(10)
2 is prime
3 is prime
4 is not prime (2*2)
5 is prime
6 is not prime (2*3)
7 is prime
8 is not prime (2*4)
9 is not prime (3*3)
On days when I'm a bit down about the challenges of job searching with my unusual background, reading something like this or this cheers me up a bit. It's good to be reminded that some companies both appreciate non-traditional candidates and promote well-rounded interviewing styles. My quirky (some say "weird") background is exactly my strength... only time will tell if I can find the right company to take advantage of it at the right time!
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched JIRA, Zend/Django, Ajax, MVC pattern theory, Python control flow
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings none scheduled today
- Administrative hours 2
- Jobs reviewed 5
- Jobs applied 1
- Goals for tomorrow SEO best practices, analytics
2014.11.18
The wee one gloriously slept in until 7:45am today, when he happily chirped awake. Every two weeks or so he does something like it, and lo, it is a miracle every time. It's truly amazing how much difference it makes versus cranking awake wailing at 6:15am. The sleep was particularly appreciated given I had two different phone screens today... objectively it might seem like those would be lower energy than in-person interviews, but in practice I find it's almost harder to project being "on" solely over the phone. Bushed! But excited about both those calls (daydream daydream daydream). And any time that I get to nerd out about international stuff is a good time.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched AWS many and varied topics, JIRA
- Interviews 2
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings none scheduled today
- Administrative hours 2
- Jobs reviewed 2
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow apply to 1+ jobs, more Python
2014.11.17
It's wigging me out that Python automatically invokes floor division for ints via /, at least in Python < 3 (Python 2.7.5 is what's natively available on my Mac). That / ambiguously is either floor divison for ints or floating point division for floats/mixed is just so weird! The discussion about carefully moving towards using // (floor) and / (true) to differentiate is pretty funny, and fascinating (emphasis mine): "Because of severe backwards compatibility issues, not to mention a major flamewar on c.l.py, we propose the following transitional measures..."
On the other hand, I very much approve of string repetition manipulation with *, that's super neat.
>>> song = 2 * ' baa,' + ' black sheep,\n have you any wool?\n' + 2 * ' yes sir,' + '\n three bags full!'
>>> print song[1:22] + ':\n' + song
baa, baa, black sheep:
baa, baa, black sheep,
have you any wool?
yes sir, yes sir,
three bags full!
String and list slices are commendably easy to grok and use. So overall, Python is getting thumbs down for math, and up for strings and lists. Given my distaste for math and adoration of strings and lists, I guess I can say it gets my approval overall (and clearly my approval matters to this whole thing, heh).
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched Python fundamentals, code fonts, Emacs configuration
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 1 now scheduled for tomorrow
- Administrative hours 3
- Jobs reviewed 4
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow more AWS research, phone screen and phone informational
2014.11.14
Wrench thrown in today's plans by a toddler who had to come home sick from daycare in the late morning, poor bug. He's been fighting off a variety of cruds for a couple weeks and today was just a bridge too far. Luckily, doctor had a spot this afternoon, so we trundled off for the poking and the prodding. Ear infection diagnosis, and antibiotics for the next two weeks... no fun, but hopefully he'll start feeling better quickly. At least the early come-home meant that we got in a 2 hour nap and a walk to the pharmacy in the sun!
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched ~crickets~
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 1 getting scheduled for next week
- Administrative hours 3
- Jobs reviewed 8
- Jobs applied 1
- Goals for tomorrow (Monday) AWS deep-dive, Python fundamentals
2014.11.12
I was reminded last night why I'm not allowed to read in the evening. Nothing like getting in bed at 10PM with a solemn intent to soon sleep, after an exhausing day, only to suddenly have it be *cough*3:30AM*cough* and Words of Radiance be all done. Uh, whoops.
Another informational downtown today! With every visit, my hope grows that I can find a job down there. The commute would be so great: so much closer / so many more transit options. It'd be just long enough to get some good reading in, preventing disasters such as last night...
Micah apparently believes in optimizing cookie consumption by trips. If I really wanted a second cookie, I should have made sure to get two in the first place, because now he is comfortable on top of my feet, thank you very much.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched situational analysis
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes coaching sync
- Networking/informational meetings 1
- Administrative hours 2
- Jobs reviewed 5
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow official day of rest
2014.11.11
Uffda. Five hours of interviewing is a lot of interviewing. Was a lovely sunny day, which made my decision to bus down there particularly delightful: it's a very short walk on either end, but I actually got off a stop early on the way down just so I could enjoy the sun for a bit. Interviews themselves feel like they went as well as I could expect; I feel like if it's a "no" it'll be for valid experience reasons and at least it was great practice!
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched responding to interview questions, whiteboarding
- Interviews 1 (that was actually 5)
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings none scheduled today
- Administrative hours 0
- Jobs reviewed 0
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow informational, coaching meeting, decompression!
2014.11.10
Pomegranate season is upon us, so pomegranate-o'clock is now in force. It's a bit less frequent than it used to be, however. Before the wee one, we pretty regularly were going to the store 3+ times a week to assemble various business for dinner (inefficient, yes, but we like wandering around debating ingredients and such). Then in the first winter of the wee one, I would run out to the store for a bit 2-3 times a week right after Jeff got home, mostly as an excuse to have some newborn-free time. Both these habits made it easy for pomegranates to quickly multiply in my (short-lived, nom nom nom) possession, given my inability to pass a pomegranate bin without acquiring at least 1. Pomegranate-o'clock has often in years past been near to a 2-nights-out-of-every-3 thing. Nowadays, though... we've really honed in on a 1x/week shopping trip. If I could regularly find 5+ pomegrantates in the bin worth picking up, that'd be one thing, but 2-3 is more common.
TL;DR point being: dramatic dip in consumption of pomegranates this year. Wah.
Pomegranate-o'clock is traditionally accompanied by an episode of Top Gear (something I can listen to without feeling compelled to actually watch). I'm feeling keenly the lack of quality time with my dear James May.
Marathon informational/interview week-and-a-day commenced today. Good informational discussion with hiring manager this afternoon, and much to think about. 1 down, 4 to go, ever onward! ... Apparently "Ever Onward" is the name of IBM's fight song. IBM has a fight song? IBM has multiple songs? What is this, I don't even.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched product/program+project management philosophy, theory, and practice
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 1 today
- Administrative hours 2
- Jobs reviewed 3
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow given onsite interview through late morning and early afternoon, goal is to not have my brain melt
2014.11.07
Had lunch out today at a ramen/"izakaya" place near the local theater once I finished shopping. A place that calls itself an izakaya but does not have beer is a bit undeserving of the name, if you ask me, or, you know, care about definitions. Harumph. The breading on the chicken in my karaage don was a bit overdone, but in general it was better than the so-so ramen of yesterday. However, that place at least had Asahi! "Izakaya" my ass, grump grump. Just call yourself a Japanese restaurant, there's nothing wrong with that. Mutter mutter, truth in advertising, fist shake.
I just noticed today that the ⌘-tab icon for Steam has an inner transparency gradient. I wonder how long it's been that way? Forever, and I just didn't notice because so often the icon was over the black Steam library itself? I am delighted by this discovery: I'm a total sucker for a touch of tasteful opacity munging. It's possible that I spent a countable number of minutes dragging things around so the icon would be on top just so I could look at it. Hypothetically.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched HP XML, product management philosophy, UX design, array operations in Java
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 2 confirmed scheduled for next week
- Administrative hours 3
- Jobs reviewed 4
- Jobs applied 1
- Goals for tomorrow (Monday) prep for Tuesday interview, informational downtown
2014.11.06
Pretty high on my all-time list of things I can't stand is shopping for clothes, so that I spent nearly all day doing so is not pleasing. I am beyond enervated. \(´o`)/ And I didn't even come home with a top, meaning I have to go back out tomorrow. Womp womp.
(It was years after I first saw the word enervate that I realized it meant the opposite of what I thought it did... cognitive slop from energize?)
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched what is "business casual," really?
- Interviews none scheduled today, 1 now confirmed for week after next
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings none scheduled today, 1 getting scheduled for next week
- Administrative hours 0 unless thinking while shopping counts (it doesn't)
- Jobs reviewed 5
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow find a top I won't be embarrassed to interview in, actually do that story writing I planned to do today before shopping eroded my soul, mobile UX, HP XML
2014.11.05
Jeff watched the wee one in the AM so that I could go have coffee and chat about another company this morning, but it was all me and the tiny rampager this afternoon. Perhaps inevitably, I caved and we went over to hang out with the wee cousin for a couple hours. Their height difference is noticably less than it was, although I'm not sure how much of that is due to how he stands / walks / runs around now vs so recently having been a strictly floor-bound baby. They're both growing so fast! ~theatrical sniff~
After nearly a month, an application I'd given up for /dev/null suddenly has flared to life, and a phone screen is getting set up. So today it was all daydreams about what if I got lucky enough to be in a position to have competing offers, ho ho ho. There's major differences between the two opportunities (they're kind of night and day, and I happen to be the dawn between them), so it's really hard to think about which way I'd go.
And now back to your regularly scheduled pessimism.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched ~crickets~
- Interviews none scheduled today, 1 confirmed for next week, 1 getting scheduled
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 1
- Administrative hours 1
- Jobs reviewed 0
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow writing out history to help my recall, acquiring some interview clothes (geeky hobo is probably not what I should be going for, after all)
2014.11.04
Sometimes the random, use-up-things, make-this-totally-up, sound-really-wacky dinners come out totally rad. A++, would make again:
- Chop 2 spaghetti squash in half, place face down in a bit of water in baking dish, bake @ 350 for ~30 min
- Brown meatballs in skillet and remove to plate
- Dice up a medium/small onion and a small carrot, saute in meatball drippings with a bit of salt and butter
- Cut meatballs into quarters, add back to veggies and stir occasionally
- Shred spaghetti squash into large bowl
- Add 1 egg, salt and pepper, 2 big spoonfuls plain Greek yogurt, large handful of crushed pepper Triscuits, about a cup of shredded cheddar
- Stir in veggies and meatball bits
- Lightly grease 8x8 baking dish, spoon mixture in, bake @ 350 for ~20 min
We were so skeptical that it would work out that we actually made a backup dinner (baked acorn squash). But the frankencasserole turned out crazy delicious. The baby went nuts cramming giant handfuls of casserole into his gob, which was hiliarous and welcome after a couple days of near strike on anything but fruit. I know the Triscuits sound weird, but they were rapidly staling and, in the end, kind of made the whole thing work.
I'm quite confident in my cooking skills, but normally if I make something up it's a variation on a soup, hash, or pasta dish. So I was pretty pleased that we didn't have to tip this experiment into the trash!
The dark, dark skies did nothing for motivation on job hunt today. There's never going to be a fun time to have your job cut, but the winter in Seattle is pretty on-the-grim-side. But good news came in tonight! Hoping it keeps going that way, further developments to occur next week.
The wee one got booted home from daycare this afternoon due to massive grumps and a reported giant hork. But he came home sunny and happy as can be; it was nonstop baby giggles this evening and barely a cough or sniffle to be had. If he were older I'd suspect playing sick in order to come home! It was delightful to be able to take a long family walk in mostly light given the early home arrival, after the last few days of night walks. The community garden is germinating something that we can't figure out, so we'll have to check back in a couple days on another have-light walk to see if a few more days growth brings the seedlings into recognizability.
We're keeping him home tomorrow to do a reset in the provider's mind (she has a tendency to judge him sicker than he is, particularly if he had to leave early due to grumpiness), so while Jeff will watch him in the morning so I can go network, the afternoon will be officially all for the tiny one instead of job search.
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched JSON
- Interviews none scheduled today
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 1
- Administrative hours 4
- Jobs reviewed 8/li>
- Jobs applied 1
- Goals for tomorrow meet with JD
2014.11.03
The problem with a good book getting selected for book club is that there is no arguing reasoned debate, just a short conversation about how much we all liked it. Whoops! Minor quibbles here and there, and otherwise general agreement of quality, do not long discussions make. We have, however, decided that we are imposing a temporary moratorium on books written before 1980, as we realized it's been 6+ months since we read something contemporary. Unfortunately, our other temporary moratorium on books about Mars (similar reason if not quite as long a streak) means that The Martian is currently disallowed. So it's Eifelheim for next month, The Lies of Locke Lamora for January, and then I think I'm going to re-ignite my Blindsight campaign.
Sci-fi / fantasy book club is the best.
I did have to take the afternoon off the job hunt to finish up The Forever War today, just in time. And Words of Radiance isn't sitting there reading itself. My kingdom for a daily commute! Trying to not get hopes up about the interview that went well today (more stages to go, and miles before I sleep), but I admit to indulging tonight in some wishful thinking about having a direct bus and time set aside to read every day...
Job search stats for the day
- Practiced/researched CSS styling for SVGs, HP XML, JSON, calendar handling
- Interviews 1
- Classes none scheduled today
- Networking/informational meetings 1 scheduled for Wednesday
- Administrative hours 2
- Jobs reviewed 5
- Jobs applied 0
- Goals for tomorrow apply for 1+ jobs, c'mon now!