Get your own Free Home PageMonday, December 31, 2001 7:12:02 PM Today I received email from a recruiter who was looking for someone who was willing to commute about 35 miles across a bridge and two metropolitan areas. Hey, it never hurts to ask, right? I sent him my criteria and an updated resume.
Sunday, December 30, 2001 8:41:43 PM OK, I didn't do anything about the job search this week. It's been a week of relaxation, meditation, festivity, and celebration. Work can resume next year ;-) On Christmas Eve I discussed the issue of an introductory 18-hour course in Java with a brother-in-law, and he directed my attention to Thinking in Java, by Bruce Eckel. Fatbrain summarizes the book as "for courses in intermediate Java programming or object-oriented programming." All the other books introducing Java are very heavy-duty 14-week courses priced in the $75.00 range. So it looks like I either have to develop a whole new course, or present from Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours, by Rogers Cadenhead, for the quickie intro before moving on to the "intermediate" topics. On the plus side, Rogers Cadenhead is getting better reader reviews than the one I gave him. I did find a very interesting tidbit: Bruce Eckel has an essay on "Why do you put your books on the Web? How can you make any money that way?" It relates a very pointed experience, and is reassurance that I should develop on the web and then publish on paper only if a demand appears.
Saturday, December 22, 2001 3:09:56 PM "Intellectual 'work' is misnamed; it is a pleasure, a dissipation, and is its own highest reward." -- Mark Twain as quoted in an ad for Missouri, Business Week, January 7, 2002, p. 149 Thursday I did no searching for contracts. I concentrated on Christmas shopping, wrapping, and shipping. Margaret brought me the Business Week salary surveys for Information Technology Director and Chief Information Technology Officer, so I could visualize more clearly a potential growth career path. My past concern about permanent employment has been that there were distinctly different pay scales for consultants and permanent employees, scales that weighed heavily in my mind toward consulting as my only career. The part I have been missing is how to bridge between the role of the nonpartisan outsider and the role of the board member. It now appears that the position of Information Technology Director might provide that bridge, a growth path with a management component that does not penalize me financially. The issue evolves from one of appropriate pay to one of appropriate placement. Yesterday I completed my automobile maintenance, and at the dealership I met a Java programmer who recently left a major real-time operating systems company. I sent him a copy of my list of agents and agencies. Today I finished reading Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours. While I enjoyed the book, I was left with the feeling that this was a regimen of programming by example, and that the more structured thought processes necessary for design did not come through. Although there were some pointers to places where students could find out more about Java, the principles themselves were not explained. The best a beginner could expect upon finishing this book would be to replicate the examples and to move on to further reading. The book did tell me what Swing and Java Beans were, but the distinction between a class and an object was never made clear. Why different approaches were used was not explained, and there was no walk-through to show the students how to use the references. Finally, Rogers Cadenhead's humor was a little too salty and impish, and used too many idioms, for an academic class presented in California. This dismayed me a bit, because the range of topics he covered was perfect for an introductory crash course (18 hours) in the College of Extended Learning. I'll have to keep looking.
Wednesday, December 19, 2001 4:36:31 PM Yesterday I got a call from a recruiter who was checking a reference for another consultant. After I told him how great the consultant was, and what SGI does, he asked me, "so ... are you available?" I sent him my resume immediately. The rest of the day I concentrated on Christmas shopping, putting up the tree, and addressing Christmas cards. Today I took my car in for its 6-month PM, and I'll have to bring it back in tomorrow when a part arrives. As I rode the busses around town I read parts of Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours. While I was out I received a phone call from a recruiter in San Jose, and I sent her my resume before the end of the business day. It's reassuring to know that the recruiters are working, that not all of them are waiting until after the New Year to line up resources.
Monday, December 17, 2001 9:53:28 AM Friday I left a message for the recruiter in San Diego informing him of the extent of my BEA Weblogic experience. Friday evening I went to the SFSU Multimedia Studies Program party at the Oakland center. Although it was nicely catered, it was a T-shirt and jeans affair. In my blazer and slacks I felt slightly overdressed. The Dean of the school and the director of the Information Technology Program were concerned about the potential Spring enrollment. This was not in itself a positive indicator, even though the enrollment period has not yet begun. I reflected on the comparison of this concern to the attitude I saw last week at the USF President's Reception. At USF they have an all-time high enrollment, and they are working on ways to accommodate even higher enrollment next year! Saturday I spent in bed reacquainting myself with my colony of stomach flu. Hopefully I have seen it for the last time. Sunday I went to the HAI Intern Graduation & Stan Dale's 72nd Birthday Party. Some people dressed down, others dressed to the nines. It was a mostly cheerful celebration, and I was glad to see a spirit of activism moving in the community. Stan has finally begun to ask for 100%, as he has preached these past 33 years.
Thursday, December 13, 2001 11:39:39 PM Today my jury duty was completed. I relaxed and celebrated for a couple of hours. A CERT Advisory was issued yesterday on a security vulnerability in login and the programs that use it. This affects AIX, Solaris, and probably IRIX. A second vulnerability being exploited at the moment involves sshd. These, along with recent vulnerabilities announced in ftpd and the Gauntlet firewall, may spur some companies to perform a timely security audit. This evening I received the January 2002 Sys Admin magazine and read a few articles. Although the stated focus is open source, security issues and networking seem to be the dominant themes. This evening I researched the possibility of taking courses in Weblogic, EMC, and Veritas HA administration. It looks like EMC and Veritas have some web training facilities, but for on-site classes there doesn't seem to be much in the near term.
Wednesday, December 12, 2001 10:39:50 PM This morning I felt fine, which was good because I had orders to report for jury duty. Also this morning, I received a voicemail from an agent in San Diego who wants to discuss my Weblogic experience. Hopefully, I'll remember to call him back at lunch tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 11, 2001 10:22:01 PM Today I woke up with an awful pain in my abdomen. I took some ibuprofen and ducked under the covers. The pain was excruciating, and my imagination went wild with the possibilities. Possibilities of living the rest of my life in a hospital, or of dying. There didn't seem to be any way to quiet the ego. In the afternoon Margaret called me and told me that I had the flu, and I drifted into a deep, blissful sleep. It's marvelous what knowing the future does to calm your mind. I did nothing but drink water and sleep for the rest of the day and night.
Monday, December 10, 2001 11:13:48 PM Today I read a Ray Bradbury interview. In it he states he has written every day since he was 12, and the first ten years he wrote nothing worthwhile. So I'll take these exercises as my baby steps and know that when the right thing needs to be said, I will have the skills to say it. I've decided to brave the glaring eye of the world, and to chronicle my job search. I'm looking for consulting or contract opportunities in or near San Francisco. The last two classes of the year graduated last week. What new turn of opportunity, I wonder, will the world reveal to me now? Of course, my search did not begin today. I sent my updated resume to 200 agencies on November 26th. The response was surprisingly low. Back in October, 2000, when I sent out my announcement there were 15 phone responses and 28 email responses the first day. This time three agencies have sent me inquiries, about opportunities that have very little to do with my experience. Another agency called to update my rate information. I am forwarding everything that comes in to my alumni, because there are 118 of them out there. Perhaps we can find some matches, even though I may not be the best match for every opportunity. Some years when a contract was completed near the end of the year, nothing happened until January 1st. On the other hand, this would be the perfect time for a business to perform some maintenance that requires some downtime, such as upgrade its operating systems or switch between service providers. A contract would make sense to a company in that wants to handle these situations quickly. Today I updated my email list of agents and agencies, and bought new business cards. The business cards are typeset in the Montgomery Street all-caps style, and they show an IEEE email address. Hopefully that will convey the message that I belong here.
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