While I’m thinking about it, a few quick updates on things that are going on, especially for mom, since I never call…. (actually, tried today, got no answer. She’s right, though, I haven’t, but I’ve been in an introspective mood, mostly thinking and planning on things, and didn’t really feel like I had much to say, other than “no, I don’t have a job, and no, they aren’t lined up at the front door yet…” (since, of course, my mom firmly believes I’m the best damn whatever it is I do that exists here in Silicon Valley. Which I might be, but convincing folks of it is easier said than done…)
That said, I have a return round of talking with a company later this week, which is nice. It’s an interesting situation in an interesting company, one of the ones I targeted on my “A” list. I’m letting myself be moderately encouraged, since it’s still got a ways to go, but it’s nice to be moving into a later round of talks. There are some other things bubbling in early stages and a few things where I haven’t heard back; I knew it’d get quiet around Labor day as everyone madly tried to take time off before kids went back to school, then madly tried to catch up for being off, but some of the things in the pending queue are being slipped into the “cold” bin unless they pop back up and say hi. there is one other thing in a very preliminary state, but I don’t expect anything to happen until after our trip to Oregon; if it pans out, it sounds truly fun, though.
All in all, given the intensity of the job hunt (basically none in July, and been slowly ramping it up and widening the scope since), this is about what I expected. Taking my time, looking for what’s right, not what’s fast. Only been in the last week or so I’ve really started thinking I’m ready to get back into it and get going; projects I wanted to get done around here are finally finishing up, and that’s making me feel good.
there has been some nice movement on other fronts. I have a freelance gig doing technical editing/review of a book for someone. I’ve done that a few times in the past, and really like it, and maybe it’ll lead to other gigs down the road. Nothing to get rich on, but I didn’t do it for the money, I did it to help out someone and dip the toe back in the water on the writing side.
I also spent some time in the last couple of weeks talking to an old cohort I’ve done some writing for in the past, and while I haven’t really been thinking about geek writing as I look to reboot my writing side of life, he encouraged me to think about writing for him again, which I have. that’s led to some ideas about using OS X as a LAMP development platform and writing a series of articles on that. The notes I’ve put together look a lot like a book, not a series of articles right now, but that’s no big deal. I also decided to leave this one on hold for a bit, since I really want to see how Leopard affects this, but not enough (at this late date) to upgrade my developer status to get an early look. No real need. Besides, on the unlikely event I find a job at Apple, I have to be careful committing to writing if there’s going to be a conflict there. it’ll keep, so I’m playing with it but not in any real hurry. We’ll see how it goes, but I know lots of folks are doing the Mac as a programmer’s box for LAMP development, and this seems like an interesting thing to write about…
When Laurie and I talked about my taking some time off, one of the things I knew was that this wasn’t going to be “time off”, instead, it was, as I put it, sweat equity in myself and in stuff we’d had going but which suffered when I was down in the rabbit hole at Apple. Or as I like to put it, for someone who’s “not working”, I’ve been pretty busy.
I’m pretty happy with the results. I have the front yard cleaned up (more on that some other time), and the first round of the war with the bermuda grass went to me, but not without a fight. More importantly, the living room remodel is within sight of the end; I finished the trim on the hall closets today, got the bulkhead in the hallway around the ducting closed in, and so the place is looking more and more like a house, less and less like a construction zone (one which got halfway done in 2005, and the stopped for, like, 18 months). Given we started that remodel back in (god help me) 2002 when we tore out the carpet and laid the new floor, five years is bloody enough — but given we’re transforming half of the square footage of the house, in some ways pretty radically, it’s not a trivial amount of work — and that includes both bathrooms (new vanities, sinks, toilets, wall fixtures — everything but the tub and the tile floor).
Still, another 4 or 5 days, and it’ll be ready for paint. I still need to do the new mantle for the fireplace (a custom piece I’m building using Bocote and Wenge woods), a little more trim work, the base moulding, and replacing all of the outlets and switches and plates. A week or so putting in the new bookcase/wine rack and wainscotting in the dining room, and replacing the door between the dining room and the library — and we’re ready to paint. Which I’m letting someone else do, happily.
When I started all of this, I cleared out and reconfigured the workshop out in the garage; I’m really happy with it so far, too — a lot more flexible and uses the space better. So far, so good.
Of course, remodeling is never really done. We still need to redo the cabinets in the kitchen, and we’re talking about rebuilding the closets in the bedroom and laurie’s office (one joy of living in an Eichler: storage space is always a priority), and I found a really nice floor for my office….
