Lowest Bidder #001

My first tribute to systems clearly contracted to the Lowest Bidder. To upgrade my Verizon FIOS speed, turns out you can't: you must first cancel and disconnect, then order anew and wait. To grasp how long I'd go without internet, consider how long I'd hold my breath.

Self-Motivation

Why must I play mind games with myself to do things I know I can do? It's never truer than when running. "Just another thirty seconds," repeated for ten minutes. Like the time I talked myself into jumping into a snowmelt pool in Yosemite. Hypothermic, but refreshing.

Interesting Day

My federal tax refund finally landed, worth about four weeks of pay. I also got a check from my employer's sub-contractor's sub-contractor for one week I worked back in July, plus two Mets tickets from the blood center, and I billed twelve hours. Overall, a good day.

Programmer Discrimination

Half a dozen new hires, all Indian, in an office where everyone else is also Indian. A person inclined to conspiracy might wonder. I sometimes wonder if I was hired to be the token white guy. Not that I'm complaining; being the office authority on English plays well with my ego.

Work and Words

I work with many Indians whose English varies widely, and I've never once understood the questions some of them ask me. "I have no idea what you just said," I reply, and they leave content. Plus a list of tech words to retire, starting with "let's continue this offline."

Chaos

Three phone conferences happening around me at once. Maddening. I pulled out the headphones, put on some Justice, and sanity was restored.

Grocery Store

I went to the grocery store for toilet paper. Supplies at home are at crisis levels. I returned with mango juice, four apples, and a half gallon of milk. No toilet paper. I'm going to try again today.

Where You Was

If I'd been thinking about my week in Atlanta, I might have parsed it faster when a non-native-English-speaking coworker asked me, "Where you was?" It took me a moment to figure out what in the world he meant. I've gotta get that printed on a t-shirt.

Phone Interview Part 2

I nailed the second phone interview, no complexity analysis questions, and my solution to the lone algorithm problem was both exact and unique enough that the interviewer hadn't seen it before. Next a manager calls, then maybe a fourth interview out in San Francisco. We'll see.

Haggling

There's a guy who works the front of my grocery store asking for spare change. I declined, as usual, but offered to buy him something. What followed was a master class in haggling over peppermint patties and M&M's, right up until "You're wearing on my patience."