blog one another

It's off to work I go

Hi-ho, hi-ho: I head back to work this morning for the first time in six months!

This all happened so quickly that it's still a blur. On Monday, a praying friend asked if I had any news about jobs. I replied, "All quiet on the job front." And now it is Thursday, and I have to get ready for my first day on the job.

This is a 4-6 month contract, so I am still looking for a full-time job (with good benefits to support a family). But this buys me valuable time, which was running out. And because I get no benefits, we get to keep COBRA, which continues the excellent coverage I had in my last job. And thanks to the federal stimulus package, our payments have been reduced a whopping 65%, which has been credited retroactively, so now we have a positive balance to draw on for a few months and low payments after that!

I tell you, we have a weird Just-In-Time God.

The company I will be working for is Data Robotics, makers of a cool Mac/Win product which looks like a great product for anyone who needs to store a lot of important data (and that data keeps increasing). I think of it as "RAID for Dummies, heck it's even better than RAID." If that sounds confusing, it makes much more sense in the demo video.

Hi-ho!

Code Monkey need a job

Illustration by jawboneradio (license), adapted by Jon Reid

It's been six months since I lost my job. In that time, I've had a handful of interviews with some fascinating companies, but nothing has panned out. So today I applied what I've learned about blogging and created a new job hunting page.

Dear reader, I need your help. If you know people in tech industries in Silicon Valley, would you refer them to that page? The best way would be to email them the link. But if you are speaking face-to-face or on the phone, I created a shorter forwarding address that is easier to say and remember: jonreid.webalias.com.

Thank you for your help!

Cast Your Cares (Psalm 55:22)

Sigh. Despite positive feedback on my interview, they decided not to go with me. This is becoming a recurring story for me this time, probably a direct result of having to compete against many other skilled people in this economy. The positive feedback keeps me from feeling crushed, but coming in second place doesn't pay any bills.

With that context, I found this music video really refreshing. I probably shouldn't tell you that it's a simple tune written to help kids memorize scripture, because then you might not play it. But there's something about this, with Beatles-esque "Kinetic Typography" that just… well, trust me. Press play.

(Hat tip: the accidental seminarian)

God said, "Stop praying"

Photo by Stitch (license)

After a job interview, it is customary to perform self-flagellation.

At least, that's what my mind does to me. And today's interview went rather well! The time flew by and I enjoyed myself. I left happy, thinking, "I actually have a decent shot at this job." But that didn't stop my mind from playing its dirty tricks.

Replaying specific sections. Pointing out the flaws, the obvious and clear answers I had overlooked.

Help Me Listen

Searching for a job while unemployed is a soul-crushing affair, because until something comes through, all you get are rejections. It's kind of like the statement, "The keys are always in the last place you look." But searching for keys is just an annoyance; with a job rejection, it is hard not to ask, "What did I do wrong?"

It's hard when you think your chances are really good. Harder when it is from a company in which you have a proven track record from eight years of work in different positions. Harder still when you think you nailed the interview.

I am grateful for the support and prayers of friends and family. My former pastor sent me the following poem, "Help Me Listen" by Ted Loder:

Psalm by one who is unemployed

Faithful, Faithful
Though the earth shakes
And economies crumble
Though darkness has its day
And my heart fails for fear
You are the Just-In-Time God
And will not abandon me
Faithful, Faithful

(Written this morning during a series of exercises in non-musical worship.)

I've been terminated

Well, it was two months ago today that I was laid off (along with 600 others). For some reason, they did not give me a severance package right away, but kept me on the payroll for a while. I've never had this in my previous layoffs, but I was grateful for it because it meant that we still had health insurance.

Today is my official termination. Bye-bye, paycheck and benefits. Hello, EDD unemployment insurance and COBRA.

No Google

I finally heard back: Although they made me a job offer two years ago, this time around Google has decided not to hire me.

I am disappointed, but have peace that God knows best.

Update: Kay took us all out to Baskin & Robbins saying, "We need to celebrate the loss. Otherwise we won't have enough celebrations."

I am experiencing mild shock. I guess I reached a state of peace just in time!

Update 2: It seems Google is making some cuts and closing some offices, but trying to get affected employees relocated into positions on the main campus. That's admirable, and it makes sense then that they'd clamp down on new hires. Sucks for me, though.

Calibrating your battery (and your spirit)

The battery on my MacBook Pro is probably getting a bit old. The main problem is that the "time remaining" estimate was way off. Following Apple's description of how to calibrate the battery, I let it drain until it was practically empty (1 minute left), then shut down my computer and left it alone for five hours.

Sure, I could have left it overnight. But I did it during the day as an experiment, a kind of fast. I have to say, it's not as uncomfortable as a food fast, but the benefits are still noticeable. It comes right when I am making a conscious effort to remain calm about not hearing back from Google. I meditated on Psalm 27. I worked out. I took a nap. I picked up my kids from their schools (the ones that aren't sick, anyway).

So I see the benefits of fasting from technology. But technology may not be the thing you lean on for comfort. As followers of Christ (and as faith communities), we can probably stand to increase our "fasting vocabulary."

I think I have achieved zen detachment from the need to get this job.
God, that means I'm ready for you to give me this job already!

Update: Maybe the battery is hosed. It didn't quite get to fully charged, then the magsafe connector started flashing back and forth between green (charged) and amber (charging). Running on a supposedly nearly full battery, it says I have one hour of battery time. Well, maybe that means the estimate is more accurate.

Saw my boss today…

…That is, the one who laid me off. I happened to be at Adobe to meet Chris for lunch, but before he came down, there was a gathering of managers from my division. They seemed happy to see me, asking how the job search was going. Then lo and behold, along comes my former boss.

What was I to do? I smiled and shook his hand warmly, and let him know I was waiting to hear back from Google.

I wasn't about to ask him how the work was going. That would have been too cynical. Ah, but that didn't stop him! He asked, "Can I ask you a question, if you remember? That server you were setting up… which machine was it, the one in your office or the one in Rick's office?"

Again, what was I to do? I answered his questions. The one in my office. It's the Mac sitting by the PC, across from the door. No, I hadn't set up a static IP address yet, you'll have to do that. No, you don't need to start Apache, because I set it up to start automatically at power-up. I offered all this with a helpful smile. I even offered to send him my work-related to-do list.

I do believe God has a sense of humor. This was also an opportunity for me to get over my anger. Still, I had to laugh as I walked away with Chris and he whispered, "Awkward!"