Seven Months?!?

It is really hard to believe that we've lived in California for seven months already.  Time is seriously flying!  

We are already starting to think about where we will move when our lease is up in December.  Fremont has been great while we've been getting acclimated, but there are other locations on the peninsula (West of the Bay) that are more centrally located for both of our jobs.  My company moved to a new location about a month ago, and it's a block from a light-rail stop.  So if we find the right location, both Conery and I can take public transport.

Conery's new job is going great.  He is already a productive member of the team.  He had to get up to speed really quickly as one of the other members is getting married this month and will be out for a few weeks.

There is a grass-roots social thing going on at my work in which I've gotten involved.  We have an off-site team building event this Friday.  There are 12 teams of 10 people which are competing in olympic-style events.  The events run the gamut from Duck, Duck, Goose to Tug of War to Blind Canoe Races (yeah, that should be real interesting).  I'm the captain of team 3.  Our team name is Team Masti; masti is an Indian word which means naughty/mischievous.  Curious George is our team logo.  It's really fitting because there are some trouble makers on our team!

In addition to the olympics, there are other initiatives going on.  I'm starting a tinkering group.  Our first project is going to be a vacuum cleaner bazooka which I have dubbed the Vazooka; I already trademarked it. ;)  

In the Catbird Seat

At the end of my first week at work, I was drafting up a presentation to give to my boss and manager which contained my suggestions for utilizing the tools we have in house to take the company's existing documentation and leverage it for several outputs including printed documentation, online help, and a knowledge base.  Being the one team member with any real world experience with the tool set made me a bit more valuable than originally thought.


This week solidified my position in the catbird seat.  I am one of five people on the documentation team.  Two of us are contractors; the other three are full time employees.  The rhyme/reason for that split is unbeknownst to me.  


The other contractor gave his notice yesterday.  He and I were working on all the user-facing documentation.  His choice to leave was more about where his was going; his new job is closer to home and is a permanent position.  So...this means I'll be doing all the customer facing documentation.  I'm up for taking that on, and it means job security and a possible wake-up call that the company needs to make the commitment to its employees in order to get some commitment in return.    

The Chronicle - Day One

Well today marked the end of my life as a kept man of leisure; I started back to work for the first time since being laid off in May of 2010. I am the newest member of the small desktop support team for the Hearst Corporation. More specifically, I work for the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to the SF Chronicle people, we also support users at SFGate (the Chronicle's online arm), some Houston Chronicle users, and Gatelist (not 100% sure what that is yet).

Today has been very exciting for me so far. Coming from Florida where there is no good public transportation of which to speak, I've had a very good taste of what big city life is like. Traci dropped me off at the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station in Fremont this morning at 6:20AM. I got on the train and because of the MLK holiday today, I had to switch trains to make it into the city. I arrived early, at 7:30 and walked in with Brian, one of my co-workers who also takes BART into the city. We walked the block to the building and he informed me that he had made some BBQ pulled chicken and homemade coleslaw for sandwiches. Therefore, I gladly carried part of his burden into the office. He proceeded to give me the tour of the building, then we went for a walk around the block and he showed me all the things owned by The Chron. He showed me where the food editors work, they have a test kitchen and other stuff in there but we didn't go in. He did tell me that there is a section under the building that connects to our building, and that they're going to block off both ends and have food carts come in! I'm not sure if it will be an ongoing thing, or a special event, but either way I'm stoked!

My first day was one of the most productive in my career history! No reading of the company manual, no filling out paperwork, no sexual harassment seminar, just me fixing computers and setting up new computers and Blackberry devices for new users. Right to work!

The BBQ chicken and coleslaw were both delicious.