📅 October 2008

(from keep an eye out for 'my friends' at the end of the clip)

On a side note, I hardly know what to do with myself while I'm on vacation. I've already checked in with work twice this morning to see if they need me. Sigh...

My goal today is to finish learning map/reduce in CouchDB views, maybe posting that here will be incentive to finish it :)

My new position is actually a position, instead of some de-facto thing! I clarified that I have the authority to back up my responsibilities, and my Projects Manager title will be made public to everyone next week when my boss gets back from vacation. Happy day :)

MTv just posted an archive of all music videos in their archives:

Check it out here:

Super-sweet. And embeddable.

How high to you keep your thermostat? (I know you might not have yours on yet, but I'm talking in general during the winter.)

James only allows me to ever put it at 58 degrees. :)

From McSweeney's:

I do not think I am, as you so eloquently screamed, "addicted to World of Warcraft." I have, however, made a number of unfortunate mistakes, for which I would like to apologize.

and ...

Also, what you stumbled upon me doing with that Level 64 blood elf in the back room of the Silvermoon City Inn was neither "sick and perverted" nor "cheating on you." We were role-playing. That I called you by her character's name later that evening was just a weird coincidence. I do not wish your body looked like that. You and I both know that it's physically impossible for humans to have those proportions, at least while retaining all of their internal organs.

ahem.... James!

Is it a joke? Who knows!

My grandfather is not doing well, I am looking forward to when I go out to see everyone at Thanksgiving. Hopefully things stay stable until then. Lots of deaths in my life the past few years.



(My grandpa and my Dad)

I idly was looking at airfares, thinking of going to see my family at Thanksgiving. They were all $800+, except I found a couple deals on Delta for $400. I had to snap that up since it's only going to get more ridiculous the closer we get to the holidays.

So my decision was made: home for the holidays! As much as home can be where my James is not, of course.

2008:



Original:

An interesting essay by Will Wilkinson: which also keyed off some things that I've talked to James about recently, in his job search.

[W]hat little I know of economic sociology tells me that access to economic opportunities is deeply network-relative. -- Will Wilkinson

I find this to be very true. It's the adage that it's not what you know but who you know -- opportunities come through communication, not based on merit. Merit is what allows you to take advantage of the opportunity. You don't have a chance of showing off your skill unless you can talk to the right person.

At work the positions I've helped to hire for have been filled based on me knowing the people we were hiring. I vouched for and championed them because of their personalities and communication skills in addition to their technical chops. The thought of posting those jobs in public and hiring strangers off the street unnerved me greatly.

It's not a perfect system, but we'd only hire a programmer who doesn't come to us through either personal recommendation or by coming to the Ruby meetups we host only as a last resort. Hiring someone is a huge decision that can make or break a team, as I've seen from a few different sides.

It's a tough problem. There are people who are perfectly capable of careers that they can't get into because they don't know who to talk to. Networks limit choices, but also minimize risk and maximize chance of success, if you start out with the right mindset.

If you're looking for a job, don't look in the want ads, look for smokey back rooms and referrals :)