Back In The Saddle Again

I'm back!

Well, after spending about 3 months looking for work, I was able to snag a plum position at the local branch of an international corporation. (This was about a month ago) I won't go into details about my new job, other than to say I was able to negotiate them up a bit, and am now making about 15% more at my new job than I was at the old one. Not only that, but it is significantly easier than my old job, leaving me plenty of time, energy and money to pursue further education and my own side-projects.

While I was unemployed I was drawing from my unemployment insurance funds, which turned out to be enough to pay all our bills with a bit left over, so we weren't even uncomfortable during my down time. All in all, things worked out pretty well.

Now that I'm settled in my new job, I can begin work on the many little things that the wife and I have planned for our new home. First item on the list, finish the basement. This shouldn't be too hard, except that the wiring in the basement is kinda goofy, so we are going to have to have that straightened out. Also, there is a small semi-finished room that was built into one corner of the basement that will have to be torn down before we can really complete anything. That's gonna be a big PITA to deal with, I'm sure.

Well, whatever it takes, we will have to get it done. While our new house is physically larger than our old one, it's laid out in such a way that there is actually less living space. particularly since the basement isn't finished like it was in the old house. Once the basement is finished though, we can move all our computer equipment out of the family room (2 PCs plus desks and accoutrements) and down into the finished basement. I'm planning on turning it into a home office/exercise room, with a computer workbench for me to do my PC and electronics projects on.

about 35% of the basement will be left unfinished, and used as a storage area and laundry-room. Unfortunately, this won't leave enough room to store everything, so once the basement is done, the next project will be to turn the large crawlspace under the roof into a proper storage attic. The trick will be to do it without sacrificing insulation. If anyone has good suggestions on that I'm listening.

Well, that's it for now. Life is back to "normal" and stuff is happening. I'll update you on it in another post.

Moving On

Well.

I suppose all good things must come to an end. I just wish it hadn't been so abrupt! As of last week I am officially unemployed.

I won't go into all the gory details, as I really don't think it would be appropriate. I do think I can give some background though; Over the last week in August I was on a week's vacation so I could watch my kids. As you know I have two special-needs children who attend summer classes, and there is a two-week gap between the end of those classes and the start of the regular fall/winter classes One of these weeks I took off so I could watch them, as they are too young to be left alone and we didn't have babysitting for the week.

Monday after I came back from vacation I found out my Boss was going to be visiting the next day to deal with an issue with the VPN connection between our office and a remote office. Obviously I wanted everything to be perfect, so I set about making sure that any minor loose ends from my time off were closed up, and I even stayed late 2 hours to make sure any missed server updates were applied before he arrived so that there wouldn't be any issues with that.

Tuesday morning came and I didn't see him around, so I went on with my normal morning routine, checking the server logs, and making sure all the updates applied correctly. Later that morning, around 10AM he came into my office, and asked me to meet with him in the conference room. This peaked my interest as usually when he visited he would sit with me in my office and we would discuss the network and various other "shop" related stuff.

At the conference room the Human resources manager met us and the three of us went in together. As you can imagine, my internal alarm bells were ringing loudly at that point, and I joked with my Boss "My boss and the HR manager meeting with me in the conference room. Should I be nervous?" He didn't answer. He closed the door and we sat down at the conference table. Before I was even settled in my seat he told me that "We are going to let you go." I won't go into any further detail about the meeting other than to say that it was short, and my official "pink slip" stated that "My position was being eliminated."

After cleaning out my desk and providing a list of all my usernames and passwords I was unceremoniously escorted out of the building by my former boss and the door closed behind me. As you can well imagine I spent the rest of the day in a state of shock. There had been little to no warning before my dismissal and I felt very betrayed by a company that I had really worked hard at for the past 2 years.

I have had a week to sit and stew and think about it, and I feel much better about it now. The truth is that I was not really a good fit for that company from the start. They were involved in some very secret government stuff, and that culture of secrecy pervaded almost everything they did. Add to that that most of the employees that I served were long time friends and associates of the President and Vice President, and that my immediate supervisor was a relative of the Vice President. This was a recipe for disaster for any new person attempting to join that company and integrate themselves into it, particularly for someone like myself, who's previous work experience left me unprepared to deal with an office culture like that.

Don't get me wrong, this was not all their fault. A goodly portion of the blame rests on my shoulders as well. There were rumblings of trouble as long as a year ago. I began to have trouble communicating and working with one or two key staff members, and despite an intervention by my supervisor to attempt to rectify the situation about 8 months ago, the problems continued. Frankly, I should have been much more proactive in addressing the issues. When these staff members began to subtly avoid working with me I should have contacted my boss and hit the issue head-on. But, wanting to avoid "rocking the boat" and creating conflict I stayed silent. Ultimately this led to a communications breakdown that led to my dismissal.

Looking back on it, I do wonder how much help it would have been confronting the situation. One might speculate that had I pushed the issue, I might have simply been put out of work even sooner. The staff I was having conflict with were far more important to the company than I, and any conflict between myself and them would have surely ended up with me on the losing end. Of course, one can speculate endlessly about such things as there really isn't any way to know for sure. Unfortunately, I was forced to sign a "no disclosure, no solicitation" paper at my dismissal meeting, so I cannot contact any of my former colleagues to find out. At least, not through their company e-mails. ( I do question the legality of such a document. Had I realized at the time what I was signing I would have flatly refused to sign it. I was under quite a bit of emotional distress at the time and was in no condition to think clearly about it. The more conspiratorially minded might think that was the point of having me sign right then. Who knows.)

At any rate, here I sit, out of a job, and unable to use any of the contacts from my 2 years of employment as references due to being unable to contact them (not a very nice position to be in, let me tell you). Of course, all of my previous references are worthless due to them being both 2 years out of date, and my having lost contact with them due to them leaving the company or the company closing up shop. So I am left with NO references for my technical ability and nothing but my word to go on. Frustrating to be sure.

Nevertheless, I will soldier on. I do have a family to support, after all. I have been spamming my resume like crazy, and since I learned many MANY new skills while employed by my previous employer (mostly because I was essentially left to my own devices and had to sink or swim with these systems) I do have a much more impressive resume than before. If anyone wants to look at it, I am posted on Monster.com, Dice.com and buffaloniagara.org. Alternately, you can contact me at my e-mail address here, and I will gladly forward you my resume.

Wish me luck!

It's Your Patriotic Duty!

Women of America, and particularly young, attractive college Co-eds:

Your Patriotic Duty is NOW CLEAR. (NSFW warning)

I will be waiting with my lawn-chair and sixpack. And maybe my camera.

Stay Down, Damnit!

Ugh!

Like a B-movie zombie the Amnesty bill just refuses to die.

More precisely, the Frankenstienien creators of this monstrosity refuse to allow it to die. Bush and his amnesty loving buddies have vowed to keep fighting to have the Amnesty bill is passed. They have even gone so far as to try and buy off the conservative vote in the Senate!

Now is the time to keep the pressure on! Continue to call and e-mail your Senators! Don't let them have a moment's peace. Jam the switchboards for days on end! This Amnesty bill MUST DIE!

Like any undead monster, the only reliable way to kill it is a shotgun blast to the head. Keep on blasting the Senate with your calls, letters and e-mails until this bill is rotting 6 feet under!

From Grassfire, some of the Senator's numbers:

+ + Call to Action #1 -- Call these Senators and say you oppose
this "Amendments for Amnesty" deal

Sen. Hagel (202) 224-4224
Sen. Nelson (202) 224-6551

Key Senators to call:

McConnell 202/224-2541
Lott 202/224-6253
Kyl 202/224-4521
Brownback 202/224-6521
Burr 202/224-3154
Chambliss 202/224-3521
Cornyn 202/224-2934
Hutchison 202/224-5922
Isakson 202/224-3643
Warner 202/224-2023
Webb 202/224-4024

Also, via Michelle Malkin:

"Your handy-dandy amnesty hotline number again is 1-800-417-7666."

Kill The Bill!

WE WIN!

YES!

The Amnesty Bill is dead as a doornail!

The American people spoke. We told Congress and the President in no uncertain terms NO AMNESTY, and they were forced to listen. A crucial victory for Freedom and the rule of law was won today, many congratulations all around.

However, this is NOT the time to let up! Continue to contact your Senators and Representatives. We need to make two points crystal clear.

First, if they voted against the Amnesty Bill, thank them. Let them know that the American people are watching and we appreciate them doing the right thing. Of course, if they voted for the Amnesty Bill, let them know in no uncertain terms that they will pay a price for it the next time they are up for election. (I will post a link to the vote count when it becomes available)

Second, make sure to impress upon them that merely defeating this bill was not enough. Now they must step up to the bar and push new bills that fully fund enforcement efforts, force an immediate start on not just a border fence, but a concrete and steel border wall. Also urge them to pass a binding resolution to force the President to redeploy troops from peaceful (not Iraq!) areas of the world such as Germany and Japan, and place them in a fully armed and ready posture on the border charged with defending the border with all necessary force.

Our borders MUST be made inviolate. Stomping the craptacular Amnesty Bill into the dust is a good start, but it's by far not the end of the story. Keep up the pressure!

Defend our Homeland and God Bless America!

UPDATE: Here's the vote!

I will reprint for those that don't want to follow the link:

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Akaka (D-HI), Yea Alexander (R-TN), Nay Allard (R-CO), Nay Baucus (D-MT), Nay Bayh (D-IN), Yea Bennett (R-UT), Nay Biden (D-DE), Yea Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Nay Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brown (D-OH), Yea Brownback (R-KS), Not Voting Bunning (R-KY), Nay Burr (R-NC), Nay Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Cardin (D-MD), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea Casey (D-PA), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Clinton (D-NY), Yea Coburn (R-OK), Not Voting Cochran (R-MS), Nay Coleman (R-MN), Nay Collins (R-ME), Nay Conrad (D-ND), Yea Corker (R-TN), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Craig (R-ID), Nay Crapo (R-ID), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Nay Dodd (D-CT), Yea Dole (R-NC), Nay

Domenici (R-NM), Nay Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Yea Ensign (R-NV), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Not Voting Feingold (D-WI), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Nay Gregg (R-NH), Nay Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Yea Hatch (R-UT), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea Kyl (R-AZ), Nay Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea Levin (D-MI), Yea Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Lott (R-MS), Nay Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea

McCaskill (D-MO), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Nay Murray (D-WA), Yea Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Nay Reed (D-RI), Yea Reid (D-NV), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Nay Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay Smith (R-OR), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Nay Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea Stevens (R-AK), Nay Sununu (R-NH), Nay Tester (D-MT), Nay Thune (R-SD), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Yea Warner (R-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea

Vote Summary

By Senator Name

By Vote Position

By Home State

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---45
Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Clinton (D-NY) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Graham (R-SC)	Hagel (R-NE) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ)	Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Obama (D-IL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Salazar (D-CO) Schumer (D-NY) Specter (R-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Voinovich (R-OH) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---50
Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Baucus (D-MT) Bennett (R-UT) Bingaman (D-NM) Bond (R-MO) Boxer (D-CA) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Chambliss (R-GA) Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Craig (R-ID)	Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Ensign (R-NV) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lott (R-MS) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY)	Murkowski (R-AK) Pryor (D-AR) Roberts (R-KS) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Warner (R-VA) Webb (D-VA)

Not Voting - 4
Brownback (R-KS) Coburn (R-OK)	Enzi (R-WY) Johnson (D-SD)

Vote Summary

By Senator Name

By Vote Position

By Home State

Grouped by Home State

Alabama:	Sessions (R-AL), Nay	Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska:	Murkowski (R-AK), Nay	Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Arizona:	Kyl (R-AZ), Nay	McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas:	Lincoln (D-AR), Yea	Pryor (D-AR), Nay
California:	Boxer (D-CA), Nay	Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado:	Allard (R-CO), Nay	Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut:	Dodd (D-CT), Yea	Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Delaware:	Biden (D-DE), Yea	Carper (D-DE), Yea
Florida:	Martinez (R-FL), Yea	Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia:	Chambliss (R-GA), Nay	Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii:	Akaka (D-HI), Yea	Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Idaho:	Craig (R-ID), Nay	Crapo (R-ID), Nay
Illinois:	Durbin (D-IL), Yea	Obama (D-IL), Yea
Indiana:	Bayh (D-IN), Yea	Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Iowa:	Grassley (R-IA), Nay	Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas:	Brownback (R-KS), Not Voting	Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky:	Bunning (R-KY), Nay	McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Louisiana:	Landrieu (D-LA), Nay	Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine:	Collins (R-ME), Nay	Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Maryland:	Cardin (D-MD), Yea	Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts:	Kennedy (D-MA), Yea	Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan:	Levin (D-MI), Yea	Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota:	Coleman (R-MN), Nay	Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi:	Cochran (R-MS), Nay	Lott (R-MS), Nay
Missouri:	Bond (R-MO), Nay	McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
Montana:	Baucus (D-MT), Nay	Tester (D-MT), Nay
Nebraska:	Hagel (R-NE), Yea	Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada:	Ensign (R-NV), Nay	Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire:	Gregg (R-NH), Nay	Sununu (R-NH), Nay
New Jersey:	Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea	Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico:	Bingaman (D-NM), Nay	Domenici (R-NM), Nay
New York:	Clinton (D-NY), Yea	Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina:	Burr (R-NC), Nay	Dole (R-NC), Nay
North Dakota:	Conrad (D-ND), Yea	Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Ohio:	Brown (D-OH), Yea	Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Oklahoma:	Coburn (R-OK), Not Voting	Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon:	Smith (R-OR), Nay	Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania:	Casey (D-PA), Yea	Specter (R-PA), Yea
Rhode Island:	Reed (D-RI), Yea	Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina:	DeMint (R-SC), Nay	Graham (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota:	Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting	Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee:	Alexander (R-TN), Nay	Corker (R-TN), Nay
Texas:	Cornyn (R-TX), Nay	Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah:	Bennett (R-UT), Nay	Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Vermont:	Leahy (D-VT), Yea	Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Virginia:	Warner (R-VA), Nay	Webb (D-VA), Nay
Washington:	Cantwell (D-WA), Yea	Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia:	Byrd (D-WV), Nay	Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Wisconsin:	Feingold (D-WI), Yea	Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming:	Enzi (R-WY), Not Voting

No Amnesty!

Please follow this link and sign the petition to stop the Amnesty bill currently making it's way through Congress.

Ding Dong The Butcher's Dead!

Fox News has just reported the happy news that Saddam Hussein, the "Butcher of Bagdad" has been executed. As Rush Limbaugh would say, he has "Assumed Room Temperature".

All I can say is 'Good Riddance'. The world is a better, cleaner place with an evil soul like his no longer in it. Hmm. You know, I think that a little song might be in order.

A happy, Saddam-free New Year to Iraq and the world!