Older blog entries for rjp (starting at number 36)

sb job hunt was fruitful - one offer, a couple of other possibilities. one of which is much more attractive than anything else - it would actually be focused on open source. the problem is, there won't be funding for a while.

i don't want to take a job down there and then skip out on them when the other thing is ready to roll - one can do that in silicon valley, but it's too small a town down there to pull it off. if i want to live down there for a while (like, settle down for good), i can't afford to burn bridges like that.

all in all though, having a concrete offer in hand is more than i could have hoped for. they're being flexible with me in terms of time, which allows me to look around more - and they know that's what i'm doing, and they're okay with it. hmmm . . .

this week: road trip to sb to job hunt. got one appointment lined up already, but i'd really like to get at least 3 more this week. i'm not in a hurry to take the 1st thing that comes along - i want to make sure it's the right thing to spend the next few years doing. agh! got to get the road music cd collection together. damn, i'd love one of those car audio systems that reads mp3s.

the sj skate last week: rained out. when i move to sb, i'll have to set up a good downtown route and start a group to do a weekly skate there.

and, so, the guilt sets in. moving out of town == abandoning my family here? no, not really - things are settling down, and grampa is well cared for at home (never in one of those "homes" where families leave their old people to die - NEVER - only in his own home, that's what we've sworn to). it's amazing that he's held on this long - despite what the doctors said, it could be months longer. i'm not really helping anything by staying now, and i'll be back every other weekend or so. why then am i feeling so guilty about it? he's comfortable, safe, and as happy as could be under the circumstances.

got to put the sb job search into high gear - and soon, or i'll be tempted to stay. it never rains, it pours; that cliche seems to have a magical truth about it, whether it's relationships, jobs, or whatever.

got to get my sparc lx over to the svlug installfest this month! i'm sure someone there can help me out - i just can't get the damn thing to boot linux . . . now i think it may be my media - it's a cd from linux central, red hat 6.2 for sparc, but i have this odd feeling they screwed up and the cdrom is not sparc-bootable. i can get a recent version of solaris to boot and install . . .

we're doing it: santa barbara, here we come. it's going to be great to be back. but damn, suddenly i start getting the calls and emails - the job market in the valley has definitely heated up.

thank god for memepool. it's sites like that that keep today's www from sucking badly.

great trip - good weather, good company, good good good.

we may move back to santa barbara - the job market down there is doable, things are very much under control with my family here, it's close enough that i can be here even every weekend if i wish . . . we are considering it. it would be great to be back there - i had almost forgotten how beautiful it is ;)

funny, just when i start thinking about moving, the job situation here starts to heat up. irony sucks.

fatmouse rocks your world.

well, another night at grampa's. a while ago, i discussed with lori the insights i've had about parent-child (and grandchild) relationships, roles, and interaction . . . i've learned so much over the last few months. it's obvious, yet like so many things fundamental to who we are, we don't see it without something to make us step aside and look with different eyes. objectivity - why isn't it more natural?

off to san diego on [day], stopovers in santa barbara on the way down and on the way back up to visit with rp and {w,j}s. visit with gpp for a few days in san diego, get in the ocean (the ocean! it's been too long), have some sushi, catch up. either in sd or sb or both, skate. my knee is feeling good enough to skate again, i just have to build up my leg again after favoring it for nearly a year. i found a group that skates a ~7 mile course in downtown san jose thursday nights, and i want to see if my knee is up to it. woohoo! i miss skating so much.

code is the order of the day tomorrow! yay!

well. verisign just announced what is basically the idea i have been working on for a while now.

bummer. while verisign's offering does not encompass everything i've been thinking and writing about, there is so much overlap that it's pointless to continue (actually there is one thing that's very distinct, which i'll still file a patent on).

so then: let the job search begin. btw, anyone reading this that is looking to hire some enterprise java (not ejb! for so many reasons) folks in the south bay, check out my resume. please.

grampa hangs on - and more or less, he is himself, although his state of mind reminds me of a story i read once; i'm sure it's familiar, maybe harlan ellison or something - anyway, the protagonist loses his memory each morning, and has to start over (a movie, maybe?). that's what it's like for grampa, but it's sometimes minute by minute that he forgets instead of overnight. physically, he's barely able to feed himself, let alone clean himself or stand up and walk. but, and this is the most important thing, he is comfortable, and he expresses that he is happy that we are around so much ("we" is mainly my mother and myself). several cardiologists told us he would be dead within 3 weeks; we're going on 5 months now. this is a long road that has left me an emotional cripple in some ways.

code? what freaking code? i've let dcserver just sit idle, and while i've been boning up on tech stuff to be ready for interviews, i haven't done anything real in more than a month. time to get back to it. i started implementing (*again*) my multicast-and-rmi failover algorithm, after some design changes this time; constraints are weakened a bit, which i think is fine considering the domain. so, i'll finish my failover thing, add client connection stuff to it (right now it's just the hot and warm servers talking to each other), maybe add a new sourceforge project for it, and then get back on making dcserver an osgi-compliant service platform.

opensourcesjapseye is obviously jeffk

changes . . .

the p2p chapter is almost done - pretty easy really, i didn't even need to do that much research; it all just kind of spewed straight out of my head. easy money. i think i'm a good writer, i've always wanted to write a book really - now i'm thinking that i should go ahead with it. i have a good topic in mind, and it'll make me do some coding for the examples as well ;) always a bonus. working on [idea] has been put aside until friday, which actually is good - a few days away from it has given me some objectivity, and i know what's wrong with the writeup. it's going to be good, and i'm very positive about getting cash to start it.

damn, i want "vi mode" in this little html text box.

p.f., my old manager from [bigtech], introduced me to a guy that just retired from [bigtech] and now wants to do something on his own. he has an idea for a web-based business, and wants my advice on the feasibility. if it sounds interesting, he wants me to do the prototype on contract, which i think i'll be happy to do, although i'm not sure how much he can pay me right off - which is the problem; i really can't do it if i'm not going to get a paycheck. hopefully he's got some cash reserves to tempt me with.

grampa is - the same really. living is a strong habit.