Skudd.com

Re: Back in Houston

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:37:50 -0400

Well, the most recent estimate is that power will be returned to MOST of the area, so I'm keeping myself positive about that. I figure I can try to get through the weekend with little to no bathing, and when the power comes back on burn up the shower. I got last month's utility bills while I was gone this weekend. It was pretty nice to see that having let the air condition run all the time, with 2 computers, it only ran me about $45.00. Water and sewage together were only $8.00 for the month. I'm worried that this next month will be more for the electric though, just for the simple fact of all the damage and repair that is being made. For tonight, I'm staying with a co-worker - Josh - since he stayed at my place when he first got to Houston. It's nice to have a light, internet, and a place to do laundry. More importantly though, it's nice to have a place to shower.

Back in Houston

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:07:24 -0400

(Posted from my Blackberry - deal with the typos) After another 7 hours on the road, we got back to Houston today. Even though I have no electricity or hot water, I am ver happy to be back. Hotel life from an unfamiliar city is not a very fun thing. They're saying 2 to 3 weeks before power is restored here, and that's being optimistic. Because of that, I am going to try to get the company to (at a minimum) help cover the cost of a hotel room here in town. If that doesn't happen, I will be trying to find someone else from the office -- preferably in my department -- who has hot water, and will allow me to make use of their shower. I am sleeping in my living room tonight, with the light switches in the "on" position, with the hope that I will be awaken by the return of power. The first thing I did when I got home was empty my fridge. Either the smell of the already decaying food or the thought of filling 4 garbage bags with food to dispose caused my stomach to churn. I think the odor from the kitchen is gone now that my windows have been open for a couple hours, but I am not looking forward to the day whn I have to clean and re-stock the fridge. For now, I am going to probably just go to sleep until the daylight or return of electricity wakes me. Rest assured though, I faired the storm well, as did my car and apartment.

Still in Dallas

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:37:34 -0400

Now that Ike has ripped through Houston, lots of people are asking me what the future - both short term and long term - holds. Right now there's a 9:00PM to 6:00AM curfew in place in Houston. This has caused us to work up a new schedule. We've split the 24 hour span into 3 shifts, allowing the third shift to begin prior to the curfew and end just after it. I received word from a couple of the guys back there that my car is just fine, as is my apartment. At this point, I have 2 concerns:

What am I going to do about all the food that is now rotting in my fridge and freezer? If I were there, I could have removed it early in the game, but now it's just sitting there.
Is anyone going to try to screw with my car, since it has a full tank of gas and is parked downtown?

I'm going to call the leasing office back at the apartment to see if someone can go empty my fridge for me. It makes me very sick to think about, because I stocked my freezer with meat over the last few weeks, and now it all has to be thrown out. It's going to be pretty expensive to replace too, but I guess I'll just have to take it a little at a time. :-/ The word on how long we'll be here is sketchy. The one group that is here will be heading back Wednesday. I imagine if we don't go back then, we will sometime between then and Friday.

Hello From Dallas

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:45:54 -0400

After 7 hours on the road from Houston to Dallas, we finally arrived around 7:30PM. The company took care of travel - via a Ford Explorer, rented from Avis - and lodging - The Hilton Garden Inn. Food is being taken care of by way of me paying with my credit card, for which I will be reimbursed after presenting receipts upon return to Houston. The current guess is that we will be here thorough Sunday, working our normal schedule until the point where Houston is knocked offline. By that, I mean the office has been closed due to evacuations and such, and those who remain are working from home. If and when the power and/or internet goes out, we will be thrown into the schedule to help relieve where necessary. I am in the process of powering down my equipment at home, remotely, simply because I don't want flickering lights to ruin my hard drives. Aside from that, my car was left under the office at Bayou Place in Houston, and it's just a waiting game from here-out.

Re: Moving

Mon, 26 May 2008 23:24:22 -0400

Well, it's apparently "later", finally. Part of the deal with Touch Support being acquired by The Planet is that some of the staff will be asked to relocate. I guess the reason is that they want the better talent at their core, working along side the existing staff. Having been the lead guy to maintain and further develop the systems used at Touch Support, and with my past and present experience working with PHP and MySQL, everyone has the belief that I will be among the first groups to be moved to Texas. Am I nervous about it? Heck yeah, I am! I've only been living on my own for a little over a year now, and it's only been 30 minutes to an hour from any family. Now, I'll be 16 hours from any family, though it's only about 2½ hours from Houston to Indianapolis by airplane. Am I excited? I really don't know for certain yet. I'm supposed to be going to see the area down there later this week, which may change my mind. One thing I am looking forward to is the storms they get down that way. We haven't had much around here since I was about 10, so it'll be a nice change. Will I be better off, career-wise? A little to begin with, what with the better benefits package and such. There are many more open doors within the larger organization, and I think I will do better as a programmer with someone else shouting out the orders. I have never been much for a self-directed individual, as it's hard to stay focused. I think that someone else leading the projects, or at least working along side me to keep me on course, will allow me to show my skills much better. I'll most definitely miss my friends and family around here, should the time come that I move. I'll also miss that opportunity to just run home every other weekend to see the parents, or to run to either sister's for the weekend (though I've not been to the older sister's hardly any, yet). I'm sure there will be many more chances for me to actually take a weekend off, as I'll (hopefully) not be the only one capable of working with any one product. There are some points of our employment agreement that I'm going to have to hash out with our "district manager", or whatever his title may be. Aside from that, though, it's just going to be a matter of getting everything in line administratively and financially. I'm quite curious what it will take to get everything moved. I'm sure I can squeeze nearly everything into rubbermaid containers, with the exception of a few things like my shelf, TV's, computers, and some furniture. I haven't quite figured out how to transport my firearms yet, but I hope to hash that out over the next few weeks, just so I know fully what to expect. I'll try to take my camera along when I take the 2-day trip to Houston, just to share what I may be dealing with. I'll be sure to share those pictures either on my gallery or in my Facebook photo albums.

Short post: Possibly moving

Mon, 26 May 2008 08:36:38 -0400

In light of the previous blog entry, I just wanted to inform everyone that there is a strong chance I may be moving to Houston, Texas to work at the epicenter of The Planet's operations. There is no certain claim that I will be moving, but it is a very strong possibility. I'll explain later.

Job Openings

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:50:19 -0500

If you live or plan to live in the Lafayette, Indiana area and have experience with Windows, Linux, DNS, and web hosting, you should really check out these openings. We have a good number of openings right now, and it's one of the most relaxed work environments you'll come across. So yeah, stop searching Google for "Linux support jobs", and head over to the Touch Support jobs portal and submit yourself. I work there, so it must be good! :P

The world is small.

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:21:02 -0500

So I found out something a bit odd today... We were talking at work about hair, so I figured I'd show everyone my creepy mullet, and I shared the URL in the office IRC channel. After I did, one of the new guys asked me what my handle from NewOrder was. After I told him, I asked who he was. Lo and behold, I now work with AZTEK. Small: The world is it.

I love my job!

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:21:25 -0500

Okay, this is just a general notice to anyone who is considering or has urged me to seek other employment: I work hard, and I work a lot. That doesn't mean I hate my job. I'm not earning a 6-figure income. Money doesn't drive me. I grumble from time to time about things that happen at work. Every job will be that way. I'm just getting really tired of everyone suggesting that because I'm not driving a brand new car and because I have to live by a budget that I need to find a "better" job. I'm happy where I am, even though it's not the greatest pay in the world, and even though the position has its headaches. Furthermore, just because several of my peers are moving on to other places of work, it doesn't mean I need to as well. They are finding that there is a position elsewhere that will better suit their needs; That doesn't mean it will suit my needs. So please, stop urging me to leave my job because you think I'm unhappy.

It's not my fault!

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:27:17 -0500

Okay, so now I'm getting the whole guilt trip thing from everyone at the shop now. Things are starting to fall apart rather drastically, and everyone is trying to pin the blame on me. Tomorrow night, after work, there's going to be some sort of shindig at the shop. They're going to close the other quick lube early so that everyone can get down to this one, but aside from that I have no idea what's going on. Boss Lady told me that if I had plans for the night they were to be cancelled because this was more important. Bleh. That means that anything after 6:00PM on my schedule for Thursday has been postponed or cancelled. Lovely. I guess I'll just have to come back home for a meal with Mom and Dad sometime in a week or so. All I can say is that if any problems occur at the shop, anywhere from disgruntled customers to employees leaving, I'm NOT responsible. I tried my hardest to instill a sense of respect in my crew, and it appears as though they just developed a bond to me instead.