2014

A year in review will probably have to wait: I'm copying pictures over from one failing hard drive to a new one, and that process is going to take a lot of time (if I even save all the files).  I'm going to get a new laptop in the fairly near future, too, depending on what deals are out there.

A retrospective would contain alot of meandering through the dusty corridors of my memory, which lately has gotten even less reliable.  One of the things I'd like to do better this year is to actively improve it.  The symptoms of rot have permeated through a lot of my doings lately, so a forward-looking post isn't such a bad thing at this point.

I think probably the biggest of changes to come soon will be job-related.  I have been working for the same company for about eight years now, and my role is very well defined.  The past few months have seen an uptick in interest from others in my availability, and it seems likely I'll be transitioning out of my current job.


The history here is a bit involved, I guess: L had an offer from a competitor that would have necessitated a move from our current home to Maryland.  While in the end we decided this probably wasn't the best for the both of us—there was a good bit of soul-searching and conversations that went into this—it helped to spur me along in my own job search.

Somewhat more importantly it helped to move me out of my primary teaching responsibilities at karate and released me from competing.  While this was a bit personally traumatic, the changes—especially the freedom to make the sort of moves that need to be made—were necessary.

I had interviews with a small company in California (a programming job for a photo processing company), two companies in Maryland (a cybersecurity company and a professional training/educational firm), and then a last one for a position at a university in the city (which needs a developer for their radiology department).  This last one is the most likely to result in a job change; they've indicated a good bit of interest and willingness to be flexible to accommodate a pretty ridiculous commute (probably 1.5 hours all told).

If it doesn't pan out, the coming months of 2014 will see continued job searching.  My skill sets need to grow, and I'm not sure that this can happen given the current work environment I'm facing.  In fact, I'm pretty sure they won't grow as long as I stay: there are too many barriers.  When I interviewed for a thin-client conglomerate last March, they weren't interested in any of my assigned work...only in the "FEGP" projects (Forgiveness is Easier to Get than Permission).  That was a pretty firm warning shot that I'd need to be moving in another direction, and I've taken some steps to try to drive there in the past several months.  While there's been some positive movement, it hasn't been anything that I'm confident will do the Right Thing.

The university position comes with some unique benefits, but also pretty significant drawbacks.  So it will come down, as always, to brass tacks.


It hasn't been all job searching, though:  L and I have been busily reading Surprised by Joy and lately moved on to Phantastes.  I put together the Christmas letter rather hastily, but it hasn't really gotten out the door yet.  A few friends and family received it, but that was mainly because it didn't require stamps to get it to them.

Surprised by Joy continues to be one of my favorite books.  It's complex enough that I get something new from it on a re-reading, and it's helped me think a little through a recent interest in the subject of emergence (roughly, the observation that systems can exhibit complex behaviors that seem like more than the sum of its parts; one might example this by saying that chemsitry is an emergent property of physics—but people are really more concerned about consciousness).  L has enjoyed Phantastes in the initial stages, which has been a great help: I didn't do so well in my initial tries at reading it.

I also picked up The Idiot by Dostoyevsky for my Kindle, and it's proven surprisingly readable in translation.  I haven't made it too far, but at least I'm not wandering too much in my head.  M&S bought me And the Mountains Echoed in hardback for Christmas, so I'm also going through that when a few minutes present themselves.  J offered The Hydrogen Sonata as a part of our annual meet when he was back in town from Shanghai.  I'll be reading that at work.  Then, of course, is my determination to work my way through some Faulkner this year: I am a bad person for not having him at the head of the queue, I know.


Prior to the holidays, I finally had my eyes checked (the first time in eight years) and got a new pair of glasses.  My perscription hadn't changed much, if at all.  My left eye is getting a little more use, which is good.  I'll test out some contacts in the coming days, though stepping away from the team means it's rather less likely that I'll be needing them.

And, of course, there's been football.  Losing to Clemson wasn't so good, but I was actually pretty happy with the game: we didn't deserve to win (they didn't really, either, I guess), but I think the players left it on the field and at least settled some questions about their toughness.  People are pretty quick to criticize, especially if they haven't had experience.  Monday morning quarterbacks are the worst.


It smells like brownies here...and I think that means I should probably avail myself of them.  I've moved all of five files since I started writing because of the bad sectors on the drive.  Patience rules this roost!