Author: SK

Today was a good day. I had a lot of things to do. It flows by quickly when I have things to do. I’m working on integrating pronto products in mws. Pronto, a company that seems interesting to me, and it is part of IAC, which means that I could probably move there if I wanted. We’ll see.
Meantime, I’m waiting for a reply from the resume submission. I thought that was a good job offer. I should probably call them on Th or Friday or next week and talk about my submission and what the process is.
It looks like things are coming along in Kacwin, my place of birth. While searching on the net today, I came across 2 additional “homes for hire.” Wow, they’re really doing something. I think that’s good. It’s good for Kacwin and good for everybody. But I heard that my cousin was attacked because he’s thinking of building such a house. Hopefully they catch these losers and things will improve.
I’m reading a messaging book and it is getting boring. I think that a pure JMS solution might no longer work. In the age of multi platform, a pure Java solution might not work. Something like SOA and web services might be a better solution.

Fabian is growing fast. Very fast. But I think he’s getting better as well. He likes to be carried on his belly. He’s not crying when we do that. I found that out the hard way on Friday, when he was crying like crazy. I put him on his belly, and the crying stops. I had to do that for over 20 minutes. He’s heavy now. I think he must be around 16 lbs. Anyway, he’s fun.
I sent out my resume on Saturday. I’m hoping that I will get a reply. The position is at a financial company. I think the company is located in Montvale. It would be a short commute. We’ll see. I should probably do a follow up at the end of this week or beginning of next.
I bought a new suit for myself. It’s my second. I did not plan on buying one today. And we were ready to walkout out of Macy’s when I found it. It looks stylish. I really like it. It cost me $250 plus $30 tailoring. It’s not hard to find clothes for me, so I think that was a good find.

At least one of my dilemmas is gone: I am abandoning my search for the startup position in New York.
Yesterday, a thought came to me. I started wondering how much the position actually offers. So what did I do? I sent out an email to Pete asking him for the salary range. He replied by asking me first. I gave him my number $92K. He replied that his salary range is 65-85K (and it used to be 65-70K). I replied that I think I’m a right fit for the job, but that I was looking for 100-120K. He said, that for now, he’s not willing to go that high. He said he will keep me in the loop if he decides to raise it.
Matter closed.
In a way, it’s good that I did not go to NY on Monday. I would have wasted my and his time. Plus, I was not really ready to go to a 5-person startup, with lower salary, and probably less benefits. Who would go for that?
Plus, I’m not trying to rush myself out of this company.
One other possibility is Pronto. It’s an IAC company. It would just be a transfer. I’m guessing I would get the same pay. The only bad part about this is that I would have to commute to NY. If things get worse here or I decide to move on, I think I’m going to take the plunge and apply.
Anyway, a good overall experience. The good sign is that I think that I could have had the job. I was in the running.

We had an excellent overview of an agile iterative process at work. The current project manager has a very good grip on it. He has had years of good experience with agile, scrum, etc. He explained it nicely.
Here at Ask, that was one of the big surprises when I came here. I expected a very good process. I expected top-level guys. I was dissapointed. We’re doing things in an ad-hoc way. That’s not a good way. That’s not how a good caliber software company should work.
But because of this. Because the company is used to doing things this way, there is a lot of resistance in the air. A lot of pressure to stick with the way it is. Not good. But I’m curious to see what the new guy is going to do. If he’s not succesfull, in my opinion, he’s going to be gone soon. We’ll see.
I’m still thinking about the possibility of going into the NY startup, TechSmart Solutions. It’s a big gamble. Sure, I’ll be in charge. I will be managing the team overseas. But is it really worth it for me? What am I gaining?
Nonetheles, I’m kind of excited about the position. If the work that we’ll be doing is exciting, then what else do I need? I do think that I’m going to be compansated for the risk. If not, I’ll probably stay where I am now. I am going to NY to see how it looks.

Interesting day today. In the morning I felt really tired. I guess it’s because I woke up at 7:30 yesterday — not my usual 6AM. Plus, the weather was really sleepy. Fabian was still sleeping at 9AM, when I was leaving for work. He usually wakes up at 8:30AM.
But that’s not the interesting part. I had an phone conversation with a guy from a startup company. They posted a job position on Joel on Software. I was fairly nervous before the talk. There is not a really good place to conduct such a talk at White Plains. I went to the mall but my reception was low. I had to go outside, but it was fairly cold and I was shivering. All in all, though, I think it was a good talk.
This is a startup company. They only have five people in the company. They use Indian outsourcers. I would manage these outsources, plus develop new applications. I would have a lot of interaction with the president. That’s a good thing. I would have a pretty high position in the company. I expressed my doubts to him, such as that I would be moving from a stable company towards a startup; that managing those guys is not really fun and it is actually hard. He seemed willing to accomodate me. Pete seemed like a good guy.
I think I’m going to go for an onsite talk. Maybe on Monday.
I have several questions. I need to have more assurance that the company has enough work. I need to know more what I’ll be doing, how much would I be earning, what benefits. Will I have an office or where would I work?
We’ll see what comes out of this.

I found a great job offer for me. It is at a startup company. A management position. And they don’t require any management experience. That’s what I’m looking for!
I sent my resume to them and a short cover letter. They got back to me today. They want to talk to me on Monday. Why not? I feel no pressure. If this is a right company for me, I’ll take it. If not, I’m not going to cry.
What am I looking for? I want a management position with 100-130K. It’s a management position so I think I can fetch more money. Plus, it’s a startup.
And that’s my problem. As far I can see, they are really just starting. I don’t know how many people they have. I don’t really know what they’re doing. Is is a good move to go to a company like that? Good question. Not sure. I have to talk to them first and I’ll decide later.
As for the future, I really would like to stick till the summer here at Ask. I can look for something passively. If I see something, I should apply No pressure. That’s what I’m going to do.

I hate all of the inactivity at work. Yes, I have a side project, but I cannot really do anything with it. I am still waiting for answers from Chris. I started doing the design doc, but that’s not very exciting. I am going to finish it, though, and send it to him and see whether he has an opinion on it.
On the search project, there is nothing going on. I have one outstanding ticket, but I am also waiting for a response from my manager. Go figure.
On top of this, we had a little reorganization this morning. We got pulled to a short meeting and the manager explained that Dov and John are becoming official tech leads. John for the overal architecture and Dov for Infrastructe architect. We’ll see. The feeling I have is that my quest to become a manager here is going to be fruitless.
One possibility that I am exploring is applying for a Pronto job. It would be a ‘within company’ transfer. It looks like they’re doing some interesting work. I should apply for it.
On the other hand, I don’t see it that much different. I would like to become a manager. Maybe I should just concentrante on that? Maybe. But I’m losing valuable time, plus, I recently started disliking the work I do. Interesting times.

I like days like today. Days where I have things to do at work. It makes the day fly by. A day goes quickly when I have something to do.
I like to read a lot. I like to be on top of things. I am still not there. But I’m getting there. One of the things I have to improve is that I need to practice more the things that I learn. I read a lot — a book every month. But I don’t always practice the things I learn. I think it’s essential that I start doing that. I need to put the knowledge to the use. I need to get better at that.
I read an intersting quote today. A quote that is applicable to me.With self-discipline most anything is possible. – Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, 26th President of the United States
It’s funny because I’m listening to an autobiography of Harry Truman and there is a lot of Roosevelt in there.
Self-discipline is the key for me. That’s my key to the future.

I think I had a good speech on Saturday. It was a speech #9. I talked about mentoring. I think I had a strong message. I definitely had a strong closing. My opening could use a little improvement, as noted by Kevin, but I knew that. I did not put too much emphasis. That is for my next speech. I am going to really try to step out of the line there. I need to inspire people. I need to tell them to step out of the comfort zone. That’s my project for next couple of weeks: to come up with a good topic which I can use to inspire the members.
We also had a good officer’s meeting. I think I am getting more and more comfortable speaking in front of the group. I am getting more comfortable getting them to listen to me. I am getting more comfortable leading them. And I enjoy that. It really is exciting for me. I would love to have a manager/leadership position like the one I have in Toastmasters. I think I will have it. Yes, I will have it by the end of 2007.
As far as today, I just did not have enough energy. I did not have any energy to do any work. I don’t have too much work to do, actually. It’s the main reason. I think it’s hard to work on different projects. It’s hard to context switch. But I have to start working on the messaging project. It’s going to be a lot of work. But I need to start.

I’m learning. Mostly by myself. I am not really learning at work anymore. But I get to work on my stuff. I just need to stay focused a little bit more. I have things that I want to accomplish. I need to do them. Do I want a new position, new challenges? I need to grow up for that. I need to develop confidence in new skills.
My 9th speech is coming up tomorrow. I think this is going to be my best one. I feel confident. I am going to step out of my usual comfort zone. I am going to try to be relaxed. I am going to smile more. I am going to raise my vocal variety.
For any speech I do, I think it’s the best when I start practicing on Wednesday. I have more time to practice it that way.
Am I growing as a speaker? I think so. I feel more confident. I am bolder now. I am having a better eye contact. I think I am improving. I want to still — probably till I die — keep improving, keep getting better. But I like my progress.
My son is growing too. I just learned that talking to him in high pitch is the way to go. Roman, the polish guy at work, told me that. I think that my wife and I are doing it. It comes natural to us.