Binarynomad

So, when I joined Idetic (MobiTV) one of the tasks I was given was to create the new infrastructure for our new building in Emeryville. This has been an interesting and educational journey for me. I’ve always had my designs and ways of implementing systems, but I’ve come to respect the human aspect a lot more through this process. For any given resources I try to plan the best implementation/use of them, but then I discover that the very building blocks I was given were then swapped out or moved around significantly. (be watchful of any vendor, their job is to get you to sign that contract, after which their job is done, you need to fight for your goods after that point). I have found that you should never make any assumptions and clearly define any of the resources given to you. In my case, the blueprints given to me clearly definied a server room with two rows of racks, except they were the smallest footprint possible, and as such, when we discovered this, it turns out we cannot put in regular cabinets for our servers. I had to work back an forth sacraficing resources to some how recover a usable server room. In the end, the CEO (much to my relief) realized the massive limitations put upon the project and decided to tear down a wall and expand the server room (yay!). I am thankful that our CEO is an Engineer, and is quite realistic in technicial arena. Most other CEO’s would have looked at the costs and delays and just said “We’ll expand later”. (which can lead to numerous nightmares in logistics). As it stands, I now have a larger server room and a little more time to implement our telephone system (even though we got them to agree to a date that fell within our original move-in time).

Here is to “No more surprises”, and a successful move in. 🙂

Guh!!

Sat = 13 hours Sun = 16 hours

Can I sleep now?

So, I wasn’t able to figure out the Cisco configs in 12 hours. We did alot of work to the backend, all of the servers are updated and ready to be switched over, the WAP are updated, the wireing is cleaned up. I just need to have the (3750) configs set. So I postponed the switch over until I can check the setting with a network engr. I am meeting them tomorrow morning (Sunday). So keep those fingers crossed (at this point, the switch over should only take 1-2 hours).

So, I need to learn how to program (Cisco IOS) in less than 12 hours. (In time for the new network to start working).

….wish me luck.

A week ago last Friday (April 15th), an old coworker called me up, and left a message asking me to call him back, and then on Monday (18th) he rung me again, turns out a new company he works for is looking for someone to run their IT department and he thought it was right up my alley. Now I’ve got a possible long term trip planned to Australia next year and I told him I didn’t think I’d be a good candidate, but he said that it was so far off that anything could happen between then and now. We only talked for a few minutes and he gave me a quick rundown but I had to go, so I told him I’d call him back. The next day I was rung up by one of the recruiters of the company and he wanted to know what I was currently doing and if I had a resume I could send him. I haven’t touched my resume in over 5 years and it was due for a makeover but he needed something really soon. I threw it togeather in one (really long) night, and then sent it to him.

I got another call and they wanted me to visit and see the company, I wasn’t sure when that was possible, but I did have traffic court coming up on Tuesday (April 26th) for a speeding ticket, and I thought I might be able to drop by for lunch before heading back to my work, he really wasn’t sure about the time frames available. I decided to remove any wildcards and ask for the whole day of, I had a midterm that I needed to study for that night anyway, and also I thought I could get some chores in too.

When Tuesday rolled around, I headed into Berkeley and found that they were only a few blocks away from Drunken Boat (great restaurant). After parking, I headed in, went to lunch then came back to 3.5 hours of meeting different people from different departments and ending up with the CTO and CEO. (I’m so glad I took the day off). As far as I could tell, everyone liked me, the only unknown was when the CEO was asking about what type of network ideas I had. Networking is one of my weaker points, I’ve had a lot more hands on with Servers, Telecom, and Desktops, so I wasn’t able to give him a clean answer from the network providers to our doorstep but I knew everything from there down to the desktops.

Afterwards, I finished up with the recruiter and then headed home. I really enjoyed meeting everyone, and I was glad for the chance to see what they were doing. I was also happy that I had a chance to update my resume and experience multiple interviews. Previously all the jobs I had gotten were single interviews or 2 on 1 interviews, not 6 separate interviews in one go.

(Next day)

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I got a call from the recruiter, and he asked if I wanted the bad news or the good news. I, liking to end on good notes, asked for the bad first.

They want me to start on May 9th (just under 2 weeks), the good news was that they were able to get me in the pay range I was interested in. (WOOT!). They needed to send me the official offer letter and then have me fax it back. I got it that night when I got home.

Today I get to send in my acceptance letter and then talk to my existing team to let them know I’m leaving. (something I’m not looking forward to). I’ve been with OpenTV for two years now and we’ve gone through a lot. I know that my manager is really depending on Rob, Dan and myself right now, but this is an opportunity that does not wander by very often. I just hope I can set everything up so that they have no problems covering my duties until someone else is hired.

Wish me luck…. (actually I’ll post this after I’ve faxed in my acceptance letter and notified my team)

Work is interesting. We are in this limbo where our group is still going through changes, both in headcount and in responsibilities. Today I found out my title change will not incorporate any payscale changes yet. (again with the carrot) Upper management wants to see us grow and go forward before even considering it. Lets forget that Rob and I pretty much moved both companies togeather 2 years ago when both the Telecom and IS managers took off right before the start. We’ve been trying to hold togeather a system that is sorely understaffed and under resourced for 24 months now and they want to see significant progress before considering any compensation. I think the thing that gets me the most is that I’ve been covering three full time jobs “2nd and 3rd Tier Desktop support”, “Telecom Manager”, and “Server Administrator” this entire time on a reduced salary. What gives?!? (Grrr)

Today we (OpenTv) celebrated our 10th year of being in business.

I’ve only been with them since they acquired Wink Communication back in the Summer of 2002, and it’s been a pretty rough ride: 3-4 acquisitions, office consolidations, satellite office creations, 2 different Ceo’s, multiple manager switches, feast or famine budget, revolving door turnover, etc.

But you know something, I’m really looking forward to 2005. My department finally seems like it has a good foundation, a supportive manager, solid budget, increased resources, a better reorg of positions and duties, and a realistic roadmap.

The CEO/Chairman took this opportunity to treat everyone. Celebrations were scheduled worldwide. The San Francisco and Mountain View offices were bussed to the Sony Metreon in downtown San Francisco where a popular pub/pool hall “Jillians” was rented for the event. I’ve included a few shots and a caricature from the party. It was a fun time, and the best part was the general morale was the highest I’ve ever seen it since I joined.

Here is to 2005 cheers

Wow, I’ve got my Unix TCP/IP class starting Wednesday and I’ve got Unix Admin I starting early Nov. Now I just found out I can get the Red Hat Certified Technician (RH133) AND MCSE from my work. (WOOT!, that’s about $5000 worth of free training)