Building 87...

Nestled between the roads and trees on top of a hill in Redmond, Washington is the Microsoft Main Campus. On the outskirts of campus is the complex with buildings 84-88. Next to the West parking garage is building 87; home to the Microsoft Corporate Library and the Zune team. The funny part is that the Library has the nicer end of the building... the Zune side was originally intended to be a warehouse, but has been re-purposed as the temporary home of the Zune team until the new building is finished in about 9 more months. I can't wait to see that.

Well, in case you didn't catch on, I started today at my new position as a STE (Software Test Engineer) Vendor at Zune. I can hardly believe how awesome it is to be back on the Zune team. So far my managers are awesome, and it turns out that I am there to fill in on both the Marketplace and Social teams. I spent most of today setting up my three computers (re-format, install XP on one and Vista Enterprise on the other two), playing with a Zune, and reading the test plan documentation. It was pretty sweet.

It turns out that I will get a Zune to take home and treat as my own while I'm working on the project. Maybe I'll even get them to let me keep it once we're all done. I don't know what kind I will get yet, but I hope it's the big one... the smaller ones just... well, kinda suck in my opinion... just because it's not enough memory for me.

The only thing that is kinda disappointing is that I don't have my alias yet, so I have to use this crappy temporary one that has minimum rights on the Corporate Intranet. I also don't have my own badge yet, so the lady at the front desk has to buzz me in. It really got kinda bad when I got locked out and couldn't remember the name of anyone but my manager (who had to leave for a dentist's appointment, so she couldn't let me in,) so nobody would let me in because it is against company policy to let anyone in whom you do not directly work with.

As far as showing up to work... they are so flexible. They like to see at least 8 hours a day, and they need you to be in the office from about 10:30 to 2:30 because that is when they schedule meetings. Which is nice because if I show up at 10 I can work until they serve dinner, or I can start early and get in some extra hours.

I love the Zune team. All the music I can listen to. If it has been published, it is there. Everyone is awesome! Plus the Zune is a very competitive product to the I-Pod. Just you wait and see Scott, I'm going to compare the two when I get back in July... or when you visit.

Anyway... I like it on main campus. There are trees everywhere. You can hardly even hear the traffic out on the streets. It's a pretty cool place with winding trails between the buildings and trees.

Anyway... That's it for now.

Later,

SteveO

Video Ads and Google Search!

You know, I added video ads to the side of my blog... I also added a Google search.

Just in case you didn't see the huge YouTube video over on the right side of my blog... or the search bar...

I just have one thing to say: I really hope I can't get in trouble for watching my own videos...

I just think it's awesome! The first video to appear was a Red Vs Blue type of video... something to do with the sequel to Master chief sucks at Halo 3 but what ever it was called it was awesome!

So, watch some videos on the side over there... and I get paid! that's right! you can pay me just by watching the sponsored videos on the side of my blog!

ok... I just wanted to point that out...

BTW. I also get paid when you click on the Ads by Google at the bottom of my page... or if you use my Google search... FYI

Other than that, it was a sunny day in Seattle. A little cool and windy, but it was nice.

I took Jaani and Babli for a walk (pronounced Bubbly, it is Hindi for dear or darling... it is also a common name for a female dog.) I got some coffee from Jet city, and then I walked the river.

However I must say, the new dog doesn't walk well... which is perfectly fine because she is so young.

I start work tomorrow... and now I have to go to bed. So make me some money!

Later,

SteveO

Moving on...

I actually intended to start my next post immediately after finishing the first one... mainly because I wanted to finish talking about California while it was fresh in my mind... oops.

So, just to finish the story... it is Saturday March 1st...I was on my way out to Point Rayes National Seashore to meet Liz and Uncle Bill, but it seems that I had made a wrong turn somewhere, and somehow found myself taking the 3 hour route to the park. I suppose it was kind of nice, because all the roads in that area lead between Pointe Rayes and 101. I just got off of 101 on the wrong road. oops... I guess I still got there.

After a brief break at the visitor's center, I discovered that Jaani wouldn't be allowed on any of the trails, but there were some trails near that Jaani could go for a walk with me on; also there was a beach that they allowed dogs to run around on off the leash... so I sided with the beach, which was very long.

I was happy to roam the beach for a while, and Jaani loved to run around in the sand. Unfortunately he was attacked by a bigger dog, and developed a slight infection in his eye, but it's getting better now that he is taking an anti-biotic.


So, after a long time of searching for Liz and Bill, and eventually giving up, I was happy to meet them at the Pyramid brewery in Berkeley. I think in the end it was a good day, and we finished it off by driving out of town, and stopping on I-5 somewhere north of Sacramento (to avoid the possibility of traffic) .

The next day we hit the road, and started heading home.


I arrived home to discover Evelyn was completely devastated by the death of Pooky. She then went out to get a new dog. First, she got a black and white Shih Tzu code-named Bingo.


I celebrated the new dog (who was old enough to have all of his shots) by taking him to Grand View park. I was really happy that I went that day because the cloud line was above the mountain. you can see Mt Rainier in full view behind us. Bingo loved the park, and Jaani was happy as usual to be there. After that, I took Bingo to the vet, and found out that he needed surgery to open up his nose. Apparently he could only breathe out through his nose, and had to breathe in through his mouth. So, after discovering that the surgery would cost $500, we would have to pay the money up front, and then be reimbursed by the pet store (after they were given money by the breeder); we decided to exchange the dog for a new one. I took the dog home, washed out his fur (because he was around my dog and a few other dogs at the dog park,) and then finally we took the dog back to the pet shop.

In the end, we ended up with Babli (pronounced bubbly) who is a bit younger, but we are pretty happy with her. She was born on Christmas just like Pooky, she acts a lot like Pooky, is more playful that Bingo, and over all just seems to be a better fit for Evelyn anyway.

It was a weird week, but I'm kinda happy about the whole thing... even though I know the whole thing has really bad timing for Evelyn... she can hardly afford to live... none the less actually support a puppy. I guess only time will tell.

So, that's a little update... I have more pictures up on my online in my public photo gallery.

So, that's it for now. I will be putting more pictures up fairly often, and I am making a few more albums that I plan to start sharing soon, so that is another site you might want to keep an eye on for a while.

anyway... that's it for now.

Later,

SteveO

Sounds like a tale of two cities

It was the worst of times, and it was the best of times... I have bad news, worse news, neutral news, good news, and great news...

Bad news:
On Thursday I was informed that the funding for my project had been cut. I was laid off. Which meant that I had to find a new job fast! I had a funny feeling about the whole thing. I guess what happened is that during the 1 1/2 month hiring process, they spent way more money than the company had budgeted for that project. They started looking for people to fill the position in January (when I applied) and didn't hire anyone until last week. During that entire time, the project was spending money in an incomplete state. The whole thing was a mess from day one. I actually found it to be quite remarkable how much I was able to get done in one week, compared to what they had trouble doing in 2 months, and I was slowed down because I was learning how to do this stuff. So, the rest of their budget was spent on training me.

Worse news:
To make everything just worse, Pooky died on Saturday morning. We haven't heard back from the vet exactly what happened, but it is just such a shame that such a cute little dog had to pass on so soon. I already miss Pooky, and Evelyn is still crying herself to sleep at night. All I can really do is try to comfort her a little, and help her deal with her pain. Apparently, she let Pooky out on Saturday night, and he went over behind the bushes to "do his business," when she heard him cry out a scream! she rushed to the door, and called him; he came running and screaming the whole way. She couldn't get him to stop crying, eat, or drink anything, and he just kept drooling. She called the vet, and the vet said it sounded like he was just scared by something, and he should be fine to bring in the next morning. The next day, while she was waiting for a ride to the vet, Pooky died in her arms.
It has just been devastating for her. She felt like Pooky was completely hers, and nobody would be able to take her away, but then he passed on. I am sad to see the little guy go, and it is hard for me to keep my composure when she is so upset about the whole thing; I am trying to just be a good supportive person.

Neutral news:
Saturday, while Jaani and I were at the Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore, a bigger dog attacked him! I was so worried, and I had to fight the other dog off of him. He went after Jaani, and I grabbed his harness, but he had gotten Jaani by the back of the neck! I was so scared! I grabbed the dog's lower jaw, and squeezed right behind the dog's back teeth; this action actually forces the dog to bite it's own lip. The dog yelped shortly, and then let go of Jaani. Then I pulled hard on the dogs harness, and I must have thrown that dog a good five feet away from me. The other dog was fine, and today after taking Jaani for a check up at the vet, all of my fears were gone. I called the lady who had the dog, and I told her that my dog was OK; I also cautioned her that it is really hard to have to put a dog down, and if that happened to someone else, they might want to press charges. She felt horrible about the ordeal, and she sent me the cost of my vet bill to have Jaani checked out via pay pal today. She also told me that she was going to take her dog to some sort of aggressive animal training class that the state usually sends problem dogs to. I guess the point is to figure out what caused the aggression. So, everything is good, and I hope that if nothing else, this won't happen to anyone else.

Good news:
My pilgrimage to Mountain View California has been officially made for the first time! I was very happy to see the Google campus with my own eyes. I have more details about the evening down below, but the short story is that we got down there a little late, Matt and Jordan wanted to turn the entire trip into something about this whole cell phone business that Matt wants to get going, and I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to really code as much as I intended the entire time, but I'll get more into that after I tell about the best news yet... Here begins the story that starts on Thursday after I loose my job at Medtronic.



Best news:
So, when I was leaving Medtronic on Thursday after being laid off, which turned into my quitting shortly after, I got a call from Volt. Volt recruiters started calling me earlier in the week because I was eligible to work a complete year at Microsoft because I had finished my 100 day break. Plus, just for kicks, I completed a pre-screening questionnaire sent to me via email the night before. It turns out it was a recruiter looking to fill a build engineer position for Microsoft SQL Server. I really wasn't sure if I wanted to become a build engineer, however I decided I was in the area, and already dressed appropriately to go to an interview. So, I arranged for Volt to print a couple copies of my resume at the office on the Microsoft Campus, and I would also use that opportunity to park my car, and have a Microsoft Shuttle take me around campus.
Right when I was ready to pick up my resume, I got a call from a different recruiter, who had another interview, and a phone screening set up; both of which were for Microsoft Zune. The interview was for a Software Test Engineer Level 2 for the Zune Social team, while the phone screening was the same position, but for the Zune Marketplace team.
After completing my interview with SQL, I was sure that I got the job. I actually know I got the job, but I still wanted to see what other options I had open over at Zune. Especially seeing how all the positions payed the same, and I was already familiar with the Zune team (and I really loved it!) I took the shuttle over to the new Zune building, which I think is a little less flashy than the Bear Creek building was, actually it was a warehouse that is only half complete, but it was the same team.
I got a call on my cell phone while I was enjoying the sun, sitting on a bench between buildings 86 and 87 on the Microsoft campus, it was my phone screening for the Zune marketplace. I recognized the voice immediately, and it was one of the people who helped co-ordinate my team at the bear creek building. I told him how building 87 does not hold a candle to the bear creek building, and he laughed, and asked if I had been there, I informed him that I was sitting outside; we decided we may as well meet face to face. We talked for about an hour about how the project was when I worked on it before, and I suggested things that I would like to change. He said that's exactly what they wanted, someone to come in and fix what was wrong with the product with new and innovative ideas. I felt right back at home.
I knew that I was not going to take the SQL job, but at the same time I know that as an SQL build engineer at Microsoft, you can do what ever you want (career wise) after you work there for even a few months. Anyone can be a STE, but it really takes a unique skill set to be a build engineer. However, it is really hard to get in with the Zune team because everyone wants that job. Plus, it looks really good on my resume for me to work somewhere for a one month contract, then for them to hire me back for another contract. It shows that even though I left once, I did a good enough job for them to take me back. I now had to go to my second interview, which would set my opinion for sure.
I walk out to the lobby to wait for my new manager to come out. A small Indian woman about half my size comes walking out. I greet her, and we proceed (back) into the office space. She said that she needed to find a conference room that was unoccupied, and I told her I was able to direct her to the room I was just in. She said that I seemed to know the building better than her already, and I laughed and said I just seem to have a way with directions.
After talking for a while, I was able to analyse a coffee mug in ways nobody else had ever looked at a cup before. I thought of non-typical uses for the cup as a generic container, and ways to test the cup for durability and endurance to prove worthy of my strict coffee cup standards. We then started talking about what I actually knew about social networking sites, and what I knew about Zune Social. I told her that most of my Zune knowledge was focused on Marketplace, but we had to use Zune Social sometimes to find artist IDs in the database; I also told her about my experiences with Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Launchpad, Orkut, Blogger, Plaxo, Live Journal, Photo bucket, mug, picasa... there are a lot of social networking sites, in fact they come a dime a dozen... Everything I talked about boiled down to one thing: Integrating Open Social to allow your social networking site to communicate with applications people have on other sites, and allow the user to maintain one profile that would be propagated to all sites (ei. Let this site just copy their facebook or myspace site). This makes it easier to market your product to someone who is already familiar with another social networking site.
By the end of the day, I had 3 job offers. I chose the Zune Social team, because I have been obsessing over Open Social for months now, and if I can combine my new contacts from Google with my influence on Zune Social, then I can finally make a popular product I am truly proud to have my name on. Maybe I can't change the world, but I can bug the hell out of (as in write a lot of bug reports about) whatever I don't want to be realeased.

Scrambling time!!!!!!! This is the point where I realize that the time I had already planned for packing to go to Mountain View, was spent in my interviews. It was about 4PM, and traffic was heavy. I needed to get to my apartment, then get out to Renton to get the guys. I thought hard on the way home about what I would need for my trip. I packed light, putting everything I needed in one backpack. I then packed all of Jaani's things in his little bag. Finally, I packed my computer stuff into another backpack. I grabbed a couple of cans of soup, a small sauce pan, snack bars, and five or six bottles of water on my way out the door.

We hit the road at about 7PM Thursday night. We drove until about 1AM when we started to get into the mountains of Southern Oregon. We found a Motel 6, which seemed to be the best bet because they were cheap, gave a AAA discount, allow pets, and there are a lot of them. I was dead tired because I had woken up at 7AM that morning. The next day we got a later start than we expected, and we woke up at 9am. We planned to leave the hotel at 7AM, which meant we were running late. The construction zones, and the fact that it was the last day of the month seemed to slow us down because all the cops were out to fill ther quotas, and Oregon has a lot of "constructions zones" even though there is never any equipment or people working in said zones.

We got down to Moutain View at about 5PM on Friday, which meant we had completely missed the 2PM session, but we were early for the 6PM session. We talked to the people, and I talked to Jordan about programming, even though I really wanted to be making a program rather than explain to him how to do stuff. I found that I was able to talk to every Google employee there, and have questions for them to answer. I talked to someone about: Android, Gears, Search API, AJAX, Maps, GMail, Blogger API, Reader, Adsense, Adwords, Notebook, Page Creator, Webmaster Tools, Base, Checkout, Custom Search, Labs, and Products. I must have talked to at least 20 people at Google, and seven or eight people who worked in the area for Google's ecosystem of corporations. It was an inspiring event for me. When all was said and done, I got a bar of caffeinated soap because I drove all the way down there, and asked so many questions that just made the Googlers think about how people learn and interpret there projects.
We then got a tour around the campus, but they didn't let us bring a camera, so I have a picture of this sculpture on the campus. The Googleplex is such a welcoming environment. I would move down to Mountain View in a heart beat for the opportunity to work in those buildings. Just looking around at the architecture you can hardly even find a right angle, a wall without a curve in it, or if there is no curve, lines that are parallel to anything around them. Just the buildings alone make you think outside the box. That is if the employee built and maintained Zen, vegetable, or flower gardens don't help you think. Maybe the 20% free time on the job to pursue any project you think Google needs; perhaps you are inspired by the sports park or mazes. Perhaps if you are tired all you need is an hour or two of sleep in one of the dorms; Heck, you can even bring your laundry to work and have the housecleaning staff take care of your laundry while you are at work. Yes, I will work here one day.

I do like to put a huge emphasis on how great the Googleplex is, however, Saturday was also an exciting day.

To Be Continued...

Later,
SteveO

Running Dogs!

Blurry dogs! That is a good picture! Only because it has Jaani and Payal chasing after the big dogs. Payal is like a bully, because she runs around and barks at all the dogs. It was good to see Payal again, but a shame that Maninther only let her stay for about an hour.

The 11811 building

I should become a homeless alcoholic! If I were, I could live in a 300 ft² apartment, get 2 free meals a day, get counselling for my addiction, get help finding a job, and have a team of doctors and nurses to help me within minutes. All at no cost for me, or if I get a job, it is all available for 1/3 of my income.

I somewhat fear the idea that some people in Seattle will realize this reality, and cost me an additional $14,000 a year. However, it is also estimated that it costs the city over $20,000 a year per person to have those same people on the street; this is an estimated cost for: Police to regulate the homeless drunks (and pan handlers), hospital visits for the homeless, collecting dead bodies off of the streets, AA centers, and loss in tourism revenue. The project also seems to help these homeless people get low income jobs that pay for the majority of the expenses within the first 3 years. In fact, the 11811 building actually makes a small profit after 10 years of operating. The residents with jobs actually have been able to take advantage of free educational programs created from the profits of the building; allowing them to not only move out of the house, but some of the past residents have been making donations to help ensure the future of this program.

The Mayor of Seattle released a public statement today claiming that projects like the 11811 house could save the city of Seattle as much as $700,000 per year if we were capable to house all the homeless people in Seattle. An initial investment of over 3 million dollars would be required, but after 10 years, it is possible that the project could return money to the city and remove homeless people from the streets of Seattle. I must admit that I do like the program if the program actually does save money, gets homeless people off the street, and can successfully turn homeless people into responsible tax payers (as the mayor has stated.)

The $3 million would be combined with an additional $28 million to operate the program for the next ten years. With an on-going cost of around $2.8 million a year, the program would still be less than the $3.5 million the city of Seattle pays every year to deal with the homeless problem. It also provides a way for the city to potentially eliminate the cost of homeless people all together.

So I don't know... I like the idea, and if it is as great as it sounds, then maybe it really could be a pilot program for other cities to follow. Maybe it will have major problems if implemented on a larger scale. I guess only time will tell.

that's all about that.

As far as what I've been up to, I took Jaani to spend a day at Marymoore park! It was completely worth the $1 parking fee for the day of off-leash excitement. There had to be over a hundred dogs, and a couple dozen of them were pugs! Jaani and I love pugs (FYI)! Some of the dogs intimidated Jaani a bit because they were so big, but he loved to just run around!

Pooky went too, but he is so small and young we couldn't let him play with the other dogs. It was ok though, because he liked to spend lots of time under Evelyn's feet. When we came close to the other dogs, we had to pick him up, but Pooky loved it too!

It was a really nice day. The park had a few open fields, a nature trail that ended at Lake Sammamish, a rock climbing wall, a bicycle track, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and all kinds of stuff. We spent most of our time in the off-leash dog park, but we also went walking around the rest of the park too (just so Jaani doesn't forget how to walk on a leash.)

So, that's about all I have to say.

Later,

SteveO

Update!

The forecast today... 52 and sunny. It's a really nice day. I took the three (yes, three...) dogs up to green lake. The new dog, Pooky Fuzz... I picked the Fuzz part... is an 8 week old Shitzu. He is too young to cause an trouble, but Jaani and Payal were both little hell maker all the way around the lake.

Pooky came home Friday night all the way from out in Aberdeen. I actually would have really wanted to go, just for a trip out to Aberdeen, but it would not have been worth it for a 20 minute stop to pick up a dog.

Other than that, Jaani doesn't like having more animals here... Payal loves having another little dog to constantly sniff and paw at... Jaani just gives the little dog an evil stair, and turns his head away. Maybe they will get along before the end of the next month, but I have this strange feeling that won't happen.

I just saw this movie the other night, Across the Universe, which is basically a giant medley of Beatles songs. It takes place is the mid 60's, and it's a love story about an immigrant and an American girl who fall in love. It was really good though, and it is an essential movie for any Beatles fan.

Other than that, I am still looking for a good job. I have been driving to Volt Media Center to do on-call Xbox testing. It doesn't really pay well, and it isn't very consistent, but it is better than making nothing, and it counts as experience toward my career goals. So it isn't a complete waste of time, but I think I'm going to see if this will get me to the end of my 100 day break.

After that, I can go back to Microsoft.

Anyway... that's what's up with me...

Later,

SteveO