My Corner of the Interweb

No one said it was going to be easy, son.

Mood: Hanging in there.
Music: None.
Game: World of Warcraft, COD2, DOA4
Book: Foundation and Empire, Isaac Asimov.
Weather: Grey again.

Where to begin. It's true that I'm not updating as much as I want to be. I know nothing's keeping me from doing it...it's mainly a motivation thing. Lately, it's hard to get motivated to do much of anything. Yes, I know that's a classic sign of depression. Trust me when I say that I know depression pretty well, and this ain't even close to being clinically depressed. This is just mopey.

A few days ago, a friend of mine "sent" me an IM through AIM which basically installed a vicious cocktail of adware, spyware, and hid the primary agent with a rootkit. Those of you who haven't been paying attention to the news, a rootkit is a piece of software/code that basically hides OTHER code from the OS. The net effect of a rootkit? The OS can't see or target the code that's been hidden. Doesn't show up on virus scans, once you find it through sneaky means, you can't target it to delete it. I, of course, found this out some eight hours after scrubbing my system top to bottom (removing some 12-14 pieces of spyware...) only to find on reboot that they were all reinstalled in a matter of seconds. Found the offensive piece of software by using arcane commands, only to find that I had no permissions to remove it, even in a raw DOS boot. Fabulous.

Bought a new hard drive, installed it, put in a clean install of Windows, then blew the other OS folder away. I didn't lose any data (thank god or other benevolent or non-sentient supreme being or force responsible for the creation of the universe and other small lucky things happening to yours truly) but I DID lose a day's worth of sanity. I have said it before, but I'm deadly serious. If I EVER meet any of these FUCKS from Aurora or "A Better Internet" I WILL be needing bail posted.

Anyway, I won't be installing AIM again...because I don't freaking trust it. Thorn recommends Trillian...and I might try that again. Wasn't impressed the first time, a couple of years ago.

Anyway, I still haven't gotten any nibbles on my job search. I applied for a few more jobs at Expedia just before writing this. I think I'm pretty well-qualified for the Senior Producer position at Expedia...but who knows any more?

I think that's the hard part, really. I know, truly, that if they actually call me or write me, and just INTERVIEW me, they'll hire me. I have a lot to offer an organization in the digital space and from a process perspective. I am a VERY good manager, especially of creatives and tech people, who are notoriously finicky breeds as a rule. I am well-known for getting things done, especially difficult things, and on tight schedules. I KNOW online production...and my experience bears that out. I have dozens of references in the industry who would back me up on all of this.

I just can't seem to get anyone to call.

This is typical. I have never, ever, had to apply for a job cold. I've always had someone say "Oh, hey...come on in and talk to these people...they might want to meet you." Every job, from Broadcast Arts to TEC, someone said "come on in and meet these folks...they might want to hire you."

The obvious problem is that I don't KNOW anyone in Seattle. We knew this going in.

I WILL say this: I'm very happy in Seattle. I love living with Chelsea, and I enjoy the atmosphere of Seattle. I don't miss New York. I miss my friends there, of course, and I miss a number of restaurants. I miss Fresh Direct (although Thriftway ain't bad....), but I do NOT miss the weather and cold in New York. It hasn't yet hit below 40 since I've been here, at least not during the day...and the costs of everything are about 2/3rds what they are in New York.

I'm sure it's a matter of persistence and time. My money's holding up pretty good, and as long as I find something in the next 3-4 months, there won't be any problems. In the meantime, back to the online job hunt.

Posted by Glenn at January 25, 2006 08:26 AM