Diary of a Network Geek

Big, bad news, but probably not a surprise to anyone. I decided to turn down the offer at GeoTech Global. It's not so much that it would have been a bad job, you understand, but that it would have been a step backwards. Yesterday morning, I talked with a former boss of mine up in Dallas, who's contracting now, named Pam. She really reinforced the idea that it would be a step backwards for me. She told me that she thought I was ready to "take the next step" and really break out. (In other words, I'm ready to manage a small network department.)
I'm not sure what's going to happen next. Of course, I do have the interview on Monday with Binder. Also, there's been some talk from at least one headhunter at the Waco Syndicate about a network management position of *some* kind at a local oil/gas company. (For those of you not familiar with Houston, about every other company in Houston is involved in oil or gas or both.) And, of course, there's always the contract option. Lately, I've been giving that a lot more thought. Again, it's a little more risky than full-time, but not much. And I might learn more new things that way. Who knows? On the other hand, I can make more money doing contract work. Enough, in fact, to offset the benefits that I'd be missing out on. BlueCrossBlueShield of Texas has health insurance rates that rival what I was paying on COBRA to FristCity Financial. Of course, I'd have to remember to pay into my IRA and to pay estimated quarterly taxes. Well, everything has a downside, I guess.

Okay, enough of the business talk. Later today Anne and I are taking Allie to the Montgomery Old West Festival. It should be loads of fun, and not just because we know people working there. We know several guys who do whip tricks that will be representing the Houston Western Arts Association. Later this weekend, I'll have to go out and buy some more "interview clothes", including some ties. *sigh* I hate wearing ties.

Went to a second interview with J. at WIZARD. He still didn't have anything, and the person he was going to have me talk to told him that she'd had "no movement" on the position that he was going to present to me. *Sigh* Oh, well, maybe next time.
I did manage to get through a phone interview with N. from Binder. I'm not 100% sure that this job will be what I want, but it's with a good company (even if you can't figure out who it is from my code-name, trust me, they're big in networking). Mainly it's the massive travel that bothers me. I'd be traveling 75-80% of the time support the sales of their product. On Monday, I have an interview with their big sales guy. I think it's to check to see if I'm a total nut or not because I'll be taking a personality test, too. Oh, scary!

Well, when I got home from that other interview, I had a few messages. Including one that was an offer from GeoTech Global! So, I called back and got R., who's in Human Resources over at GeoTech. She made the offer which was, unfortunately, a little light on the salary. And, it also removes me from management. *Sigh* I really want a job though. I mean the bills are coming and I don't know how long I'll be around at the Titanic, as I have come to think of my present company. I'll have to call my Dad and talk with him about it. Not to mention Anne, my "babe-alicious" girlfriend. Kind of a scary place to be, isn't it?

Well, one of the several places I sent my resume to has called back. We'll call them GeoTech Global for now, but I'll reveal their name should I go to work for them. For now, I'll refer to the manager I interviewed with as H., again with the same caveat.
H. called to ask me about getting the required information to pass a government security check, since one of the positions I'm being considered for is as the backup engineer on a government contract. I have to provide, among other things, a certified copy of my birth certificate. Yikes! Where do I go for that? Luckily, H. has run into this before and recommends www.vitalcheck.com. So off I go to order a copy of my birth certificate. Hmm, better make that two, just in case I need another one later. You never know...

Later that same day...
Just back from an interview with J. at WIZARD, a placement agency. J. didn't really have anything for me, yet, but he did have me talk to his cohort that dealt more with Network Engineers. She didn't have anything either, but she did try to convince me that my salary was "at the top range" for my area. I agreed at the time, but I really don't think it is. Not by a long shot. Of course, that got me a little peeved. Peeved enough, in fact, to start studying on my CCNA. I'd bought a study guide for my CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate, in case you didn't know) and some training software. I'll install the training software tomorrow and start the book later this week. Watch my dust!

Well, now that I've finally set up my news and updates page, namely Diary of a Network Geek, I'm going to start adding to it. My dear, sweet girlfriend, Anne, suggested that I chronicle my quest for a new job. I've decided that I like that suggestion, so I'm going to start with a little background.
The company I started working for when I moved to Texas, Harbor Financial Mortgage Corporation, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December of 1999. Currently, I'm a contractor for the liquidation company that is disposing of Harbor's assets. Without going into too much detail about why they filed Chapter 11, let's just say it was a bit of a surprise. When I joined the company in June of 1998, we were in a period of explosive growth. We gained over 200 employees in less than 8 months, and continued to add employees slowly for a year. Less than two years after I signed on, we're all but gone. At last count, there were about a dozen employees left here, including myself.
So, you ask, what have I been doing since December? Well, for starters, I separated the Dallas network from the combined Houston-Waco networks. I was in charge of the Houston-Waco end of things. It all happened just like it's supposed to in the on-line documentation at Novell. Well, after the router guys at Sprint got the right routers disconnected, that is. *Sigh* Nothing's perfect, I suppose. On the upside, the Houston separation from Waco went without even that much going wrong. Not every day that a Network Engineer gets to purposely break then fix a network!
After that, mostly what I did was maintain the system as it's been. I kept the backups running and made sure that the sad, little ISDN connection to the Internet was up and running. Of course, from time to time I had to perform some other regular maintenance, but that didn't take much time. So, in between times, I studied for my CNE (Certified Netware Engineer, for the uninitiated) update test. Which I passed, BTW. So now I'm a genuine CNE 5. In fact, the last time I called Novell, I was the only Jim Hoffman that was a CNE! Cool!
And, the rest of the time, I spend catching up on all the tech reading that I've been missing out on. I setup a Linux machine, too, just to brush up my Unix skills, which are far too out of date for my taste. Oh, yeah, I've been talking to people about jobs, too. See, I'll be totally out of work at the end of June. At least, that's what they're saying today. Who knows, though, next week they might tell me to get out. Or they might tell me that they're extending the contract until the end of July! I just don't know what's going to happen from day to day.
So, this Diary of a Network Geek will chronicle my trials and tribulations as I go out job hunting. I promise to change the names of the people involved to "protect the innocent"!

After a power outage yesterday, the network is coming up slowly, but surely. Nothing like a bout with HL&P to liven up a "quiet" job! Incidentally, I'm typing this news bulletin on my new folding Palm keyboard. It takes a little getting used to, since it's so small, but it really kicks butt for data entry. The whole contraption folds down to be about the size of my Palm IIIx and unfolds to roughly the size of an older laptop keyboard. The "feel" is more modern, but it sure does remind me of all the time I spent on the road typing up e-mail. With any luck at all, this crazy combination will let me make regular updates to this site, as well as my "gimmicky" site: www.HavePalmWillTravel.com. I know, it's sort of goofy, but you'll never forget it, will you? I mean, that is the purpose of most marketing, right? Product placement and getting the "consumer" to remember the brand? (See, I really did pay attention in all those Marketing classes!!) Until next time!