Welp, it is official. I’ve been hired on with the laser company in Salt Lake City, UT. I’ll be doing a multitude of things here, designing custom circuits, embedded controls, analog design, system refurb, laser alignment, test fixtures, and lots of other fun things.
So, all that is left is for me to sell my house, pack up my stuff, and move here. I’ll be doing 2 weeks on/off for the next couple of months to get things all in order for the move. But, at least now it is official that I have a full time position here.
A nice note to end a week on, I think.
Brian is still working up the mounting for the giant turbo he is putting in his Mustang. Here you can see him attempting to TIG weld a mounting bracket.
Still in Utah, at least for the day. Tomorrow I am headed back to Los Alamos for a short while before coming back up here. Mariel moves in on Sunday, and then we are going to Socorro for a couple of days the first of next week to hang out with some friends. It will be nice to unwind for a few days and not do any work. Doing two weeks at a time here is working out pretty well, but near the end of the two weeks, I start getting a tad frazzled, trying to wrap things up, and just getting kind of burnt out on just sleeping and working with nothing else going on.
Next week, I will be moving snurkle.net over to a new co-lo in California, so things might be wacky for a day or two as all that settles, but I doubt it will be much of a deal.
Hope everyone is having fun.
Literally:
That was my view of Bonnevile Speedway, where land speed records of over 600 mph have been set. Crazy! We didn’t drive out on it, but Brian and I went out nearby, to Wendover, NV, to this little ‘outlaw’ track they have out there that is basically an old taxiway at the old airport. It was a busy day out there, with the Army doing… something out to the east of us, and an SCA motorcross event happening back to the west. Brian’s buddy Mike brought his bike out:
Mike offered to let me take the bike (which was turning in high 11 second quarter mile times) down the track, but I had left my helmet in Salt Lake, and he wasn’t willing to let me wear his. Really, probably for the best. My bike is fast, but this one… well… add a chunk more speed to it, and well, yeah. Maybe next time I am out here I’ll bring my bike and see how it does. I’m guessing I would see high 12′s, maybe 13′s on mine. But who knows. Mine needs some tuning up at this point.
We spent most of the day out at the drags, getting good and sunburned in the process. You can see more photos here.
I’ve been busy at work. Been classifying this huge assortment of laser displays, trying to clean them up somewhat. My lab floor was taken over by displays the other day:
That pile is dwindling now. I think I’ve impressed them pretty well out here, feeling very positive there will be a definitive job offer before I head back. Of course, then I have to get my butt in gear and get the house taken care of in Los Alamos. But, that’s still at good 3 months before I can realistically sell it, so, calm down Mariel! I’m not booting you out just yet.
Kija has been packing up more of her stuff to move out. She says she will be in Los Alamos this weekend when I get in, and I’ll be helping her move some stuff out. I’ll be in Los Alamos for a week and a half this time around before heading back up here for more work.
I think everyone is in the middle of a transition right now. Even my sister says that they are looking to relocate. Go figure. In the book I have been reading, there is mention that as much as everyone hates change and tries to avoid it, we are all much happier once chance has taken place, as it is a chance to try again, start anew, give it another shot.
A doorway closes, but… the wind blows the curtains in the open window.
Getting caught up on blogging today. A bit slow at the lab, waiting on some things to happen. By that, I mean, I am back in Utah again for two weeks.
Danny and Meghan are looking in on the cats while I am gone, as Kija has now moved to Albuquerque and started her new job at Charter Bank. So far, she seems to be liking it. We have decided as of when I got back from Chicago that we are going to split up and see what happens. She is planning on going back to school at some point, and I am working towards moving to Utah. So, strange being single again, but I plan to make the most of it to try to restructure things and see where life takes me.
When I get back to New Mexico in about a week and a half, my friend Mariel from the Chicago area is going to move in to my house and rent a room from me. She’s kind of in the same boat as me, due to job things outside of her control, she has been given the opportunity to start over again, and she had been itching to move out west and see what it was like. I’m looking forward to it, as I’ll then have someone at the house to take care of my cats while I am back in Utah. She also has a cat, so that will be interesting to have 3 cats in the same house. Right now, the plan is to do like 2 weeks up here, and then 2 weeks at home, back and forth, until it becomes a full time gig. But that will be a few months before that happens, so it will give me time to get the house in order and get it sold and for Mariel to get herself set up in Albuquerque or whatnot. Should work out well.
I finally left Chicago, but not before I had a chance to visit the Sears Tower.
Click here for more shots from the observation deck. It was a cloudy day, so I don’t think I saw the 3 states that you are supposed to be able to see.
I left out and headed for Oklahoma. Along the way I passed some old places…
I finally arrived in Oklahoma about an hour before dark.
Christy put me up for the night. It was fun catching up with an old friend. I had not seen here since I was through Tulsa last with Danny on our way to New York, back in college.