Google Streetview car

I had an experience today which I would equate to a celebrity spotting. I saw a Google Streetview camera car! (It's the car with a large orb-like camera on top, taking pictures that you can view in Google Maps' Streetview mode).

Luckily, the car was not taking pictures (if it were, I would have been asking my coworker to tail the car for a kilometer or so for posterity). The big 360 degree camera on top of the car was covered. The day was overcast with drizzling rain so it was definitely not the best day for taking pictures of Sydney streets. Best to save picture taking for sunny, clear days.

It is HOT!

I knew that today was going to be hot but not this hot. Temperature reached 43 C this afternoon, and it FELT like 43 C.

We had friends come over to our place today. After lunch we took them around Chatswood and it was crazy outside. The heat was oppressive! Luckily, we were able to get into a mall quickly, and enjoy the free air conditioning. :-)

After the mall tour, we took the friends on a 'bush' tour. They LOVED it! All three of them had spent last four months living downtown and studying law, so this tour was just what they needed. They said that they've finally seen the 'real' Australia.

Some pictures

November has been a busy month for my camera. I sensed that I was going to get a job pretty soon, so I took a few day trips around Sydney and took a lot of pictures. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/ivanonthemove/2009Nov?authkey=Gv1sRgCITa4P6Mg6nPQw

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/ivanonthemove/2009Nov2?authkey=Gv1sRgCPPi7-PDwNuwBg

Good news and good news!

I have two pieces of good news to report.

The first is that our couch has FINALLY arrived. It only took them 9 weeks to deliver the couch. Now it actually feels weird to sit on a couch and watch TV. We are used to just lay on the floor and watch like that. :-)

The second good news is that the board of directors of my company has approved my position. That means that my temporary contract will be converted into full-time employment next week. We also get to move into new office space, giving us more room, as we are currently pretty squished.

I guess the only bad news is that I have not been getting enough sleep! I am still getting used to going to bed early and getting up early. The tricky part is going to bed early. The alarm clock takes care of getting up early. :-)

Loving my job!

I have spent only two days at my new job, but I feel like I have been working there for several months. I am getting involved in interesting projects, my input is solicited and valued, and people treat you like they've known you (and liked you) for years.

I can't tell you how much I enjoying working. It is really a feeling that I have been looking for. I have worked for good managers, with good colleagues, and on good projects, but have never really had all three come together. I really think that I am getting the whole trifecta here!

My role is not very tightly defined. The company, being a startup organization with about 8 people, has a lot of things that need to be done, and are happy to see people doing it. They have three different roles for me to take on over the next few months, and I can see this evolving into an engineering/business type of role later on.

It's been a while since I have worked in a hardware design group, so seeing FPGAs, power supplies, oscilloscopes and voltmeters all around the lab/office has a soothing effect on me. The office is the lab, and vice versa. Ahhh, geekland!

We are currently squished into small quarters, but we should be moving into larger area in a week or so. The company is located in the Australian Technology Park, which means that we are in the same building with all kinds of startup companies. It is really interesting to have these guys walk into our office and start talking about what they are working on. There is lots of brainstorming going all the time.

Even my commute is amazing. I take the train (which is Sydney's version of subway) to work, and then walk about five minutes to the office. The train ride takes me right over the Sydney's Harbour Bridge, giving me a perfect view of the Sydney Opera House. I really can't believe it. I have been hoping, praying, and planning for something like this for years, and I am FINALLY here!

Starting a new job!

I heard back from the startup that I had talked to last week, and I will be starting with them this Thursday! Exciting times!!!

It's been a while since I have had to go into a workplace. I have been primarily doing work from my home for the last year and a half. I hope I get used to it quickly.

The guys (it's all guys in the company) seem to be smart and easy to get along, so that should make it a good working environment. Getting paid will be a good thing, too! Our pile of savings has been melting like snow in Sahara, so this job has come just in time.

Well, I should start picking out work clothing. They are pretty easy going here, but I should still not come into work wearing shorts. Even though I would really like to!

Picture time

I put together a collection of pictures from the last month and posted it on Picasa for you to enjoy. I even took some pictures this morning to show you the amazing purple Jacaranda trees. They really look great. The whole neighbourhood looks purple.

Sydney also has a nice collection of weird and wacky birds, of which I was able to photograph only two species. One is a sulphur-crested cockatoo, and the other one I still have to figure out.

Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/ivanonthemove/2009Nov?authkey=Gv1sRgCITa4P6Mg6nPQw#slideshow/5401904300841517234

New web host

Few weeks ago, I talked about having problems with my web server. Yesterday, I decided to switch over to a more reliable provider. After some research, I decided to go with www.fivebean.com.

The greatest thing about Fivebean plans is their price. I am paying US$13 for a full year of service! At the same time, I get 5GB of storage, 50GB of transfer a month, and a full complement of features on the web site. For $13 a year, you could just get an account to play with and learn.

I switched over my domain name to the new server and all the DNS changes seem to have propagated. Changing servers is always a tricky thing, as the changes do not happen instantly, but may take up to 48 hours.

I am also playing with Google Apps for Your Domain. It allows you to setup gmail to work on your domain, and at the same time have all other google features, like docs, calendar and contacts. I believe I have it working on a test domain, but I think I will stick with my current gmail address to handle my main email.

I was actually getting a headache yesterday, as I was configuring two servers, using three DNS hosts, configuring three domains, and setting up two Google Apps domains. A lot of things that can go wrong, but luckily, everything seems to be working!

Hitting the beach

I decided to enjoy my last few days of unemployment. What a better way to celebrate than to head to the beach! I took a bus to Manly Beach around 9:30 am and got there about an hour later. People were just starting to come out but the temperature was already getting up there.

After I got to the beach, I could smell the salt in the air, hear the ocean waves and feel the sand under my feet. After a sizable application of sun screen (sun is really strong here!) I enjoyed the next couple of hours reading a fiction book. Good times, good times.

After spending several hours on the beach, I decided to walk the length of Manly Beach and find my way to the neighboring Curl Curl Beach. I know, the names of places here are really interesting. Anyways, to get to Curl Curl I had go over a very steep hill. Once I got to the top of the hill, I realized that there was another hill to go over. By this time, I was hot, thirsty and tired. And I had at least 30 minutes of walking back to the bus station. I decided to leave the conquest of Curl Curl Beach for another day.

I checked the temperature when I got home and it looks like it hit 37 C today. Yup, that's hot! It is a really good thing we bought a watermelon yesterday and had it sit in the fridge over night. On a hot day like this, a cold watermelon is perfect!

Negotiations

Hmm, I think I have just been offered a job, but I am still waiting for the formal offer.

I just came back from a two hour meeting. The meeting was with the startup that I had interviewed with a couple of weeks ago. They want me on their team but for a different position from the one that I had applied for. That is not what usually happens when you apply for a job, but I am not complaining.

The position that they are offering me is a bit fluid (no, it is not a plumber position!) but would cover areas that are of interest to me. It will take them a couple of days to get back to me with the details of the offer. In the meantime, more waiting.

I think I should just head for the beach tomorrow. It is supposed to hit 33C. Nice!