20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

I've been draining my pool for the past week, and am still not finished. It's in really bad shape, and needs to be resurfaced. It leaks (problem #1), and and several patches of black algae have eaten into the walls (problem #2), which seems to stimulate more algae growth (problem #3) with even slight amounts of sunshine.

I estimate it hold 22,000 gallons of water, which has been running through a sump pump into the shower still since last weekend. I've shut it down at night and when it's been raining, and estimate another three days should so it. Then I have to call out a contracter and get an estimate. My last estimate was about $5K to repair, and about $10K to demolish. Yeah, I considered just having it demolished and planting a lawn and some other plants in the space. Now I'm looking at natural pool options. It'd be nice to dispense with chlorine and a filtration system that needs to run several hours a day.

A Home for Buddy

Yay, Buddy's been adopted! It's a couple, with lots property for him to patrol. Hopefully it'll work out.

Will Work for Food

I quit my job in September. It's now the 7th of March, and I think it's about time to start seriously looking for a new job. I needed the rest. Over the past few months, I've reached a point where I can actually study again. Where I'm again finding programming and web design fun. I was so tired of my job that I'd stopped all web work, all hobby programming. Now, I'm studying HTML, XHTML and CSS again, redesigning my blog, and designing a character creation tool for my upcoming D&D game. It's nice to be in this place again. It's nice to once again be working on web pages, and CSS.

I purchased a copy of iLife today, so I could start working with iWeb. iWeb is Apple's new web design tool. There are a couple of positions at Apple that interest me, both in QA. Yeah, I've been working as a developer for many years, and that's why I want to do QA for a change. I'd like to learn how QA works, how it aids the development cycle. I'd like to learn more about HTML and CSS, and the Safari Compatibility QA position sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. I've already found a few web sites that don't work as well with Safari as they do with other browsers, and I think it'd be a blast to QA Safari in comparison to other user agents and platforms.

The other is an iWeb QA position. Again it's web related, but this one, unlike the Safari job, asks for three years of QA experience. Having never worked in QA before, I don't have much hope of getting this position based on that requirement. I'll try for it anyway, but figure I'm more likely to get the Safari position.

In either case... I hope Apple's QA (assuming I interview well and get an offer) will at least match my Oracle salary. It'd be nice to be able to continue paying my mortgage. I don't want to have to go back into development just to pay for my house. As I said, I want a break.

I'm nervous about interviewing. I haven't had a job interview in 11 years, when I interviewed for Oracle, and when I interviewed for Apple the first time. I did get an Apple offer, but it came three months after I'd already accepted the Oracle offer. It was a position in DTS, where I'd be working with developers. It would have been a fantastic learning experience, as I'd have been helping third party developers solve problems. What better way to learn more about Mac development than to help developers develop? :)

But I didn't feel right about taking the Apple job so soon after taking the Oracle job. In retrospect, it would have saved me a lot of unhappiness. I've been driving 60 miles a day for the past ten years. Apple would have cut that drive drastically. I didn't enjoy my Oracle time after they abandoned Mac development. I was hired there as a Mac developer, where at Apple I'd have been able to continue programming on the platform I love. Further, I'd have been a part of the most innovative company on the planet.

So, I'm going to pursue opportunities there. I hope, hope, hope I get a job there! I've always wanted to work at Apple, and while nervous about interviewing again, look forward to walking through the lobby doors, on my first day as an employee.