1.26.2006

I got a new job, kind of.

It's official, I received an appointment letter today. I'm now categorized as an IS Systems Development Services Specialist.

I begin working at my new employer, the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), on February 20th. That will give me plenty of time to give notice to DFI that I will be leaving for a position with DFI.

In case you didn't follow that, I am leaving the consulting ranks and have earned a full-time position working for the same agency.

Now, I need to plan my going away party.

1.22.2006

Care for a swim?


Care for a swim?
Originally uploaded by jremsikjr.
After my morning photoshoot plans went awry I stopped by Tenney Park Beach and was struck by the irony of the lifeguard stand and beach paraphenalia.

1.17.2006

I got a job offer.

This morning my boss and future boss offered me a full-time position with the Department of Financial Institutions (http://www.wdfi.org).

We are in negotiations on the items that I get to negotiate on, salary (from a posted range), work schedule, and start date. The only truly flexible item is the start date but, the switch is almost completely paperwork. If things continue as they appear to I'll be starting February 10th as a full-time state employee.

I got a job offer.

This morning my boss and future boss offered me a full-time position with the Department of Financial Institutions (http://www.wdfi.org).

1.08.2006

Jen's grandfather is doing fine ...

We took off from work around noon on Friday. Jen's grandfather had suffered a heart attack. Before we left Madison we found out that a full recovery was expected so we decided to stay for Garrett's going away lunch.

After that we drove from De Forest, WI to Marshfield, WI. Tom had been transported there from the hospital in Wild Rose. We made good time and got up there around 4:30 PM.

They had performed a procedure in which two shunts (one-way valves) were installed. He woke up shortly after we arrived and was talkative, as usual. There was a large collection of family in the room, clearly ignoring the sign "2 Visitors Maximum." We stayed at the hospital until 9PM and got a hotel in Stevens Point for the evening.

I have to recommend Bill's Pizza, it was good, fast, and fairly priced.

1.04.2006

Put Your Best Pug Forward

 

I grabbed this shot on the way to lunch last Friday. These guys were so friendly they practically rolled over when I started petting them.
 Posted by Picasa

Firefox won't display images ...

We recently got new machines at work. Since shortly after I got me new machine Firefox failed to display images. I often surf without images using the Web Developer Toolbar extension. There are occasions where images are helpful. I finally took the time this evening to discover the setting that was causing my trouble.

You find it through the menus, Tools > Options > Content (Tab):



You will need to check the Load Images checkbox.


My annoyance is not at the feature, it's useful. What I don't understand is what happened to disable my images. I certainly hadn't seen that option dialog before and I didn't have any extensions installed outside of del.icio.us, sage, and ie view.

I guess I chalk it up to gremlins at this point.

1.03.2006

My Interview with DFI

I had my interview with The Department of Financial Institutions today for a full-time permanent position. They were looking for a permanent employee to fill the role of Production Support Analyst. Basically, keep everything running on the website.

It seemed to go very well. I was nervous in the hours leading up to the interview, way more nervous than the situation warranted. The interview was being conducted by four people I work with on a daily basis. John, Donna, Sue and the soon to be departed Garrett, which is not to say that Garrett is not long for this earth rather, he is moving on to another position.

There were eleven premeditated questions, some of them multi-part. All crafted to elicit the skills possesed by the candidates some even skillfully. After being asked one particularly verbose and confusing question I asked the panel, "Is that the most poorly written question ever?" Forgetting, or momentarily not realizing that the questions had all been written or gathered by people at DFI. Donna pointed at John while Garrett's face turned beet red. Sue mentioned that she thought that Garrett might have written it much to his chagrin.

He recovered with a quick re-wording of the question that caused a sudden clearness to rush through my head. "AH! That's what you asked." (I'd argue that's not what they asked but, obviously what they were looking to cull. ;)

The question that caught me most off-guard was what five words would you use to describe yourself? I chose:

people-person
detail-oriented
leader
technophile
jocular

The interview proper consumed the first fifty minutes of the alotted hour. After which we discussed the process that ensued. There are more candidates to interview for the two open positions. Not all of the interviews have been scheduled yet so the timetable for any potential offer is unknown.

At the sound of the buzzer (4:00 PM) the final discussions wrapped up and the interview was over.

Now to get this stupid tie off.

1.02.2006

Another lazy sunday ...


Wrinkles Napping (Close-up)
Originally uploaded by jremsikjr.
It seems I have more time + desire on Sundays to play with my camera. Fortunately with everyone home and generally lounging about the dogs take the liberty of not protecting the house for a few hours.

I snapped off a few good shots of Wrinkles and one of Hanna and added them to flickr this weekend.

This picture has already landed on some strangers' list of favorites.