Anyone out there hiring? + 10 pointless facts
I was thinking about making a personal update, then saw a post on Joelchrono’s blog about the 10 useless facts about me challenge, so I thought I’d combine both of those into one post.
Fairly recently, I left my job to relocate back to my home state of New York, and have been looking for work more locally. I kind of expected work to be a bit hard to come by, and planned accordingly, but that still doesn’t make the job search any less of a slog. If by any chance there’s anyone hiring - either in WNY or hiring for remote positions - hit me up. I’ve got experience with the standard Microsoft stack (both your local DC setup, as well as the MS cloud), Linux, VMware, and networking equipment (nearly exclusively Cisco).
Otherwise, chances are you’re not hiring, but if you were curious why a few of my projects were running slow, that’s why. The lead up to the move was a bit crazy, then afterwards I’ve been enjoying myself - touching grass, getting a motorcycle license, putting quite a few miles on my bicycle, and putting over 40 hours into Stellaris. I’ve been picking at a few blog posts and chapters in the Untitled Novel, which I’ll be posting at some point as the grass gets cold and snowy (also, don’t be surprised when blog posts posted in Nov/Dec mention it being Aug/Sept, I’ve just been slowly plodding away at them).
Ten Pointless Facts About Me
Do you floss your teeth?
Ordinarily, I would have said rarely. Recently, however, I got reprimanded by my dentist, so I’ve been flossing daily as of late.
Tea, coffee, or water?
Yes.
Usually two cups of coffee a day (often instant made with room temp tap water, solely for the caffeine boost). I also drink tea sometimes - cold brew in the summer and regular hot tea otherwise. For actual hydration I pretty much exclusively drink water, sometimes with an electrolyte mix (even after supplementing sodium and electrolytes, my recent blood test said I was on the low side of normal).
Footwear preference?
*inhales deeply*
I’ve currently got a pair of black leather Brahma work boots (note: in the US they’re made by a different manufacturer; much cheaper but somewhat lower quality than in other countries). My rule of thumb is to go to Walmart and buy a pair of boots one price rung up from the cheapest, looking for a few specific features. If I spent 12 hours a day doing heavy labor then better boots would be worth the comfort, but in my case decent cheap boots with good third party insoles are well enough comfy for me.
First off, they’re leather. It’s durable and short term waterproof, although you don’t want to keep them waterlogged long term or they’ll get damaged. I prefer going with black boots; a black leather boot is pretty generic and can be worn in most dress codes. You can leave the top part unlaced, giving your foot the same movement as a sneaker or light hiking boot. Or, you can lace it up, giving your ankles a lot more protection and keeping your laces underneath your pant legs - great for bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs, and the like.
They also have anti slip, and the right anti slip for my use case. When I was working at a grocery store, hosing down equipment on a drained tile floor, there’s a particular type of anti slip with a really tiny grid pattern that worked the best. For a general pair of boots, however, it’s rather impractical. What keeps you from slipping on a wet floor also gets full of mud and snow really easily; suddenly, you’ve got no traction. For everyday use, I prefer boots that claim anti slip but have regular looking traction. This won’t be quite as good on a wet industrial floor, but they’ll still keep you from slipping when condensation from a CRAC unit at a datacenter gets the floor wet, and will also keep you from slipping on ice and mud.
They’re also steel toed, puncture resistant, and electrical shock resistant. I’ve never needed the electrical shock resistance or (knowingly) stepped on something the puncture resistance protected me from, but I guess it’s nice to have. Once in a blue moon the steel toe plate might protect my toes, or let me rest something heavy on them, but most of the time it only has a minor heat siphoning effect (good during the heat, bad during the winter).
Favorite dessert?
Right now I’m on a diet, so my favorite dessert is whatever dessert I’m skipping in that moment.
Jokes aside, I’m not fully sure. A local store has some very large donuts with some very rich cream, that has to be a contender. Blackberry pie is also really good, and so is the old reliable big bar of chocolate.
The first thing you do when you wake up?
Hit snooze.
Age you’d like to stick at?
If we’re just talking about aging, probably somewhere between 19-21. You’re at peak health and mental performance (IIRC, the mind’s raw processing power peaks at ~17/18, then starts decreasing early/mid 20s). Health and mind do not equal smart decision making, but taking peak health and combining it with older life experience might be nice.
If it’s life situation wise, ask me again in a couple decades. I’m in my mid twenties now - maybe in a decade or two if I’m in a serious relationship, have a more stable career, and have started a family I’ll have a better means of judging which stage of life I’d want to stick around in.
How many hats do you own?
*inhales deeply again*
That is an unquantifiable number, at least not without leaving my desk and digging through all my stuff. I have plenty of random hats: the bright orange beanie I keep in my car, a random Buffalo Sabers cap I bought at a garage sale, as well as probably a couple hats I no longer use because they’re worn out or got replaced by something better. I’ve also got neck gaiters, bandannas, and a shemagh or two stashed in various locations. I use those as scarves or a sleep mask more than I do a hat, but do occasionally wear them as well.
However, of the hats I own and regularly wear in certain circumstances:
I wear hats pretty regularly, and of them, my most used is a black unbranded baseball cap I bought from Walmart. It keeps the sun, rain, and snow off my face, while also serving as an easy spot to throw things from my pocket into (keys, wallet, etc) since I’ll usually be grabbing all that plus the hat when I’m out and about.
When it’s really warm I have a cloth hat. Though it’s not made by Tilley, it’s in the same style, and the Wikipedia page I linked has a photo to make up for my poor written description. It keeps the sun off my face and neck while being breathable and moisture wicking; probably the most cooling style of hat you can buy, which makes a big difference in the heat.
I’ve also got a wool felt Akubra (Australia’s take on a cowboy hat, a bit smaller with a flatter brim - IMO the perfect size and shape for functionality). Felt acts as a good insulator, so on warm days the sun’s rays warm the hat but not my head - with the same insulation retaining some heat on cold days. The brim also keeps sunlight, rain, and snow off my face and neck. It’s not as cooling as my cloth hat, or as warming as a dedicated cold weather hat, but it’s surprisingly versatile and fun to wear as my ‘adventuring in the woods’ hat.
I also occasionally wear a bandanna or neck gaiter. They’re not as functional as a more dedicated hat, but they do provide a slight bit of protection from the sun and mosquitoes. More importantly, though, they’re portable (can be kept in a pocket, or worn as a scarf below a helmet then thrown on your head later) - not to mention machine washable if I’m going to do something where I expect they’re going to get dirty.
When it gets colder, I usually default to my olive beanie. It’s easy to throw on, and it’s small enough to throw in a backpack, coat pocket, or desk drawer once I get to my destination.
When it’s really cold, or when it’s cold but I intend to spend a bunch of time outside, I’ve got a Ushanka/Trapper/Bomber hat. I actually have three, the oldest of which was a cheapo from Amazon. The second is a homemade one using faux fur, and the third is a homemade one using a sheepskin pelt. I wrote about the process of making the faux fur one as a trial run here if you’re interested.
The one I wear regularly now, the real fur version, is the warmest hat I’ve ever worn by a wide margin. I enlarged the side flaps in the real fur version, as opposed to the test version in the blog post, so it loops down under my chin and covers a lot more of my head. I also added a leather chin strap so I can tie it closed and keep it secured on my head, which comes in handy in strong winds or when on a snowmobile. The leather strap can also be used to keep the flaps above my head, effectively making it a fur beanie, but I wear it when it’s cold making the face and neck coverage very nice.
I generally prefer to wear the beanie when I’m doing something like commuting to work in the cold, and wear the fur hat when I’m doing something outside in the cold. However, there’s occasional times when the Northeast US gets incredibly cold (well below 0F/-18C) and I’ll wear my fur hat anytime I take a single step outside.
Describe the last photo you took?
The last photo I took was of a page from a library book on how to save tomato seeds. The last photo I took that wasn’t to store information was the following photo of a windmill:
Worst TV show?
I don’t watch a ton of TV, and I’m kinda picky about the stuff I do watch, so usually once I settle on watching a show I wind up liking it. The only recent show I started watching that I lost interest in is Foundation. I don’t think it’s a bad show; it just failed to catch my attention. What started as a show about a giant space fairing empire collapsing turned into a more character focused drama with magic like stuff and, minor spoilers, a bunch of dead characters being brought back. Combine the genre switch, large number of side plots, and the constant time jumps, and I just kinda lost interest.
I watched either part or all of season two before giving up. Since then I read the book series it’s based on, which was a decent read. I think the book series held my interest since it was a bit more linear, and was focused more on plot than characters, which books can get away with a lot easier than a TV show can.
As a child, what was your aspiration for adulthood?
When I was really young, probably an astronaut or something along those lines. When I was a pre-teen and during my early teenage years I got really into computers; giving programming a go. I wasn’t very good at programming, and still aren’t, but have worked in tech for the last 4+ years, so I guess I sorta achieved that.