Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in irrationalRobot's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, July 16th, 2009
4:43 pm	Busy kiddo day Morning, went to the zoo and fed the giraffes. MiniBot wanted to wear his superhero cape, which wKnitter made for him (and is having a resurgence in popularity). Lunch at Lake City Dick's Burgers, and then in the afternoon we cleaned up, reinflated and refilled the kiddo pool, which both kids made much use of. Sleepy now. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 13th, 2009
8:58 am	Weekend recap, and a cold brain reboot Last weekend I went camping with the family. I'll go ahead and post about it under the cut, but it might be really fun to post about what ninja family camping is really like, so if you'd rather read about that, leave a comment to that effect, and if I get 3 people who are interested, I'll tell you. Rest assured, ninja family camping is totally awesome. ( But anyway, my actual family went actually camping. ) Cold brain reboot So today I've got the third of my Zillow visits. The first two went like so: 1. Guy buys me lunch and tells me how awesome Zillow is, takes a resume 2. Double interview. (I hadn't realized the first was my "informational," I thought that was just "lunch with a former coworker" 2.1 Whiteboard interview went surprisingly well 2.2 Technical experiential interview... BOMBED. "Q: Tell me about a time that you were debugging something that got out of your depth." "A: Uhhh... uhhh... um, uh." So now they want to talk to me about a 1/2 SDET, 1/2 PM job on the RM team- damn near EXACTLY what I was most recently doing. Again, someone is making a position for me (I think). Now I've got to get mentally ramped up to "talking about work" and "telling my stories." What I'm talking about here is how I approach a formal interview when I know one is coming. I've got to comb through my last 5-10 years of experience and have five good stories to tell about when I was awesome at work and did something well. These will become the answers to things like "tell me about a time in the past when you had a conflict with a coworker. How did you resolve it?" and "Tell me about a time when you found a significant technical hurdle, how did you cross it?" and that sort of thing. The upside is I'll be ready to rock when the questions come. What is making this more than usually difficult is that right now, after the last two months, I'm more ready for answering questions like "Tell me about a time when your children were fighting over a toy," or "tell me about a time when you were having a hard time getting a minikit, how did you make that jump?" So I'm going to read some old work emails and some old review feedback, getting my brain attuned to having been a great employee at the biggest software company in the world (maybe, I'm not sure) and how I did those things. Okay, I actually wrote the camping stuff after I wrote the brain reboot, so time to post and then I'll come back and pick my stories... wish me luck! (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
10:13 am	Finally teaching the boy how to play Elk Fest He really wanted to play Battleground, but I really want him to be able to flick and take care of pieces before we break out the Crossbows and Catapults. So, Elk Fest. Lesson one: walking the moose. Set up two riverbanks, and a straight line of stones, and teach him to walk the moose, one step at a time, releasing the moose with every step, to the next riverbank. This lesson went well. I was hoping to move forward with "walk with a curve" but miniBot wanted to play the "knocking the moose down" game, so we came up with some flicking games. The most successful variant was "knock down the tower," where I build a little tower out of four or five stones, and miniBot and I take turns flicking the stones to knock it down. It will be a long, long road to proper, by-the-rulebook gameplay, but this is a start, and is something that miniBot is allowed to do that Gnat is not... which is good. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 6th, 2009
2:02 pm	Conversation starter: things you missed (and more!) Things you missed: post here three things that you meant to do or see in the last few years that you *totally* missed. I understand that "totally" is a crummy modifier for an all or nothing descriptor, but I'm going with the meaning of "totally missed, which here means 'missed, and keep remembering that I missed and keep being pissed off about it." Afterward, three things that you went to, and were very, very glad you did. Oh, and no cheating with "when I met my sweetheart," I want something at which other people really should've joined you. (Sorry for the horrible grammar, I was trying to avoid ending that sentence with a preposition) Things I *totally* missed in the last few years: 1. Even though it was probably at least two years now, the "Dinosaurs of Darkness" exhibit at the Burke museum. Now that I've found the link, yes, this was from 2004, and I'm still holding a grudge. 2. Beck came through doing an acousting tour a few years back, and I should've gone. Really. 3. Candye Kane was performing last Thursday in Seattle, and I really should've lassoed oldmangrumpus to watch the sleeping kids while wordknitter and I went. Things I'm glad I didn't miss: 1. Digital Underground's 1999 show in Seattle. I'm not sure if it was their last one, but it was a really fun live show, and they've since disbanded. 2. John Lee Hooker's last show in Seattle. He died less than a week later, and I'm forever happy to say I got to see the world's oldest man play "Boom Boom." 3. I can't remember the name of the lecturer without looking it up, but the Society for Sensible Explanations (seattleskeptics.org, I think) hosted a guy (James Laidler, maybe?) to lecture on Autism theories... essentially going after the "thimerosal in vaccines causes autism" story, and dismantling it so thoroughly... I still look back on that speech as one of the best, most persuasive I've seen. Other thing: I'm tired of getting to the bottom of a cup of drip coffee and having coffee grounds show up in my mouth. Maybe I should permanently switch to instant. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
12:05 am	Do de o do I got no job said do de o do got no job As of 7 minutes ago... Next contact is the google guy I met at the Kansas wedding... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
11:54 am	Three resumes hit the road Those of you following me on facebook have already heard so, but I just sent off three resumes. More detail: 1. Resume to a trainer at MS that I met by way of some guy in a DBM class I took. This is how networking happens, sometimes. I'm rattling off at the mouth about how in my happy dreamland I'd be helping people learn things they didn't know yet, and helping them understand new things. Guy across table (that we'd talked about development, video games, and MS loops before) says, "you know, I knew this girl in high school whom I recently ran into presenting a course for Microsoft HR under her married name. You should send her an email," and he puts me in touch. Now we're meeting Monday. Yay! 2. Two resumes (PM resume and Test resume) to my old friend from Surface that is doing a little "chris coaching" on the job hunt. All three resumes are going to Microsoft, one directly and two "to be forwarded" to his best contacts. So that gets me going today, I'll be trying to set up more networking meetings as well. Banzai! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
8:34 am	[Discussion]: Housemate dealbreakers QQ: Why do people use "QQ" when they mean "Question?" QQ2: What sort of things, for you, are dealbreakers for a potential housemate? QQ3(bonus): Are any of these dealbreakers "big wins" if other answer is true? Clarifications: 1. For some people, the immediate answer might be "Are they people," because you don't have / don't want a housemate. Please revisit the situation to "I don't have enough money or resources to live where I'd like without a shared living situation." 2. By "dealbreaker," I mean "yes or no question about a person for which the wrong answer pretty much excludes a candidate." So, some of mine:( inspired by the visit from the folks ) To be fair, "the folks" don't necessarily violate all of these rules. I'm dealing with "they've been here since Wednesday," and I need to get out of the house for awhile. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
8:53 pm	A dialogue with my son, and then context. oldmangrumpus will get this without context, but context is under the cut. miniBot: I want to talk, I want to talk!1 irrationalRobot: Okay, talk. mB: Why did I kick Gnat and make him fall down?2 iR: I don't know, tell me.3 mB: You are not a boy!4 iR: I have boy parts.5 mB: You do not have boy parts, you have bones inside your body, but the bones melted.6 ( context ) (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 26th, 2009
7:59 am	The death of Micheal Jackson, almost two years ago The loss of Michael Jackson has gone ignored long enough, and although the timing is confusing to me (August 07 to June 09?), I'm at least glad he's finally getting some attention by the media. As a beer critic, Jackson was popular and talented, but as a beer ambassador, his skill was unparalelled. Before Jackson's seminal work in the Beer Hunter on PBS, Beer in the United States was "that pale crummy stuff that people suck down in batches at football games," and not the least bit respected as an art and an American Tradition. For those of you that have never seen the Beer Hunter, I can't think of a better time to check it out. While less of a "Beer review" than experts might like, the series is an entertaining, humorous look at the brewing of beer in six (I believe) different regions of the world, focusing on a particular brewery in each tradition: English, Belgian, Czech, American, German, and Holland. Sadly, the series seems to be out of print, but I'd like to think that now would be a great time for a DVD release. (NOTE: Apparently he also did very important work on Whisky, so check out the wikipedia article if curious). Michael Jackson, you'll be missed, and I'll drink a pint in your honor this evening. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
8:00 am	Video games Games my son knows and has made reference to: Braid ("where we hit all the pinecone heads") Lego Batman Lego Star Wars Bomberman (note: he's only seen me play the demo once) "the Dinosaur Game" (the doritos xbox live game... "Dash of Destruction") Viva Pinata (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
2:05 pm	Life is an adventure game When you are two years old, life is an adventure game. You enter a room. You see: a bread pan a sock ( take pan ) Father's day has gotten to a slow start. A very nice card with both boy's hand-traces, breakfast with omGrumpus, followed by video games at his place (note to world: the Pod Race level of lego star wars is about as long as the whole movie of episode I, and is painful). But the rest of the game, and the excitement of watching miniBot's reaction to Justice League Heroes, was pretty awesome. Now, it is naptime. Later? 20% chance of beer festival, 40% chance of carters outlet, 20% chance of "random best buy trip with Nick and family," 20% chance of "other." (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
4:32 pm	Weekend: Friday games, Saturday Fremont Yesterday started lousy, with everybody in the family being tense and grouchy and only Gnat having the right words for it: WAAAH. Yesterday evening, I skedaddled off to Redmond for beers and games at RTC, and had a great time. omGrumpus, _nervous_ and I got to be boorish (as best we can manage, we're actually pretty nice people) at the bar, and then wandered to Uncle's, where we played the following: 1. aMAZEing labyrinth 2. castle roquefort 3. rattlesnake and 4. Kung Fu Fighting (which I had to buy to play, as they didn't have a store copy). ( Kung Fu Fighting was awesome. ) Today, wKnitter and I took the boys to the Fremont Fair and parade. We'd only intended to go to the Recess Monkey concert, grab some sample food and leave, but by the time we tried to leave, the parade started, and we made the mistake of trying to go South around the parade instead of North, causing us to eventually throw in the towel, and we just walked the Burke-Gilman from gasworks park to the South end of the U District (2.2 miles), wKnitter having Gnat in the backpack, and me hauling miniBot on my shoulders. I've since taken a nap, and I don't think I have the energy for the brewer's festival tomorrow. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
2:00 pm	It is truly shocking how long Amazon "super don't ship it" shipping takes I placed my amazon.co.uk order on 6/8, and the estimated delivery is 6/22 - 7/3? Seriously? I thought I was ordering from a reputable web retailer, not a third-world baggage handler. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
11:01 am	Back in Seattle Now, the job hunt begins to focus. Lessons learned on the trip: 1. Visiting a fractured family f'ing sucks. I managed to squeeze all of the following into a short time, broken up by day (approx):( Rediculous detail ) 2. MiniBot's favorite thing in Kansas is really playing in the backyard with Grandma. He gets 100% personal attention, it is a big yard, etc. 3. The hideabed that mom has needs to be pulled out, and THEN you elevate the couch-end. This keeps you from sleeping with a big metal bar at the level of your breastbone. 4. The Java Break, in Lawrence, is back on the list of destinations. They've added a "Breakfast cereal bar," which looks cool. 5. I have no idea, any more, how people survive Kansas summers without just hiding in air conditioning. That's a really, really packed trip. Next time... I dunno, but we've got to find ways to streamline this stuff. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
7:58 pm	Last full day in the KC area (lawrence) So the morning got off to a slow, tricky start with Gnat's nap, but hanging around the ranch was fun, and I finally got to take the family to the Kansas Museum of Natural History. A far bigger museum, but a lot of the exhibits were pretty dated (1950s?) and I eventually got creeped out by all of the taxidermy. That being said- they have some great fossils of Kansas megafauna, it is just a crying shame that they haven't found a better way to display them. The mosasaur above the lobby, though... now *that's* really great. Mass street stuff: Free State Brewery was a 30 minute wait, so we went to "the most local burger" and ate buffalo. Afterward, a trip to waxman candles and wordknitter got to "do" YarnBarn. A little Ice cream later, we headed back to the ranch where miniBot woke up and had a minor freakout (he woke up starving hungry, but not wanting to eat- bad combination). wKnitter and I just completed a well-earned hot tub. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
7:30 pm	The boys are playing 9:32 local time in Lawrence, and Gnat keeps standing up in his crib to say, "Ee!" and miniBot points a finger at him, saying "zhou, zhou, I zapped yew!!!" This would be totally awesome and cute if they were in their own room, but as it is, it is just cute. We're at the Circle S Ranch bed and breakfast in the frontier room, where I was pleasantly surprised by Wi-Fi. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
4:59 pm	Leaving for Kansas tomorrow: schedule Tomorrow: travel with a layover in DEN. Arrive in KS @ 5:30, pick up a car from Enterprise, be surprised when they say "wow, we just rented the last in that class, would you like the minivan?" Dinner with Mom Thursday: Day w/ mom. Lunch with Shelly and Mike (Shelly is my Kansas sister), we might do Deanna Rose farmstead that day. Friday: Day w/ dad. Calling great-aunt Corinne in the morning to make plans that don't include dad, then we'll work around those and spend time with him. Probable lunch or dinner at Zarda. Saturday: leave for Lawrence in the morning. Wedding is at 1:15 on campus, so stow the car somewhere handy (friend Krista's place?) and go to the ceremony with 2 kids... drop miniBot off at Krista's for a nap afterward, take Gnat to the reception. Pick up miniBot, drive to the http://www.circlesranch.com/ Circle S Ranch for dinner and sleep Sunday: Lots of stuff to do. Natural History Museum on campus, Mass Street shopping (the yarnbarn and waxman candles are required), visit the sights at the ranch... probably do lunch somewhere with Krista (Free State Brewery usually happens). Sleep at ranch again Monday: pack out after a slow morning and big country breakfast, head into Lenexa and have lunch with dad at some Tunisian cafe (holy land cafe?) he reccomends near Zarda. Evening flight into Seattle, struggle to get us all home by midnight, then back to that job search thing. (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
9:38 pm	A skeptical radio show- now how do I get that job? Friended an old high school buddy from facebook, and wow what a strange coincidence... he's now apparently the business and communication manager for the NPR station in Rhode Island, and they produce a show called "Skeptically Speaking," where the host Desiree discribes herself thusly: "I’m a simple skeptic who does obsessive amounts of research on any topic that interests me. I’m not a scientist or academic of any variety, I simply believe in using curiosity and critical analysis to guide my life." Oh wow, how do I get *that* job? Obsessively research controversial things, then talk them over with people on the radio? Man, it allows me to be a geek, a ham, and a skeptic all at once... hrm (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, June 5th, 2009
8:00 pm	Cinco de Mayo sucked Cinco de Mustard (June?) will be better. Currently working on a 22 oz Corona at oldmangrumpus's place and preparing to watch the Magnificent Seven. Books picked up for the boys today: The House in the Night is BEAUTIFUL Zorgamazoo is a really weird rhyming novel involving a little girl and various monsters she meets... I'm so looking forward to reading this thing myself. And for the gnat? Pajama Time! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
11:59 am	Last night's dream Was at some sort of trivia thing with syukton that was a progressive trivia thing- you go from one place to another and answer questions. We had the following question: "How many fictional works of Edgar Allan Poe can you name?" I guessed I could probably come up with a dozen, and in my dream could only think of 8 or 10 (memory is fuzzy). It may have been a game where you name a number quickly, and if you get that many right, you get that many points (so there would be a gambling aspect). Offhand, here are the fictional works of Poe I can think of (this includes Poe-try, but not travel writing, lit crit, or nonfiction)... ( list ) I'm sure I could remember more with a little more thinking, but on the periphery I'm going to start getting mixed up with Hawthorne (rappacini's daughter), Shirley Jackson (the lottery), and Kafka (A speech to the academy, the bucket-rider, a couple of other things). (Comment on this)