Figments and Perceptions Unleashed by LogicX

So -- I haven't really taken the time to write about this -- but seeing as my new job affords me more time, Here's the scoop on my job situation in the last few months.

It all began in April when Julie and I were sitting at home in our apartment near Porter Square, in Somerville, MA. I went to use the sink, and heard a horrible gushing sound. Looking under the sink I saw that there was a gaping hole in our garbage disposal, and drainage from the sink was flowing out. Our apartment on Adelaide Rd had been an inexpensive, conveniently located starter apartment for Julie and I. But the lower cost came at an expense -- shoddy service from the landlord. I'd put in requests for a screen on one of our windows, and an issue with the fridge repeatedly for the last year, and every time was assured that it would be dealt with. As a one bedroom -- its purpose was for Julie and I to experiment living together, and if anything went wrong, one of us could get our own place, and one of us could maintain the single bedroom apartment on their own, and the cost would be reasonable. Seeing as we'd been living together for nearly a year, and our lease was coming up for renewal soon -- the broken garbage disposal was the last straw.

That night we began looking at other apartments, nicer, two bedroom luxury apartments -- to escape from our mismanagement nightmare. While driving to a location, I joked with Julie that at these prices we could buy a condo. She didn't laugh, but instead looked at me seriously and said 'yes, we could', opening up yet another possibility.

Unfortunately after much discussion, research, and reviewing finances, it turned out to not be feasible. Even if we had enough money to get the house -- things would be so tight, as to not allow us to live comfortably until I earned more. This lead me review my situation at work -- to ensure that I was doing everything I could to ensure I got a raise at the next opportunity. I discussed with my boss, and others at the company a number of initiatives that might be able to help the company get more clients -- such as improving our website, getting PCI certified, and hiring additional staff. After many fruitless discussions, all of my ideas were shot down, and I was told to concentrate on my own work, and not worry about these other things. But how could I? They were a very small consulting firm, and the possibility of my advancement was directly tied to their growth and success. When I was hired, I was told stories of them expanding geographically, and I imagined myself in a position to lead a branch office within a few years. Since being hired they'd actually shut down the only branch office, letting go of those employees, and I was told that there were no plans in the works to hire any new employees this year. This was all very disappointing.

Julie and I went to see the Goo Goo Dolls April 20 in Twin River, RI. On the drive I was discussing all of this with Julie, and I explained how I felt like I was not able to properly support her, by not making enough to afford a house -- and that I questioned whether I was being properly compensated for my skills.

Returning home that night, a quick search on Monster revealed the truth -- there were many companies in the Boston area with more exciting job opportunities, room for advancement, additional benefits, and paying 50-100% more than my current job. I began the job hunt. Over the next weeks and months I spoke to a number of companies, posted my resume on to more website than I can count, and spoke to countless recruiters. I quickly realized that the market was hot, and that I had the right skillset in security. My problem was not finding opportunities -- but dedicating the time to submitting resumes, followups, and in-person interviews. Working full-time, I was at the office, and had few opportunities to leave work for in-person interviews. Work had slowed down for the summer, and I was spending more and more time in the office. Now, being a small company, you don't have many options to escape your co-workers, and my co-worker didn't favor me. I remain convinced that I was viewed as a threat, and the work environment continued to be a hostile ground of disagreement with no cooperation on projects.

My good friend Brian Gillis has advised me when I graduated from College that I should maintain savings -- in the event that an unexpected life even occurred, or my job became undesirable, and I didn't want to feel trapped there, due to not having the financial ability to leave. The funds would allow me to support myself, paying my rent, until such time time that I could get a new job and recover. One day in May I realize that this EXACT scenario was occurring to me! I was going to work every day, and coming home drained and depressed that I would have to do it again the next day. Something had to be done -- I had to quit my job. Now, doing such a thing is typically unthinkable to me -- I become very dedicated and loyal to whatever I decide to take on in life. This job was no exception, and the thought of disappointing my boss, the president, my co-workers, along with the added stress and hardships created for them in seeking a replacement -- made it a very difficult decision to make. I even attempted to give notice one day, and ended up chickening out, and giving myself an additional weekend to think it over, and discuss with friends. Those discussions only reinforced what I knew -- I had to act now, and quit -- even without a firm offer for another job. I gave my two week notice.

It didn't go over well. My boss was visibly pissed. Likely because I'd not given any forewarning, or given them time to find a replacement. However I rationalized that due to the small size of the company, any additional forewarning would've made my life there hell, as they attempted to convince me to stay. The next day I was called into a meeting with my boss where I was giving my last paycheck, and told to gather my things and leave. He then escorted me out of the building. Although a bit more dramatic than I expected -- I now had what I wanted -- the time to seek out a new job.

The following weeks were actually occupied with a number of things -- Julie and I had just moved into a new apartment the previous week, and there was a lot of work involved in getting settled, I submitted resumes, I went to recruiting events, and I scoured job sites. Then I got a call one day from a recruiter at ITA Software, who felt I was a good fit for a Security Engineer position they had open. Looking at the description -- I realized I'd come across it in my searches, but didn't believe that I was appropriately qualified. However, with the recruiter in support of me, I spoke to him further, submitted my resume for the position, and continued along the interviewing path.

As I learned more and more about ITA Software, their mission, their culture, their history -- I became excited at the opportunity to work there. After some scheduling issues I finally made it in for a 4 hour in-person interview with a number of employees. Everything went very well, and a few days later, as my parents were up visiting in mid June -- just three weeks after leaving my previous job -- I received an offer letter from ITA Software. I accepted that day, and started two weeks later.

Although it was a rocky road, filled with fright and risk -- taking that risk paid off, and I'm now much happier with my daily job. I'm pleased with my brilliant co-workers, my company's appreciation for their employees, their amazing growth rate, and my future opportunities for advancement. I'm less stressed, I have more free time, and the work hours are more flexible. I've had an amazing summer with Julie, and I look forward to really sinking my teeth in this winter, and accomplishing a number of long-term goals, as I get more up to speed with everything.

So last month I got a new car. It all started with an advertisement I saw on TV for the Nissan Altima 2008 Coupe. The ad featured their Navigation system and bluetooth phone capability. I'd never seen such use of technology in a car, and was very intrigued. I went to a dealer soon after and checked one out, but decided that I wanted to stick with a four door -- and the 2008 Nissan Altimas weren't out yet. I drove a 2007 Nissan Altima Sedan, and was quite impressed, even with the 2.5L engine model. I did a ton of followup research on how to negotiate with a dealer, checked out the invoice price for the car at CarsDirect and decide on what feature set I'd like. I was immediately disappointed when I applied for credit online through Nissan USA and was rejected.

As July was coming to a close, I still really wanted the car, and went to a nearby dealer whose inventory showed two cars configured to my liking. Upon running my credit there, I was accepted without problem, and we eventually chalked up the error to the online credit check not asking for my previous address (I'd just moved a little over a month prior). Unfortunately they'd already sold the two Nissan Altimas with the Technology package -- pretty much THE reason I was getting the car. The dealer was able to track one down for me, and I drove away with a new car the following week, after returning from a business trip to Vegas.

The only pitfall I've experienced thus far is that the navigation system does not allow certain operations while the car is in motion -- It does however allow many operations to be performed using voice command -- I've just not yet taken the time to program voice tags for my most common destinations and callers.

Overall I'm quite pleased with my decision to lease the car for two years. I don't make many long commitments in my life, and I've blown through about 6 cars in my 8 years of driving, so choosing the shortest lease time possible seemed the most responsible thing to do for this -- my first new car ever!

I'm also selling my old 2003 Dodge Intrepid, with after market audio.

I just came across a cool site - ripmobile.com where you can 'sell' your old cell phones to this company, and earn money for them!  Seeing as most cell phone customers get a new phone every 2 years, this can be a great way to recycle that old cell phone, and get some money for it.  I recently got a cell phone through work, and my old Audiovox PPC-6700  is going to fetch me $95 through ripmobile.

If you want to give me credit for sending you their way use Referral Number 11604

I'm beginning to bring back my whole network of websites -- I'll shortly bring back my personal gallery, and begin to cross-link all of these.  (Just a simple post so its not blank)