Checking In

A catch-all, catch-up post

There are 1,126 posts filed in Checking In (this is page 18 of 113).

Lowering the sights

As I get set to embark on a new journey, I thought it would be good to look back at the job description that attracted me to my last job and compare it to the one advertised for my replacement. Here’s the first one:

Senior Support Engineer — Open Position Description

$COMPANY, a startup software company in Research Triangle Park recognized as a “Cool Vendor” by Gartner, is seeking talented individuals to help grow its expanding Engineering team.

$COMPANY‘s award-winning application management product — $PRODUCT — delivers transaction—based application discovery,
dependency mapping, and performance monitoring & analysis for complex, distributed applications in some of the world‘s largest data centers.

As a growing software business, $COMPANY is expanding our enterprise support team.

Responsibilities

– Quickly understand the dynamics of the $PRODUCT and maintain an extensive knowledge of any revisions and updates to the software
– Coordinate new customer implementations and provide effective and timely training to maximize use of the software by the customer
– Provide end-user application support via phone and email during support hours and on occasion during off hours when warranted
– Troubleshoot issues reported by customers and provide solutions in a timely, accurate, and professional manner
– Facilitate problem-solving between end user and $COMPANY development staff and make verbal and/or written recommendations for change and improvement
– Develop working relationship with $COMPANY sales team members and provide insight to sales reps regarding any current or future product needs as indicated by the customer
– Provide administrative support for the support portal and work flows associated with support tickets
Continue reading →

Landed!

The good news is that I found a job that’s closer than Belgium. I’ve accepted a position as a Senior Systems Engineer at a large legal database company that’s recently set up shop on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus. My goal is to make the company’s SaaS platform as rock-solid stable as I can. I start March 31st and I’m quite excited about the opportunity.

Work local?

Got this email in last night and it really underscored just how off-target some of the job opportunities that have come my way really are:

From: diceletter at dice.com
Subject: NATO Windows Systems Engineer – Mons, Belgium
To: Mark Turner

Hi Mark,

I scanned through your resume and thought you may be a fit for one of our open positions NATO in Mons, Belgium

The System Engineer will require experienced IT security professionals to be part of this leading edge capability for Cyber Defence. Working as part of an incident management team you would be part of the operational support at the sharp end of the NATO Computer Incident Response Centre (NCIRC).

This role entails 220 work days a year and a 7.6 hour workday. Plenty of time to see Europe – and hour drive from Paris and Germany. You get 25 paid days of vacation a year (five weeks) plus 16 additional paid holidays ? that?s 41 paid days off to explore Europe

You can find more information and apply online via the following link if interested:
Please visit
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Tickets to Neil deGrasse Tyson?

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson


I got a tip from a friend that tickets would be available to the public this morning for the upcoming visit to NCSU’s College of Sciences by Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. I had heard there were only going to be 100 or so general admission tickets available so I knew we had to act fast if this science family had any chance to see NDT.

Kelly and I teamed up to increase our chances. She and I both pounded the NCSU website as the clock approached 10 AM. Then when the “register now” link appeared, we both typed like crazy to enter our information. With my registration safely complete, I refreshed my browser to see that the registration window had just closed. Kelly and I were both successful, and we made it in the nick of time!

I don’t know how NCSU will distribute it’s 100 tickets. It’s possible the school will try to accommodate its alumni first and leave us regular folk out of it. I sure hope they will honor their procedure, though, and award us the tickets that we earned this morning. Fingers crossed!

Careerbuilder ignoring location preferences

This is a case of “too much of a good thing.” A few weeks ago, tired of the few job opportunities coming my way from LinkedIn, I posted my resume on Careerbuilder.com. The job opportunity floodgates opened and I was soon inundated with job opportunities.

One would think that would be a Good Thing, but instead the opportunities left something to be desired. Out of state recruiters, some who could barely speak English, were calling me about jobs that were nowhere near Raleigh, which is the only place I want to work.

I want to somehow add “NOT interested in relocating” to my Careerbuilder profile but Careerbuilder doesn’t have any such option. Now, Careerbuilder does offer the ability to specify what location its job seekers are interested in. I’ve taken advantage of that option as seen below: Continue reading →

Friday Fellowship nomination

I learned recently that I have been nominated for a Friday Fellowship, a two year program with the mission (as the website says) “to cultivate a network of courageous leaders who connect across differences in identity and ideas to develop new solutions to the complex challenges facing the peoples and communities of North Carolina.” It is truly an honor to have been nominated for this prestigious leadership program and I hope I make it through the selection process, but there’s no guarantee. As a white guy I don’t offer much in the way of diversity, though I am certainly willing and able to challenge others’ points of view, no matter the background. In other words, I like to argue for arguments’ sake!

Should I make the cut I’ll be attending six four-day seminars over the span of two years, held at various locations around the state. My worldview will be challenged and I will also challenge those of others. I will be a better leader when I come out the other end.

Frankly, it sounds like an absolute blast and I’m really excited about the possibilities. I’m a long way from there, though, and quite a few hoops to jump through and tickets to be punched stand in the way. I’ll keep my MT.Net reader posted as things progress.

Ladies man

Caravan_to_Carrboro
Somehow I managed to become a hero to Carrboro’s single ladies today.

It all began when I got a friend request from a Facebook user called “Caravan to Carrboro.” Curious to learn what this “caravan” was all about, I visited their page and viewed a number of posts about men, specifically the lack of good men in Carrboro for ladies aged 35 and older. This post on the Caravan to Carrboro website sums it up:

Women of Carrboro: Let’s bring new men to town!!! Are you between the ages of 35-55 or close? Are you single or divorced? Are you interested in men but tired of recycling the same old guys in Carrboro? Would you like to go out with somebody fresh and interesting and interested in you? Well let’s bring them to town. How? With the Caravan to Carrboro. The Caravan will bring men from OUT OF TOWN, close and far, to meet you at a designated Carrboro event in the Spring of 2014. But we need to know how many you are and what you’re looking for so we can bring the right kind of gentlemen to you. Do you think this is a crazy idea? Well it’s not. If you’re interested in joining the Caravan please let us know by clicking on the poll.

Now, I wasn’t aware there was a man shortage in Carrboro until today and I am happily married, but they seem like nice ladies so I reached out to see if I could help. I soon got a response, asking if I could spread the word about their plight.

I’m not the kind of guy who can ignore damsels in distress so I contacted Indy Week and they’re going to do a story. That’s what makes me a hero. I just hope this all leads to a correction of this terrible gender imbalance in Carrboro. We’ll see!

Where the sidewalk begins

These people want a sidewalk on Frank Street.

These people want a sidewalk on Frank Street.


Ever since our kids first started school at Conn Elementary, I’ve wished there was a sidewalk along muddy Frank Street where every day dozens of kids and their parents trudge to and from school. After researching the process a little over a year ago, I took it upon myself to petition the property owner.

Well, this soft touch ultimately didn’t work. I backed off to let the owner decide with no pressure and the result was that the petition expired with no action. This meant I had to wait a while before I could try again.
Continue reading →

How many more scraped knees?

Yesterday I got a call that our son had scraped his knee at school and needed just a little more medical attention than school staff could supply. Not thinking much of it, I headed over and gave the kid a little first aid and a hug.

Later as I thought about it I regretted not snapping a picture while I was there but then I realized I didn’t need a picture. The scene will stay with me forever as one of those precious moments when I get to quietly play hero to our growing kids.

I know the opportunities to fix scraped knees are quickly slipping by. While I’m not happy my son got hurt, I am thankful I got the opportunity to give him some TLC.

Carded

In the mail today we got a new set of credit cards. Our current ones have been working fine and are valid for another year but since the Target data breach I suppose the banks aren’t taking any chances.

A letter from the bank reads:

“Dear Customer:

Please begin to use this new credit card to protect yourself after the Target breach.

Thank you for being a loyal customer. Here’s your new credit card to help protect you after the recent data breach at Target stores.”

I noted that, like the old cards, the new cards do not include a smart chip that would go a long way towards preventing the next data breach.