June 2008 Archives
Interesting. Whilst out to dinner in London, my colleagues and I just happened to get a seat next to some overly-enthusiastic Apple employees. During the dinner they managed to talk about their launch strategy for iPhone 3G, hand out business cards (thus validating our theory they worked at Apple), and passed around iPhone 3Gs for everyone to play with.
I was even able to snap a photo-- notice the black slab face-down on the table. iPhone 3G - out in the wild, loud and proud.
According to Wikipedia, the Solstice Cyclists are:
...an artistic, non-political, clothing-optional bike ride ensemble celebrating the spirit of the Summer Solstice, and who, by tradition, usher in the beginning of the free-spirited Summer Solstice Parade & Pageant, which is an event produced by the Fremont Arts Council in the Fremont district of Seattle. The cyclists are commonly referred to as the naked cyclists or naked bikers by those outside the group.
And they've just come down my street.
Today marks my third anniversary at Microsoft. In many ways it seems like time has flown by. Three years. Gone. Sometimes I wonder where the time went.
On the other hand, in some ways I feel like I've been doing this forever. I often feel that it's hard to remember what life was like before coming to the 'soft. Even though I've adorned myself with the blue badge for a relatively short 36 months, it has become so engrained into my life that I'm having trouble separating Derek pre-Microsoft from Derek @ Microsoft.
What's a blue badge you may ask? From the Microsoft Lexicon:
Blue Badge (or Blue Card): (sometimes, slightly derogatorily, blue badger, or just plain blue) Synonym for full-time Microsoft employees, the Brahmins of the deeply ingrained Microsoft caste system, whose card keys have a blue background rather than the orange used for contractors (see Orange Badge) and green for vendors. Derivative terms include "turn blue," meaning to earn full-time status.
Starting my fourth year at the company comes with the added bonus of starting my fourth year of living in Seattle. I moved out to the west coast on June 17, 2005, and so far haven't looked back. Although, like everything, it's been an adjustment- I really can't think of any time where I second-guessed my decision. I'm not sure I ever went through the home sickness or feelings of loneliness that some bi-coastal career nomads experience.
Maybe that's just Microsoft doing a good job making sure I've been staying busy-- but I'm sure it's more than that. Being surrounded by a group of great friends, an amazing girlfriend, and inviting & friendly social circles at work and church has made all the difference.
Either way, here's to three years. I wish I could take a peek at what the next three years will hold. If they are any more interesting to these last three, I'm not sure I'll be able to contain myself.
Ok, so I've been really bad about posting for far too long. I've just been pulling together a bunch of ingredients to restart my "digital life", and now I think I'm ready to bake the cake.
Lately I've been dabbling in the world of Macintosh. I got a MacBook Pro and have been trying it out. Why you may ask? Well, I'll retort with the irrevocable words of Jack Donaghy...
"The Italians have an expression, Lemon. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And although they've never won a war or mass produced a decent car, they are correct in this one instance".
Using the Mac has been an enlightening experience. I've experienced the good (iPhoto, Dashboard, Expose), and the bad (Entourage '08, iChat, Safari). More about this later.
Along the way, I've also gotten back online with some of my favorite web services: namely Flickr. I've now set up a photostream here, where I'll be posting all the photos I've been capturing.
In the spirit of all this photo talk, I'll post one of the photos I've taken just recently from a trip to New York City with Emily.
It was her first time, and we needed to, at all costs, expose her to the cannolis.
