Offer Letter
Nov3
Almost a full 7 days after hearing that I’d been offered a job, this afternoon I finally received an actual offer letter. The company name is Xirrus and basically what they do is develop and sell what are called wireless arrays. In non-techno speak, that means they make products which allow large business to have a wireless computer network similar to those you have in your home but much, much bigger. The great part about what they do is that by having many radios combined (up to 16) into one physical device, the management of the network and overall coverage is a lot easier for the businesses. This is similar to what you see on cell phone towers with many different radios. Granted, I’m just speaking from what I’ve learned during the interview process and I still have a lot left to learn in the days, weeks, months, and years (hopefully) to come.
My job title is “Wi-Fi Application Engineer” and that basically boils down to me performing site-surveys on location at customer’s buildings and business campuses. What is really exciting about the job is that this will involve about 50% – 75% domestic and international travel. I will still be based here in SLC and work out of my home when I’m not on location, but traveling all over the country and even world just sounds fantastic right now. I don’t have a family to worry about nor anything else that would be inconvenienced by this type of lifestyle, so I’m all for it. Plus, it sounds like if things work out in the next couple of years, I may be able to move up in position and not have to travel as much making family life (should that happen) a little easier.
I won’t be starting until November 23rd which is still 2 weeks away. I would have like to be starting earlier, but I’m not complaining at all. This will give me time to get a few other things in my life in order (such as another Cisco test, my Christmas lights, etc).
Finally, without getting too personal, I want to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father with whom I have been able to have a closer relationship during the past 2 months. Also, I’m grateful for the prayers and thoughts expressed by friends and family during this time. Additionally, I want to make mention of the fact that this job came as a referral by an old and almost lost aquaintance who I worked with while at BYU; to him I also say, ”Thank you.”
Five
Nov1
People use big events that occur in their lives as a way to measure how quickly years pass without drawing attention to their own age. For example, adults will use when they graduated from college. Others will use the days they were married or when their children were born. Not being able to use any of those events yet, I still relly on something else until one of others takes place.
Today marks the 5th year of having returned from my mission in Uruguay. I can’t say things have turned out even remotely close to how I imagined they would have, but it’s okay. I’m happy and I’m doing the best I know how. A few months ago, I decided to stop comparing myself and my accomplishments to others around me. Life is not a competition against one another, but against who you were yesterday. All it takes is to try to be better than you were the day before and not get too upset when that doesn’t happen all the time.
Here’s hoping that the next five years turn out as well as the past five have.
Radios, Antennas, and Rafters
Nov1
After passing the first exam for my CCNP on October 19th, I decided to reward myself with some “toys.” I’ve already started to plan my Christmas lights show for the year and I needed a better FM radio transmitter because the one last year was plain terrible. Having done my research, I bought a build-it-yourself kit from Ramsey Electronics and then spent a couple of hours each day during the next week soldering the individual components to the circuit-board. I also bought a home-made antenna kit as well to accompany the transmitter.
I had everything soldered and assembled awhile ago, but while constructing the antenna, I accidentally ripped a very small (30-gauge) wire that is used for the balun. I had to get another wire sent out to me and then I lost the mailbox key which caused further delays. In short, today I finally got everything put together and installed.
Since the transmitter is located in the garage and locked away in my server rack, placing the antenna there would not give me the type of results I wanted. Instead, I put the antenna in the roof area and I had to crawl around in the rafters to get a coax-cable from the garage to where the antenna is located. I was being very careful not to step off of the rafters and cause an incident similar to my previous one back in November 2007 where I almost fell through the ceiling by slipping onto the sheet rock.
All in all, it works well. I can drive my car at least 2500 feet away from the house without even a hint of static. I’m hoping I’ll still be able to do a Christmas light show this year, but my new job may interfere with that. Only time will tell.
More Details Please?
Nov0
For those of you who are wondering why I didn’t and still haven’t specified the details about my new job, let me explain. I have indeed received a verbal confirmation that the job is mine, but before I announce the company name and other specifics about what I’ll be doing, I want to have a written offer letter in my hands. I’m not expecting anything bad to happen, but I’m just taking certain precautions so as to not have to eat my words should the worst happen (knock on wood).
I was expecting the letter early this morning, but after having not received it, I contacted the person I’ve been interviewing with and he stated that there were some “back office delays” and that it should happen soon. When that occurs, I’ll let you all know (who haven’t already been informed via phone).
Life Changes
Nov2
Just a couple of updates on how life is going…
- I now part my hair to the side like a little boy haircut. It’s okay to laugh.
- I’ve lost about 10 pounds in weight but gained them back in muscle mass.
- I’m doing a lot better with the spiritual side of things (i.e. singles activities, temple attendance, scripture study, etc).
- The library is one of my new favorite places to frequent.
- I passed the first and most difficult of my Cisco exams for the CCNP.
- I’ve deleted all of the movies I didn’t own physical copies of.
- My outlook on life has been much more pleasant as of late.
And last but not least…
- I was just offered and accepted a new job.
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