Week 4.. Goes By Slow, Yet Fast

My how time seems fast and yet slow.. and vice versa. Everything has come to a halt, except for main priority.. finding a jooob. I finally took a break. It has been over a month since I last went climbing, and oh, how I miss thee. I'm 10lbs down of muscle now due to all the studying and non-activity. But the gym, is like an old familiar friend. I like it like this.. empty, quiet, and spacious... and all for myself.

Job hunting is surprisingly slow. There are not too many places in SD that has a need for high-speed signal integrity test experts. In the mean time, a lot of the SerDes design and test teams in the Bay Area have been swooped up by the likes of Apple, AMD, and Intel. Not surprising, those are the forefront of hardware technology companies.. and all in Silicon Valley.

I'm taking my chances of making an industry switch, but it comes with a mixed bag... I'm going from being at the fore front of new innovative technology that I have been a pioneer and expertise since it's early conception, to starting over. With it, I need to sell my qualifications to an industry of perspective managers that have absolutely no knowledge to the complexities and challenges of SerDes, nor my value in it.

This week, I had the joy of being invited to speak as a guest lecturer to several engineering classes at a local high school. Truthfully, it was a great change of pace and perspective from the last few weeks. Going to a high school reminded me of how far I've come since then, and how much more needs to be done to encourage the youth of the next generation, especially the women. There is a 50/50 split between male and female during the first 2 years of high school. By the time senior year rolls around, the numbers drop down to 10%... which is about the ratio I went to college with.

In my career, the engineers that have inspired me, have been the women engineers I have met along the way... not because they were women, but because they were the ones I've encountered that possess a greater passion, greater work ethic, and a fierceness in their profession that I don't see anywhere else. I found out recently, my first female mentor which left a lasting impression, passed away 3 years ago to lung cancer... a great woman.. a great engineer.. I still carry with me and follow through with the advice she gave me 18 years ago.

A student asked me a question.. "What do you like about engineering?".. and it's because it's challenging. It's not easy, it is hard.. but the reward of solving not just any problem, but a hard problem that you wrack your brain over and go crazy.. there's a satisfaction and pride that can't be earned in any other way.

I'm struggling right now. I admit. But it's just like any other hard problem I've had to deal with before.. I need to process it, and figure out ways to solve my problem.. one step at a time.

Another Day.. to Philz!

Week 3 of the unemployed.. another week, another coffee shop. Time passes quick.. maybe even quicker now...

The ever growing Philz Coffee has finally made it's way to SoCal and expanding.

I've survived one on-site interview now. I say survived because the first one is always beyond nerve wracking... after all, it's been over 12+ years since I have had to go "sell myself" again. I have full confidence in my abilities, but not so much confidence in "selling" it for interviews. I've never been good at marketing.

With engineering, there's always so much background to remember. There are theories I haven't touched since college, even if it's just the basics. This week I'm reviewing the questions that I missed on the interview.. such as the one below.

Identify the configuration of this circuit. What does it do? And, what are the voltage are V1 and V2.

For sure I will not forget this one again. It's actually a very simple question after the fact when I reviewed specifically NPN transistor theory.

The New Grind

It has been a relief that the ax has fallen, that the past is really now the past and I work towards the future. One of my "traits" is OCD... and once that gets going, it can be both a blessing or a curse. I tend to see it as a blessing.. after all, it's what got me to Everest Base Camp and to endure 13 miles of 105+ degrees heat of the Spartan Race. This trait of mine... is my method for achievement. It may be slow and arduous, but surely I will make it.

In the course of 2 weeks, I have spent on average 10 hours a day "working" towards my new future. I have 4 sessions of 2-3 hours each, where I review engineering theories, practice presentation style, white boarding different topics, drill myself on theories with flash cards, read various articles on similar topics to obtain different viewpoints, watch YouTube videos, and follow up on job hunting leads. I estimate I have put in over 200+ hours now of engineering study this month.

My kids have been on their own, wild and crazy, eating whatever quick fix dinner I can dig out of the freezer, and totally taking advantage of the fact that I'm letting them watch TV and do whatever they want as long as they leave me alone.

My new "office". Ryan help set up a whiteboard for me.

Occasionally I'll get a visit from my new co-worker..

Another day, a different place of work. I take advantage of studying and "working" everywhere and anywhere I can. On this morning while running errands that required waiting, I reviewed different op amp configurations on Starbucks napkin.

Taking up the corner office location at a local Panera...

Yes.. Starbucks does seem to be a theme. It's a good place to go while waiting for things. Free wi-fi is always helpful.

And I can't forget to leave out my other new co-worker, Rose. I cannot thank Trader Joes enough for coming out with this inexpensive bubbly, which I meet on occasion at the end of a long work week. (I limit the drinking to the end of the week.)

To be continued...

Closure of a Decade's Worth

The Sun has finally set... All endings start a new beginning, a new chapter. Endings are never easy, even ones that are trivial in the grand scheme of life. It's still a jumble of memories, accomplishments, growth, familiarity, confidence,..etc.. a whole bunch of factors that impact more than just cognizant processing. Well... as is... it is time to bide adieu to a decade's worth of work...

I worked on all of these processors and more, testchips and processors prior 2010, in the Sun era, pre-Oracle. Some required late nights and long hours, sleeping in the office with a sleeping bag so I didn't have to drive home to only drive back the next morning.

It has been tremendous privilege to have been a part of innovation and development of the Sparc processors. Thanks for the memories!

The best is yet to come... enjoy the journey!