I started to code up an elegant, generalized solution to a problem (trying to parse these damn huge log files) by stuffing various pieces of data into an SQLite database only to come to the ugly realisation: "Hey, wait a minute. I don't actually know SQL."

Damn.

I've mostly been sitting in my office reading various software engineering documents. Every now and then, though, I need to get up to grab something (usually coffee). When I do, I get a sweeping view of the stadiums and Puget Sound and think, "Wow. I can't believe I work here."

Also, I took the last cup of coffee around 4:15 and debated whether I should make a new pot so late in the day. I decided to go ahead and do so.

It was gone by 5. Heh.

Met with Tamara for lunch (our temporary housing is literally across the street from where I work) at a Korean BBQ place. Picked up some fresh roasted chestnuts on my way back to the office. Been trying to absorb an incredible amount of data in a very short time.

Life is good.

My first day at Amazon was yesterday. It's like no place I've ever worked before.

When I got to orientation, they had a backpack for each new hire. Inside the backpack were some benefits materials and information about how to log on, a laptop preconfigured for our use, and a VPN device. This is... well, definitely a company that is used to hiring people and wants to get them productive as soon as possible!

The amount of training materials for developers is incredible and a tad overwhelming, but a refreshing change from the typical case where you have to find out obscure bits from some other developer who's hidden in a corner of a remote, off-site building but usually only works from home and doesn't answer his phone or e-mail.

Contrast with Cadence, where being unproductive during your entire stay is the norm.

For any fellow Amazonians who want to stop by, my office is US2 811.A1, but my group is moving next week.

It would appear...

... that I'm in Seattle now. Coolness! (Well, if only -- it's a tad hot here today, though not as bad as Pittsburgh.)

My temporary apartment is right above a market, all in the Japanese section of the International District. I could eat in the restaurants below and have a different style of Asian food every night for a week.

Cats are much happier to be in a place with furniture again and, more importantly, out of their cramped carriers.

House in Pittsburgh is now empty. Hopefully it will sell soon.

There are many good reasons why one might quit his job. However, I think we can agree that "To spend more time playing computer games" is not one of them.

We have two parties coming to see our house tomorrow. Should be interesting. I've spent the past three evenings creating a small patio and fixing brick steps to it. I wish I had done that much, much earlier...

Today was my last day at Cadence. It was bittersweet -- I won't miss the company, but I will miss some of the coworkers, even the ones who annoyed me. Five and a half years is a long time to spend at a place.

The house is now up for sale. I guess this marks a milestone of some sort, though I'm not sure exactly what. Perhaps simply the point where the house no longer looks like we live in it -- we've removed all the magnets from the refrigerator, for example, and the counters are almost completely clear. The completely non-functional, model home look... almost as if someone took a house out from Sim City and actually built it.

Is this really appropriate?

CBS News' article on the Boy Scout Jamboree has targeted advertising at the bottom. The links read:

Power Lines
Buy "Power Lines" at Audible.com. Join and save $100 on an Apple iPod, take 50% off your first month of membership or get a free Muvo MP3 player.
www.audible.com

Power Line on eBay
Find Power Line items at low prices. With over 5 million items for sale every day, you'll find all kinds of unique things on eBay - the World's Online Marketplace.
www.ebay.com

Not as bad as Google's offer to let you buy African slaves on eBay, though.