I have spent the past few days working from Beautiful Seneca Lake, which has been enjoyable, for sure! It’s interesting (especially in my line of work) to witness which aspects of my workflow continue uninterupted and which pieces are all messed up. For example, I am ALOT more responsive to emails now, because I am not ‘down the hall’ or in a conference room, etc. However, my ability to connect with people is diminished. I can’t storm into someones office and demand that they answer my questions. I am also out of sight such that when the bossman comes looking around for a voluteer, I’m off his radar.
Marc, if you’re reading this, I’m sure that I’ll still be on YOUR radar… man… I’m speaking more generally.
I enjoy stretching the norms and seeing how things work when people are not necessarily co-located. I think that’s an aspect of potentially large cost-savings as the workforce moves away from tablets/chisels and towards laptops/cell phones.
I am planning to work remotely (except for a couple days) for the entirety of August and the beginning of September. So far, I’ve been wearing the same blue bathing suit and occassionally sunglasses (when an email is REALLY bright). I have a small networking project that would bring WiFi access to the beach. The ultimate goal of the summer is to work for an entire day without needing to leave the hammock — except for the occassional swim… of course.
Yesterday, I headed into Bruegger’s newest store, located about 2 blocks from my office in Chinatown. I was only there for coffee, but the bagels line looked solid enough to prove them a quick star. Of course, nothing less would be expected from another quality Rochester mainstay (cough, cough, Wegmans, cough… there I said it). It’s awesome to have a proper bagel place in the neighborhood and will be a delicious alternative to the Friday munchkins (doughnut holes) that seem to magically appear from the Dunkin’ Donuts on 7th St.
The thing that I’m excited about most is that Bruegger’s brews Green Mountain Coffee, roasted in Vermont near Ben and Jerry’s. The Green Mountain Coffee from Bruegger’s is certified fair trade, delicious and $1.93 for a large. For that, I say: Welcome to the neighborhood!
I ride my bike to work (it helps that it’s less than 3 miles from our apartment) most days, but I would like to set a resolution to bike 4 days per week on average. The way I figure, I’ll work ~48 five day weeks this year. If I bike 4 out of 5 days, that’s 192 days to bike to work. Ergo, my resolution is to bike 192 days to the office. I’ll reassess periodically, to keep my self honest, probably once a quarter. Five days last week and another fiver this week is a strong start…
We got an email at around 1:45 this afternoon saying that the Federal Government would be closing at 2PM. It was looking like some seriously icy conditions would mire the usually difficult rush hour in potentially dangerous traffic patterns. However, as I take the train to work, I stayed at my desk till 6:30 and had the metro car all to myself for the first time ever during normal rush hour. Things were pretty icy out there, but I say 2 salt trucks treating the roads. Word on the street is that the worst is yet to come and this could be just the thing to close down the Washington-based federal agencies (including mine, yeah!!). So, as we tuck it on Valentine’s Eve, we’re all hoping and praying for one more trip back to those not-so-long-as-to-be-forgotten years of sledding and snow days.
Should they decide to shut it down tomorrow, I’ll spend the day with my sweet Valentine drinking hot cocoa, checking emails and watching DVDs.
From the desk of Roommate (the former): One of today’s Slashdot article had an interesting tid-bit at the bitter end that Google has just released a Patent Search Service, which I suspect will revolutionize how examiners, IP firms and the public will determine relevant prior art. Obviously, I plugged in my own name into the search block (for egotistical purposes only) and found that only 2 of my allowances have been published: 7,124,264 & 7,096,342. Looks like the image database is a snap shot from a few months back and it does not include any foreign, international or Pre-Grant Publications… yet.
Good things continue to keep coming out of Google!
It occurs to me that the readers of the blog are, at least somewhat, focused (like everything in Washington, DC) on the Government. As a former Federal Employee, I’d like to give a shout out to my boys still working for the man — hey fellas. Maybe this post will serve as a catalyst to change the things you’re not happy about or maybe a torturous reminder that there is hope outside.
Anyways, I left the Civilian Service to pursue another, better opportunity working for a government contractor. It’s a funny relationship between the feds and their contractors, but that’s another post entirely. I got into The Office not really sure what I wanted to do when I grow up (and I still don’t, but I have gained clarity on the matter). The job consisted of reading correspondence, determining how the contents already exist in the Prior Art and then writing up a response to somebody’s lawyer. It’s not a bad job to get paid for and it’s made easier that the pay is, in actuality, pretty decent. So, it’s possible to do pretty well for yourself working at The Office. That is — if you REALLY love doing it… you must love doing it to be successful there.
In my particular case, I never really derived any satisfaction from arguing with the Lawyers, nor did the day-in-day-out grind of reading/writing appeal to my personality. I enjoy talking to people. I enjoy helping people solve problems. I REALLY enjoy using computers (software) to help people complete tasks, increase knowledge and improve efficiency. I am the first to admit that I’m a nerdy dude and I enjoy researching/learning/implementing new technologies. It seems that The Office would be a great fit for these interests, but the actual content of The Job is focused on filling out the appropriate forms and applying the appropriate statutes… NOT learning how to use a new technology.
What’s my point? If you’re looking to become a lawyer or want to make some cash: The Office might be right for you. However, I recommend that you steer clear if you’re more interested in coding, working with people, being part of a team or having a life outside work.
I quit my job at the USPTO three weeks ago. I’ve been looking for a new job for the past several months, but accepted a position to work for my old company, now named CGI Federal. I’m really excited about it and am VERY happy to be heading back into the world of technical consulting.
I started at CGI this past Monday, 11/27 and have been assigned to a client team working right downtown near the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro stop. After the clearance process wraps up, I will work primarily on client-site which will cut the commute from an hour to 15 minutes door-to-door. NICE!
All pending patent questions can be forwarded to my remaining coworkers/classmates by calling the USPTO directly.
This one will stick with me for a while… I’m sure that I’ll wake up in cold sweats screaming “GET PERPENDICULAR” in the middle of the night.
Check out Hitachi’s Flash about the newest storage technologies.
I look at a lot of Prior Art from Hitachi and it would be awesome to cite this someday.
I have business cards:
I’m pretty sure that makes it official — I work for the man. Lemme know if you’d like one and I’ll send you like 5 in the mail.
OK, so he’s a really handy guy and served as the inspiration for an economical home improvement project. I installed some much need illumination under our kitchen cabinets. The complete set of before-and-after pictures are on my Flickr site, but here’s a little teaser to get you interested:
In other news, things are pretty well set-up in the photo department. It’s possible to upload things to keep up with current events (Goal #1) and I’ll continue to add some historical content as I am available. Things at work are starting to pick up again after the holiday slump. I’ve managed to free my mind from the turkey/lasagna/tenderloin induced malaise, which makes pushing the paper a much easier task.
