Since I started my current job in 2016, we have worked with a team located in Belarus (mostly in Minsk). Over time, we have developed a deeper technical relationship with the team there however sadly we have generally neglected to visit and develop personal connections. Since taking over my team about a year ago, I became convinced that a trip to better understand the team and improve our personal relationships was appropriate. My manager agreed and it was approved. The timing came together so that I could visit before winter sets in.
On the morning of Friday the 15th I was off. My itinerary took me to Chicago, Frankfurt, and Vienna before landing in Minsk on Saturday afternoon. The flights went well and I met two of my team members (Michael and Volha) at the airport. Together we went into Minsk and Michael and I got checked into our Airbnbs. Volha helped us greatly during this process and it was very much appreciated!
After getting checked in, we had tickets for a KHL game so we were immediately off to the arena. On the way we met Dmitry and the three of us (myself, Michael, Dmitry) watched the game. The rules were quite similar to the NHL but the crowd was rowdier and more passionate than any I've seen at a NHL game. Sadly, Dinamo Minsk allowed a late goal in the 3rd which led to overtime. In overtime, Dinamo lost to Avangard in a shootout. Around midnight I got back to my Airbnb for some sleep!
On Sunday, Michael, Volha, and I visited the highest point in Belarus. While not an impressive summit, it was interesting to see the countryside and collective farms just outside of Minsk. There we met Val (a former coworker) and after summiting we then spent some time at the National Library of Belarus. The library is a very unique building with an observation deck whose views were sadly limited by the weather. We spend some time catching at the library cafe before retiring for the evening.
The week was mostly focused on work and team meetings. This was very productive and justified the expense of the trip. In the mornings before work I ran along the river, which was good for some sightseeing. We did have a team event at an escape room one night - it was a unique experience and the three of managed to escape in 45 minutes!
On the following Saturday and Sunday I spent some time at a cubing competition held at one of the universities in town. The cubing competition was enjoyable the but the language barrier was more of a problem than I expected. While not cubing I did some more sightseeing and collected a few souvenirs for the trip home. On the morning of Monday the 25th I flew home through Vienna, Frankfurt, and Denver. I just barely missed a snowstorm in Denver and was happy to be home Monday evening! Jet lag after getting home was a little bit of a problem and it took me several days to recover.
In all, I really enjoyed my time in Minsk. My team was great to spend time with and the city itself has a lot to do in a very different cultural environment than I have experienced. The only negative was the language barrier but the people were always friendly and accommodating of my poor Russian language skills. There is a chance I will return in 2020 and I am looking forward to it happening!
Minsk 2019 Photos!
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Monday, December 2, 2019
Thursday, March 7, 2013
New job... again!
On February 19th, I started my latest career adventure. Making a job change wasn't in my plans but I was contacted last Fall by a former colleague about a software developer position at Cradlepoint, a Boise-based maker of wireless (cellular and wifi) routers. Since I wasn't too interested in switching jobs, it took until January before I was eventually convinced to talk to the team in sort of an informal interview. The interview went well and perhaps most importantly I was impressed by the team and it seemed like the sort of place where I would fit in well.
Eventually they made a strong offer and I had to make a decision which took me the full week to make. After lots of waffling and indecision I ended up choosing to make the change. I wasn't excited about leaving SEL so quickly but I felt like the opportunity better matched my own career goals. It was hard to put in my notice and give up all of the great things about SEL. Even as I finished up there, I was still uncertain if I had made the right decision.
I took my birthday off in between jobs and started the day after on Tuesday the 19th. So far I've been very happy with the change - the environment is pretty fast paced and I get to work with a variety of open source technologies. The development environment features a lot of Python and JavaScript, with a variety of other languages mixed in. The office pretty much runs exclusively on Linux and MacOS, which is a first in my career but a very positive one. The gig also involves some pretty cutting-edge cloud deployment infrastructure, which has been a lot of fun to learn. I think it's important to always be learning and growing and the past two weeks have been full of that. Plus it is my first time working downtown and it is really nice to have lots of interesting lunch spots within walking distance!
Like any career change, it takes awhile to assess whether it was a good move. But so far I've been very happy with the change!
Eventually they made a strong offer and I had to make a decision which took me the full week to make. After lots of waffling and indecision I ended up choosing to make the change. I wasn't excited about leaving SEL so quickly but I felt like the opportunity better matched my own career goals. It was hard to put in my notice and give up all of the great things about SEL. Even as I finished up there, I was still uncertain if I had made the right decision.
I took my birthday off in between jobs and started the day after on Tuesday the 19th. So far I've been very happy with the change - the environment is pretty fast paced and I get to work with a variety of open source technologies. The development environment features a lot of Python and JavaScript, with a variety of other languages mixed in. The office pretty much runs exclusively on Linux and MacOS, which is a first in my career but a very positive one. The gig also involves some pretty cutting-edge cloud deployment infrastructure, which has been a lot of fun to learn. I think it's important to always be learning and growing and the past two weeks have been full of that. Plus it is my first time working downtown and it is really nice to have lots of interesting lunch spots within walking distance!
Like any career change, it takes awhile to assess whether it was a good move. But so far I've been very happy with the change!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
New Job and Pullman Trip
On March 5th I started a new job as a software engineer at Schweitzer Engineering Labs (SEL), based out of their Boise office. For various reasons, it was time for a job change. However starting this new job required that I spend three weeks in Pullman, Washington, for training. We were able to stay in a three bedroom corporate apartment just across the street from the SEL campus. We drove down from Boise on the 4th and this was mostly uneventful except for Claire crying during the last hour. The plan was that the three of us would stay in Pullman for my first week and then Katie and Claire would spend the next two weeks with the Shepherd family in Vancouver (maybe Katie will blog about that?).
My first week at work was dominated by new employee orientation. We spent some time getting to know Pullman during the week before the three of us left for Vancouver on the evening of Friday the 9th. Claire cried during the first couple of hours of this trip but went to sleep for the rest of the ride. We arrived in Vancouver around 1:30am and were tired! I spent Saturday in Vancouver before heading back to Pullman on Sunday the 11th.
My next two weeks in Pullman were pretty predictable - working, getting trained, and checking out the area as best I could. It was sad being away from my family for so long but I did get better sleep than usual! The weather in Pullman was kind of crummy while I was there (lots of cold, rain, and snow) but there was a decent weekend that allowed me to hike nearby Kamiak Butte, drive up nearby Steptoe Butte, and snowshoe Mt Spokane and Mt Kit Carson outside of Spokane. It's an interesting area for sure but I definitely like Boise a lot more!
On Thursday the 22nd Katie and Claire returned to Pullman after being driven down by Katie's siblings Megan and Dave. They had a fun road trip together and we had a nice dinner at the South Fork Public House before going to bed. Megan and Dave left Pullman on Friday morning and the three of us left right after I finished work on Friday evening. Claire behaved pretty well on this final drive and we arrived in Boise around 12:45am on Saturday morning. Instead of relaxing Saturday, I spent the day at the Boise Code Camp. But at least Sunday was a relaxing day highlighted by brunch at Bob's Sunrise Cafe with Gary and Bonnie!
Pullman Pictures!
Kamiak Butte/Steptoe Butte Hike Pictures!
Mt Spokane/Mt Kit Carson Snowshoe Pictures!
My first week at work was dominated by new employee orientation. We spent some time getting to know Pullman during the week before the three of us left for Vancouver on the evening of Friday the 9th. Claire cried during the first couple of hours of this trip but went to sleep for the rest of the ride. We arrived in Vancouver around 1:30am and were tired! I spent Saturday in Vancouver before heading back to Pullman on Sunday the 11th.
My next two weeks in Pullman were pretty predictable - working, getting trained, and checking out the area as best I could. It was sad being away from my family for so long but I did get better sleep than usual! The weather in Pullman was kind of crummy while I was there (lots of cold, rain, and snow) but there was a decent weekend that allowed me to hike nearby Kamiak Butte, drive up nearby Steptoe Butte, and snowshoe Mt Spokane and Mt Kit Carson outside of Spokane. It's an interesting area for sure but I definitely like Boise a lot more!
On Thursday the 22nd Katie and Claire returned to Pullman after being driven down by Katie's siblings Megan and Dave. They had a fun road trip together and we had a nice dinner at the South Fork Public House before going to bed. Megan and Dave left Pullman on Friday morning and the three of us left right after I finished work on Friday evening. Claire behaved pretty well on this final drive and we arrived in Boise around 12:45am on Saturday morning. Instead of relaxing Saturday, I spent the day at the Boise Code Camp. But at least Sunday was a relaxing day highlighted by brunch at Bob's Sunrise Cafe with Gary and Bonnie!
Pullman Pictures!
Kamiak Butte/Steptoe Butte Hike Pictures!
Mt Spokane/Mt Kit Carson Snowshoe Pictures!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Business Trip #3
Immediately after returning from our Vancouver trip, I had to get on a plane for a business trip to Covington, LA, where one of our offices is located. My day started with our arrival back from Vancouver just before 1am on Wednesday the 6th. After an abbreviated sleep, I woke up about 8am, went running, mowed the yard, fought fires at work, then went to the airport to fly to New Orleans. After a stop in San Francisco (a beautiful place to fly in and out of), the three of us arrived in the Crescent City at 12am Thursday morning. After arriving, we drove another 45 minutes across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway (the second longest bridge in the world!), finally getting to the hotel just after 1am. Long day!!
Thursday was our meeting day where we had engineering discussions from roughly 8-5. Lunch was from McAlister's Deli, which I didn't know still existed. They used to be around Florida in the 1990's. After an evening tour of the lab, we went to Don's for dinner and drinks. The oysters were great and I discovered a new favorite beer, Jefferson Stout. The South apparently is milk stout central which makes it awesome!
Friday was a travel day but we had some time to spend before our afternoon departure. I had a quick breakfast at the Covington Chick-Fil-A which was celebrating Cow Appreciation Day. After breakfast, we were able to squeeze in a brief walking tour of the French Quarter before heading home. After a quick cruise through Jackson Square and along Bourbon Street, we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the airport. The flight home was interesting because we ran into two other coworkers at the New Orleans airport (they were doing demos in New Iberia, LA) and one of our sales guys was on our final leg home from Denver. Clearly it was a busy week for office travel!
Business Trip Pictures!
Thursday was our meeting day where we had engineering discussions from roughly 8-5. Lunch was from McAlister's Deli, which I didn't know still existed. They used to be around Florida in the 1990's. After an evening tour of the lab, we went to Don's for dinner and drinks. The oysters were great and I discovered a new favorite beer, Jefferson Stout. The South apparently is milk stout central which makes it awesome!
Friday was a travel day but we had some time to spend before our afternoon departure. I had a quick breakfast at the Covington Chick-Fil-A which was celebrating Cow Appreciation Day. After breakfast, we were able to squeeze in a brief walking tour of the French Quarter before heading home. After a quick cruise through Jackson Square and along Bourbon Street, we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the airport. The flight home was interesting because we ran into two other coworkers at the New Orleans airport (they were doing demos in New Iberia, LA) and one of our sales guys was on our final leg home from Denver. Clearly it was a busy week for office travel!
Business Trip Pictures!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Recent Happenings
On the 20th of February, I left Boise in the morning for a 5 day business trip to Raleigh, the location of my employer's headquarters. It was a very productive trip as we discussed various strategic topics regarding our future product development. On Tuesday a group of us attended a Carolina Hurricanes game, which was great entertainment. The Hurricanes tragically lost to the Rangers in an overtime shootout despite holding a lead late in the 3rd period.
Before leaving town, we took a quick tour of downtown and checked out the North Carolina capitol and environs. It dates from 1840 which makes it far older than the much more impressive looking Idaho State Capitol!
North Carolina Legislative Building
After getting home late Thursday night, I worked Friday and proceeded to attend the Boise Code Camp on Saturday. That was an all-day affair and was a good learning experience despite me not winning any of the raffle prizes.
On Monday we had a patio cover installed, which turned out pretty well. Of course now I have to stain it...
Finally, I went to the eye doctor today for the first time in roughly 15 years. I've noticed my distance vision getting worse and I nearly failed the eye test for my recent driver's license renewal. Needless to say, the prescription was glasses. They will arrive next week, thus ending my glasses free existence.
Before leaving town, we took a quick tour of downtown and checked out the North Carolina capitol and environs. It dates from 1840 which makes it far older than the much more impressive looking Idaho State Capitol!
North Carolina Legislative Building
After getting home late Thursday night, I worked Friday and proceeded to attend the Boise Code Camp on Saturday. That was an all-day affair and was a good learning experience despite me not winning any of the raffle prizes.
On Monday we had a patio cover installed, which turned out pretty well. Of course now I have to stain it...
Finally, I went to the eye doctor today for the first time in roughly 15 years. I've noticed my distance vision getting worse and I nearly failed the eye test for my recent driver's license renewal. Needless to say, the prescription was glasses. They will arrive next week, thus ending my glasses free existence.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Office Move
My company has been doing some hiring lately and we outgrew our old office and phone system. We were literally hiring people with no place for them to sit nor a phone extension available! With the commercial real estate market being bad the company was able to get a good deal on a much bigger building. On April 30 we moved over there and we're finally starting to settle in!
Old building
Old desk. Note the snazzy Haworth Zody ergonomic chair.
New building. If you look really hard you can see the logo of Cypress Semiconductor, the former occupant of the building.
New desk
Bonus at the new building: A fridge full of free pop! Yes, that is champagne on the door!
Old building
Old desk. Note the snazzy Haworth Zody ergonomic chair.
New building. If you look really hard you can see the logo of Cypress Semiconductor, the former occupant of the building.
New desk
Bonus at the new building: A fridge full of free pop! Yes, that is champagne on the door!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Company Picnic
Katie's company had their annual office picnic on Saturday at Eagle Island State Park. Despite all of the crummy weather lately it actually turned out to be a nice day! I got to meet more of Katie's co-workers and many of their children while enjoying the hot dogs and other fare. Katie submitted two dessert items (brownies and oatmeal creme pies) for judging... hopefully she will be declared victorious!
Entrance to the day-use area
Shelter with Richard manning the grill
Lake at Eagle Island State Park
Entrance to the day-use area
Shelter with Richard manning the grill
Lake at Eagle Island State Park
Friday, March 5, 2010
Business Trip
My boss arranged a trip for several of the software developers at the Boise office to meet our counterparts at corporate headquarters in Raleigh. As part of the group chosen to travel, I was able to go on my first ever business trip! We left Boise around mid-day Wednesday and got to Raleigh just after 8pm. On the flight out of Boise we were on the same flight as Olympic biathlete Sara Studebaker who was returning to Lake Placid for more training. I'm particularly glad I didn't check a bag - not only did I save $25 in fees but the two people who checked their bags both had them miss our connection in Chicago!
Thursday we spent most of the day at the Morrisville office in a meeting with the software developers and managers from Raleigh. It was actually a very interesting and beneficial meeting as we gained a much better understanding of what really goes on from a technical perspective and how us Boiseonians could benefit from all of the software investment being made at the corporate level. I was very impressed to find a fridge stocked with free pop, great people to work with, and a generally nice office environment. After being in a conference room all day, we adjourned around 4pm to get ready for dinner. We had a nice meal at Firebirds - I had the coconut shrimp which were very good and discovered my new favorite beer: Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. It's like a light stout but with extra creaminess that I've never experienced in a beer. That stuff was so good - I wish I could somehow take some home!
Friday morning we had more meetings which included some other Raleigh staff where they explained some of their technology at the hardware/firmware level and their testing strategies. Once again, all good stuff for us to better understand the company we now work for. We also got a tour of their facility which included some interesting equipment, such as electric meter calibration gear, electro-static discharge (ESD) test equipment, an x-ray machine for identifying component failures, and even an anechoic chamber (used for RF testing). Pretty darn cool stuff! Afterwards, we picked up lunch at a Chick-Fil-A which was actually the first time several of the group had eaten there. After lunch we took a brief tour of the headquarters in Raleigh where most of the my division's management is located. We then drove around town a little before heading toward the airport to catch our various flights.
However I did not go to the airport - I scheduled a late (7:45pm) flight to Nashville so I could spend some time with my family in Tennessee. I was dropped off at the hotel and John, a friend from college and resident of Cary, NC, picked me up from the hotel just after 4pm. I got to meet his girlfriend Crystal and catch up on everything. We had a small dinner at a nearby O'Charleys before I was dropped off at the airport. From there, it was on to Tennessee for a brief family visit!
Morrisville Office
Fridge full of free pop (refilled every day)
Sensus Office in Raleigh
Thursday we spent most of the day at the Morrisville office in a meeting with the software developers and managers from Raleigh. It was actually a very interesting and beneficial meeting as we gained a much better understanding of what really goes on from a technical perspective and how us Boiseonians could benefit from all of the software investment being made at the corporate level. I was very impressed to find a fridge stocked with free pop, great people to work with, and a generally nice office environment. After being in a conference room all day, we adjourned around 4pm to get ready for dinner. We had a nice meal at Firebirds - I had the coconut shrimp which were very good and discovered my new favorite beer: Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. It's like a light stout but with extra creaminess that I've never experienced in a beer. That stuff was so good - I wish I could somehow take some home!
Friday morning we had more meetings which included some other Raleigh staff where they explained some of their technology at the hardware/firmware level and their testing strategies. Once again, all good stuff for us to better understand the company we now work for. We also got a tour of their facility which included some interesting equipment, such as electric meter calibration gear, electro-static discharge (ESD) test equipment, an x-ray machine for identifying component failures, and even an anechoic chamber (used for RF testing). Pretty darn cool stuff! Afterwards, we picked up lunch at a Chick-Fil-A which was actually the first time several of the group had eaten there. After lunch we took a brief tour of the headquarters in Raleigh where most of the my division's management is located. We then drove around town a little before heading toward the airport to catch our various flights.
However I did not go to the airport - I scheduled a late (7:45pm) flight to Nashville so I could spend some time with my family in Tennessee. I was dropped off at the hotel and John, a friend from college and resident of Cary, NC, picked me up from the hotel just after 4pm. I got to meet his girlfriend Crystal and catch up on everything. We had a small dinner at a nearby O'Charleys before I was dropped off at the airport. From there, it was on to Tennessee for a brief family visit!
Morrisville Office
Fridge full of free pop (refilled every day)
Sensus Office in Raleigh
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Katie's "On the road again..."
After we got home from our long weekend getaway to Vegas, it was back to the daily grind (booo!). Monday was my last day at my old job; Tuesday began the adventure of my new position as Sales Support for the Los Angeles area. After 2.5 years in the Documentation department, having learned all I could & having been frustrated by management issues, it was high time for a change, and I was especially excited to find out a couple of weeks ago that my new position would begin with a business trip to LA!
Having never been to LA (or on a business trip for that matter!), I was very excited to head down there, especially since it was on the company's dime! My travelling companions consisted of my new supervisor, along with 2 other team members; the 4 of us come from non-sales backgrounds, and therefore needed some training in the basics. One other team member travelled on his own to Seattle for training, as he'll be covering the Pacific Northwest region. We left Boise on Tuesday morning, landed in LA after a 2 hour flight (uneventful but loud, since the plane was a little puddlejumper with propellors, and we happened to be sitting right behind them!).
We spent our days in Torrance (the area of LA where NYK's sales office is located) training and learning the accounts we'll be covering. I expected that this might be a little awkward, since we were being trained by the people we'll be replacing, but they were all very nice & extremely helpful. Luckily there was no animosity! On the first evening (Tuesday), we were taken out for dinner to the Yard House by our supervisor's boss and the Vice President of Sales for all of North America. This was an intimidating prospect, but they're both very nice, very genuine people, and the VP of Sales was very interested in learning about us and what we thought of all the changes taking place. This restaurant was right on the Long Beach Marina, so we had a beautiful view, and the food was amazing. They're also home of the World's Largest Beer List, which WAS ridiculously long! I abstained from beer, but was blown away by the sheer volume of choices...Zach & I will have to go to this restaurant if we ever get to LA/Long Beach. I had the Ahi Crunchy Salad, which was very yummy...I figured I should take advantage of the fresh seafood while in LA!
The next night, after a solid day of traning, we were taken out for dinner by one of the area Sales Reps, to Panama Joe's. Similar to the night before, I knew I wanted more fresh seafood, so I had their "world-famous" grilled fish tacos, which were amazing. The fish was Mahi-Mahi, and it was perfectly cooked. The combination of fresh flour tortillas, grilled fish, cabbage slaw & lemony guacamole was excellent; this is another place I would definitely recommend if anyone's in the LA area looking for fresh Mexican food.
We flew back to Boise on Thursday night, full of ridiculous amounts of information! It was a great trip, but after a long weekend in Vegas, a day of recovery and whirlwind trip to LA, it was definitely nice to be home! I wish we'd had a chance to do more sight-seeing in LA & Long Beach, but at least we got out for some good meals and good company. Plus, I bonded with my new team members and my (very cool) supervisor - she's maybe a few years older than me, and very nice. Plus, she doesn't believe in micro-managing, which is a refreshing change!
I'm very excited about this new position, and am 100% certain that I made the right decision in applying for and accepting it. I was so burnt out in my old position and knew that it wasn't going anywhere and wouldn't be getting any less annoying, so I really think it was high time for a change. I'm definitely nervous about how "visible" all this will be, since many people in corporate positions will be watching to see how this transition from LA to Boise unfolds, but I'm confident that our team brings a lot of diverse knowledge & differing perspectives to the table and I have no doubt that we'll be able to handle it!
Sorry for the ridiculously long post! I guess I had a lot to report on! Have a great week!
Love,
Katie
Having never been to LA (or on a business trip for that matter!), I was very excited to head down there, especially since it was on the company's dime! My travelling companions consisted of my new supervisor, along with 2 other team members; the 4 of us come from non-sales backgrounds, and therefore needed some training in the basics. One other team member travelled on his own to Seattle for training, as he'll be covering the Pacific Northwest region. We left Boise on Tuesday morning, landed in LA after a 2 hour flight (uneventful but loud, since the plane was a little puddlejumper with propellors, and we happened to be sitting right behind them!).
We spent our days in Torrance (the area of LA where NYK's sales office is located) training and learning the accounts we'll be covering. I expected that this might be a little awkward, since we were being trained by the people we'll be replacing, but they were all very nice & extremely helpful. Luckily there was no animosity! On the first evening (Tuesday), we were taken out for dinner to the Yard House by our supervisor's boss and the Vice President of Sales for all of North America. This was an intimidating prospect, but they're both very nice, very genuine people, and the VP of Sales was very interested in learning about us and what we thought of all the changes taking place. This restaurant was right on the Long Beach Marina, so we had a beautiful view, and the food was amazing. They're also home of the World's Largest Beer List, which WAS ridiculously long! I abstained from beer, but was blown away by the sheer volume of choices...Zach & I will have to go to this restaurant if we ever get to LA/Long Beach. I had the Ahi Crunchy Salad, which was very yummy...I figured I should take advantage of the fresh seafood while in LA!
The next night, after a solid day of traning, we were taken out for dinner by one of the area Sales Reps, to Panama Joe's. Similar to the night before, I knew I wanted more fresh seafood, so I had their "world-famous" grilled fish tacos, which were amazing. The fish was Mahi-Mahi, and it was perfectly cooked. The combination of fresh flour tortillas, grilled fish, cabbage slaw & lemony guacamole was excellent; this is another place I would definitely recommend if anyone's in the LA area looking for fresh Mexican food.
We flew back to Boise on Thursday night, full of ridiculous amounts of information! It was a great trip, but after a long weekend in Vegas, a day of recovery and whirlwind trip to LA, it was definitely nice to be home! I wish we'd had a chance to do more sight-seeing in LA & Long Beach, but at least we got out for some good meals and good company. Plus, I bonded with my new team members and my (very cool) supervisor - she's maybe a few years older than me, and very nice. Plus, she doesn't believe in micro-managing, which is a refreshing change!
I'm very excited about this new position, and am 100% certain that I made the right decision in applying for and accepting it. I was so burnt out in my old position and knew that it wasn't going anywhere and wouldn't be getting any less annoying, so I really think it was high time for a change. I'm definitely nervous about how "visible" all this will be, since many people in corporate positions will be watching to see how this transition from LA to Boise unfolds, but I'm confident that our team brings a lot of diverse knowledge & differing perspectives to the table and I have no doubt that we'll be able to handle it!
Sorry for the ridiculously long post! I guess I had a lot to report on! Have a great week!
Love,
Katie
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Corporate Buyout
Less than two weeks ago, Telemetric (my employer) had an all-staff meeting scheduled on short notice which included catered Goodwood BBQ. This was all highly unusual and many of us had suspicions that something was up. Sure enough, the meeting was hosted by two executives and a HR guy from Sensus, the company we learned was purchasing Telemetric.
Today the deal became official so I can safely blog about it. I am now a Sensus employee! Sensus is a large company (over 100x larger in revenue than Telemetric), one of whose divisions involves wireless water and gas metering. They were looking to get into power distribution (Telemetric's expertise) since that gives them a more complete product line to offer utilities. Rather than build their own business to compete with Telemetric, they opted to buy us.
Of course we're all a little wary about now being part of a big company with headquarters far away. Despite not getting huge buyout checks allowing us to retire early, it seems like this will be a good thing for all of us. The benefits and holidays are much better, plus we benefit from having much stronger financial backing. We all got to keep our jobs and we'll also be staying in Boise. We have an existing partnership with Sensus and they've been great to work with and overall they seem like they will be a good corporate parent.
For the immediate future, things will be pretty much the same as they have been but with a different company issuing the paychecks. At any rate, it seems like a pretty good outcome and I'm happy with it!
Today the deal became official so I can safely blog about it. I am now a Sensus employee! Sensus is a large company (over 100x larger in revenue than Telemetric), one of whose divisions involves wireless water and gas metering. They were looking to get into power distribution (Telemetric's expertise) since that gives them a more complete product line to offer utilities. Rather than build their own business to compete with Telemetric, they opted to buy us.
Of course we're all a little wary about now being part of a big company with headquarters far away. Despite not getting huge buyout checks allowing us to retire early, it seems like this will be a good thing for all of us. The benefits and holidays are much better, plus we benefit from having much stronger financial backing. We all got to keep our jobs and we'll also be staying in Boise. We have an existing partnership with Sensus and they've been great to work with and overall they seem like they will be a good corporate parent.
For the immediate future, things will be pretty much the same as they have been but with a different company issuing the paychecks. At any rate, it seems like a pretty good outcome and I'm happy with it!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Another Exciting Installment of "Vickery World" News
Yes, that's right folks, it's time for Katie's 2nd blog post ever! I like to keep you waiting :-)
First things first - As of Thursday, I am officially 30+1. I had a great birthday (even though I had to work!), and then Zach & I went to a great sushi place here in Boise (yes, that's right, I said the words "great sushi" and "Boise" in the same sentence!). The restaurant is called Fujiyama, and we ended up getting an assortment of sushi rolls & a couple of pieces of salmon & spicy scallop sashimi, along with an appetizer of gyoza (potstickers, I guess, would be an equivalent). All of it was very good, and we enjoyed every bite! For a restaurant serving mostly seafood-based dishes, and being in such a dry, land-locked state, this restaurant had very good quality sushi - we were pleasantly surprised! After dinner we came back to the house & I opened all my wonderful & thoughtful presents & cards from everyone - so very generous of all of you! Thank you! Don't worry, Grandma, this is not the only thank you anyone will get from me! ;-) It was a great birthday, full of lots of love & good wishes...what more could a girl ask for?!
In other news, I got a new job today! It's still with the same company (NYK Line), but it's in a different department. As of July 7th, I will officially be a Sales Support Specialist for the West Coast of the US. It's a pretty exciting move for me, since a lot of this job will be completely new, but basically I'll be one of a team of Sales Support people, working with the Sales Reps (who go out to the customers & sign/extend service contracts), and our Corporate office to make sure the service contracts are filed correctly & to take care of fixing anything that is incorrectly filed. I've spent the last 1 1/2 years working as a Revenue Analyst, which required me to work closely with interpreting & applying the shipper's service contracts, in order to add rates & charges to bills, so now I'll be working on the other side of things - actually filing & following up on the service contracts.
The team I'm joining is made up of 6 other people from different departments within our office, so it will be interesting for us all to come at this position with such varied knowledge and experience in the shipping industry. I'm really excited about the move, mostly because I was getting very frustrated with the job I have been doing, as it's gotten pretty monotonous & downright annoying! This is a very welcome change!
Zach is planning a hike tomorrow, with a couple of guys, so as long as the weather in Eastern Oregon holds up alright, he should have a pretty nice trip. I'm planning on running errands & getting some reading done. On Sunday, we'll be heading over to Gary & Bonnie's for a barbeque, to celebrate Father's Day for Gary & also my birthday. It'll be a wonderful time with great food and company!
Have a wonderful weekend!
First things first - As of Thursday, I am officially 30+1. I had a great birthday (even though I had to work!), and then Zach & I went to a great sushi place here in Boise (yes, that's right, I said the words "great sushi" and "Boise" in the same sentence!). The restaurant is called Fujiyama, and we ended up getting an assortment of sushi rolls & a couple of pieces of salmon & spicy scallop sashimi, along with an appetizer of gyoza (potstickers, I guess, would be an equivalent). All of it was very good, and we enjoyed every bite! For a restaurant serving mostly seafood-based dishes, and being in such a dry, land-locked state, this restaurant had very good quality sushi - we were pleasantly surprised! After dinner we came back to the house & I opened all my wonderful & thoughtful presents & cards from everyone - so very generous of all of you! Thank you! Don't worry, Grandma, this is not the only thank you anyone will get from me! ;-) It was a great birthday, full of lots of love & good wishes...what more could a girl ask for?!
In other news, I got a new job today! It's still with the same company (NYK Line), but it's in a different department. As of July 7th, I will officially be a Sales Support Specialist for the West Coast of the US. It's a pretty exciting move for me, since a lot of this job will be completely new, but basically I'll be one of a team of Sales Support people, working with the Sales Reps (who go out to the customers & sign/extend service contracts), and our Corporate office to make sure the service contracts are filed correctly & to take care of fixing anything that is incorrectly filed. I've spent the last 1 1/2 years working as a Revenue Analyst, which required me to work closely with interpreting & applying the shipper's service contracts, in order to add rates & charges to bills, so now I'll be working on the other side of things - actually filing & following up on the service contracts.
The team I'm joining is made up of 6 other people from different departments within our office, so it will be interesting for us all to come at this position with such varied knowledge and experience in the shipping industry. I'm really excited about the move, mostly because I was getting very frustrated with the job I have been doing, as it's gotten pretty monotonous & downright annoying! This is a very welcome change!
Zach is planning a hike tomorrow, with a couple of guys, so as long as the weather in Eastern Oregon holds up alright, he should have a pretty nice trip. I'm planning on running errands & getting some reading done. On Sunday, we'll be heading over to Gary & Bonnie's for a barbeque, to celebrate Father's Day for Gary & also my birthday. It'll be a wonderful time with great food and company!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Alert the media! It's Katie's first blog post!
So, now that this blog has aged like a fine wine, I figured it was time for me to actually post on here. Zach has been amazing at keeping everyone in the loop, muuuuuuch better than I could ever do (obviously!). Given that my work environment is currently in in state of upheaval, I thought that would make an exciting first post!
So, here we go! I apologize in advance for the length & the rambling tone!
Zach mentioned in a previous post that all of the temporary people in my department were being let go, for cost-cutting reasons, and that by the end of February, all temps employed by all NYK offices in North American would be gone. We just found out on Monday that the final day had been pushed up, and that all temps will in fact be gone by this Friday! This will be a huge blow to our department, since it's basically 50% temps, 50% full time employees...by Monday morning, 8 people will be doing the work of 16. The idea of this is a tiny bit more manageable right now, given the fact that the shipping industry is quite slow, and our workload has decreased considerably over the last couple of months, but when the volume picks up again, this could prove problematic!
As background, and in seemingly unrelated news, our department has had 5 extra bodies helping us with our workload since October, in the form of NYK employees from our office in Manila, Phillipines. When they arrived, we were simply told that they would be helping us with production, since, at the time, we were slammed with work, and it was cheaper to bring employees from overseas to stay in hotels than it was to hire more temps locally. More on this development shortly...
Yesterday (Tuesday) the full-timers were pulled into a meeting with our management team & their boss. We were told that, due to the state of the economy, NYK would be outsourcing the documentation process (document creation & rate application) to the Manila Documentation team...some of whom have been helping us out since October. Additionally, the Regional Documentation offices in Chicago & Vancouver will be closing in May, leaving the Boise Documentation center (or centre, for our Canadian readers!) and the Toronto Documentation centre as the only Doc centers in North America. Apparently NYK is the last carrier (shipping company) to outsource the Documentation aspect of the process. Our job descriptions will be changing completely, and my understanding is that our main purpose will be liasing between the customers and the Manila Doc team.
So, the times, they are a-changing! This is the 2nd job I have had where my job has been outsources (when we lived in Tumwater, the medical billing company I worked for outsourced my job to India). I have definitely been lucky, since I haven't actually lost my job either time, I've just been "repositioned" to something different. In this particular situation, the outsourcers are at least of the same company, and are used to working with the same programs and procedures...hopefully this will make the transition a little smoother than Zach's experience with Micron.
I have yet to be told exactly what my new position will be, and will update when I find out. It's been a crazy couple of days, and I'm sure the next couple of months will be interesting (to say the least), but I'm just glad to be able to say that I have a job. In this economy, that's definitely something to be very thankful for! As Zach said, when I told him of the latest developments, "I guess we're the new American model - a two income household with both jobs having been outsourced in the span of a year". Sad but true...and like I said, at least we've both been lucky enough to keep our jobs (or find new, better ones, in Zach's case).
Well, after that lovely, uplifting blog post, I'm sure you'd all like me to never post again! My apologies for the length of the post...I'm not known for my conciseness! I will try very hard to be a more active blogger & help keep everyone informed.
I think that's about all the news to report from here!
Love,
Katie
So, here we go! I apologize in advance for the length & the rambling tone!
Zach mentioned in a previous post that all of the temporary people in my department were being let go, for cost-cutting reasons, and that by the end of February, all temps employed by all NYK offices in North American would be gone. We just found out on Monday that the final day had been pushed up, and that all temps will in fact be gone by this Friday! This will be a huge blow to our department, since it's basically 50% temps, 50% full time employees...by Monday morning, 8 people will be doing the work of 16. The idea of this is a tiny bit more manageable right now, given the fact that the shipping industry is quite slow, and our workload has decreased considerably over the last couple of months, but when the volume picks up again, this could prove problematic!
As background, and in seemingly unrelated news, our department has had 5 extra bodies helping us with our workload since October, in the form of NYK employees from our office in Manila, Phillipines. When they arrived, we were simply told that they would be helping us with production, since, at the time, we were slammed with work, and it was cheaper to bring employees from overseas to stay in hotels than it was to hire more temps locally. More on this development shortly...
Yesterday (Tuesday) the full-timers were pulled into a meeting with our management team & their boss. We were told that, due to the state of the economy, NYK would be outsourcing the documentation process (document creation & rate application) to the Manila Documentation team...some of whom have been helping us out since October. Additionally, the Regional Documentation offices in Chicago & Vancouver will be closing in May, leaving the Boise Documentation center (or centre, for our Canadian readers!) and the Toronto Documentation centre as the only Doc centers in North America. Apparently NYK is the last carrier (shipping company) to outsource the Documentation aspect of the process. Our job descriptions will be changing completely, and my understanding is that our main purpose will be liasing between the customers and the Manila Doc team.
So, the times, they are a-changing! This is the 2nd job I have had where my job has been outsources (when we lived in Tumwater, the medical billing company I worked for outsourced my job to India). I have definitely been lucky, since I haven't actually lost my job either time, I've just been "repositioned" to something different. In this particular situation, the outsourcers are at least of the same company, and are used to working with the same programs and procedures...hopefully this will make the transition a little smoother than Zach's experience with Micron.
I have yet to be told exactly what my new position will be, and will update when I find out. It's been a crazy couple of days, and I'm sure the next couple of months will be interesting (to say the least), but I'm just glad to be able to say that I have a job. In this economy, that's definitely something to be very thankful for! As Zach said, when I told him of the latest developments, "I guess we're the new American model - a two income household with both jobs having been outsourced in the span of a year". Sad but true...and like I said, at least we've both been lucky enough to keep our jobs (or find new, better ones, in Zach's case).
Well, after that lovely, uplifting blog post, I'm sure you'd all like me to never post again! My apologies for the length of the post...I'm not known for my conciseness! I will try very hard to be a more active blogger & help keep everyone informed.
I think that's about all the news to report from here!
Love,
Katie
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Career Related Ramblings
Since a couple of people have asked for it, this post is a more detailed explanation of my current job - what the company does, what I do there, and what it's like working there.
In November 2008 I resigned as a software engineer at Micron Technology to take a position as a software engineer at Telemetric Corporation. Telemetric's business model is based around selling equipment and services to help utility companies wirelessly monitor equipment in power distribution networks. Because the company's products use the celluar network, they allow remote monitoring of substation equipment without the need for on-site personnel or physical communication lines. These products align the with the current smart grid initiatives, which are intended to make the power grid more fault tolerant, adaptable, and more easily managed.
Once a distribution system is equipped with Telemetric devices, a utility can manage intelligent electronic devices in their distribution network remotely. This means configuration changes can be initiated from the utility's control center rather than requiring a truck be sent out to a remote substation. A monitoring system called a SCADA System can be used to continuously monitor and control devices in the field over the wireless network. Alternately, Telemetric maintains a website for those customers who do not have a SCADA system so they too can monitor and control their devices in the field.
The engineering team has two main groups, a hardware group (which designs and builds the devices) and a smaller software team which maintains the software side (SCADA integration code and the web applications which allow remote monitoring and control). I'm in the software group; my main project to date have been writing software to automatically test the devices. I suspect that my future projects will include website enhancements and possibly also enhancements to the code used for SCADA integration.
So far, it has been a positive change for my career. The work has been interesting and Telemetric is a well-run profitable company with good people. With the economy being what it is, it's hard to feel too comfortable with any job but right now things seem to be as stable as they can be.
In November 2008 I resigned as a software engineer at Micron Technology to take a position as a software engineer at Telemetric Corporation. Telemetric's business model is based around selling equipment and services to help utility companies wirelessly monitor equipment in power distribution networks. Because the company's products use the celluar network, they allow remote monitoring of substation equipment without the need for on-site personnel or physical communication lines. These products align the with the current smart grid initiatives, which are intended to make the power grid more fault tolerant, adaptable, and more easily managed.
Once a distribution system is equipped with Telemetric devices, a utility can manage intelligent electronic devices in their distribution network remotely. This means configuration changes can be initiated from the utility's control center rather than requiring a truck be sent out to a remote substation. A monitoring system called a SCADA System can be used to continuously monitor and control devices in the field over the wireless network. Alternately, Telemetric maintains a website for those customers who do not have a SCADA system so they too can monitor and control their devices in the field.
The engineering team has two main groups, a hardware group (which designs and builds the devices) and a smaller software team which maintains the software side (SCADA integration code and the web applications which allow remote monitoring and control). I'm in the software group; my main project to date have been writing software to automatically test the devices. I suspect that my future projects will include website enhancements and possibly also enhancements to the code used for SCADA integration.
So far, it has been a positive change for my career. The work has been interesting and Telemetric is a well-run profitable company with good people. With the economy being what it is, it's hard to feel too comfortable with any job but right now things seem to be as stable as they can be.
Friday, November 7, 2008
New Job!
Two years ago, I decided to accept a position as a software engineer with Micron in Boise. The company was doing well, hiring, paying generously, and offering relocation to Boise. It seemed like a good financial move and it has proved to be one. However, roughly 8 months after my start date, the company decided its IS (information systems) costs were too high and decided to outsource as much of its IS department as possible. This was slightly problematic because my relocation assistance included a two year commitment for which the penalty was full reimbursement. In other words, I was stuck if they chose to keep me!
It turned out they went with a 50% headcount reduction, with all of that being workers and none of it being management. Even though management created the cost problem, they certainly weren't the ones to be held accountable! For some unknown reason, my position was retained. In February and March, I had to record training sessions to teach the replacement workers how to do my job. By early May, my team had went from 14 employees to 4 (of which I was the only remaining software developer). Once my team was gone and my job duties outsourced, nobody seemed to know what I should be doing. It was at this time that I realized that November 6, 2008, would be an important date - it was the date my relocation commitment expired!
Once I had no team and sat adrift in a sea of vacant cubes, I ended up working on low priority projects by myself for roughly 4 months, until the work ran out. After that, I was left with a bunch of idle time waiting for management to reconfigure themselves so they could tell me what to do. Lots of great web surfing was accomplished during these days. There's nothing like having a meaningless job in a stink-pit post-apocalyptic cube farm downwind from the sugar beet processing plant!
In October, after approximately six months of me performing useless work, the management team decided I should work on their business intelligence systems, an area in which I have had no training or experience. But they had gotten rid of all of the previous developers and I was twiddling my thumbs, so I guess it made a good fit (in the Micron sort of way). Fortunately by this time I had starting interviewing elsewhere!
I had two leads but only one made an offer: Telemetric. I was very impressed by this company during my interview and they seemed very interested in bringing me on board. The company is doing well and the position seems well suited to my skills and desired career path. I start as a senior software engineer on November 17th.
Today, one day after my relocation commitment expired, I had the pleasure of informing management that my time of needlessly consuming company money was over. They have tight budget reduction goals to hit, you know! Anyway, I put in my notice at about 9:30am and was out the door just after 12pm! Woohoo! Freedom!
But before my career path continues on its meandering journey, one thing remains.... Vacation! To Florida!!
It turned out they went with a 50% headcount reduction, with all of that being workers and none of it being management. Even though management created the cost problem, they certainly weren't the ones to be held accountable! For some unknown reason, my position was retained. In February and March, I had to record training sessions to teach the replacement workers how to do my job. By early May, my team had went from 14 employees to 4 (of which I was the only remaining software developer). Once my team was gone and my job duties outsourced, nobody seemed to know what I should be doing. It was at this time that I realized that November 6, 2008, would be an important date - it was the date my relocation commitment expired!
Once I had no team and sat adrift in a sea of vacant cubes, I ended up working on low priority projects by myself for roughly 4 months, until the work ran out. After that, I was left with a bunch of idle time waiting for management to reconfigure themselves so they could tell me what to do. Lots of great web surfing was accomplished during these days. There's nothing like having a meaningless job in a stink-pit post-apocalyptic cube farm downwind from the sugar beet processing plant!
In October, after approximately six months of me performing useless work, the management team decided I should work on their business intelligence systems, an area in which I have had no training or experience. But they had gotten rid of all of the previous developers and I was twiddling my thumbs, so I guess it made a good fit (in the Micron sort of way). Fortunately by this time I had starting interviewing elsewhere!
I had two leads but only one made an offer: Telemetric. I was very impressed by this company during my interview and they seemed very interested in bringing me on board. The company is doing well and the position seems well suited to my skills and desired career path. I start as a senior software engineer on November 17th.
Today, one day after my relocation commitment expired, I had the pleasure of informing management that my time of needlessly consuming company money was over. They have tight budget reduction goals to hit, you know! Anyway, I put in my notice at about 9:30am and was out the door just after 12pm! Woohoo! Freedom!
But before my career path continues on its meandering journey, one thing remains.... Vacation! To Florida!!
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