Dunno, haven't entirely decided.

My company is hiring in downtown Atlanta. I know we need software development types. Skills in Python or Java are certainly needed, but other languages also. We are sort of a super ISP providing Cloud services and Content Data Network. We also need several QA people. Also probably other areas of our technology company.

Our office is right in downtown Atlanta, in the American Cancer Society Center, which is attached to the Merchandise Mart. We look down on Centennial park and the Atlanta Aquarium.

If you might be qualified, please send me a resume, and I will pass it on.

This article should be put in Middle School text books. It is a wonderful illustration of both the scientific process and the mindset of a scientist.

Blood from Stone

Mounting evidence from dinosaur bones shows that, contrary to common belief, organic materials can sometimes survive in fossils for millions of years

(included the scariest picture that I have ever taken.)

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Great picture!

Alien dirt!!!!!

Wow. No, seriously, a big nerdy, wow. This is the first controlled sample we have from any body beyond Earth and the Moon.

Road Runner, by the Sex Pistols.

The wise philosopher max_ambiguity once stated that when choosing one's actions, one should choose naps above all other things. I find that I must disagree with this maxim, as the eating of pie, should supersede even naps in importance.

This was a crazy week in job hunting.

Tuesday I was called by a recruiter for Company A. Company A is very interested in my resume and would like to see me right away. Can I be available for an interview at 8:30am Wednesday or possibly 7:30am on Thursday. Sure, not a problem for me I will hold those times open.

I am looking a little shaggy, so I go in for a haircut. I mention that I have an interview and she gives me a "lucky" haircut.

Later that day I have a phone interview with Company B. Interview lasts an hour and a half, rambles around a bit, but the interviewer seems to be enjoying it, which, in my mind, is usually a good sign.

I call the recruiter for Company A at 6:00pm and ask for a status, should I be there at 8:30 the next morning? She will check and get back to me.

7:00 I get a call, can I be in at 9:00 the next morning? Kind of short notice, but sure. Oh, and can I meet the recruiter fifteen minutes before that. Ok, not a problem, I can iron a shirt and put on a suit in twelve hours.

I arrive a few minutes before that, meet the recruiter and am sent up to the office. Interviewer is fifteen minutes late, so actual interview starts at 9:15. Walk through the development area. Actual scrums going on, pair programming, wow, this is a real Agile shop, I thought those were like unicorns. Into the conference room, joined by another manager. Begin interview....And is over by 9:30. Um. Wow? Kind of crazy, but ok. They tell me that they are going to move fast.

I think I should let the recruiter for Company B know, in case they move this week, so I stop at a coffee shop and give her a call. I had a good interview, but think Company B might be a better fit for me. We might need to move quickly.

Before I can finish my cappuccino and bagel, the recruiter for Company A calls back. Oh, good, a second interview, probably in depth this time. No, not a second interview, an offer. O'rly? K. Three month contract with possible extension or permanent. Will I accept the offer? Um. Well, that is kind of short notice, can you give me until the end of the day? The client would like an answer, but can probably wait a few hours.

So I call back recruiter for Company B, I have an offer on the table, but would really don't want to discount Company B. Could they possibly let me know by end of day if they want to move forward with me? I will keep my self ready to talk with or visit them on a few minutes notice. Recruiter promises me a call before 5:00 so I can make a decision.

I spend the next four hours sitting in my suit trying not to wrinkle. Or fidget, sweat, wilt, or collect dog and cat hair. Recruiter for Company B calls back, Can I talk to someone else from Company B in an hour? Talk to Bill for almost an hour, all good. Call recruiter and remind them of the 5:00 deadline. Sit and fret for a while longer. Recruiter calls at 4:45, can I be at company B at 9:30am tomorrow to meet with many people. Sure, I can do that, thank them for moving fast.

I call back recruiter for Company A and tell him that I cannot possibly make a decision for another 24 hours. I will let them know whether I will accept the offer by 5:00pm on Thursday. They aren't happy, but will accept it.

Bright and early at 9:05 the next morning I am in heading for Company B's office. I am supposed to meet Recruiter B's account manager outside there office at 9:15. Recruiter calls to ensure that I am on the way and causes me to miss the turn, she also tells me that the person I am to meet with is the woman I talked to before, plus a few minutes with "Rick, the Colorado Cowbow". Even with the missed turn, 10 minutes later I am outside their office. No account manager. Ok. I call the recruiter, oops, Account Manager will not make it, can I go in on my own. Um.. Yeah, I think I can walk the last thirty feet by myself.

I wait a few minutes and walk on in. Sign in and tell them who I am to meet. Well, the woman I am to meet is running late due to traffic, so I will meet with Rick first. And Rick is that guy behind you in the jeans and birkenstocks. Cool! Seems like my kind of place. Rick and I talk for an hour. Then Rick calls in Lars and Bill. Can I do some programming analyst exercise? Sure, a couple exercises done pretty well later. Everybody seems pleased. Anna is here and can talk to me now. We chat for almost another hour. Over three hours for this interview after two and a half hours of telephone interviews. Actually it kind of felt like they were busy deciding to hire me, rather than the opposite. Sounds good.

Call the recruiter, tell her it went well, but I really need some sort of answer by the end of the day, since I promised the other company an answer.

A short time later a recruiter for Company C calls. Company C, who I talked with a month ago, would really like me to come in for another position that has come up. Well, I have an offer on the table, and am hoping for another one every minute. Company C would really really like me to come in. Can I come in tomorrow at 1:30pm. Sure, Always worth having more options.

4:00, no news. I am hoping this means that they are trying to work out an offer, I think a "no" would have happened faster. So I call the recruiter and urge something soon. Unfortunately recruiter has to leave office, and is turning things over others at the office. Please call them in a half hour if you haven't heard.

I wait, then call, no word. Another twenty minutes. 4:50. Other recruiter has already called asking for an answer. Recruiter calls, Sorry they can't make an offer, they have other candidates and it is too fast. Hopefully they will have more positions open in a few months when the contract with Company B is over. Ok, sigh. I can accept this.

I call back Company B and say that yes, I will take the job. Bird in the hand and all that. Fantastic, recruiter says. You need to sign a million papers and go in tomorrow to pee in a cup. Well, good thing that I haven't had even a single poppy seed in the past two months.

Morning, Filling out paperwork. I go ahead and suit up for the 1:30 interview and go by the drug test lab. Do my duty and head off to company C.

Two plus hours. Good interview. Lots of detail, people have not only read my resume, but have actually googled things like my patent. Good stuff. Wouldn't mind working for these people. Ok, given the choice, company B would be my third choice, but still good. I can live with it, and when my contract is over I can probably reapproach these companies. Not a bad situation to be in.

As I am leaving I notice that I have a missed call. It is recruiter for Company A. Call her back. Company A is very interested, any chance I am still available. Hmm. Well, I haven't actually started with company B, so I can still turn the "Yes" into a "No". But once I start, I feel obligated to fulfill at least a large portion of the contract, if not the full thing. Ok, says the recruiter, we will try to arrange something today.

I start driving home. Recruiter calls back. Yes, they want to try to do something today, can I meet with Bobby? Sure, I am on 285, shall I take a right on 400 and head down to the company A? We will call you back. They call back, but I am past 400. Shall I turn on 85? Yes, head on in, we will finalize the time as you drive in. Almost there and I get a call, Yes, they want me in person at 4:30. I can hang out for a little while and come in. Good thing I am already in my suit and all.

4:30, meet with Bobby. All is good. Go with Anna and talk to HR. HR head is on the phone and we have to wait for a while outside the office. HR comes out and says no way to get an official offer today. All right, can you give me a verbal offer with an amount? Yeah, I think we can do that, let us work out a number.

Fifteen minutes later, I have a verbal offer from the company I really want to work for. I give a verbal acceptance. Proper forms to follow.

Good enough for me. 6:00 on Friday, and I have a job. I start sometime no later than the fifteenth. I call back Company A recruiter and let them know that I will have to turn my "Yes" into a "No".

I guess that haircut really was lucky.

Interviews with three companies this week. Two offers. I have accepted one and will be starting no later than the fifteenth.

Good interview this morning. Short, amazingly short, but that seems to be what they wanted. (Literally fifteen minutes.) But ended up that I think I might get an offer out of it.

Another good interview on Monday, with a different company. Long, interviewer seemed really interested in what I was saying, kept going on (over an hour). Again, I think that is what they wanted. But I may end up with an offer from them as well.

Please cross fingers, pray, sacrifice goats, or smugly stand aloof for me.

Mountaintop mining plans close to defeat Hooray!

Another Teabagger (male) beats up a liberal protester (female). Real winners, these guys. Thanks to flemco

Apparently these myths are still circulating. I thought they had been quashed.

1. President Obama tripled the deficit.
2. President Obama bailed out the banks.
3. The stimulus didn't work.
4. Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
5. Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
6. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
7. Government spending takes money out of the economy.

Those are all wrong. Every one.

Update: The Rand Paul Campaign has denounced the actions and the staffer

When you are done looking for lost cats, here is your daily dose of WTF. Courtesy of flemco.

This big fellow was wandering around our backyard this morning. If you know who he might belong to, let me know. Decatur, Georgia, near the Cemetery.

yeah, I am a procrastinator.