First Dozen Observations

Well, here I am - a squatter in my best friend's Brooklyn apartment, feeling like a real New Yorker. And as a New Yorker for an entire 25 days, I believe I'm supposed to have observations to share with the world. Well, you'll be so excited to hear that I indeed have made a list of observations for you to consume! Here they are:

1. Grocery shopping is hard.

On my first attempt to buy some basic grocery items, I didn't bring a tote bag with me, so I just used the plastic bags at the store. I made it about 20 feet out the door when the bag in my right hand ripped open dropping several items onto the busy Brooklyn sidewalk. I reach down to pick them up when the bag in my left hand decides to follow suit, sending a bottle of conditioner rolling towards the street. Sometimes you just need to take a moment and laugh at how ridiculous you look in certain moments. I decided to put what I could in my pockets, hold the conditioner in my left hand, and attempt to carry the remaining items in the torn bags by holding them by the bottom. For some reason I decided that was my best option, rather than admitting defeat and going back to ask for more bags. Miraculously, that worked. Seriously, I don't know how. I was gradually losing grip on the bags and I think if I had had another block to go, I wouldn't have made it. So, double bag, or bring your own out here.

On the plus side, I came back and played with a cat and watched Cheers the rest of the day.

2. It is possible to get a girl's phone number.

After my first day of work, Matt and I went to what is apparently an oddly placed tourist trap in The Village called Jekyll and Hyde. Every so often, a pre-programmed "special effects" show consisting of lighting, animatronics, and a sound system with a bad connection would engage. There was also an area where you could pay $2 to be harassed by an "actor." After bonding with the bar tender about how shitty the bar is, we went next door to an Italian place with rooftop seating and $5 mojitos and margaritas. Unfortunately the roof was full, so we sat at the bar waiting for a table. Fortunately, the bar tender was cute and fun to talk to. We'll call her Amy. She was from North Carolina, but wants to move to China to teach English, followed by an isolated village in Alaska... because she likes extremes, and might be a little bit crazy. The host informed us there were tables available, but seemed to understand we we're going to be moving from the bar. For some reason, her bar closes at 11, so she gave me her phone number and we met up for another drink in SoHo after her shift ended. During this time I started to get the sense we might not actually be compatible. See, she was a communist, and I'm a libertarian. She was kind of a hippie, and I have an a job in a high-rise office building in the financial district. I just moved to New York; she hates it here. About 3/4 of the way through finishing our drinks, she said "let's go" then immediately got up and left. Outside, Amy proclaimed "I can't stand to be in a place with air conditioning." Again, might be a little crazy. We walked to the subway station where we talked for another twenty minutes or so before saying our goodbyes. I don't think we'll see each other again for a number of reasons, but it was a fun night, and a nice confidence boost for life in my new city.

3. My office building has a great view.

4. My apartment does not.

Brooklyn's not so exciting, though I'm only here for another month, then I'll have a place in Manhattan.

5. My job is pretty great.

I have a hexagon office.

And a desk which goes up and down for both sitting or standing positions.

And free lunch.

And Ping Pong.

And a lounge.

And I've gotten about a week's worth of t-shirts, two hoodies, a jacket, a polo shirt, pens, etc with company logos on them. And we get free metro cards, and we work flexible hours, and they paid my relocation expenses, and they have great general benefits.

Perhaps even better: I'm working on a product I believe in.

6. What I drink hasn't changed; what I pay for it has.

7. Having someone else do three weeks worth of laundry costs $14, and is well worth it.

8. Don't fall for the "healthy" all-natural cereal.

Seriously, I know you're looking at this box thinking, "wow, that looks delicious. I want some of that." It's a trap. You will be so disappointed, and wish you had a box of Captain Crunch instead.

9. This is what I would look like if I had glasses, and a cat.

10. You're not a real Star Trek fan unless this is what you find when cleaning.

11. Leaving my house was hard

Apparently five years is long enough to get emotionally attached to a building and some rooms. It started to feel real the day before when I was taking everything off the walls and patching and painting over the holes. All of the posters and pictures which had made my house feel so comfortable, and noticeably mine, were gone. The next day, so was I. Before I left, I took some pictures to remind me of the state in which I left it forever (a mess).

Last week my mom sold my truck.

And on Friday, the movers came, packed my stuff and took it away.

So that's it. The Boise Chapter of my life is officially closed.

12. I feel like I belong here.

The question of "how are you?" has always been difficult for me, and my typical response is as short and thoughtless as the question itself. The best thing I can say about my life in New York, so far, is that I feel like I'm doing something again. I am hanging out with people. I'm making money. I'm even spending a little time on a side project. I like my life here. I think I'll like it even more when I have a place of my own.

Thanks for reading. The next post will probably be more of a story than a list, but a list seemed appropriate for this post. Lastly, it seems only fitting to leave you with some photos of the journey itself...

Boise

Chicago

New York

Theatre Kid goes to Stack Exchange

I suppose moving to New York City is as good of a reason as any to start a blog. I think blogs should be unique in order to be interesting, and given that there are almost 19 million people who live in and around the city, moving to New York is likely one of the least unique experiences I could write about. It's best to contradict yourself quickly and often. Well, it's not best, but it is confusing, and an awful introduction.

Background

A year or two after I started my first software development job, I was told that the recommendation from my computer science professor went something like this:

Well, he's not a computer science student; he's like a theatre kid or something, and he rarely attends my class, but he just does good work and turns it in.

I guess that's an endorsement. Though, since I heard it second-hand, I'm not entirely sure if he really said theatre. My coworker, Mike, learned early on he could set me off on a rant by pretending to forget I was film, not theatre, major. Come on, confusing film with theatre is a little like confusing Star Trek and Star Wars - you deserve to be hated for it. Luckily, nearly all my friends are in theatre, so no one ever accidentally groups me in with them.

The point is, being a film student instead of a computer science major has been a double-edged sword. It says to some people "this person was so smart he didn't need any training," but says to others, "this person doesn't have any training." When I applied at Facebook, I was told that I did alright in the phone interview, but they were so concerned about my lack of CS degree that they weren't going to continue the process. I always thought I wanted to work for Facebook, but if they're really hung up on academics, maybe it would have been a bad fit anyway.

The Application

Since Facebook didn't work out, I started searching for another company I would really like to work for. I didn't want another job I would hate. I wanted to work with smart people in a casual environment, and build a product I believed in. There are many many software jobs in New York City, and I wasn't applying to any of them because, even though I don't believe in a soul, I still didn't want it sucked out of me... just in case. In the meantime, I started filling my time answering questions on StackOverflow.com, which is a question and answer site for programmers, and one of the most popular websites in the world. Wait, they're based in New York, and they're hiring?

My cover letter said things like "I decided to take the non-traditional route into the computer science field… by getting a degree in film." and "it accidentally became a career for me." Because either they'd be cool with my background, and my lack of formalities, or I wouldn't want to work for them anyway. I'd rather risk rejection than be a robot. Quiet down, you friends of mine who think I'm a robot.

Almost two weeks after applying on May 21st, having heard nothing, my optimism was fading and my search beginning again, but this changed on June 3rd. Joe, a recruiter for Stack Exchange, contacted me and three days later we were on the phone together. Joe was so informal and it felt like we simply had a fun conversation about our backgrounds and living in New York City - exactly what I was looking for.

The Interviews

The company does a lot of remote development, so they're pretty comfortable using Google Hangout as a means of internal communication, and it just so happens to work pretty well for interviews too.

Interview 1 - June 12 (Marc Gravell)

Marc lives in the UK and is the third highest ranked person on StackOverflow. It was a pretty simple, what we call "fizz-buzz" style, interview, and I breezed through it. The funny part was that I think Marc was more nervous about interviewing me than I was about being interviewed. He's a wicked good developer though, so he's eminently qualified to judge developers... and I guess he thought I did alright.

Interview 2 - June 17 (Matt Jibson)

I had a great time talking with Matt, which is good because he's on the team I was applying for (Carrers 2.0), but when he asked me a SQL question, it became painfully obvious I hadn't written a SQL query in about two years... oh how I've been spoiled by NoSQL. A bunch of head-scratching and some made up syntax later, I came up with an answer neither one of us were readily capable of disproving. And if you can't disprove something, that makes it true, so saith the flying spaghetti monster.

Interview 3 - June 21 (David Fullerton)

This interview, I felt, really had stakes, because if I did well they would fly me to New York for in-person interviews. David, who is the person I would be reporting to directly, was great. We talked a lot about my mentality towards development and design and how I viewed product priorities and interests, and I think we agreed on a lot. There was one technical challenge which was more algorithm-heavy than the other interviews, but after I finished, I knew I was going to New York City, and I paced around my house for about an hour. Most people have normal ways of expressing excitement... I pace around my house.

New York City!

I arrived at LaGuardia airport around 4:00pm on July 7th and was picked up by a Cadillac driver in a suit. That's pretty bitchin' to begin with, then I get to my hotel and this is the view:

Freedom Tower nearing completion.

Matt came to meet me and we went out to Vincent's, my favorite Italian restaurant in Little Italy, followed by a bar we both like at the bottom of Chelsea (Bunga's Den). When you're such close friends with someone, it's weird how seeing them again after about six months doesn't feel anything but normal. It took an hour or two of hanging out before it clicked that I was seeing my best friend, and a smile came across my face out of nowhere.

Got back to my hotel around 11:30, and was texting Sarah. She told me "You should go to bed so you can kick the ever loving shit out of that interview tomorrow!" I didn't, and we talked for another hour... and that's why I didn't get the job. Thanks Sarah, what a bitch.

Interviews 4-6 on July 8

I ran into the CEO, Joel Spolsky, on the elevator ride up to the 28th floor, and he said in a very comically blunt way, "I wonder if you're on my schedule today. Where did you work before... I haven't looked at your resume or anything." I was offered something to drink by at least four different people within my first fifteen minutes, and you can only decline so many times, so I accepted an Orange Vitamin Water. I don't even like Vitamin Water. That's not important.

I was told that there would be three interviews today, but that each step was dependent on successfully completing the last, so if I did poorly my day may be ended prematurely. However, I was also told that I was the only candidate they had flown out for this round of interviews, so I felt about as good as anyone can when their next four hours will have dramatic life implications.

I went into a conference room and had a discussion with Will Cole, product manager on the Careers 2.0 team. I hesitate to call it an interview just because it felt so pleasant and easy. We talked about product design and things I liked and didn't, and we even talked a little about how he wants to be a pilot, which I of course encouraged. It's the responsibility of every pilot to encourage others, and besides, I need to find someone to go in on buying a plane with me!

The second interview was with Matt Sherman and Max Horstmann who are developers on the Careers team. Yep, on a team of seven, there are at least two Matt's and a Max. Max previously worked at Microsoft, but is originally from Denzlingen, Germany, and I have a natural affinity towards Germans and Germany. Maybe he'll help me if I decide to take up the language again. The interview was great. I solved the challenge, which was an encoding/decoding problem, multiple ways and expanded on the solutions which we all had fun talking about. I can easily imagine myself working with them on real projects.

Next was lunch, and it turned out to be the first official day for their new full-time chef. Yeah, even though there's only maybe 50 people in the office, they have a chef. It's pretty awesome. You should be jealous.

At about 1:00pm I had my interview with Joel (turns out I was, indeed, on his schedule). But again, I would hesitate to call it an interview. He pulled up my resume saying "I should pull this up so I can ask you questions off of it." but he never did. We talked about the company, and management style, and how Stack Exchange was a better place to work than Facebook. After about 15-20 minutes he said to me:

I think you're off the hook for today. You'll hear from us soon... and you'll like what you hear. Well, actually I can't say we'll make you an offer because I haven't talked to any of the other guys, and if they hated you, then we probably won't, but if they liked you, we'll make an offer.

With that, I left, got on the subway, and headed up to Central Park where I figured I would wait until Matt got off work. Holy fucking shit it was hot outside and I was wearing jeans. Joe told me everyone in the office would be wearing shorts and t-shirts and I should dress comfortably, but I just felt like jeans and a short-sleeve button up shirt would work well. I should have taken his advice. I found a bathroom in the park and changed into the shorts I had in my backpack while a solid stream of sweat was literally running down my face onto the floor and my bag.

I found a vacant bench in the shade which was actually quite pleasant and took this photo from where I was sitting:

Within a few minutes I had the following email correspondence:

Bret 3:21pm
I should have taken your advice and worn shorts! Thanks for helping make everything happen today and getting me to this point. Good or bad, I can't wait to hear back from you. Thanks again. 

Joe 3:27pm
Isn't it disgusting out there??  Go do something in the A/C! 

Bret 3:30pm
I changed into shorts which I had in my bag, and now I'm sitting in the shade in Central Park, which actually isn't bad at all. 

Joe 3:42pm
Get used to it ... the decision was unanimous: we'd like to hire you!  Let me know when you're able to have a call to discuss the details.

And like that, I had a job at Stack Exchange, and I was moving to New York City. I didn't tell many people right away because I didn't want to have to be on my phone texting all day, but I texted Sarah and Jessica, and called my mom and dad. Sarah said to me "CONGRATULATIONS!!! ... Though, I can't say I'm surprised at all. It was pretty clear from what you little you told me you were going to get it." I think a lot of people were more confident about it than I was. I waited until I saw Matt in-person about an hour later to tell him, and he was so excited he literally let out a yell as we were walking down Canal street at the bottom of SoHo.

I was exhausted that night. Not so much from the interview process, but from the fact that I had slept only sporadically for short intervals over the previous week, and all my adrenaline was finally depleted. We went to The Slaughtered Lamb, a werewolf-themed bar, with Erika and JJ, and I could barely stay awake. So we called it an early night and I headed back to spend the night at Matt's apartment, which has no air conditioning. I slept on the couch wearing just shorts and no shirt or blanket, though I did feel a little weird in the morning when two people I didn't know were waking up and walking past me. It was the only way I could possibly sleep in that heat.

In the morning, Matt and I walked to Dunkin Donuts, then he went to work. I wrote a couple of postcards and found it was time to end my short trip to New York. It was a weird feeling leaving, knowing the next time I came back, it would be for good.

I've done very little to prepare so far, but that will pick up a lot this week and certainly in the next few weeks since my start date is less than a month away now. August 12th. Here we go city, friends, blog... time to get started.

This is my first post, but I'm not going to make the mistake of asserting how frequently I plan to post, because I have no idea. I'll probably just post when something interesting happens. Or maybe I won't. Either way, they'll hopefully be shorter than this one. Also, there will not be a post on why it's called Snowball and the Eskimo... it's the name of my music project, but that's all I'm saying about it publicly.