I get an email today advertising a brand new service for pilots, tells me to go to leftse.at. I scratch my head thinking what a bizarre URL and then it hits me - take out the dot and you get leftseat which is where the pilot in command sits. But its hideous; leftseat.com is taken so I am sure they couldn’t decide what to do but I really hate what they came up with.

So whilst I look for a job I’m enjoying the good graces of the State of California and a nice little cheque every week or two. Last week I got a letter requesting that I go to the local employment office for a personal job search consultation. Now I’m sure these people do a great job but I doubt any of them have heard about Java, J2EE etc let alone have any idea how to find a job. Typing in the local office, no problem. Someone looking for Struts on Tomcat - probably not. So I was thinking I might be able to have some fun watching them try to tell me how to do a job search. Yeah, I’ll give them the acronyms and my starting salary requirement and wait for them to give me the interview times.

On the way into El Centro this morning I was excited to see that the new Popeyes is now open - I just love that spicy chicken. However, this is a rule out here in these parts (I call it the 15th law of being a redneck) that says when anything new opens everyone must go there and forsake all other alternatives. And sure enough we went in for lunch and the line was huge and no seating available. Well, it will still be there in a few weeks and I’ll try again then.

On the way back after lunch, there was a fire engine and an ambulance outside Popeyes, and the medics were running in with a stretcher. Not the best advert for your first week of opening - I won’t have what he’s having.

One year ago today I was woken by the incoming text message sound on my cell phone. I didn’t have to look at it to know who it was from or what it meant: the results of my mother’s brain scan were not good. The next few days were quite a daze, I don’t think there was a single minute where it wasn’t on my mind, trying to rationalise it or make sense of it. And so began the most awful 7 months of our lives. I can’t believe the time has passed so fast but she is still in my thoughts every day. She is missed by all of us.

Its been a typically frustrating process, the IT market is full of annoying recruiters and companies advertising but not hiring. But I think I have a new employer. I won’t get a formal offer until I have completed a background check but the intention is there so I think I can stop the daily resume posting.

Not sure if I should jinx things by saying who I will be working for, so lets just say I’ll be writing web applications for use on that Company’s games console and their hand-held game player. And I might get to travel to Japan.

Will probably be a couple of weeks before things are sorted but in the meantime I’m going to do some relaxing and some flying. And maybe a little trip somewhere….