Chapter n+1: A New Adventure

Given the "downturn" or "slowdown" or whatever you want to call it, Christie and I have been increasingly leery of returning to Bank of America. The question quickly became, if not BoA, where? We figured I'd have to move at least temporarily in order to find work. Well, if I'm going to move, it should be somewhere I'm already comfortable, so that means Chicago.

I have a ton of contacts in Chicago, and notification of my intent to relocate brought lots of interesting possibilities. The most interesting was at Sky Road LLC, a software company catering to small to medium sized trading firms and hedge funds. Their business model is to wrap up existing software and vend it as an ASP (Application Service Provider) which means their customers don't have to have a large IT department, like BoA or Citadel. The best thing about Sky Road is that I already knew 5 of the 20 employees, so I felt confident I would fit in. Also, with my 10+ years working on financial software they felt confident in my abilities.

Now it is the beginning of my third week at Sky Road. I am staying in an extended stay-type hotel and getting to and from work using their shuttle. I have been looking for apartments and found a nice place 1.3 miles away from the office. My next big thing will be buying a car. I figure we can get a halfway decent car for a few thousand dollars. My commute is short, and beyond work, I just need to get groceries and maybe go to a movie now and then.

At work, I definitely jumped right into the deep end, but was pleased to discover I am a good swimmer. My experience working for banks and hedge funds has already paid dividends because I understand what is being asked of me and can accurately discourse on many topics. My first task is a big one, slated to take 6-8 weeks. I understand how to do this sort of thing, but the challenge before me is to figure out how Sky Road does this sort of thing so that I don't have to throw away my first effort, or heaven forbid, reinvent the wheel.

Christie is holding up pretty well at the ranch. We've got people helping with the feeding right now so she doesn't have to do too much on a given day. It is my hope she can use some of this time to recuperate from the long and difficult winter. Spring is around the corner and with it comes foaling season. Christie has a long list of guests slated to visit this summer, so she will rarely have to handle the ranch all alone.

We've been apart like this before, but during the year I lived in Chicago before working remotely from the ranch, I was able to travel home every other weekend. This time around money is a little tighter so we are jumping into this new adventure not knowing how it will work. One thing I do know, even with so many miles between us, we will figure it out together, and that makes all the difference.

I'm still standing

Hello dear readers. I haven't been ignoring you (much) I have just been kinda busy being unemployed. They say that looking for work is a full time job. Well, "they" don't know the half of it. By the time you sleep until 10am, eat breakfast, and check your e-mail, it is time for lunch. And, if lunch is at all strenuous, an afternoon nap ensues. It is a good day when I can send out one or two job applications, and I think you know not every day is a good day.

OK, I'll let you off the hook, I'm not really just a shiftless layabout, I'm much, much more. In addition to being a shiftless layabout, I'm also a full time ranch hand right now. If you ask me, and I think you did, or you wouldn't be reading my blog, it could not have come at a better time. Christie didn't get her usual boost in heath this summer, so going into the winter, her tank was running low. When I got laid off, she could barely manage one of the two daily feedings by herself, and none of the other things, like pumping water into tanks or putting out supplements. While I have been doing my fair share of laying-about, I have also been able to take over most of the day-to-day ranch chores.

This week we replaced "most" with "all" as Christie went to Iowa to help out her cousin. I'm doing all the feeding, watering, and supplementing by myself right now. Luckily, all of the new fencing is holding up quite well, so breakouts have been a minimum. There's a weak spot between the Boys and Mamas herds, and some of the more adventurous horses, like Sahara and Ghost are doing some mingling. I'll probably have to trudge out there at some point and make a temporary repair, but it isn't too urgent right now.

On the job front, a couple of interesting possibilities exist, but I don't want to count chickens before they hatch or anything. (Actually, I've never been a fan of counting chickens so I may have a bias.) Anyway, I'll be sure to let you all know if anything "hatches".

Yo Yo Me

I am a human yo-yo, and Bank of America is the inept kid who just bought me at the dollar store.

My contract was to end with 2007, but they managed to extend it for 2 months. Who looks a gift horse in the mouth? Well, on Wednesday the 30th I was informed that Thursday the 31st would be my last day. That's right, 24 hours notice. Very nice. Last year I was ticked because they only gave me 9 days notice. If I'm fallible enough to sign on with them again, I will probably be told after the fact, like "ok, Dave, your contract expired last Tuesday, don't bother filling out a timecard for this week..."

The truth is that I'm not really bitter. When I signed on with the group I worked for in 2007, they told me they only had funding until the end of the year. When they extended it two extra month, it was my hope that would bridge me over into the new budget season so I could find another group. This loss of a month of work is going to hurt, but I can't say I didn't see it coming.

If they come back with another contract in a few weeks, I will probably take it, because working from home allows me to be here when Christie needs me. In the meantime, if any of you out there need a slightly used (aka experienced) Java developer, let me know.

As for toy metaphors, in 2008, I am going to strive to be a Slinky. I will walk down stairs, alone or in pairs. I don't know what that means metaphorically speaking, but you have to admit that making a slinkety sound has its perks.

The Lone Rancher

I don't wear a mask. I don't ride a fiery horse with the speed of light. I avoid clouds of dust. And, I'm never heard saying "Hi-yo Silver," although I do let slip a "Weee doggie" now and then. In spite of all this, I am The Lone Rancher.

Christie is back in Iowa for two weeks helping out her cousin, so I have the ranch to myself. In preparation, we hired some help and got a huge amount of jack-leg fence built. This makes my job a bit easier, which turns out to be a good thing.

Yesterday, I fed the horses morning and evening, managed three escapes, and repaired a gate. I also attempted to work my full shift on my day-job, but managed only about 6.5 hours. It seems horses don't wait until after 4PM to escape from their pastures.

Two of the escapes were from a known section of down fence, but I ran out of daylight (thanks to daylight "savings" time). I'm hoping to repair that section tonight after work. The other escape came when the stallion apparently smashed a gate in our new jack-leg fence. Mares and babies were running everywhere as the stallion attacked some and tried to mount others. That gate is now just another section of fence as my "repair" was to nail up some rails over the gap.

It is a good thing we didn't make life any easier, or I'd just sit around eating bonbons all day.

An hour in a minute

Well, one of the things Andy helped me figure out was the webcam thing. We didn't have the exact right hardware, so we made due. The camera is a black&white cam we use to monitor birthing mares, so it isn't the ideal webcam. Even so, the results aren't bad.

This is what the world looked like out my window during my lunch break today. It is a cloudy day today, but the sun does peek through a couple of times. Enjoy!

Evacuation and aftermath

Where to begin? I don't know, and I'm not sure I can do this in chronological order, but I'll try. Just don't hold me to exact dates and times. As the danger has now passed, let me not keep you in suspense. The ranch did not burn down, and all of our animals are safe and healthy, except Rajah, who is doing better. Now let me see if I can fill in the details.

To get the timeline of the fire itself check out the official website: Black Cat Wildfire.

My timeline goes something like this...

• A while back: there's a fire in the area, lots of smoke in the air
• Not as far back: the fire is on our same mountain range, about 5 miles away
• Two weeks ago today: a Sheriff's Deputy is stationed at the bottom of Mill Creek Road, says that if they order an evacuation, we will have 90 minutes to get out.
• Two weeks ago tonight: we decide to get the horses out because 90 minutes would not be enough time. There is a good story here which I intend to write about more fully. The summary is that Christie rounded up a bunch of people and trailers and we got 30 horses (26 of ours and 2 visiting mares with foals at side) off the mountain in the dark.
• The next day: We learn some of the horses tried to make a break for it in the night. I guess they didn't like their temporary home, so we went over there to secure the pastures better. We took a couple of the troublemakers to our Arlee evacuation site to ease the pressure on the fence work.
  
• That evening: Karen & Aud celebrate their anniversary with a steak dinner (cooked on the gas grill, not the fire pit!)
• Later that evening: A sheriff's car drives by shouting on his loudspeaker that we have 30 minutes to evacuate. We pull out of the driveway at 32 minutes (Karen kept the time for us).
  
• Some indeterminate amount of time later: Our caravan of four vehicles, the Silverado with horse trailer attached, the dodge, Aud's Father's minivan, and Janice's car arrives at Katy and Paul's old house. (Katy & Paul are my brother- and sister-in-law.) The house doesn't even have furniture, but it does have electricity, running water, and A/C, which we gratefully crank up.
• The next couple of days: Drop off cats and goats at a shelter for evacuees, located at the fair grounds. The Houdini horses aren't in a very secure pasture, so we decide to move the rest of them to our Arlee evacuation site. Our near-Blue-Mountain-Road evacuation site needs hay so we pick up a ton from our suppliers in Arlee and deliver it. At some point I lose track of how many times we drive up and down highway 93, gawking at the fire each time. We pick up a refrigerator from Bug & Paul to put in their old house. There is a community meeting at the Frenchtown high school.
• Monday, 20-Aug: I use Katy & Paul's basement as a temporary office. Meanwhile, Karen, Aud, & co. are able to make a trip up to the ranch to get some of the important stuff we forgot in our haste. There is another community meeting tonight.
• Tuesday: Something like normalcy. Karen, Aud, & crew check out downtown Missoula while I work. Karen will fly home home on Wednesday so we grilled steaks and I got a cake that said "Thank You!" from Coldstone. Evacuation is lifted as of 10PM, we decide to stay in town for the night.
• Wednesday: I work from Bug & Paul's (do you see a pattern here?). After work, we go up to the ranch. Everything is fine once you get past the first few miles of burned land and the National Guard checkpoint. The ranch is unharmed except that everything is in disarray from our hasty departure.
• Thursday: Sleeping in my own bed instead of on the floor is too good, I oversleep by three hours. After a late start, I get to work. Karen fixed lots of little things in the barn, stall doors, broken mangers, etc. They head out in the evening to sleep in town and get an early start on their driving.
• Friday: All alone at the ranch, I work my day job. Sarah comes over in the evening with a pizza and we watch a movie.
• Saturday: Lots of helicopter activity, I hope that means they are controlling the fire. Rajah is not himself, seems sick. Took his temp, 104.2 which is high. Decided to take him to vet. Since we are still on 1-hour evac notice, I take everything I'll need in case they decide not to let us back in (including Maya). At the vet, his temp is 106, they immediately start trying to cool him down and get him on IV fluids. They figure out he has pneumonia and keep him overnight.
• Sunday: visit Rajah a few times to try to keep his spirits up. Put Christie on speakerphone so she can tell him she loves him and wants him to fight this illness. Stayed at Bug & Paul's old house so I can be close to Rajah.
• Monday: Move Rajah from emergency vet clinic to Four Paws as the emergency clinic only operates on evenings and weekends. Work from Bug & Paul's basement, again. Christie flies home about noon and checks on Rajah. The vet doesn't have the facilities to keep Rajah overnight, so we stay at Bug & Paul's old house again. We learn the 1-hour evac notice is lifted for us!
  
• Tuesday: Take Rajah back to Four Paws for more observation, he seems to be a bit better. I work from Bug & Paul's basement. Vet thinks we can take Rajah home and switch from IV antibiotics to oral. Christie rides up to the ranch and sees the fire damage for the first time.
• Today: Rajah is breathing easier and seems to have a bit more energy. He ate some leftover steak, and is drinking well. I work from HOME, alleluia! Christie went to town to pick up cats and goats from the shelter, and the first load of horses. If we have the energy, we'll go back for another load of horses tonight.
  
• Tomorrow: More of the same, and life continues...
  

The calvary has arrived

For those of you who don't know, Christie had a family emergency last week and had to head to Iowa on short notice, Monday. Michal was here until Wednesday, taking care of the animals, so I could concentrate on work. However, after Wednesday, I had the ranch to myself, which also meant all the chores.

Mostly the chores meant feeding a few of the horses and milking the goat. I also setup an irrigation regimen for watering the Big Barn pasture every morning. Add to that all the miscellaneous ranch details, and I ended up short changing my day job to moonlight as a rancher. Well, now I don't have to bring home the bacon AND fry it up in a pan, because the calvary has arrived.

Our friends, Karen & Aud are back, and they brought Alex and his girlfriend Emily along as well. They will be here almost two weeks and will be concentrating on erecting more jack-leg fences to replace all the old, rotting fences we have now. They are also kind enough to take over the daily things, like feeding the horses and milking the goat twice a day.

Not only that, but this ranch gets pretty lonely after all the work is done, so I welcome the company. Last night when they arrived, we quickly dispatched the evening chores and then spent a few minutes enjoying the cool evening breeze around the Friendship Circle. (We can't really call it a fire pit during Stage 2 fire restrictions.) It will be nice to pass the evenings with friends again.

Crazy Day

Yesterday was a bit much, here's some of what happened:

• Blackie tripped on her lead rope and went down. Stayed down. Had to be coaxed back to her feet. Poor old girl.
• Christie took Michal and Brianne out for a ride. All horses came back with riders this time.
  
• The young horses, including Dancer and Ghost decided the grass was greener in the yard.
• I built up the fire pit (aka Friendship Circle) with more rocks to make a deeper pit. All agree it looks nice.
  
• A neighbor had family in from out of town. They came to see the critters. They stayed to ride the golf cart, the lawn tractor, and anything else with a motor.
• A mare and her foal got tangled in Ryder's electric fence. Everyone is fine. I used enough adrenaline to last a week.
• My sister made kabobs for dinner over the campfire. They were yummy.
  
• Two mares arrived for breeding with foals at side. They don't appear to have been handled much. Christie setup a temporary round pen for them.
  
• All the yearlings got groomed. There is a prospective buyer coming today.
  
• Horses were moved around to make a stall available for Sky to have her baby in. Sky didn't have her baby. We are all waiting to exhale.
• Christie and I made a quick trip to Frenchtown to make a deposit at the bank and get groceries for today.
  
• We filled water tanks for all pastures using the irrigation pump.
• Jarred hauled more wood for fencing down from our hillside.
• Michal worked with Cairo in the round pen.
• A temporary fence was setup by the round pen so horses could be left there without them being able to chew on Janice's car.

...oh yeah, and I worked my normal 7-4 shift for the bank.

New Rule: No Fun Allowed

Summertime is when we have the most visitors to the ranch. We have friends and family visiting almost continuously from May through August. Unfortunately, I still have to work, and since I telecommute, I'm in the middle of everyone else's vacation. Last summer we instituted a new rule, no one was allowed to have any fun in the house between 7AM and 4PM. It actually worked pretty well, because the weather cooperated. Who would want to be indoors when it is sunny and 75 outside?

This year has turned out to be a bigger challenge. We have had a lot more rain, and so all the outside projects get put on hold. It is actually a sore subject with me that people persist in having fun while I'm trying to work (read: not have fun). Needless to say, I am easily distracted these days. Add to this that our summer helper, Michal, arrived this week. She is going to be staying in the house, which means that her bedroom is in my office, or vice-versa, I don't know which.

What we decided to do about this is something I've been wanting to do for some time. We are moving my office over to the apartment above the garage. Over the weekend, I did the hardest part, which was to pull network wiring over there. This was my most ambitious wiring project to date, which involved pulling almost 200' of cat-5 through conduit, under the house, and up through two floors of the house and one floor in the garage. It went pretty well, all things considered. When I put the ends on the cable and plugged in a laptop, it worked the first time!!

That's all the progress we've made on the move so far, I'll keep you posted as my commute gets multiplied by a factor of 10.

High Tech: 1, Mother Nature: 0

With all that wind on Friday, my satellite internet service wasn't working. I hoped it would clear up by Monday morning when I had to telecommute to Chicago again. Monday morning came around and the internet was still down. It was funny, because it seemed to lose its signal each time the wind blew really hard. I went out on the deck and eyeballed the dish's line of sight and noticed a tree was waving in front of it.

When we installed the dish, that tree was a good 3 feet to the right of the dish, but the high winds pushed the top of the tree over in front of it. I got the chainsaw and dropped the tree, letting the wind push it over right where I wanted it. It was about 40' tall and still had lots of greenery at the top. I hate cutting down a live tree when we have so many standing dead, but in this case technology had the trump card because if I can't connect to the internet I don't get paid.

My momma told me...

...if you don't have anything nice to say, then say nothing. I don't know if I can do that this time.

My employers are going to red-tape themselves right out of business. My contract came up for renewal in mid-October. They renewed me for another 6 months, the maximum allowed by policy. That was nice, because knowing where my next mortgage payment will come from helps me sleep better at night.

However, and it is a huge however, they neglected to sign me up for another 6 months of network access. I'm not talking about my ISP, I pay for that, and it is up to me to make sure it is working. I'm talking about the privilege of logging into their network so I can do my work. On Wednesday when I logged in for work in the morning, I was able to connect to their VPN, but I could not use any of their services, like e-mail, chat, or remote desktop. I knew what this meant, I'd seen it every six months, like clockwork, since I started working for them. They'd turned off my account.

I called the Help Desk, and they confirmed that it was disabled. They told me my boss had to submit a request on an internal website. He did. A few hours later he received a message saying his request was fulfilled. It wasn't. The Help Desk confirmed that my account was still turned off. You might think the Help Desk could do something about it, but no, the group in charge of allowing me to work is a secretive organization that works solely from an e-mail drop-box, with no phone number, and no way to find the name of a real person belonging to the group.

The request to re-enable my account was assigned a case number: A141631. Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy? In order to communicate the failure of A141631, my boss had to send an e-mail with "A141631" as the subject to the mystery drop-box. He got back a message that they had assigned case number A141848 to his request to look into case number A141631's failure. Go ahead, sit down, my head is spinning too.

On Thursday morning, my friendly Help Desk person confirmed that my account was still disabled. Luckily, a few hours later, the cloak-and-dagger squad dispatched a message to my boss that A141484 had been resolved. Great, now I can get back to work!! Oh, if only it were true.

Do you recall that on Wednesday, I could connect via VPN? Well, on Thursday, I could not. My ever so helpful Help Desk person confirmed that my network account had been enabled (hooray!) but that my internet proxy account was disabled (boo-hiss!). Was my internet proxy account covered under the original request? Nope. Does the same group handle the request? Nope. Was there a phone number I could call to expedite the request? Nope.

This time ... get this ... I had to log on to an internal website, download and fill out form #210, sign it, have my boss sign it, and then fax (yes, FAX) it to the number listed on the form. Well that first step was a doosey since I could not log on the their network at all. Thankfully, my boss was kind enough to send the document to my gmail account. I printed it out, signed it, then scanned it back in as a PDF and sent it back to my boss so he could print it out, sign it, and fax it to Whoever-They-Are.

If you think there is something wrong with this process, join the club, my friend. A quick Google shows that the fax machine was invented in 1843. Here I thought I lived in the 21st century, the information age, but we're still using an antique process by which the 25 kilobytes of data from the original document is blown up to 272 kilobytes and, as a bonus, is no longer machine readable. What do you bet that on the other end of the fax line there is a computer which translates the fax data into a digital image and stores it in an optical database archive, wouldn't that be a hoot? (OK, I'll admit that my sense of humor might be a little skewed on this one.)

So, here we are, it is Friday morning, and I still cannot log in. Do I have anything nice to say? Well, I can say that the Help Desk people, while less than helpful, were very friendly. Hey ... that's it! I said something nice, so I can justify the preceding rant without upsetting my mother!