My new job

About a month ago I started looking for work - and I'm just starting my second week of work now, working on a data warehouse project at Tmobile.

The thing that really surprised me on this job hunt was how easy it was - not just to find a job, but to find a job where they were okay with the schedule I've kept for more than three years now. I work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with Tuesday and Thursday off. I got not one, not two, but THREE job offers within four days. And they were all okay with me working Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Previously I had the obviously mistaken idea that part time work was very difficult to find, that you had to have worked at the company for a long time and developed a great relationship, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think the thing that made a difference this time was that I didn't make such a big deal about it before actually meeting with potential employers. I mentioned that I had some schedule restrictions, but it was only after I had already interviewed with people, and sold them on me, that I told them what my schedule needed to be like. And they were uniformly fine with it.

Here's the two things that really helped me both with finding a job, and finding a job where they were okay with me working part-time:
1. Highly experienced database professionals are very difficult to find right now
2. I looked only for contract work. That way, there's no hassles with what the company policy on part-time work, do you get benefits, etc. It's very simple - you get paid per hour worked.

Avoiding Colds this winter

I'm just now getting over a cold, which became complicated by a serious cough and sinus infection - the first sinus infection that I've ever had. I was never sick enough to stay in bed, but I was sick enough to stop working out, doing any kind of projects - basically doing anything other than the bare essentials.

My plan this winter is to avoid catching any more colds. I've been doing some research online on how best do this. Basic handwashing is recommended very frequently. But why is it recommended to use alcohol gel based sanitizers only when washing with soap and water isn't available? It seems that the sanitizers would be even more effective. Anyway - I'm proceeding on the assumption that using a hand sanitizer is just as good.

The other recommendation is - avoid touching your face. Touching your nose and eyes in particular is supposed to be a very effective way to transmit cold viruses - exactly what I don't want.

So, I'm planning a two pronged attack:
1. Use hand sanitizer frequently. Maybe I can try to do it every time I get home from being out and about, and every time I get in the car after shopping. Plus at work - whenever I get to my desk from talking to someone, or using the restroom.

2. Don't touch my face at all - if I need to scratch, use the back of my hand.

My endeavor is complicated by the fact that I have a 3 year old son in daycare. Stay tuned to see if I can avoid colds this winter.

Fun is different when you have kids

Yesterday I went to Newcastle Beach Park with both Kenny and Peter. It's not easy to go swimming with a preschooler, when you have an infant with as well. Nevertheless, Kenny and I had lots of fun in the water (and there were friends at the beach who were able to watch Peter for a while).

The epiphany for me was that what I think of as fun has changed dramatically since I had kids. Before, fun at a beach park would have meant hanging out with friends, getting a good swim in, reading an enjoyable book. But now with kids, my priorities have changed. I have a lot of fun, just watching Kenny enjoy himself in the water. We never even went above knee height for me (waist high for Kenny), but Kenny had a big grin on his face the entire time. We played chase, with Kenny and Kenji chasing me as I splashed through the water, and also spotted little fish, no more than two inches long, darting through the shallow water. And fun was had by everyone. Although Peter did sleep through almost all of it...