One of the companies I interviewed with on Friday asked me to return today and talk to two people who were out on Friday. One person was the manager I will report to if I'm hired.
There is a high possibility that I will be asked to spend several weeks in China if I'm hired. The 13-hour time delay may also require working some odd hours in order to confer with colleagues in China.
Another advantage of working for this company is that the office would be about five minutes from the house and about one minute from UTD.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Two Interviews on Friday
After weeks with little job activity, I had two in-person interviews yesterday. One was for a company in Richardson that develops technology-based solutions to the retail financial services industry. The other one was at a China-based telecommunications company. Both were less than ten minutes from the house. One is about to move practically down the street from us.
I think both interviews went well. I made a few missteps that I was kicking myself for afterward, but I think they were both still promising. Meanwhile, I'm hoping to hear back from the other company that called me earlier in the week.
I think both interviews went well. I made a few missteps that I was kicking myself for afterward, but I think they were both still promising. Meanwhile, I'm hoping to hear back from the other company that called me earlier in the week.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Promising Phone Call Today
I received a phone call this afternoon from a telecommunications company in Plano. I was supposed to have had an interview with them a few weeks ago, but it fell through at the last minute. It seems that they are again trying to bring in some new writers. The person I spoke with was a writer and we seemed to hit it off well. Apparently, that was the phone interview. The actual hiring manager, however, is out of town. He did say that he would tell her that I should be placed at the top of the candidate list.
There's no way to know what will come of this, but it's probably the most promising lead I've had in a while.
There's no way to know what will come of this, but it's probably the most promising lead I've had in a while.
Friday, August 17, 2007
ICF Fall Welcome Party '07
Tonight was the Fall '07 Welcome Party for the International Christian Fellowship group at UT-Dallas. We had a huge turnout. In fact, it was nearly too huge. We came very close to becoming victims of our own success.
The university is getting really serious about some of their rules concerning event sizes. One rule is that any meeting of 200 people or more requires the campus police to be present to ensure security. Further, at least seventy-five percent of attendees must be students. We were probably okay with regard to the student/volunteer ratio, but we came right to the limits with regard to attendance. There were actually campus staff present who were checking our numbers and threatening to shut us down if any more people came in.
Dealing with bureaucracy can be trying, and there have been times when it seemed as if they have especially had Christian groups in their cross hairs. Yet I can also see their perspective on this issue. There were a few times tonight when the crowd did seem as if it could easily become unmanageable. The case could also be made that putting a lot of people together who don't know each other and who are from very different parts of the world does carry a certain degree of risk.
I've wondered a lot lately if the Christian world overly conditions us to gauge success by numbers. I often hear churches described in terms of attendance. Evangelists are usually praised for the size of their crusades. Yet examples abound in which unchecked growth leads to catastrophe. Organizations which grow too fast frequently implode. Large animal species are acutely vulnerable to extinction threats. Stars that grow too big can collapse under their own gravity into black holes. Bigger is simply not always better.
As the international student ministry at UTD matures, I pray that the Lord will provide His guidance to ensure that the growth we experience is meaningful growth and that we will have the wisdom to be good stewards of those He sends us.
The university is getting really serious about some of their rules concerning event sizes. One rule is that any meeting of 200 people or more requires the campus police to be present to ensure security. Further, at least seventy-five percent of attendees must be students. We were probably okay with regard to the student/volunteer ratio, but we came right to the limits with regard to attendance. There were actually campus staff present who were checking our numbers and threatening to shut us down if any more people came in.
Dealing with bureaucracy can be trying, and there have been times when it seemed as if they have especially had Christian groups in their cross hairs. Yet I can also see their perspective on this issue. There were a few times tonight when the crowd did seem as if it could easily become unmanageable. The case could also be made that putting a lot of people together who don't know each other and who are from very different parts of the world does carry a certain degree of risk.
I've wondered a lot lately if the Christian world overly conditions us to gauge success by numbers. I often hear churches described in terms of attendance. Evangelists are usually praised for the size of their crusades. Yet examples abound in which unchecked growth leads to catastrophe. Organizations which grow too fast frequently implode. Large animal species are acutely vulnerable to extinction threats. Stars that grow too big can collapse under their own gravity into black holes. Bigger is simply not always better.
As the international student ministry at UTD matures, I pray that the Lord will provide His guidance to ensure that the growth we experience is meaningful growth and that we will have the wisdom to be good stewards of those He sends us.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Trip to Houston
We arrived home yesterday about 4 p.m. from a 5-day trip to Houston. We stayed with my aunt Nancy in the Clear Lake area. Nancy moved there earlier this spring after living in the same house in South Houston for as long as I remember. She's now within walking distance of her daughter Teresa and son-in-law Mark.
We left about 6:30 p.m. and drove to Houston. We arrived about 11:30 p.m. Amazingly, we didn't get into any construction delays. That may be a first for driving in Houston.
Tuesday
Nancy's oven had gone out and a guy from her home warranty company was supposed to arrive mid-morning to replace it. He ran late, really late. I think he finally left close to 4 p.m. That evening, we drove to Galveston and had dinner at Casey's on the seawall.
Wednesday
We had lunch with Nancy and my cousin Teresa at a restaurant called Thai Cottage.
I had the Chicken Pad Thai, described on the menu as "Rice noodles with chicken, onion, bean sprouts, and peanuts." It was terrific.
In the afternoon, Roxanne, Nancy & I went to see Ratatouille at the local cinema. For dinner, we cooked spaghetti at home to try to slightly offset all the eating out.
Thursday: We cooked breakfast at home. Most mornings, Nancy ran out for kolaches. Compared to Dallas, Houston has tons of kolache bakeries. In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which has free admission on Thursdays. I'm not a huge art fan, but they had a really nice exhibition of panoramic photos of the Great Wall of China. The main exhibit, called Red Hot, was on contemporary Asian art. I don't normally say this, but this is one of the few museum exhibits I've ever seen that I'm trying to forget. I can't try to describe it because doing so evokes too many disturbing images in my head. I think Roxanne and Nancy were a little traumatized by it, too. If it had been up to me, I would have put a parental advisory notice on the entrance.
Thursday evening, we drove out to Kema and met up with my cousin Kirk, his wife Brandi and their daughter Reagan.
We had dinner at the Flying Dutchman outside on the boardwalk. After dinner, we walked along the boardwalk and watched while Reagan went on some of the rides.
Friday: We were all a little slow getting going on Friday. We finally did get out of the house and went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They had an interesting, albeit very small, exhibit on the ancient Scythian culture, now present day Kazakhstan. The museum also has a terrific collection of gems and minerals. For dinner Friday night, we went to Gringo's Mexican Kitchen.
Saturday: We were slow again getting up. We had a very late breakfast at the Seabrook Classic Cafe, right by the Clear Lake waterfront. We split a spinach & mushroom omelet, an order of beignets, and an interesting dish called a fresh fruit club. We spent a few minutes walking along the waterfront.
After that, we went by Half Price Books for a while. I found a book to add to my reference library.
Saturday afternoon, we drove to Galveston again. We walked around The Strand District, then went for dinner at a hamburger place on the seawall called The Spot. It's a very popular place. We waited in line for at least 20 minutes, then were told at the counter that it would be a 45-minute wait for our order to be ready. No problem. We were on vacation, after all. The burgers, waffle fries and onion rings were terrific. We did tease Nancy about bringing us to a biker bar.
We left The Spot about 11:10 p.m. and drove home. We were nearly home when we witnessed a very interesting car accident. As we pulled up to the left turn lane on El Dorado Blvd at Torrey Pines, a car ran the red light and hit a Houston Police car. The officer was unhurt, but she had to crawl out of her car on the passenger side. Being the only witnesses, she asked us to stay until the accident investigator arrived. It turns out that the accident investigator had to come from downtown Houston, easily a 30-minute drive from where were were. He arrived about 12:30 a.m., we gave our statements and contact information, and finally got home about 12:50 a.m. It made for a memorable ending to the trip!
Sunday: Nancy left for church about 10 a.m. We left about 10:30 a.m. Other than a restroom break at the Outlet mall in Conroe, a gas/restroom stop in Buffalo, and a quick trip by the Buffalo cemetery, we drove straight through. We got behind an accident a few miles out of Fairfield, but still managed to arrive home about 3:58 p.m.
It was a really great trip. I hope we get to go back soon.
P.S. When we arrived home, we found that our housesitter Dan had done quite a bit of housework for us. That was a nice surprise. Thanks, Dan!
Trip Summary
Monday eveningWe left about 6:30 p.m. and drove to Houston. We arrived about 11:30 p.m. Amazingly, we didn't get into any construction delays. That may be a first for driving in Houston.
Tuesday
Nancy's oven had gone out and a guy from her home warranty company was supposed to arrive mid-morning to replace it. He ran late, really late. I think he finally left close to 4 p.m. That evening, we drove to Galveston and had dinner at Casey's on the seawall.
Wednesday
We had lunch with Nancy and my cousin Teresa at a restaurant called Thai Cottage.
I had the Chicken Pad Thai, described on the menu as "Rice noodles with chicken, onion, bean sprouts, and peanuts." It was terrific.
In the afternoon, Roxanne, Nancy & I went to see Ratatouille at the local cinema. For dinner, we cooked spaghetti at home to try to slightly offset all the eating out.
Thursday: We cooked breakfast at home. Most mornings, Nancy ran out for kolaches. Compared to Dallas, Houston has tons of kolache bakeries. In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which has free admission on Thursdays. I'm not a huge art fan, but they had a really nice exhibition of panoramic photos of the Great Wall of China. The main exhibit, called Red Hot, was on contemporary Asian art. I don't normally say this, but this is one of the few museum exhibits I've ever seen that I'm trying to forget. I can't try to describe it because doing so evokes too many disturbing images in my head. I think Roxanne and Nancy were a little traumatized by it, too. If it had been up to me, I would have put a parental advisory notice on the entrance.
Thursday evening, we drove out to Kema and met up with my cousin Kirk, his wife Brandi and their daughter Reagan.
We had dinner at the Flying Dutchman outside on the boardwalk. After dinner, we walked along the boardwalk and watched while Reagan went on some of the rides.
Friday: We were all a little slow getting going on Friday. We finally did get out of the house and went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They had an interesting, albeit very small, exhibit on the ancient Scythian culture, now present day Kazakhstan. The museum also has a terrific collection of gems and minerals. For dinner Friday night, we went to Gringo's Mexican Kitchen.
Saturday: We were slow again getting up. We had a very late breakfast at the Seabrook Classic Cafe, right by the Clear Lake waterfront. We split a spinach & mushroom omelet, an order of beignets, and an interesting dish called a fresh fruit club. We spent a few minutes walking along the waterfront.
After that, we went by Half Price Books for a while. I found a book to add to my reference library.
Saturday afternoon, we drove to Galveston again. We walked around The Strand District, then went for dinner at a hamburger place on the seawall called The Spot. It's a very popular place. We waited in line for at least 20 minutes, then were told at the counter that it would be a 45-minute wait for our order to be ready. No problem. We were on vacation, after all. The burgers, waffle fries and onion rings were terrific. We did tease Nancy about bringing us to a biker bar.
We left The Spot about 11:10 p.m. and drove home. We were nearly home when we witnessed a very interesting car accident. As we pulled up to the left turn lane on El Dorado Blvd at Torrey Pines, a car ran the red light and hit a Houston Police car. The officer was unhurt, but she had to crawl out of her car on the passenger side. Being the only witnesses, she asked us to stay until the accident investigator arrived. It turns out that the accident investigator had to come from downtown Houston, easily a 30-minute drive from where were were. He arrived about 12:30 a.m., we gave our statements and contact information, and finally got home about 12:50 a.m. It made for a memorable ending to the trip!
Sunday: Nancy left for church about 10 a.m. We left about 10:30 a.m. Other than a restroom break at the Outlet mall in Conroe, a gas/restroom stop in Buffalo, and a quick trip by the Buffalo cemetery, we drove straight through. We got behind an accident a few miles out of Fairfield, but still managed to arrive home about 3:58 p.m.
It was a really great trip. I hope we get to go back soon.
P.S. When we arrived home, we found that our housesitter Dan had done quite a bit of housework for us. That was a nice surprise. Thanks, Dan!
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