Crazy Or Genius?: Tag New Jersey

New Jersey Day....... Well The Rest Of Them

Sean — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 15:38:00 +0200

So writing 2 days behind turned into 3 turned into 4 turned into….... well, a week.

Things were pretty busy between diagnosing hardware problems (old power supplies dying really screws things up, you know?), software problems (no matter how many bugs you fix, running software in the field will always bring about more), and a combination of the two (what happens when you write code for a winch when you don’t have a 100% working example in the lab to test important things, like almost everything except movement).

End result: lots of code changes, lots of issues corrected, a lot of end user usability concerns written down. All in all this was pretty much what everyone expected going into this, and since nothing catastrophic happened, everyone appears quite happy. I had an awesome (though really tiring) time down here and am very glad I made the decision to. In the end, I learned a few new things, and came up with several ideas on both how to improve the user interface of the project as well as how to set things up in order to allow a trip like this to run more smoothly from the development side (I will be writing about some of those later).

One really important things:

They want me to go back down in a month. This is due to a number of things, including the fact that no tests were able to be performed in the water (due to dead power supplies) and the result in me doing an apparently awesome job, and my increasing familiarity with the code, along with my ability to discover, diagnose and fix problems even in areas that I am unfamiliar with. Technically, my supervisor wants me to work for them full time, degree or no degree, because he feels I am up to the task based on my work over the previous 4 months and, hey, I’m already trained.

There are some problems, however, mainly with a) me wanting my degree, b) the fact that I had registered for 5 classes, and c) prior commitments (being CS Social Rep is important for me as well). On the other hand, after hearing some of the future plans for Satlantic, I want to get more involved NOW so I can be included in all the cool stuff.

Some of you may recall asking me when I graduate. You will probably also distinctly remember me saying “May….... in theory”. Well, it looks like that theory proved wrong. I have just finished altering my class schedule yet again. Instead of taking a 5/3 workload, I am now doing a 4/3/1 workload. Since I ended up dropping Science Fiction, this means that I won’t have to spend time on writing lots of essays, and this will free up my Monday/Wednesday evenings, so I have more options for when I go into work at Satlantic and when to do everything else. Sure, this once again adds another 4 months to my degree again. On the other hand, based on the amount of stuff I have already done in the past 4 months, I know for a fact that I will do some cool stuff, learn a lot, have fun, and make some money while doing it.

Let’s see how this thing goes.

New Jersey Day 2 - RU COOL?

Sean — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 23:21:00 +0200

Actually at the Rutgers University Coastal Observation Oceanographic Lab Station (also known as the RU COOL Station) today . I found out what the old Leo15 station used to run on. A Sparc 5 workstation. Though considering some of the old computers are old DELL machines, I think the Sparc 5 was probably a fine, fine choice at the time.

Apparently this place used to be an old coast guard station. Its a huge building. I can’t understand why there is no one here. Unless, of course, they all took a day trip to Atlantic City. Ah well, from the looks of things, if there are any hardware problems that will require the hardware team needing to take things offline for several hours that I will at least be able to try my hand at fishing.

The New Jersey Adventure - Part 1

Sean — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 15:30:00 +0200

Note: I am now into day 3, but all the entries are going to be at least 2 days behind

So today I flew to New Jersey. I am, as you can imagine, both excited and a little nervous. Not as much as I was earlier, when it was 15 minutes before boarding and my supervisor, and the only programmer not on vacation, has yet to show up. I’ve been told that it is usual for him to show up right before the flight takes off.

Then Montreal: I managed to make my way through customs. It was pretty easy actually. The customs officer asked me about my wire, and when I told him that it was a cochlear implant, he knew what it was and had a little chat. Once I answered a few of my questions, I was through. One of my coworkers went right after me. He apparently told the custom’s officer “Oh, I am working with Sean” and the custom’s officer just said “Ok, have a nice trip”. I thought that was amusing, but after thinking about it, it is a little scary how simple a person can potentially get through.

We decided to head into Atlantic City for dinner. As all of us wanted to drink to a degree, we got a cab. The cab driver was not only the cab driver, but the owner of the cab company and the dispatcher. Listening to him talk to us, take calls, and dispatch cabs was like listening to a “Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie” skit (many of which I think are funny).

Next up was a mexican restaurant that was a large step above Mexi’s in service and entertainment. This is probably due to the fact that it was a REAL mexican restaurant with actual Mexican oweners. Chips were replaced when they ran out. Serving sizes were the same as Mexi’s. Live mexican singing, which was performed with much spirit.

And then the boardwalk. With casinos, tourist shops, fortune tellers, and massage parlors. And its beach bars, one of which had this awesome band that played a nice selection of 80s music. The sights, the sounds, the plethora of people, it was fun.

I have already decided I want to save up and go on a vacation somewhere…..... different from Nova Scotia, when I don’t have work, class, or any other responsibility other than to have fun.