particlestorm.net

Most of the regular readers of this blog should know by now that I have accepted a position at Amazon.com. I start my new job as a Software Development Engineer in the Enterprise Applications Development group on April 2nd.

Although my consulting business, Aona Systems LLC, has been doing well, I felt that I was capable of working on much larger projects. I knew that I wasn’t going to be satisfied with my work as a consultant, or frankly any technology work that I could find in Bakersfield. Plus, I found out what I truly love to do is create elegant software to solve challenging problems… and not worrying about marketing my services, finding clients, and convincing people I am worth spending money on.

Owning my own LLC, and being able to get it off the ground and profitable, is definitely not an experience I regret. I got to learn a lot about different tax laws, how to put together a business and marketing plan, and all the government hoops you need to jump though. The best thing I discovered is that I am a scientist and an engineer in my heart, not a businessman. My passion is discovering creative solutions and creating beautiful works of software engineering. It is the chance to create and discover that will get me up each morning and drive me to be a success.

We started at 7:00am… I should say the movers started at 7:00am. We just sat there and answered questions. The movers finished packing and loading everything 12 hours later, at around 7:00pm. It was much easier having the movers pack everything and worry about getting it up to Seattle, but it was still very boring. It is very hard to entertain yourself when all you have available is a couple of lawn chairs.

I have been planning for almost 2 years to redo my site layout to use CSS instead of tables. The HTML table tag was never meant to be used for layouts, it’s purpose was to display tables of data, much like a spreadsheet. CSS layouts are more complex to design, mainly because it is hard to make the layout look the same across browsers, such as IE and Firefox. But the benefits are worth it, such as better search engine results and better accessibility for screen readers (for the blind) and devices such as PDAs and cell phones.

Along with the redesign I added another sidebar column and added a bunch of my favorite links, such as audio and video podcasts I subscribe to. I also busted out my vector graphics program, Inkscape, and refreshed the graphics with more of a “Web 2.0″ look. BTW, if you are into making digital art you need to try Inkscape, it works under Linux, Mac X, and Windows. It is also open source and free!

Download Inkscape at: http://www.inkscape.org/

My in-laws and nephew Papis came for the weekend to see the beautiful sights of Bakersfield. No, not really, Bakersfield is close to the ugliest city in California. They came to wish us goodbye before we move up to Seattle. We will be leaving for Washington in a couple more weeks to get settled before I start my new job at Amazon.com. More on that to follow when I get time.

We didn’t do much in Bakersfield besides go to CALM to see some California wildlife (and be entertained by the flock of sheep in the field across the street). We also had a nice walk in the park and some yummy dinners.

Cutest baby ever!

Happy 21st birthday Grandpa Walo! (at least that is the age he is claiming). We drove down to Redlands for the day to visit with Aliciana’s side of the family and to go out to eat. Unfortunately, we had to leave the party before the birthday cake.

The baby in the pictures below is Gina monster #4, Diego. He is a ham for getting his photo taken… just like the other nephews, besides Marco, who bolts at the sight of a camera.