Guardedly Optimistic

Autumn Trees Reflected in the Raleigh Corporate Center Building
November 2005 Raleigh, NC
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During this afternoon's interview I was asked about outside interests by one of the interviewers, the very technically astute Steven Champeon.  I mentioned writing, pointing them to the one article I have published that's online, which he promptly pulled up on his iBook.  When I mentioned photography he asked if I had a flickr account.  I said I did and he pulled flickr up and asked what my account name was. 

Turns out Steve has friends who built the underlying software (Game Never Ending) that ended up morphing into flickr, so his interest was two-fold.  Still, I paused for a split second -- giving away my flickr account name could, with a quick Google or two, lead him straight to this blog.

Now, I don't have anything to hide here, and certainly it's pretty obvious that I made a conscious effort not to discuss anything work related here and, heck, he would even be the person hiring me nor would he be anyone I'd be working with.  Still, it was an awkward leap for me, but after that split second hesitation I told him.  What the heck.

So, Steve, if you're reading this, I appreciated the interview, the informal nature of it all and I enjoyed jamming with you and Debra.  (Feel free to leave an anonymous comment -- with some aspect of what we talked about so I'll know its you)

And, if not, that's cool, too. 

For the rest of you, I thought it went pretty well.  Debra was psyched that I actually did bring a bag of Dark Chocolate M&Ms (and immediately took the bag out to share it with someone she said she'd promised some to if I really did bring them) and after a brief "tell us about yourself" talk it was pretty clear that I had 95% of what they were looking for.  From there we discussed all sorts of things and generally had a good time talking.  One of us would eventually bring the discussion back to more interview type questions, but, as I said (and they admitted) I had what they were looking for and that I was interested in the job.

Does this mean I'm writing up my letter of resignation to my current job?  Heck, no.  Call me pessimistic, but I'm not counting on anything until someone makes me an offer that I like.

Three cheers also goes out to mylastsigh who felt his interview today went well.  Must be something about the birthdays.

For two more images of the Autumn leaves reflected in the building, ( click on through to the other side... )

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