December 2003

December 01, 2003

Microsoft Follow Up

I went the entire month of November without posting an entry. I promise that... wait... that I will make no promises about my posting frequency in December.

Since my initial interview with Microsoft, I received a flyback, which is Microsoft jargon for an all-expenses paid trip to Redmond, WA for an on-site interview. And by all-expenses, they mean it! I'm so flattered and thoroughly excited about my trip and even the slightest possibility of working for such a successful company. I'll be arriving Thursday, December 11 and returning Sunday, December 14.

Anyway, I've been busy making my travel plans, including what to do in the Seattle/Redmond area (suggestions welcome), and preparing for one of the most famous interviews in the industry. There are even several books in publication about it, including How Would You Move Mount Fuji?, which I'm reading right now. I should go get some reading done. Peace out.

Posted by Phil at 11:42 PM | Comments (2)

December 11, 2003

The Interview

My dad says,

You're a smart guy and you've got your shit together. You'll do well.

Microsoft, here I come.

Posted by Phil at 03:13 PM | Comments (1)

Destination: Microsoft

Luckily I didn’t arrive at the airport a whole two hours before my flight was scheduled to leave Rochester. I spent a lot of time waiting even after arriving just an hour and twenty minutes early. The last time I was at the airport was when I dropped Rob off when he came to visit over the summer. I parked in the airport lot because Microsoft (MS) will reimburse me for the parking fee. I had an e-ticket sent to me from the MS travel department/agency (yes, they have their own), so I was able to use the self-serve kiosks to print my boarding passes. All you need is a credit card or something with a magnetic strip that identifies you. I questioned the airline employee because I wasn’t sure it would work since I didn't purchase the ticket. They assured me it would because it's used to identify me by name. Sure enough, it did work. I printed a receipt, showing that the plane ticket cost ~$360 out of MS's pocket, or American Express card, as it were.

I was hungry upon arriving at the airport and chose to eat at McDonald's. Sill me, MS is paying for up to $75 per day for my meals and I eat at McDonald's! The main reason I did was because it was convenient and I wanted to try the new much-advertised all white meat chicken nuggets. Nothing special, in my opinion, but I think the batch I had was old. I was still disappointed. I haven't eaten them since I had one of the old recipe nuggets about ten years ago and bit into a bone.

The flight from Rochester to Detroit on a small plane (turbo prop?) was pretty uneventful except for a little disagreement between the single flight attendant and a passenger in the seat diagonal from me. He wanted wine and when the attendant presented him with a number of beverage options (alcoholic beverages are $5), she pointed out that the labels had worn off the whites and rose's because they were sitting in ice water and there was no way to tell which was which as the bottles were dark. He took a chance and ended up picking a rose, which he realized after pouring some into his cup. He complained saying, "I don't like rose," in a snobby sort of way. She said she warned him, which she did, and she was responsible for paying for another bottle if she gave him one. She didn't want to have to pay for it. He repeated that he didn't want the rose. She went to call the pilot and, a few minutes later, returned to say that the pilot and copilot didn't want to have to pay for the wine either. So she proceeded to the next person and he now says he wants a red, some of which still had labels, and paid another $5. He threw out the rose and began drinking his red. A few minutes later, the pilot called the main cabin and the attendant returned the extra $5 he paid for the red, saying the pilot told her he'd sign off on the wine. What drama!

The Detroit airport was huge and had an awesome tunnel that you had to pass through with an illuminated ceiling and walls. I took a bunch of pictures form the conveyor belt. I'm now aboard my flight from Detroit to the Seattle-Tacoma airport with a flight time of around five hours. Keep in mind that I'll gain three hours on my trip there, which is good because I have to be at the MS campus at 8:15 AM and my flight arrives at around 9:15 PM tonight local time. I just finished eating my flight meal/snack, consisting of a mini turkey sandwich, mini baby carrots, and an Atkins Endulge Wafer Crisp Bar (Chocolate Mint)--yummy and only 4 g of net carbohydrates. It tastes a bit like an Andes mint. I was surprised to see Atkins up here. Oh, and unfortunately for my fellow passengers, I'm a bit gassy. [Typed 12/24/03]

More to come? Maybe. Since I didn't get the job, I'm not that motivated. I did, however, enjoy my trip!

Posted by Phil at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2003

All I Want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas is not to get sick. Yesterday, my sister was in bed all day with the stomach flu. Today my mom seems to have contracted it. Please, please, please, Santa, don't bring me the flu.

In keeping with tradition, here's Google's holiday logo:

Merry Christmas, all!

Posted by Phil at 01:25 AM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2003

No Food for Me

Why is there nothing open in Wilkes-Barre at 12:00 AM? After being at the Woodlands, it'd be nice if some place like McDonalds, Wendy's or Taco Bell were open to get a bite to eat, but no. Taco Bell considers 11:00 PM "Late". Not in my book. Boo to them!

Posted by Phil at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)