Yesterday was my last day of college, that is, I still have to write 3 papers and a final paper. But hey, no more class is a reason to celebrate! One of my classmates works for Peak-IT and they own a sky-box at FC Utrecht. He arranged for our last class to be held there. Here the view...
It was fun. And though I'm happy the end is in sight I will miss school as well. So who knows, I might go for my Masters one day.
Most of you also read Sweety's weblog so you know what's been keeping me so busy. The most important thing is of course our baby boy TJ. He's great! He's smiling, growing and pooping. I love him.
I started a new job and that always requires some extra energy. Slowly I'm getting used to the new rhythm.... and surviving with less sleep :) The job is a lot more interesting than the previous one. Working for the Government I'm involved in a network security project. Last week I received my 'Top Secret' clearance. Good stuff :)
As you know we're participating in this years Diversity Lottery. Just as last year the rumours of notification letters being send to winners started very early. Officially the Kentucky Consular Center will notify winners by mail between May and July 2006, but they often start early. So between now end July we could receive a notification letter..... or not :(
I've gotta tell you. I'm loving this fatherhood thing. The only thing I don't like about it was this morning. It's almost 7am so time for me to head to work. But TJ is in my arms, stopped crying and is looking at me with his beautiful eyes. Damn, I just hate going to work!
But don't worry TJ! This is daddy's last 5 day workweek! Next week I'll take few days of and March first comes the new job! And the new job means less travel but most importantly a full daddy day every week! This will probably be on Mondays. We'll have time to go for a walk, do some blogging or even a podcast together and of course change diapers and all that stuff :)
Jee! I received the first part of the paperwork (or e-mailwork really) for the new job today! See, it helps to write about it. So what this means is that we now have agreed, per e-mail, on the terms/salary. Next step is putting this in a real contract and starting the background check. Now if the background check fails I obviously won't get the job but I don't see any problem. That means iBaby will have a Daddy Day... hooray!
My current job is based on a temporarily contract. It ended at December 31 but was renewed for another year. Before it was renewed though I started doing slightly different work in October. First I was under the impression I would also get a different job, you know? different salary, job-description, new contract etc. But it turned out not so. I only got more responsibility and work. What I liked but my contract wasn?t even renewed until mid-December. By that time I was already interviewing with another organization for a position. A very interesting one. Working 4x9 hour days so having an extra day of every week to play with iBaby! Of course I?ll loose some salary but not to much, I?m sure it?s worth it. It?s a IT Security job and for a Government organization. So with great benefits!
There?s just one problem. They still haven?t sent me the contract. So I had to accept the renewal at my current job where I now have a month notice. Before I can start at the new place they need to do a background check that requires two months, but I?m supposed to start in March. I just came of the phone with the guy that offered me the job and he seems very angry at his HR people for not sending me the paperwork yet. So now I?ll just have to wait again. Hopefully I get the paperwork this week and I can mentally start preparing for the new job. Right now I feel kind of stuck in the middle.
Just before we went to Rome I took the CompTIA Security+ exam and I am proud to say I am now not only MCSA but also Security+ certified. Just one more exam for my "MCSA Security specialization".
I HAVE A DAY OFF :)
Ok, you can leave on time (or early) even if you're not in the UK iguess.
Today is:
I did some housecleaning today, it’s weird how I sometimes really can enjoy doing it ;) The rest of the day I spend on a forum of Dutch America lovers, especially on the emigration section. How exciting to read the story of Chiefram (NL), who moved to Highland Park, Illinois this past December. And two members who are moving to the US in March. All DV Winners. It makes me want to move even more…
The good news is.... as you know I started a new job. I work for a UK based contractor. It’s one of the world’s leading service companies. They recently acquired an American company that is among the leading providers of mission-critical services for clients such as the US Army, US Navy and FBI. In other words… It might give me a change to find a job in the US by applying internally. Or, when we win the DV Lottery, they can help me find a job there. All the more reason to invest in this job/company by working hard :)
How was your Sunday?
After two weeks at my the New Job I can tell you it’s great! I do miss some of my old colleagues but I’m making new friends :) Compared to my old place it’s a long commute, I went from 15 minutes walking to about an hour in tram and bus. I use that time to read the newspaper in the morning and study for my CompTIA Security+ certification on the way back. The only thing missing now is posting more on my weblog…
I started working at The Job in September knowing it would be for only 5 months. From the beginning the section head made it very clear to me not to expect an extension/renewal/new contract after 31 January 2005. Than, in October there where these rumors and speculations about a possible extension. But no contract yet. I reminded my section head that I would have to pay the rent in February, so IF they wanted me to stay they should offer me a contract in time. Actually I was not completely honest, Sweety pays the rent, I pay the groceries :)
So in December everybody expressed their wish to keep me there. And the boss of my section head, our branch head, told me that he was talking with his boss (division head) to see if there was budget to keep me there…. can you tell I work at a government organization? He then said it was “looking good”. But no contract yet.
When we came back from vacation the section head told me it was 90% sure I would get a new contract. The branch head said he would definitely know by 14 January. But no contract yet. I decided to double my efforts to find another job. So I contacted Qmagic, where I worked before starting at The Job. I could come back only they couldn’t offer me the same money.
Then our friend Melanie gave my resume to someone at her work on 6 January. The next day they contacted me to schedule an interview. The interview was the next Tuesday (11th). Last Friday I had a second interview and they made me an offer. A good offer :). I told my supervisor this the same day. He really is a great guy and was verry happy for me. We didn't mention it yet to the section, division or branch head. They where still "looking for budget".
But today was the day. They still haven’t offered me a contract yet at The Job so at the end of they day I told the section head I have something else. Now he says that he’ll talk to the division head to see if they can offer me a contract for a year (in stead of 2-3 months). But I don’t think I want it anymore…
To make a long story short:
I have a New Job and I start 1 February!!
I passed two exams Monday so now I'm.....
The Turk turns out not to be as scary as my colleagues let met to believe. He has a funny accent and some weird habits but other than that he is ok. And he won’t be here for the next two weeks, so that’s a plus to :). About Boinxman's comment, the Turk is from Turkey, don't know yet about the getting Turked part :)
During our meeting he made it really clear that I should not expect my temporarily contract to be renewed after 31 January. A little background on that: They had one temporarily opening until 31 January 2005. But they hired two people. Me and K. So if they decide to keep someone it can be either me or K. The Turk tried to impress on me that K is my competition. But K and I decided to just do our job, show we are team players and we’ll see in January what will happen.
Tomorrow I’m about to meet The Turk. Now, who might this be? That’s head of my department. As you know I just started at a new job little over a week ago. And he hasn’t been in yet. During this week everybody warned me about The Turk. Not only my direct colleagues warned me, also our supervisor and even the branch manager. The branch manager is the Turk’s manager. Maybe I’ll be the first to get along with this Turk dude, but I don’t think so. But I’m looking forward to have lots of funny things to blog about. So be prepared for a new category: The Turk!
Just three more nights before I start working at TheJob Gee, i'm using TheJob so often on my site I wonder how high on Google my weblog comes up. Let's check it out..... hmmm, page 8? I can do better that that! By the way, did you know TheJob stands for *beep*? Some people think it's is an agency of The United Nations, or UN. But as far as I know it's not. TheJob is an independent international organisation, working in the interests of its Member States. The TheJob cooperates with the United Nations and has a staff of about 500 people, representing around 66 nationalities.
Anyway, just as in the rest of the world we have to pay income taxes in The Netherlands. But you know what's so funny? Not if you work for TheJob :) So as of wendsday September first I'm not paying for that anymore! For what you might ask? I've been asking the same thing since I started paying taxes. What am I paying for? But now I don't care about it anymore, no matter what our Government comes up with, I'm not paying for that anymore :)
I didn’t feel a lot like posting, but enough has happened. Most of you also read sweety’s blog so you’re up to date with Zandria arriving and the trip to Belgium. Before we went to Belgium, on Friday, I had my last day at work. I’m now metally preparing to start working at TheJob. I’ve passed the pre-employment medical examination. I’m supposed to start September 1st but no contract has been signed yet and I have no idea who to report to that day. It’s a large governmental organization so everything just takes a bit longer I guess.
My last day at RIKZ was fun. It turned out that the guy replacing me has one big wish, and that is to move to the USA! What a coincidence. He’d really like to move to Hawaii. We exchanged e-mail addresses to keep in touch en follow each others progress.
My RIKZ colleagues organized a small farewell party and collected money to buy me a 50 euro mp3 player!! That’s really generous, considering I only worked there for 8 months. I really wanted a mp3 player so I can listen to Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code and other audioblogs or music on my way to TheJob.
First of all, thank you for all the nice reactions to the new job i got :).
It’s been a while since my last post but the weather has been really nice, some might say to hot. Anyway, I didn’t feel like spending too much time behind the computer. Except maybe the Gamecube Sweety got for her birthday :)
I’m really looking forward to Zandria’s arrival; I’m taking the day of so we can pick her up at the airport. She sent us her flight schedule today. I still need to clean out the car; her suitcases won’t fit with all the junk that’s in there now :)
So, TheJob wanted me to go trough medical examination. Maybe they haven’t read the Dutch or European laws that say it’s illegal to deny somebody a job, based on a medical condition. But since I don’t really have an option, I decided to go ahead with it. So Monday I went to the hospital for an x-ray and blood sample. Next week I have to see the TheJob Health and Safety Clerk. When I’m declared healthy and get my TheJob Health certification. Yeay, another certificate to hang on my wall :) After that we’ll sign the contract and I’ll start September 1st, or the next Monday after that. I’m really excited about it!
At my current job (RIKZ) I got different kinds of reactions. Most of my direct colleagues congratulated me. Some of them asked me to lobby for them when I work there after they hear the part about not paying Dutch income taxes when you work at TheJob. I’ll keep my eyes open for some of them. My supervisor called me today from his vacation address to tell me he heard the news and he expressed some worries about me leaving. He’s afraid things won’t run as smooth without me. He’s probably right…. Just kidding. I think my colleagues will do a great job without me, especially Ms. E. What they don’t know yet: she’s looking for another job also. So are Mr. WJ and Mr. M and Mr. H and Mr. B and….. I’m glad I inspired people stop complaining about RIKZ and take care of themselves :)
Just a short post to let you know i got the job at TheJob!!! They called me friday to inform me and i told people where i work now monday. Most are very happy for me, they all see the challenge and extra money that's coming my way. To practice, Sweety and myself will speak English at home. Wow... that's weird :) But it's a great way to find out what words i don't know yet. Tomorrow i'll go to TheJob to pick up a medical package. Other forms will be send to me.
So finally TheJob called me yesterday! They called me at work and caught me a bit by surprise. The lady started:…. “I’m sorry to inform you….”, oh no! I thought I wouldn’t get the job… she continued: “….we haven’t send our recommendation to the personnel department yet.” There's a delay beacause of some people being on vacation. So it turns out that they’ll contact me again next week to tell me if I got the job or not! I’m glad they called to inform me, now I can go a couple of days without thinking it’s them each time me phone rings. Since I work at an IT support desk my phone rings a lot :).
Everytime my phone rings I hope it's somebody from TheJob telling me I got the job... I can't stand it!! Call me already!!
Man, Sweety gave me her cold and it makes me so tired! This morning I had a interview at KONE (going up!). I would have just loved to stay in bed. This is me just seconds before going in for the interview….
After that I went back to work. This week I’m at another office which is brand new. It’s really nice. It has air-conditioning, that’s unique in The Netherlands. Everybody is complaining about it, that’s very common in The Netherlands! But I like it, at the other office it’s to hot for me and I sweat a lot. Maybe I shouldn’t work so hard :)
Anyway, I was the last man standing again tonight and decided to make a picture of me and the empty office.
About a month ago i responded to a vacancy notice at TheJob. And last Wednesday I received an e-mail from their recruitment department asking me to call them to make an appointment.
So this is me on my way to a test on Thursday….
And this is me getting ready for the job interview Friday, you can see our new mirror is still hanging :)…
It was my first job interview in English and with a panel of three, it made me a bit nervous but I think I did just fine. There are a total of four candidates left and I hope they choose me! TheJob is an international organization and the most used official language is English (others are Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese and Arabic). Working there would be a great preparation for me on our way to working in the States. One of the people in the Panel was clearly American and I think he’ll be my supervisor, when I get the job :)
Here's a picture of the TheJob building and my new company car? Nah, I think it belongs to one of the North Sea Jazz artists. TheJobbuilding is right in between the festival location and the Bel Air Hotel where most artists are staying and where I spotted this brand new Chrysler 300.
This week i recieved the ugly pin for my ITIL certification.... remember the ugly logo? I really wonder who would go to work wearig a pin with that on it.
On the bright side, i passed another exam :) No new logo, it was a Microsoft exam but i'm already MCP and need to pass two more exams before i'm MCSA. No clue what i'm talking about? Just enjoy the picture :)
Sweety, the day after a long night out.
Today i earned a new logo. I passed the exam this morning and will get my Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management. So as of today i'm CompTIA A+ certified, i'm a Microsoft Certified Professional and i'm ITIL certified. Isn't it about time for a raise? Ah well, it's all worth it because it increases my chances to get a job in the USA.
By the way, i really think the ITIL Foundation logo sucks. It's ugly and doesn't give you a clue of what it is about. What do you think?
They closed the park i walk in almost every day during my brake. I know the old queen died this weekend but that's no reason to close the Palace Garden! Well, maybe it is. They'll bring her body over to the Palace Noordeinde. The palace, the garden and stables are all joined. But she's not here yet and they already closed down the park, and a lot of roads in the neighbourhood. It'll be wendsday before they bring her over.
Ow... while i'm writing this i see them bing out one of the carriages for the funeral, i guess they need to polish it.
My prayers where awnsered! After being late twice this week my colleague E had an little talk with my better-late-than-never colleague. They agreed that he'd stay till 17:30 thursday an he'd be in time friday. Insteed he left at 17:00 and didn't show up on friday at all! He just never showed, didn't awnser our phonecalls and never called back. So monday a replacement will come! I liked the guy but not as a colleague so i'm glad we'll have someone new, hope it's somebody we can count on.
Yesterday was the first of four evenings of ITIL trainig, it was so boring! It was a long time ago that i had so much trouble staying awake before eight o'clock. It really felt like being back at High School.... hey, wait a minute.... i was looking for the link to my old High School and i found a picture of my first serious girlfriend, who is now a maths teacher at the same school we met. Judging by the picture she hasn't changed much. I was really hartbroken when she broke up with me, but now i'm so glad she did. I'm very happy with Sweety and wouldn't want it any different!
But, back to ITIL. It was boring. No fun. I'm glad it's just four evenings and i'll miss one of them. My dad already bought tickets to a theater show next week. I don't think i really need the evening lessons, the ITIL Foundations isn't that big of a challenge. I think i'll concentrate on my MCSE.
Yes, i'm now a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)!
I didn't feel really sure about passing the exam, i did some pratice tests and didn't always pass. But the exam went great, i passed with a score of 864 (out of 1000, 700 needed to pass). So i'm on my way, to MSCE :) But first i start an ITIL training thursday... busy me. I really enjoy all the self-paced study and taking, especially passing, the exams.
Arg... sombody please fire my colleque. He's late at least twice a week and managed to be more than 1,5 hour late three times in four weeks! Which is bad enough already but specially because twice he was supposed to open the Helpdesk at 7.30. And today, he was just 7 minutes late, he has some kind of memory loss. He doesn't know how to add users to the system and even forgot what time he started working today. I'm just waiting for him to ask my name, or his own.
My memory is great, and i remember that he said something about music soundig better on drugs.... and i know it's monday so maybe it has to do with this?
I sheduled my first Microsoft exam for monday march 8th. Windows 2000 Professional. I hope they don't ask why they called it that. There's no Amateur edition so why call this one Proffesional. Other than that i'm confident i'll pass.
Yesterday the bus on my way to work was crowded, it was full. And even then it´s often quiet in Dutch busses, people don´t talk. Specially on a rainy monday morning.
So i was standing there, minding my own business and standing next to me was a girl, also in her twenties i guess and also minding her own business. Just out of the blue a lady, in her fourties, sitting at the window seat, turned towards the girl standing next to me and said "Lady, do you know how to knit?". The girl tried to ignore it but the lady repeated her question, "Lady, lady, do you know how to knit?". The girl shifted in my direction but there was little space. The lady then tapped the girl on the arm and asked again, "Lady, do you know how to knit?". The girl decided it was probably best to just awnser the question. "No, i don´t", she started to turn red, looking my way for help. I just smiled friendly, i like these kind of things even on monday morning.
The lady that had asked the question looked a bit dissapointed with the awnser. Then she said "And do you know how to hook?". The girl looked confused and didn´t awnser. The lady turned her head and looked out the window at the rain falling down on the cold monday morning streets of The Hague.
The girl looked a bit relieved, the morron seemed to have lost interest. Just a she started to feel secure again i look her in the eye and said "It can be very handy to know how to knit." It was my stop, i left the bus, the girl looked as if she was having a bad LSD trip....
One of my colleagues (Esther) is on vacation to Turkey. She left saturday but friday the guy that was supposed to watch over her three little fishes canceled. So she asked us at the ICT Helpdesk to take care of the fish. So friday, when i had already left, she brought her little aquarium with Spongebob, Arthur and whatshisname.....
Today i had an early shift at work and arrived just before 7.30 am. What´s that smell? I turned on my pc and the lights and never thought about the fish. I was in need of coffee. And what´s that i´m smelling? When i was pouring the coffee i heard the friendly little Vietnamese cleaning lady shout: "Fishy dead!". It took a moment before i realised what she was talking about. The silence must have made her feel uncomfortable, she shouted "I not did it!". Looking at the aquarium i now realised what that smell had been. Apparently the fishes had been dead for a while. Now, i don´t know much about fish, but maybe she shouldn´t have put the aquarium on the heater..... B.I.P. (Blub In Peace)
Today was my first day at RIKZ (NL), Governmental Institute for Coast and Sea. They prevent our Dutch feet from getting wet :) As you might know i worked for T-Mobile before. And T-Mobile is an agressive customer driven commercial organization. RIKZ is a Governmental organization..... it was hard to stay awake sometimes. I had to tell the guy that was supposed to show me around what to do. Pfff.... i started today together with two other people from QMagic, one worked at IBM and the other at a Dutch cable tv/internet provider. So both also very customer driven. The three of us might revolutionize the whole IT support proces at RIKZ :)
Today my CompTIA certificate arrived to prove that i'm an A+ certified Service Professional. And since i'm allowed to use the official CompTIA logo i might as well do.... so here it is!
Today it felt like i have a real McJob. When i started we had a network failure, and it lasted all day. We couldn´t do anything but couldn´t leave either. The network would be up and running "any moment now". Pfff.... it´s amazing how tired you can get from doing nothing all day. Ow, just to give you a honest picture, the firewall prefents us from surfing the internet. I just called our customer service and the network is still down. I really hope everything will work just fine tomorrow...
Just done celebrating :) Friday i took both the core hardware and the OS technologies tests for the CompTIA A+ certification. And i passed!
Both have a scaled score between 100 and 900. I passed with a 669 for OS technologies and a 712 for hardware. Since i took the test in English i am quite pleased with the results.
Haven't had much time to blog because i'm preparing for the CompTIA A+ exam next friday. I'm now done with Michael Meyers' book. Really a fun book to read. I also had an extra training at T-Mobile this whole week. So i gained a lot of wisdom and i hope to use it in the USA one day :)
Yesterday i ordered two books to prepare myself for taking the CompTIA A+ exam. I want the certification because it´s an internationally recognized one. It tell´s a future employer in the States somethong usefull about my computer knowledge. The CompTIA A+ together with the Brainbench Certificates are just a start.... i´ll keep you posted.
It turned out that we miscalculated the cost of the study. It is far more expensive than we first thought. The good news is that Sweety's Dutch VWO diploma may help her skip most of the first two years of college, that might save us thousands of dollars. If only i had worked harder at school and also got my VWO. Instead i got HAVO, which is "only" High School.
"You won't have as much Holidays!", is one of the arguments we often get from people who want us to stay in The Netherlands. And they're right. The Dutch workplace is paradise compared to the America's. A recent study by Mercer Human Resource showed that the Dutch get an average of 28 paid holidays. Compare that to the US average of less than 10, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wow, 18 days difference a year, times 40 working years..... 720 days, two whole years! And still we want to move there... we're weird!
Today our transcripts/diplomas arrived! And this time the ib-group made some new mistakes! No surprise after our previous experience. They actually made spelling errors, typos and forgot to mentions some things. So we'll have call them again tomorrow. Remerber that we paid more than 200 Euro for this 'service'.
And now the good news :)
It turns out that Sweety's Dutch VWO is worth more in the States than we expected. The VWO diploma can be compared with High School Diploma with an academic or college preparatory programme PLUS 2 years of undergraduate study at a university or a college in the United States of America. Wow! I knew Sweety is very smart and now we have it in writing :)
My own HAVO diploma can be compared with High School Diploma with an academic or college preparatory program in the United States of America. So now we can both really start looking for an online study on an US college.
We are still waiting for the status summaries of our diplomas. The women of the ib-groep called monday to ask some more questions.
I really get the idea the lady has no clue what she's doing. I already told you how whe went there while we could have just send the paperwork in. When we brought the diploma's she asked for a listing of our courses and grades. So i turned the diploma because the listing is always on the back of a Dutch diploma. Now, wasn't she supposed to know that? Since she is working at the department that values and validates diploma's? And this monday she called to ask the name of the school head, which is also on the diploma.... she said the diploma's would be sent back and now i just hope she'll sent it to the right address.... and that she sends us our diplomas and not somebody else's.....
Earlier i talked about Dutch diplomas. We want to use them to study/work in the States. Well, just having an diploma or degree translated into English isn't enough to be able to use them in the USA. What we need to do is get a "status summary". To get one we had to contact the ib-group. That's a Dutch government organization. Every student in The Netherlands will have to deal with them sooner or later. They're terrible! We called them twice to ask what the procedures are. They basicly told us that we could send legalized copies and wait for two months to get the summary OR to come to their office and get it while we waited. Only problem is, they're office is in Groningen and that's not around the corner from The Hague.......
The education i have in The Netherlands is Havo with two years of HBO. Now, for most Americans HBO is a TV station and Havo is... a strange Dutch word? So in order to ever get a job in the States, which i'll need either to emigrate or to survive after emigration, i somehow have to make clear what i can do for a future employer. One of the ways i do that is thru Brainbench. They have tests that you can take online and when you pass you get a Brainbench Certificate. Sure, i know, it's not the same as an exam in a classroom, but still it has some value.
At least it's a start to show all employers in America that i'm The One, I AM N E O..... I Master Computer Fundamentals!
To take a look at my current results, click here, and use transcript number: 4562776.
Yesterday Sweety got a letter of recommendation from her boss. It's really nice to read that her work is appreciated so much. In The Netherlands it's not as common to ask for one as it is in the US. The letter is to help her get accepted in an online college and maybe one day help her get a job in the US.
