Lee.org

I haven’t actively pursued any Bay Area jobs… on purpose. I want to go and “see what happens”… “let the cards fall where they may”…. da da da…

I am all abuzz happy-like. I just got a tentative job offer from a company that I think would be great to work for! I’ve got an interview in New York City on Friday for this Bay Area job.

More as things develop….

I’m not The Computer Guy anymore. I just sold the business to a guy in the neighborhood who is doing the same kind of thing that I was. He didn’t have nearly as many clients as I did, but now he does.

It was really a bit of shocking news when I was standing there at his place; I had just signed a contract and was looking at the check he gave me. It suddenly dawned on me that if one of my clients called me tomorrow, I would have to refer to them to Charlie. I didn’t have any clients. I’m not The Computer Guy.

This is an official demarcation point in my life.

At the beginning of June, I’ll be moving to California, the San Francisco East Bay to be exact!

Why am I moving? I’m moving to follow my bliss.

Last summer I went to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, an event with a large population from the Bay Area. The event opened my eyes and convinced me to more actively seek out my happiness. I found that I really took well to the attitudes espoused by the people at the event and that I wanted to experience it more.

For the last couple years, I’ve been living in Hackettstown, NJ, a tiny far-suburb of New York City. I’ve become a well-known person in the town, running my own business and becoming a member of Rotary International. People say “Hello” to me on the street. It’s a lovely place, but it’s a bit too low-key for me. Unfortunately, it’s a little too far from NYC for me to go to evening events comfortably. Moreover, the life perspective of the average New Yorker or New Jerseyan is different from a San Franciscan. I’m hoping that have more in common with locals there in that department.

The business I’ve created, “Computer Guy” is very geographically based so moving 50 miles would be the same as 3,000. I’d done the New York thing and Boston. Now it’s time for another move.

So I’m packing my things, selling off detritus, and getting ready to leap!

I’ve been thinking about some of the more specific reasons I’m making this move. If you think you might be able to help with any of the following things, gimme a buzz!

I’d like to live “in the middle of things”. I want roommates to be around and, initially at least, a furnished short term rental. I want to walk out my door and be there already. I’ve spent many years being on the quiet outskirts, -near- things. But I’ve come to realize that if a life is out of sight, it is out of mind. If people and community are “just a short drive away”, they are still too far away. I want to be able to trip over people.

Creatively, I’d like to find a subject I think I might be interested in and find someone to study under. I’m not sure what that will be but I’m hoping I’ll know it when I see it. Maybe it will be experimental aviation, or improbable art. I’d kind of like to become a musician. There are a bunch of things I’d like to do but haven’t found critical mass for them where I live right now. I’m crossing my fingers, and forging ahead.

For employment, I don’t know where in going to land. I’ve been doing Software Quality Assurance for 15 years and I’m pretty good at it but the software industry is a constantly changing entity. Maybe I’ll find a place there, maybe I won’t. I’ve thought, perhaps wistfully, about becoming a continuity editor for films or such (I suppose I’m moving about 400 miles to far north for that). I’m just a bit tired of not actually making a “thing”.
QA is just a kind of proofreading… and very little of my dot com employment actually produced anything that is widely used. I suppose I’d scratch that itch if I built a bridge or something, but that really isn’t in my skill set. ;-) It would be wonderful if my job was my passion.
Craigslist has 100 new job openings every day. We’ll see what happens!

How to reach me:
My email address is staying the same. That’s probably the best way to keep in touch with me in the long term. As well you’ll be able to keep tabs on me via my website and blog at http://lee.org/blog. I might be changing my cell phone number, but it’ll work at least for the next 2 months. If all else fails, my family will know how to get in touch with me.

What an adventure!
I wish you good fortune in all your adventures, Lee C. Sonko

Some people run on caffeine and nicotine.
I run on hope.

I am looking for a way to allow a cousin of mine to operate a toy remote controlled car. She is 14 years old, just about a straight ‘A’ student in a regular classroom, has cerebral palsy, is confined to a wheelchair, and has quite limited movement in her arms and fingers. Her name is Samantha.

Mostly what I’m looking for is a good interface for her to control a vehicle. So far, she has had only moderate success with the joystick for her electric wheelchair.

I’m hoping that using a remote controlled car will be enjoyable, let her be more mobile vicariously, help her master using her electric chair, and promote independence.

This doesn’t have to be an out-of-the-box solution. We’re willing to work on it and spend some money on it.

Many input devices could work. Possibilities I’ve thought of include:
– large, fairly hard to move joystick. (current RC joysticks require very fine motor control that she has trouble with)
– paddles on the upper arm
– something to squeeze as a potentiometer.

I don’t have the expertise to do this on my own. Do you know of anyone or any company that might be of assistance? I’ve been looking for help through RC car and airplane groups and haven’t come up with anything yet.

I just got back from the East Coast Hobby Show looking for controllers and remote systems. It was a total bust. Hurumph

Thanks

I haven’t been happy in Hackettstown these past two years. On or about May 15th, I’m moving to the Bay Area.

I’m starting to look for employment and housing out there now. If you have any ideas or leads or just want to talk to me before I make this plunge, then gimme a buzz!

I’m not moving for a job or family or any necessity. I’m moving in a bid for happiness. Wish me luck.

I’m focusing my housing and employment around Oakland and Berkeley. While I have 15 years computer and Software Quality Assurance experience, I’m not tied to that field. Maybe I’ll flip burgers, maybe work in a hospital, maybe design space elevators. I don’t know. It’s pretty exciting though, don’t you think?

update: I’ve pushed the date back to June 7th.

My trip to the bay area went very well. I got to meet up with a great variety of people, see a lot of the sights and get a real feel for the place. Since there’s so much to say, I’ll just spit this all out in no real order (if you want a good story, go buy a book… this is my life and my life is a mess)

I may add more to this later so check back…

The North-eastern corner of Lake Merritt in Oakland had a really really nice vibe. S.H. took me there and I couldn’t get the grin off my face at how nice it was there.

My brain was agape when Geo rattled off more than 10 organizations in the Bay Area devoted to cool things like fire and industrial arts. The best example I know if is The Crucible but it is certainly not the only one.

I’m amazed at how much the area from Santa Cruz to San Francisco is ruled by geography. In NJ, you can plop down a house or strip mall pretty much wherever you want but in San Fran… for example, hardly anyone lives in Fremont because it’s mostly wetland or steep hills. People try to live on the sides of mountains that, frankly they shouldn’t try to live on, especially considering the prevalence of earthquakes. But there are limits to even aggressive building practices… many structures are very close to large beautiful forests, mountains, oceans and the like. It’s an odd but fairly satisfying mix. Drive an hour in any direction and you’re among real nature. From my house now, if you drive an hour, you’re in either a city, suburbs, or sub-suburbs (east, south, north or west)

Housing is expensive… Mostly a bit more than Brooklyn. Expect to buy for $500,000 per bedroom. 1 BR $1,000+, 2BR $1500+, 3 BR $2000+. Bargains below this ($700-9000) can be had in various housemate situations.

Some people think Computer Guy would do great in the area, some people are…. not so sure. I’m not so sure. :-(

My hosts were all great. A big thank you to S.H., Tree, Brillig, G,

The Burning Man experience has convinced me that I should look into moving west. I’m looking for a place that’s sunnier, a bit slower, a bit more hip and quite a bit hippier. From Feb 22nd til March 2nd, I’m going to be traveling in the areas between San Jose, San Francisco and Grass Valley, looking for a nice place to live.

I’ve booked a trip to San Fransisco.

I’ve been doing a lot of internal searching since Burning Man and I’m considering moving someplace sunnier, more culturally alive and… hippier. Next month I’ll be flying from NJ to San Fransisco for 8 days. I’m going to rent a car, drive around and try to find out if it’s the place for me.

The trip is Feb 22nd-March 2nd.
Current stops right now include San Francisco and surrounding areas, Grass Valley 2 1/2 hrs northeast of San Fran, Boulder Creek 1 1/2 hrs south of San Fran.

I think I got myself sick by not cooking these chicken patty things enough. :-( My stomach is unhappy, I’m dizzy and most unnerving, I’ve got general muscle weakness. It took me a while to figure out that last one because normally when I’m sick (a cold or something) I have joint pain. After getting up and flopping back into bed several times with this new weird feeling I spent the effort to figure out what the heck was wrong.

Blech.

And what the hell is with me. I’m over 30 and I still don’t know how to cook chicken safely? I’m so dumb.

And sick.

I feel better now than I did 3 hours ago so I’ll just let it run its course. I had to cancel a Computer Guy session because I didn’t feel well enough to drive. I kept envisioning myself driving along and throwing up on the windshield. Then I couldn’t see out the front and I’d crash and not feel up to actually getting out of the car. And then the car would catch fire and I’d burn up :-(. I guess my imagination hasn’t been dulled by this illness.

Blech.

1-21-05 Update: I’m feeling much better. It’s kind of weird to not eat for 24 hours and not feel the worse for it. Actually, it’s a bit refreshing.