Goodbye, Oracle!

Goodbye, Oracle!
Originally uploaded by the Rested Traveler

On Wednesday, April 15, 2009, after nearly 12 years, Oracle decided that they no longer valued me and my contributions as an employee. I fell victim to a "RIF" (Reduction in Force). Although this layoff wasn't newsworthy enough to be reported by the national media, I've seen rough estimates online that Oracle cut around 5% of it's support and consulting workforce on April 15th.

This decision was not mine and there were no other options offered in lieu of a layoff. I would have gladly accepted a pay cut or a move into another role, but those were not options which were available to me. I'm not a big fan of labor unions; however, they do prevent employees from being treated with such disregard as I was by Oracle.

If it were up to me, I'd still be employed by Oracle today. I loved my job! Yes, it was exceedingly stressful at times and yes, I let myself get talked into not only performing my own work, but also some of the work of my managers' (mostly scheduling and escalation handling). All-in-all, it was a great job and I enjoyed helping people find solutions to their problems and meet their goals. I always put everyone else ahead of myself at Oracle. In retrospect, perhaps that was not a good career growth strategy, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.

My layoff was not due to lack of work (I had plenty of work - more than I could keep on top of most days). It was not due to poor performance (my last performance appraisal rated me a "5" (top possible rating in a scale from 1 to 5)). I really do not know what it was based on and my former manager could not provide me with any answers other than to tell me that he was unable to prevent it. Whatever the reason, it simply (in my humble, un-biased - as difficult as it is to shed bias at this point in time - opinion), didn't make good business sense.

January 30th Lunchtime Run

January 28th Lunchtime Run

January 26th Lunchtime Run

DIY Bokeh Shapes

DIY bokeh from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Thanks to Eirik Solheim for this great tutorial. I'm going to try this out tonight and I'll post some photos of the results!

Dear Santa

50D
Originally uploaded by Sami Taipale.

Dear Santa,

It's me, little Eric from Altizer. I know I've not written to you in ages, but I still very much believe in you, in spite of what all of those mean kids in elementary school told me.

At any rate, I know you have millions upon millions of letters to read, so I'll keep this very short.

If you're feeling overly charitable and philanthropic this year after taking care of my kids and wife, I have a favor to ask. The kids and wife are always first, though. Critter would love to have a Wii so the whole family can get off of the couch and play games. Buggy would be happy with just about anything that resembles a car, truck, or train. Mici could use a new iPod and maybe even a Wii-Fit. OK...if, after all that, you still have room in your bag, I'd love one of these Canon EOS 50D cameras! It would be really geat! I already have a couple of good lenses - so I wouldn't even need the starter kit - just the Camera body - but if you want to throw in a nice Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 L lens as well, thta'd be cool, too.

Thanks for your time!

-RT

Grilled Asian Pork Chops

Grilled Asian Pork Chops
Originally uploaded by the Rêsted Trâveler.

Grilled Asian Pork Chops
WEIGHT WATCHERS FLEX POINTS value: 4

Prep Time: 7 Minutes
Cook Time: 6 Minutes
Other Time: 10 Minutes

These boneless chops need to marinate only 10 minutes -- just enough time for the grill to preheat.

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons lime juice
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick)

Preparation:
1. Preheat grill.
2. Combine all ingredients except pork chops in a large shallow dish or large hevy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add pork chops. Cover or seal, and marinate in refrigerator 10 minutes. Remove chops from marinade, discarding marinade.
3. Place chops on grill rack; grill, covered, 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until done.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 chop).

Per serving: CALORIES 170 (38% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 2.3g); PROTEIN 24.5g; CARBOHYDRATES 0.7g; FIBER 0.1g; CHOLESTEROL: 65mg; IRON 0.8mg; SODIUM 335mg; CALCIUM 11mg.

This recipe is from the Winter 2006 Edition of the Weight Watchers 5-Ingredient 15-Minute Recipe Periodical.