McAllister Family Blog - Work

Big City Lessons

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:07:00 -0700

It's pretty safe to say that I'm a soccer guy. And, as a soccer guy, it is also safe to say that I picked the weirdest time to relocate and completely change my living situation. The World Cup is something that comes along every four years, and for soccer people it's a time to be completely immersed in the game for a solid month. That month happened to be the same month that I began working for ATG in Seattle. Heading into this adventure I knew that working and living in a metorpolitan area of nearly 4.2 million people would be just a little different than a life working at a great public university amongst a community of 125,000 in rural Utah. During the World Cup this summer I experienced a day that illustrated just how different life can be in the big city, and how much I have to learn about living here. The United States Men's National Team was scheduled to play in its final group match against Algeria, kicking off at 7am local time on a Wednesday morning. The situation was fairly straight forward for the Americans - win and you advance. If the result was anything else then the Stars and Stripes would most likely go home. With such a big match I wanted to be able watch the entire thing while still getting to my desk at a reasonable time. I'm usually expected to be available at work by 9am, so the best solution for watching the game and still making it to my desk was to head up to the office by kickoff and watch the match in the ATG break room. This plan would require catching a bus early in the six o'clock hour, which meant that I had to wake up just after 5am. Surprisingly, that happened with out a hitch. I was up and ready with ample time to make the necessary bus, which not surprisingly had several more open seats than I was used to seeing. The Westlake Center, where I work, was even more empty than the bus. And, that's kind of where the strange things began happening. I got to the elevator just after seven, and was feeling good about my timing. I punched the button for 12 but the light for the floor didn't turn on and the carriage remained still. Someone else got into the elevator and hit the button for the 11th floor and we were off. I tried the floor 12 button a few more times before arriving at 11, but the button was obviously broken. So, I got out at 11 and tried another of the four elevators, which also produced the same result. Now, if an elevator isn't cooperating the next logical step in trying to get to your destination would be to go the old fashioned way and take the stairs, right? This idea sounded reasonable enough. After a little exploring I found a door on the 11th floor that led to a typical looking stairwell. Skipping up the steps two at a time, and feeling I had out smarted the elevator, I reached my floor with out without breaking a sweat. I reached for the door handle to complete my journey and was met by a petrified knob that was securely locked in place. Frustrated, I retreated back to 11 only to find that door also securely closed. As I descending down the tight staircase I learned that the door on each floor was impassable from the stairwell. That is, except for the main floor, where the doors opened up to the coffee shop near the main building entrance. Humbled by the building that had obviously beaten me, I walked back over to the bank of elevator doors resigned to the fact that I needed to ask for help. I approached a security guard who was in the middle of explaining to someone else that this early in the morning - although now not as early as I would have liked - you need a key card to go anywhere on the elevator. I stepped into the car to watch the uniformed man demonstrate swiping a card through an inconspicuous crack, and then pushing the button for a floor. After repeating these steps I reached my floor and entered the break room about 15 minutes into the match. The game was already showing on the tv, which wasn't a complete surprise, although I was expecting more than one person to be watching. As I sat down I looked over at my fellow soccer person and discovered it was Berry, the vice president of software development, and he was on a call. He would remain on the call throughout the entire match, including when Landon Donovan dramatically knocked in the World Cup saving goal for the United States in stoppage time. When Donovan's shot hit the net I joined the rest of the country in celebrating leaping form my chair with pumping fists. I flailed. I jumped. I think I may have even spun around a few times. But, I did not make a vocal sound. Being on the job for only a few weeks I figured it would be poor form to disturb the phone call of the VP of software development, so I channelled my years working in the press box and kept my celebrations silent. For a soccer guy, moments like Donovan's goal against Algeria will not be forgotten. Neither will the lessons learned that morning as I become more familiar with life in the big city.

To the Emerald City!

Thu, 06 May 2010 23:10:00 -0700

In June our family is setting off on an adventure! We're Moving! Scott has accepted a new job in Seattle, WA with a company called ATG. He will begin work around June 7th. As soon as we can get everything squared away with selling our house, Amber will follow with the kids. To fill you in on the process, Scott wasn't exactly looking for another job though always has his resume up-to-date and will occasionally send it out. Two weeks ago His friend, Kyan, from Ricks College asked him to send him his resume, and everything went on from there. Though we are sad to leave the area and the people we love behind, we're excited for this new opportunity and know it is where we need to be at this time. We are glad to live in a day and age of text, IM, email, blogs and Skype and plan on keeping up with you through that. If anyone has any ideas of where to live (or where NOT to live for that matter) in Seattle area, we are up for suggestions.

Quarterly Update

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:07:00 -0700

Among the major highlights of the last quarter is Ashley's third birthday. We celebrated by taking her to a local establishment called the Cache Valley Fun Park. This facility has an enormous play-land area. Large enough for myself to climb around the tubes and shoot down the slides. I didn't even get stuck once. Although, my knees were grateful when it was time to grab some chicken stars and head home for cake. In the days leading up to Ashley's birthday Andrew embarked on the whole new world of solid foods. As you would expect from our posterity, Andrew likes food. He embraced the solid stuff from the first slurp, and is still eating like a horse. I feel fortunate to still be employed as the economy is taking it's toll at Utah State University. Work started getting weird when the university issued a mandatory week-long furlough for all employees during spring break. After getting over the idea that I was getting a cut in my salary for the year, I was grateful that USU gave us the time off for the missing compensation. We decided to take full advantage of the week together as a family. Our main activity was a day trip to the exotic land of Ogden, Utah. We descending from Cache Valley to visit the Treehouse Children's Museum on tip from a friend at work. Ashley loved the place. We arrived early in the day and stayed to well into the afternoon. Ashley was on the young end of many of the activities and exhibits, but she still enjoyed herself. And, I see us going back for many years to come. A price we pay for living in the paradise that is Logan is the occasional spring snow storm, of which we've had a few this year. Spring break, the first week of March, actually opened with a hefty snowfall. There was enough fresh powder to build a snow princess in the backyard. Today was actually the first time that our entire yard was vacant of snow this year. It was a nice day. Another nice day was a few Saturdays back when we met the rest of the McAllister cousins in Salt Lake for a free Real Salt Lake soccer game. The team opened up the stadium and invited the public to watch the final preseason match between RSL and a second division side. The weather cooperated perfectly, so that our three families - mine, Jenna's and Julia's - combined to nearly take over a section of the soccer stadium. On a somber note, we enjoyed gathering relatives on Amber's side of the family as we honored the life of her aunt Mary who passed away this last month. Mary always liked to have fun, and thoroughly enjoyed life. She will be missed, but we know she is much more comfortable without having to deal with the pains of mortality any longer. That's about it from us. Pictures of the described events will follow soon in shutterfly. As always, if you don't receive our shutterfly emails and you would like to please let us know and we'll get you on the list.

Once upon a Potty

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:52:00 -0700

The only thing for sure that I can tell you about potty training your child is that the title of the book 'Potty Training in Less than a Day' is a lie. At least, it is for us. We courageously followed the books instructions expecting Ashley to be fully in control of her bowels by the end of the day and were sorely disappointed. Actually, we decided that the principles didn't match our parenting style....err something....and we chose to continue helping Ashley learn how to keep her paints dry without a diaper. That was ten days ago. And, even though she's not perfectly dry at all times, Ashley is getting better. She made it almost all the way through church without any major catastrophes. Credit goes to Ashley and Amber for that feat. I have had little to do with the whole process as it happens mainly while I'm at work. Speaking of work, the project that has been keeping me busy since August is about to wrap. We have been developing an application called Tree Browser for the USU Forestry Extension. We used a brand new technology - brand new to us anyways - called Flex to build it. Take a look at our development site. Now, because it's a development area I can't promise it will always be up and working, but it should remain usable at this point. However, if you could let me know if you have any problems with it, that would help us greatly. Amber concluded her season of church basketball yesterday. You could always spot her on the court as the one wearing the biggest smile during the games. Her team played well enough through the season to earn a spot in the area tournament. The played hard in an intense, but still fun, game in the opening round and lost. Even in defeat, Amber was still beaming as the teams shook hands.

Summer 2007, Part 1

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:26:00 -0700

Two and a half months into my employment change I already have by boots securely in the stirrups of my new surroundings. I would be lying if I said the transition was silky smooth, but the important thing is that everything at work feels pretty good now. Our summer, to this point, has revolved around shaping the masses of rocks and dirt around our house into something that resembles a yard. With the aide of a borrowed Landscaping Rake, yesterday's task was to even out the recently tilled dirt and sift out the last of the large rocks. Success was measured by the fact that we completed the task before noon and were able to escape some of the hottest hours of the 100-degree day. Some highlights of fun-ness have been the Robertson (Amber's Mom's) Family Reunion at the Heber Valley Camp. To call it camping is a stretch, as each site is equipped with a sink, natural gas hookups, full-sized refrigerator, and bathrooms complete with hot water and warm showers. Our site centered around three cabins that each had bunks for 16. From what I understand, the prices are very low because the guests are expected to help out with keeping their sites clean. With that said, it was super fun and we hope that it becomes a yearly tradition. It may even be a great place for a McAllister gathering, should we want to meet up in the mountains of Utah. Another very high note was the wedding of Amber's sister Lara to Eric Izant - which took place the same week as the excursion to Heber Valley. It was a wonderful occasion on a beautiful day. Plus, it will be nice to have a third male to rotate with in pulling names for Christmas. Ashley is getting more sure on her feet as the days tick by. Her vocabulary is also expanding. Her latest additions have been, "book", and "nigh-night". Amber continues to amaze with her juggling of motherhood, work, and coordinating help and advice on the yard. Work has been especially busy with a software upgrade that she spearheaded. Although the end result was a complete success, she is grateful for back-ups, and only had to restore the database once. And, if she can get a few minutes to clink some notes on the piano Ambers day is nearly perfection. I had the opportunity to geek out at a ColdFusion (the programming language is code in) conference in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the month. The week provided a chance for me and my co-workers to be filled with information on best practices and new technologies. While we were there, my brother Bryan drove three hours from Pennsylvania to hang out with us for an afternoon. He chauffeured us out to the new Air and Space Museum where we were overloaded with cool and historic aviation artifacts. Among the highlights were the SR-71 (fastest plane in the world - travels more than 3 times the speed of sound), Space Shuttle Enterprise, and the Enola Gay. We rounded out our stay at the museum with an IMAX film about fighter pilot training and a trip up observation tower, before completing the day with an introduction to Five Guys Famous Burgers. It could best be described as a east coast In-n-Out. Until next time, don't be strange...

Change

Sun, 06 May 2007 22:03:00 -0700

The one thing that is constant in the world is change. And, although no major catastrophes have occurred to our family - knock on wood - this has been one of my hardest weeks to date. It all began several weeks ago when I became acquainted with a fellow bus rider. The irony about our relationship is that we not only ride the same bus at the same time, but we also both get off at the same stop and walk the same half-mile each to our respective neighboring neighborhoods. And all of this occurred with out a single word spoken by either person. Usually, one would pass to the other side of the street to walk the half-mile as to avoid conversation. With no good reason, this ritual has been carried out nearly everyday since arriving in the area in September. That is, until last month. I was studying for an upcoming certification exam that proves I know ColdFusion, the programming language I use for work. Upon stepping off the bus at our stop my fellow rider whipped around and said, "so, are you a web developer?" It turns out that he was also a ColdFusion (CF) developer in another department on campus. There started a friendly relationship where both he and I silently wondered why we waited so long to simply take the courage and say hello to a stranger. Later, my new friend, Robert, let me know that the Information Technology department on campus was looking for CF developers. It wasn't that I was unhappy with my current job, but I have been growing increasingly apprehensive about the direction our project has been heading. We were working on spinning out of the security of the university and startup a business on our own. This position with IT would provide a much more stable environment. So, I applied. Within days I got a callback for an interview before a group of campus IT Managers. And although he was not a manager, Robert was also on the panel. The interview went surprisingly well, and it was less than a week later that I received a call for a second interview. That, too, went very well and within 24 hours an email appeared in my inbox with a job offer. It all happened so quickly, I wasn't sure what to do. I knew that I was feeling like a change was needed for work, and I also knew that I wanted to keep our family in the Cache Valley for a while longer. After exchanging a few messages to settle the details, I received an acceptable offer just before my current boss was about to take our group out to lunch. We were celebrating the graduation of two of our student employees, and I didn't want to make the outing awkward; not to mention steal the thunder from the students and their accomplishment. When we arrived back at the office my heart was pounding out of my chest. Quickly, I went to my cubicle to hang my coat and to gather my thoughts. I turned and made the walk across the floor to my bosses office and entered with a quiet knock, closing the door behind me. Dropping the news to my boss and my fellow developer - we worked in a team of 2, with the addition of a student for the last 8 months - was so much harder than I expected. All involved knew that the decision for change wasn't personal, yet on a personal level I hurt. Now I have two weeks to wrap up my current obligations before the transition. I'm not sure how it's going to be. I've never left one professional job to start another. I'm excited for the challenges my new digs will bring and how this step will benefit the shaping of my career, but until then I need to focus on what's in front of me.

April Showers

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 20:47:00 -0700

So much time, and so little to tell...wait, reverse that. Because the way the mind works I will probably start with the most recent events and work backwards in time. And, because I put myself under a strict time limit - so that I can actually catch up on my lack of sleep - this may end abruptly. Ashley's new trick has been to through her body into hysterical fits when she cries. There must be something terribly wrong from her point of view, but we have yet to figure it out. Although she is crying more frequently, it is still not all that often. Ashley is a joy to have wriggling around the house. Amber has just completed a significant chapter in her career with Utah State. While she is still employed - and allowed to work almost completely from home - she will no longer be working with Dining Services. All of her time will be given to Housing. After completing a few weeks of training with the Dining Services staff she is happy to have her duties simplified to a single department. The Major League Soccer season has been underway since the beginning of the month. Scott has already made 3 trips down to Salt Lake to cover games. It still amazes him that he has been given such an enjoyable opportunity. Love you all. Times up...

Growing Up: My First Business Trip

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:03:00 -0700

With the Christmas season upon us and the new year approaching it is a time to reflect on the events that have happened in my life and share them. Well, at least the events that have happened since the last post. Black Friday was eventful, and with the addition of Black Monday for Internet sellers my wallet is much lighter than before. But neither event compared to the momentous occasion that occurred the following weekend - my first business trip. It was one of those moments as I walked into the Salt Lake airport in a suit, dragging a suitcase and display case behind me that I realized I had grown up. Well, actually the thought originally sprang into my mind during lunch a few hours earlier. While connecting with an old english professor over some Gyros, we were discussing our current life situations and he was lamenting about the his recent 30th birthday. I decided that feeling old is relative. I spent the first couple days of December in Phoenix at conference for the Council of State Governments. Our web application, www.utahclicks.org, was being recognized as one of the top innovations for state government in 2006. There were eight other innovations winners receiving recognition at the conference, our project represented the western region of the United States. My job was to set up a booth and try to sell our system to other states. Our goal is to get another sale or two so that we can have enough capital to roll out of the university and operate as a private company. Only time will tell if that will be successful, but our presence at the conference in Phoenix was a great place to find leads. I met lots of interesting people and found a few solid leads. Ironically, the table right next to mine in the exhibit area was an innovations winner from Illinois. Their innovation was drudging Peoria Lake (yes, the same mass of murky water 15 minutes from my house) and taking the sediment to brown areas in Chicago and using it for top soil. The conference could not have come at a more awkward time for our team. We were just finishing up coding on a major software update. After crunching for most of this year, our deadline landed right in the middle of the conference. I didn't mind taking my fingers off the keyboard for a few days, but it also didn't mean any kind of a rest when I got back. Now that the update and conference are over - with our Lead Developer taking the rest of the year off - it's been nice to slow down.