Lord Andrei's Blog

Sunday was our first full day in Vegas. We had a surprisingly good breakfast at the Luxor’s cheap food court. I think it’s called Nathans. They serve sandwiches and the like.

At about 11:00 we actually split up. H’ went off to play some more slots. (She did not do as well as Saturday 🙂 I went to a craps table that was offering lessons. If you’re ever staying at a casino and are curious how a game works, find out if they have a lesson table. Basically, once a day a pit boss will come over to a table and spend about half an hour explaining everything about a game. Then they will open a low bet table and take things slowly. I played the able for about 15 minutes and went up about 10%.

We actually didn’t really gamble alot today. After the slots/craps experience, we picked up lunch at the Luxor Deli and went to the sports book to watch the Colts/Patriots game. We were apparently sitting on the Patriots’ side. H let her Boston side kick in and enjoyed clapping for the Pats. There was maybe one Colts fan in the room. The interesting thing about watching a football game in a casino sports-book is the realization that just about everyone in the room has a financial stake in the game. We made it through about the first half of the game and then our midnight arrival the previous night kicked in. We went back to the room and crashed for a few hours.

Now, the downside of the Luxor is that the hotel has a Pepsi exclusivity contract. (I have hated ECs and especially Pepsi ECs since college) Ever restaurant, bar, sundry shop, and the ilk… It’s Pepsi Products and that is all. This means no Red Bull, no Coke, no 3rd party drinks not owned by Pepsi. Sigh.

On to the evening.

8:30 tickets at Paris to see “We Will Rock You“. Surprise #2 for H. I managed to snag 2nd row tickets in the center. This theatrical musical is a futuristic, Orwellian look at a corporate controlled world, where Rock has been outlawed and the only music that exists is controlled by GlobalSoft. The show is written by Ben Elton and features the Music of Queen. Oh, yes. It’s a Vegas Show. This alone could make anyone enter with trepidation.

We had a killer Sushi dinner at the Paris’ “Ah Sin” pan-Asian restaurant. I mean with a name like that, we had to. It was pricey, but some of the freshest stuff I’d had in a long time. Service was 10 out of 10. Played some slots, lost some slots. then it was off to the theatre. Yay…. Theatre, not Cinema.

This is a fantastic and very tight musical. Stunning set work and excellent use of digital video combine to create a compelling environment. The ‘special effects’ that you might expect in a Vegas Musical are actually kept to a minimum. The show is incredibly engaging, the characters are incredibly likable and the show villain, “Killer Queen” will make even the biggest Cruella DeVille fan melt.

I really, really like Queen. H makes me look like a rank amateur. We both left the show utterly spent. H was absolutely toast. I made the mistake of wearing a suit jacket for the show. It felt at time more like a rock concert (though it was absolutely a musical). If you go… go more casually. You will want to cheer and scream 🙂

We walked back after the show up the strip. We hit a Walgreens. Yay! Re Bull for H and Diet Coke for me. We do have that refrigerator in the room if you remember 😉 A quick cab ride back to the hotel and to the room.

I’d thought I might play poker when we got back. (Still haven’t). H jumped into the jacuzzi and I sat on the bed to catch up on mail stuff. Bed… sit… bad idea. Well, there’s always today.

Plans on tap.. I’m gonna play poker “comma damn it”. 🙂 Tonight’s show… 10pm: Blue Man Group!!! WHOOOO. Granted, due to Blue Man Group’s popularity. We have nose bleed seats. The H is still asleep, I’m going to attempt to do something about that. 🙂

I do have the SK on me. I may or may not respond as it depends entirely on what we are doing.

*WAVES FROM SIN CITY*

*kiss kiss*

Wait, Live journal was down?

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day. Or then again maybe NOT! Well it started out relaxing. We slept in. When we woke up I did some more genealogy on our family.

Conerning Genealogy

That was just exhausting.

Steelers go to the AFC Championship.

OH MY GOD.

Hell of a game. WOW!

I know I’m all about the who crediting where you find something. And I know I still need to respond to a comment by bride about that 🙂

But here it is… 15 facts. Or more properly 10 facts and 5 not facts.

Comments are invisible and will be (as the president might put it) visibilified after I return from my trip. So feel free to guess.

So, a little about Andrei… What is true? What isn’t?

Well, if LiveJournal isn’t the source of all news and info.

First.. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who’s been cheering me on and asking daily if there’s been any news. I really appreciate it, and at this point I can only keep asking that you send the positive vibes and energy.

My mantra is always (newjobnewjobnewjobnewjobnewjobnewjob) but I’d rather not go into the ritual in question 🙂

I called Apple this morning and spoke to the recruiter. At this point we are now down to two. So, the next decision they make will have that true Colosseum feel of the thumb going up or down. (Which if memory serves, the thumbs down actually meant the victim lived and thumbs up meant let them die.)

The two candidates are a person with a lot of hands on technical experience with the technology in question, but not a lot of working with teams and personal interaction. And then there is me. I think it is odd and makes me wonder that I’m in the running because of the skills I’ve honed outside my career path. So the question becomes, do they want to bank their money on having to ramp up their candidate on the technology or do they want to bank their money on hoping the technology person can learn to strategically plan and interact with other people. I’m of course hoping for the former.

So where am I. Well, I leave tomorrow on honeymoon/vacation one step closer to the end goal. However, the delay involves them bringing the other candidate back in for another interview. This of course is a concern/blessing. It means either they got everything they need from me and want to use me as a litmus for the other person, or… it means they are leaning towards him and want to see if they can fill in the holes.

Dunno, it’s really out of my hands. I’ve told the Recruiter that if they decide to make an offer to me, she is more than welcome to call me on my cell next week while I’m away. She said that if she doesn’t call during the week, not to take it as meaning I didn’t get the position. The good news is that I think she really likes me. She has made it often sounds like she’d rather see me come into the company and has also said that she is more than open to work on finding me a position that is suitable in Apple if this one doesn’t come to fruition. But she also says it in a manner that suggests that she’s optimistic that it won’t come to that. She is however a recruiter in HR and the inevitable decision is out of her hands.

So… in this case… no news is good news. Well, there was some news. 3 is now 2. And in poker, those odds are worth pushing your chips in over. If you’re inside Apple and reading this… feel free to send happy vibes around. If your outside Apple, feel free to send happy vibes where-ever you think they are best suited to land.

And as always, I know the fruition of this will cause a lot of pain in Southern California. I’ve received more than one request to consider telecommuting or suggesting Apple move to L.A. The wishes are understood and appreciated. Moving away is never easy, especially when you’ve grown a very close knit family of friends and brethren in a group. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I’m gonna completely vanish. I have too many inits, masses, and rituals scheduled for the next 9 months already. Gotta stay with my commitments 😉

Keep up the hopes, prayers, and well wishes. I am still trying to only wear Apple shirts. (which will obviously be difficult when we go to dressy places on the trip). I will keep everyone posted as I learn more.

Thanks to everyone 🙂 And I return to sitting on pins and needles.

Edit: Originally I posted that the other candidate was a guy. This was a sexist assumption. I have no problem beating a woman out of a job on my merits just as I have no problem beating a man out of a job based on my merits 🙂 Thus, I have changed the word guy to person.

Edit: 06-01-03 This was posted friends only as it involved job interviews