2nd Switzerland interview went great

So I had my second telephone interview with Switzerland today. The call came for me at 8am my time (they are 7 hours ahead), the interview went well. I was expecting a tedious technical interview, but it was pretty much mostly about Switzerland, even when I tried to steer the interview to the technical side, it kept going back to how beautiful Switzerland is.

But all in all my two interviews must have went well because I received an invitation for both Melissa and I to go to Switzerland to see things for our selves.

I have not scheduled this yet, but it will probably occur soon. They mentioned the 19th of December for a visit (paid for by them, yes, for both Mel and I).

And then when I got home from work, I had a message on my machine about a woman at CSE asking me to call her back. This likely stems from an online application that I filled out for either an electrical engineer or an intelligence analysis. Not sure which one, I will call tomorrow and find out.

ATI SUCKS

I have always known that my present work environment is not the optimal place for me to be right now, today its just the icing on the cake.

Months ago I decided I wanted to go to the company Christmas party. So when the invite was put to us I asked Melissa if she would like to be my date, she agreed. The main reason for my interest in the party was pretty selfish. ATI is a company that last year made 2 billion dollars (public record, no confidential information here), so I figured at Christmas time they would be generous. Well I was a little put off by the fact that they used some of the funds for gifts this year on parking for everyone, that's great if your driving there, I had every intention on taking public transit, so it was less gifts for me.

Now however due to a family emergency I have to go home for that weekend. Well first I decide, I may as well give my tickets to some of my friends at work, only to find out they do not want to go!, great company spirit I tell you, ATI just breeds it. So with my friends and co-workers all not interested in free tickets I give up. So I send an email to the coordinator, figuring, family emergency and the fact that they sell out every year these tickets must be easy to get rid of. What I get is a very typical Toronto attitude (sorry to generalize, but I have found people here not to be as friendly as other places I have been). This woman tells me in a very cold sounding email that the tickets are non refundable ($40.00) and even if I sell them(or give them away), the draws will be in my name and I have to be there to claim the prize.

This just seems wrong to me. Part of me really wanted to go to get this fancy dinner and then just toss it in the trash and walk out, because that is what this woman was suggesting.

Anyway enough of my rant (I ended up giving the tickets to a co-worker that just got back from a months vacation, I guess he had been trying hard to get tickets to go).

So based on my frustrations with ATI Melissa was great and she passed me over a half dozen job postings(like the government space job, and the job at rim, aka the rim job (read that one out loud if you want a laugh)) .

So I propose to all of my friends that would like to see me back in Ottawa, if you know of a position in high tech (electrical engineering, semi conductors, computers, telecommunication, etc) or know of someone highering for such a position, please let me know! Feel free to send me a link or post it on my blog.

Well thanks for listening to my rant.

MikeG!

2nd telephone interview

Well its all set up. I have a second telephone interview with a high tech startup in Switzerland.

I feel quite confident about the interview as I am very suited for the position however, I am a little stuck on what questions to ask as I will be speaking with one of the founders of the company on Tuesday morning.

I do not know if I would accept this position even if it was offered for me, it would be a big move. Even further from Ottawa than Toronto!

For now there are other factors that complicate things. There is Mel, would she come with, the other is a family situation in where I feel I should be there for them.

View from the top

I just thought I would include a view from my T.O place for everyone to see. Since very few have taken my offer to come for a visit, I thought I would tempt everyone.

This a picture taken from my balcony. I have to admit I have a great view. The buildings that you see in the background are along younge street. I have a large two bedroom apartment, that is really quite nice.

So the offer to come by for a visit still stands, but you had better work fast before I move back or to Switzerland, which ever comes first!

MikeG.

Motorcycle is stored

Well it's done!

As the weather turns it comes time to put the bike away. I spent a couple of hours today winterizing it. This involved changing the oil, waxing the chain, taking the battery out, and putting it up on stands. The bike is now all locked up and covered, now for the long long winter ahead.

I will get some relief as there are two motorcycle shows in TO at the beginning of winter. The first is the Toronto Motorcycle show December 2-4 at the Metro Convention Center. This show is with the new 2006 models. Lots of fun, you get to see the bikes, and sit on them. Kinda like a car show, but obviously for motorbikes.
The second show is the Motorcycle Supershow 2006. This show is January 6-8th at the Toronto International Center. This is the show that one goes to buy motorcycle gear and accessories. This show is almost like a flea market for motorcycle's. Last year I bought a new pair of motorcycle gloves that retail for 250.00 and I got them for 100.00 (thank you Mel for pointing them out).

This year I have a few things I have to buy. Because of the many highway trips I made to and from Ottawa, I went through both front and rear tires. My chain and perhaps my sprockets are at there end of life. The final item I need is new rear break pads. Other items that I want from the supershow are leather suit and maybe a back protector. So lots of money to be spent but hey I am worth it!

First Blog posting

Hello all who reads this!

Well this is my first posting here on Blogger.com, I will bet it wont be that interesting. My name is Mike, affectionately known as MikeG. I have created this BLOG to help keep in touch with all of my friends back home in Ottawa.

So why am I not with my friends in Ottawa you ask?, that is a good question, well you see when it comes down to it, its all about the money. Now I know money is not everything, but when you don't have it, well it kinda sucks.

For now I have a place in Toronto Canada, but I seem to travel back to Ottawa almost every weekend, I do this for my love Melissa. Melissa and I have been together for quite some time now, and we get along great!

Since this is only my first posting, I will not bore you with the details, but in the future posts I am sure you will learn all about me, my friends, and mostly Melissa. I can predict that most of my postings will be either about motorcycles, Melissa, or trying to find a job back in Ottawa.