Ladd Photos

It has been too long since I last wrote a blog, but moving will cause that to happen. We almost have everything put in it’s place at our new apartment in Bakersfield, California. Moving was quite an ordeal. It took us 4 trips to get everything to Bakersfield, with each trip taking 5 hours of driving. And of course we had the packing, moving, lifting, carrying, dropping, cursing, and unpacking of all our worldly possessions that added to the experience. So, as you can imagine, we are quite tired and sore. Next time we move, we are definitely going to get some help.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Aliciana received her diploma in the mail today. She received her Bachelors Of Science in Business Administration from Cal Poly, complete with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature. Congratulations Baby!!! We are all very proud of you!!!

Yesterday Aliciana and I drive to San Luis Obispo for the day to do some errands. We also got a chance to visit my Brother Nick, his main squeeze Jessie, their puppy Zeus, my best friend Aaron, his new fiance Melinda, and Kali the cat. We had a great time catching up with everyone. We ended up going and having a good Chinese food dinner and then dessert at TCBY. Even though I couldn’t eat dessert because of my diet, I still had a great time hanging out and talking. We will have to definitely make a trip to SLO a common occasion, maybe even a monthly event if Aliciana isn’t too busy being a full time worker.

Aliciana had her picture in the Bakersfield Californian, the local newspaper, last Saturday. The article was about our church’s preparation for the Hanging Of The Green event that was held last Sunday. She has only lived in Bakersfield for 5 months and she is already famous. 😉

Here is a scan of the newspaper picture:

It is raining…. again. It has been raining in Bakersfield for weeks. If I had wanted to deal with this type of weather I would have moved to the Pacific Northwest.

One of the best things about Bakersfield is its incredibly mild winters. Most days are in the upper 50’s with a gorgeous blue sky and lots of sunshine. It is that sunshine that I miss. The great winters are the reward that nature gives us for spending the summer trying not to melt. It seems like Mother Nature is screwing us on our deal.

Yesterday, while in the local Barnes & Noble killing some time before lunch, I finally remembered to look up what type of bird this is:

It turns out to be a “Green Heron”, so now I have a type to put with the bird. I have seem him a lot lately, usually fishing for crawfish in the pond by my apartment. He is quite fun to watch because his actions seem quite erratic to us humans, hence the name “Crazy Bird”. More info on his species can be found here.

Today was my first day of work at my new job as a Web Systems Analyst at The Bakersfield Californian. I will be working on web related projects and doing other software development as needed. Everyone at the paper has been great and the work environment is awesome. Everyone is really open to my ideas and my suggestions seem to be genuinely valued. There is no shortage of interesting ideas being kicked around as future projects, so I am really looking forward to the coming opportunities to apply my skills. I also get to run Linux at work, which is a big plus!

I am alive although sick and exhausted from trying to get settled in our new house. It is a very big change going from living in a small apartment to a large house… but a good change none the less. I hope to have some pictures up of our new home within a week.

Well, as most of you probably know by now, I no longer work for The Bakersfield Californian. I turned in my resignation and my last day was on September 8th. The split was amicable and the major reason I left had nothing to do with the paper. I greatly enjoyed working with everyone at the paper and I truly think that technology-wise they are pushing the newspaper industry to catch up with the rest of the world. Hopefully I will get to consult on some of their future projects.

I decided to strike out on my own and form my own small company, Aona Systems LLC, to follow a dream before it was too late. I have always wanted to have my own small business. Ever since college I never imagined myself working for someone else. I want the freedom to be my own boss and to work on whatever interesting project that might pop into my head.

Aliciana and I have been married for over a year now, and we are starting to feel that ‘itch’ to start a family soon. So, we came to the realization that if I was ever going to try to get a small company off the ground I should do it now, while I still have no one depending on me. We seized the opportunity so that we would never have those “what if” questions in the back of our minds in 20 years. If I fail, so be it, at least I will know what it was like to be my own boss. Life is about the journey, not the destination.

So what is Aona Systems LLC currently up too? The company has 2 major focuses: consulting and in-house product development.

Consulting

• Linux Software Development
• Web Applications
• Security Audits
• Linux Administration

In-house Products

• Palm Applications
• Aona Security Journal
• Python Hacks
• Various Open Source Projects

I have a lot more products currently in the planning stages. The coming months will definitely be interesting… keep an eye on this blog and the Aona Systems website.

We started at 7:00am… I should say the movers started at 7:00am. We just sat there and answered questions. The movers finished packing and loading everything 12 hours later, at around 7:00pm. It was much easier having the movers pack everything and worry about getting it up to Seattle, but it was still very boring. It is very hard to entertain yourself when all you have available is a couple of lawn chairs.

Most of the regular readers of this blog should know by now that I have accepted a position at Amazon.com. I start my new job as a Software Development Engineer in the Enterprise Applications Development group on April 2nd.

Although my consulting business, Aona Systems LLC, has been doing well, I felt that I was capable of working on much larger projects. I knew that I wasn’t going to be satisfied with my work as a consultant, or frankly any technology work that I could find in Bakersfield. Plus, I found out what I truly love to do is create elegant software to solve challenging problems… and not worrying about marketing my services, finding clients, and convincing people I am worth spending money on.

Owning my own LLC, and being able to get it off the ground and profitable, is definitely not an experience I regret. I got to learn a lot about different tax laws, how to put together a business and marketing plan, and all the government hoops you need to jump though. The best thing I discovered is that I am a scientist and an engineer in my heart, not a businessman. My passion is discovering creative solutions and creating beautiful works of software engineering. It is the chance to create and discover that will get me up each morning and drive me to be a success.

Congratulations on your wedding Nick and Jessie! The ceremony and reception was great! Hopefully you are enjoying your honeymoon.

Most of our family should know by now, so I think it is a good time to share our news with the rest of the Internet. Aliciana and I are having a baby!

The baby is due at the end of April. We are very excited… so much so that I am even open to the possibility of changing diapers.

The baby is already acting like a little monkey. Look at it already standing on its head.