Hailing from Dublin

Well, I've been in Dublin, Ireland for a few months now which means I did finally manage to work through the bureaucracy. Hurray for that! Google has put me up in a wonderful 1-bedroom apartment in the middle of Sandymount; I've taken a few pictures of the place and put them up here.

I haven't done nearly as much traveling as I would have liked to just yet, but I'll make up for it I'm sure. I have however managed to make my way to Davos and Zurich in Switzerland as well as Amsterdam in the Netherlands. I must strongly recommend a trip to Amsterdam for everyone... that city is an absolute blast, and is the true Disneyland for adults.

I'm hoping to plan my next trip for sometime in mid-May, with my sights set on Rome, Italy.

From Amsterdam		From Switzerland

Best laid plans...

So my originally scheduled departure to Ireland has been... delayed. It seems there were some delays in even getting my work visa application submitted, which resultantly means I miss my January 8th departure.

Even more unfortunately, it also means I miss the free ski trip in the Italian Alps. Damn bureaucracy. As a poor substitute, I will be joining the Google west coast ski trip in Squaw Valley.

To continue my apparent pattern of travel however, I'm off to New York this weekend to visit my extended family and celebrate Christmas. Ho, Ho, Ho...

Traveling abroad

Wow. I guess I haven't updated this in awhile... not that anyone reads it anyway.

Well, by extrapolation I'm sure you can figure out I've now been at Google for a bit more than 8 weeks... closer to 11 months at this point. I'm also no longer busy with school, having graduated and subsequently celebrated back in May.

Not to fret though--Google is definitely keeping me busy! Even more, they've kept me traveling. I love it -- in the past 6 months I've been to Ireland (twice), Germany and Argentina. Most companies locked their developers in dark closets -- the same cannot be said of Google for certain.

As it turns out, I've been asked to relocate to Dublin, Ireland for a period of about 6 months beginning in January. I have accepted, and am greatly looking forward to it. I will be leading our new Dublin billing team while I'm there. I cannot really say I'm disappointed in leaving Arizona for an extended period of time...

Anyway, I've taken plenty of photos on my travels. Here's a few:

From Iguazu

From Buenos Aires

From Germany 2006

Ramblings of an old man

Well, I've now been at Google for just under 8 weeks. I still feel that I need training wheels, but I'm definitely getting more comfortable with how they handle things and where I fit into the picture. I went up to Mountain View again on Thursday and Friday to meet with colleagues and gain some insight into my next two projects -- it went almost flawlessly, and I do so love the Mountain View area.

On the other side of things, I'm still overworking myself in school. 7 classes is pretty difficult to keep track of, especially when combined with a near full-time job at a fast paced company. I think I'm managing pretty well, though.

Oh, and I suppose I am also officially a year older now. Does that make me wiser? Probably not. Funnier? Nope. Smarter? Yeah, right. Oh, well. Maybe next year (fat chance).

Googled.

Well, I'm officially Googled. I received an offer letter from Google earlier this week, and have at this point accepted the offer. Starting on January 3rd, I will be a Billing Application Engineer for Google's Phoenix-area office (and no, I don't know where they will be in the valley).

I suppose that makes me a Noogler. Hmm.