A Better Place to Play

Don't Look Back in Anger, live from the EMP

I will probably regret posting this, but I need to know I gave rock super stardom a real shot.  So, to all of you music agents, and for all of my adoring fans, here's an MP3 of my latest rock'n'roll performance.

Live from the Experience Music Project in Seattle...

Download ryan_pollock_dont_look_back_in_anger.mp3

Front license plates in Palo Alto

When I bought my Accord coupe 3.5 years ago, the front bumper didn't have holes for a license plate.  I'm pretty sure I was told at the time that I didn't need a license plate in the front of my car.

Anyway, just yesterday I was ticketed not once but twice for not having a license plate in the front of my car.  And I wasn't the only JotSpotter to get ticketed, either.  Fortunately, after I install a license plate, I can void the charges, so that's what I'll do.

But the moral of the story is that if you're parking in Palo Alto, make sure you have a front license plate.  I spoke with an officer who I saw walking around ticketing people, and I found out it's a once a month activity (presumably done at the end of the month to meet Palo Alto revenue goals).

Also, if you think front license plates and the officers who ticket people for them are evil, then sign this petition.

Disconnected

Here I sit at SFO a full hour and 45 minutes before my flight.  I'm on my way home to Cleveland by way of Minneapolis.  There's a T-Mobile HotSpot, but I'm opting to remain disconnected.

I have some options:
* I can watch any of The Daily Show episodes that I've transferred to my laptop
* I can watch Alfie or There's Something About Mary
* I can read a business magazine
* I can nap

Instead I think I'll write.  Or rather, I'll ramble.  MJR, my nightmare of a high school English teacher, would be pleased.

I wonder what would happen if I were to walk into my high school tomorrow...how many pictures are there of me on the wall these days?  What an eerie thought...

Whenever I go home to Solon, OH I instantly become nostalgic.  I go home twice, or maybe three times a year to see my parents and my dogs.  As I sit in the SFO airport disconnected from the Internet, I contemplate what it will be like to reconnect with my family and some friends I haven't seen in a while.

When did I become so disconnected?

I can't say I'm sorry I've disconnected from the Solon, OH life since I love my life these days.  Solon is just a very different world...and it will be snowing when I touch down in the morning.  I hate snow.

But at the same time, I admit that I sometimes miss the old life.  I guess I can't stay disconnected for that long, after all.

Awkward Silence

I've taken a vow to keep my dating stories off of this blog, but it recently occurred to me that maintaining a blog is much like maintaining a relationship.

Have bloggers debated this before?  My guess is no since most bloggers live in Silicon Valley and most people in Silicon Valley work at Oracle.  And the dudes at Oracle don't date.  No offense, but you know it's true.

Both dates and blogs are full of interesting stories -- and awkward silence.  When I started this blog, I shared a few such stories, but lately there has mostly been silence.  Have I lost my love for blogging (insert girl here)?  Did I ever love blogging (insert girl here) at all?  Sometimes I just don't have time for blogging (insert girl here).  At least I only have one blog (insert girl here) because anything more would be too much responsibility.  And somehow I doubt that having multiple blogs could be anywhere near as fun as having multiple (insert girls here).

So I can't say for sure what's in the future for this blog.  This blog isn't even Jewish.  I make no promises, but at least I'm telling my blog the truth.  My dear blog, I hope I have not upset you, but if I have...

Is there such a thing as blog makeup sex?

Dare U2Haul

Let me preface this a post by saying that my subject matter is in no way comparable to the tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina.  If you have not already, help however you can.  You can always donate to the Red Cross.

Foreword
This post is about my own personal disaster.  This past Saturday, I moved from San Francisco to San Mateo, primarily to be a bit closer to my new job with JotSpot, the Application Wiki company.  I'm sure I'll write more about the new job sometime soon...I just wanted to blog about my move before I forget some of the details.

I spent last week packing, and I arranged to have several friends of mine help me move.  When I moved from Foster City to San Francisco a year ago, I had an entourage of about 8 people helping me move, and it was actually quite fun.  I even did an Evite for "Dare You to Move" -- people turned out in droves.  I named my move from SF back to San Mateo "Dare You to Move II" and this time 4 friends volunteered to help.

7:00 AM, Saturday, September 3, 2005
I wake up, eat breakfast, and pack my car.

9:20 AM
My friend Rob arrives at my apartment, and we drive to the Uhaul center a few miles away.

10 AM - 12:30 AM
I board the Uhaul (it is like boarding a ship or airplane -- not a car), and I drive it back to my apartment.  Rob and I begin loading the Uhaul, and shortly thereafter Saureen and Vinod arrive to help.  We don't pack as efficiently as possible, but we manage to fit almost all my stuff into the Uhaul just fine.  Around 12 we get tired and get some drinks, and Rob takes off since he has stuff to do in the city.  By 12:30 Vinod and I are on the Embarcadero preparing to go on the highway. 

12:32 PM
Around this time I feel the slightest lurch in the car's movement.  I don't think much of it, so I enter 280 and go south towards San Mateo.  As I drive, the lurching increases, and I confirm with Vinod that the truck is in fact huffing and puffing.  I don't dwell on the thought long -- Uhauls are notorious for being POS -- and suddenly -- BOX!!!

Out of nowhere a large cardboard box appears in front of the truck.  White papers are flying everywhere, and at the last moment I swerve the truck to the right and avoid the box.

12:36 PM
I am quite grateful to be alive and that I did not just run anybody over.  I could have easily ran over a car to my right had there been one.

I regain composure and I set about driving to San Mateo.  A few minutes pass, and the truck lurches once again, and I confirm with Vinod that I am not crazy.

12:38 PM
I inform Vinod that the steering has become rather rigid.  Previously the steering had been quite loose, and I speculate that because I had increased my speed, the steering must have somehow adjusted.

However, I do start to become concerned about whether I will be able to turn when it is time to leave the highway.  I will be taking an off-ramp with some pretty sharp turns, and I fear that my Uhaul will see lift-off at the 101/92 overpass.  I think that it would be nice to get off the highway, but I'm not sure where I can turn the truck.

12:40 PM
The lurching increases.  Now it's every thirty seconds.

12:42 PM
SHIT!

Smoke finally erupts from the hood of the car, and the steering goes completely dead.  I'm in the second lane from the right, and I angle the wheel to the right as best as possible.  I feel the truck's speed drop quickly, and I step on the gas.  Nothing.

I drift toward the right side of 101 South, just past the Broadway exit in Burlingame.  The truck finally comes to a stop, half on the shoulder, and half in the rightmost lane.

12:44 PM
F**K!

I am stranded on Highway 101 with a full Uhaul.  The hood of the car is still steaming.

I find Uhaul's emergency roadside assistance number and I call.  I report my situation, the woman gives me a reference number, and she says she will call me back with an ETA for a mechanic within half an hour.

1:15 PM
Uhaul has not called me back, so I dial the emergency roadside assistance number again.  I speak with someone and have them listen to the car horns blaring at me as they speed by on 101.

I am put on hold.

1:25 PM
Sirens?

Oh, no...is the police officer going to arrest me?

He zig-zags his car across the highway and stops all traffic.

Then a voice..."get in the truck, and put it in neutral."

Not what I was expecting to hear, but I do it.

And the truck begins to move.  The police officer has taken his squad car and pushed it against the back of my Uhaul.

A voice..."I am going to push you off of the highway."

I begin to gain speed, and I approach the Poplar Avenue exit in San Mateo.  Again I am concerned -- I can't steer!

I approach the exit, turn the steering wheel as far to the right as it will go, and I just barely avoid running into the ramp.  I cruise down the street and try to brake.  The brakes kind of work, and I manage to stop in the middle of someone's driveway.

1:30 PM
With the truck now stopped, I get out to thank the police officer.  He says "you're welcome" and is gone.

I call Uhaul once again to tell them my new location.  I ask them for an ETA for a mechanic, and they put me on hold.

1:45 PM
I am told that a mechanic will arrive in 3 hours.  I indicate that such a delay is unacceptable and I demand to speak to the mechanic.  The Uhaul rep refuses to connect me but does let slip that the mechanic is from GM Automotive.  The Uhaul rep agrees to have the mechanic call me.

I wait for the call.

1:55 PM
I have not received a call, so I do a 4INFO search for "gm automotive 94402".  I receive search results, but nothing that includes "GM Automotive" in the business name.  I call my friend Christian and ask him to look up a phone number for "GM Automotive" in San Mateo.  Nothing.  Burlingame?  Nothing.  San Francisco?  Nothing.

2:10 PM
Vinod and I are very hungry.  Fortunately, we know that we're at 1023 Poplar Avenue, so we order a pizza from Domino's.

2:15 PM
An irate woman walks out of the house attached to the driveway that my Uhaul is blocking.  She demands that we move it so that she can go to work.  I place the truck in neutral, and Vinod and I go to the hood of the car (no longer smoking).  We push the truck, and it slowly moves.

2:25 PM
I remember that I was supposed to have received a phone call from a mechanic by now.  I begin to question whether a mechanic will come at all, so I call a few of the mechanics that came back when I 4INFO'd "gm automotive 94402".  I have phone numbers for 6 mechanics.  On the 5th phone number, I finally speak with someone from Shinokazi Automotive in San Mateo.  He says he has nobody who can look at the truck.

I describe what happened, and he hypothesizes that a chain reaction has likely rendered the Uhaul useless and unfixable without significant work.  He gives me the phone numbers for a few other nearby Uhaul centers.

2:50 PM
Domino's arrives, and Vinod and I eat the large cheese pizza in record time.

3:00 PM
I phone the Uhaul center in Millbrae and inform them of my plight.  I ask them to bring another Uhaul to my current location.  They refuse, but they do offer a spare Uhaul if I can make it there by 5.

3:10 PM
I phone Saureen, and he says that he has to pick up Raja from the airport, but that he can drive me to the Millbrae Uhaul after picking up Raja.

3:15 PM
I phone the Uhaul emergency roadside assistance once more because their mechanic never called me.

I scream into the phone and demand to speak with the mechanic, and this time they connect me to GM Automotive and Towing.

"Hello?", I say.

"This is Anthony with GM Automotive."

"Where are you guys located?"

"Fairfield."

"Fairfield?", I say.  "Where the hell is Fairfield?"

"Near Vallejo.  Between Vallejo and Sacramento?"

"SACRAMENTO!  When the hell are you guys going to be here?"

"I don't know.  I'll call you back."

3:25 PM
I hang up the phone in disgust.

3:26 PM
A truck marked "GM Automotive" pulls up behind my new home -- the Uhaul.

I can't believe it.

The mechanic walks to the hood of the Uhaul and pulls out a shredded belt.  He might be able to fix it, but he needs to go to a car part store.  I help him find one, and he's on his way.

3:50 PM
Saureen and Raja arrive on the scene.  I ask Vinod to wait with the Uhaul for the mechanic, and I go with Saureen and Raja to the Uhaul center in Millbrae.  Raja just arrived from India and has not slept in 20 hours.

4:15 PM
I get keys to the second Uhaul.  I plan to have it as a backup in case the mechanic cannot fix the first Uhaul.  I await word from Vinod about whether the Uhaul is fixed.

4:40 PM
The mechanic does not know whether he can fix the Uhaul because he doesn't have the keys.  I have them.

Saureen and Raja drive the keys back to Uhaul #1.

5:20 PM
I receive a call from Vinod.  The mechanic cannot fix the Uhaul.  I start Uhaul #2 and drive back to Uhaul #1.

5:40 PM
Vinod and I begin unloading Uhaul #1 and loading Uhaul #2.  Saureen has gone to take Raja home, but he rejoins us later.

6:30 PM
We are finished loading Uhaul #2, and we drive it to my new apartment.  We unload my stuff and are dismayed when we are unable to fit my sofa through a door.  We find a place to put the sofa, and we continue unloading.

8:00 PM
Vinod, Saureen, and I are finally done unloading.  We have dinner at Red Robin, hang out at their place for a few minutes to meet their friend Suril, and then we drive Uhaul #2 back to Millbrae.  Then we drive to SF -- only after Suril makes an accidental trip through the international terminal of SFO.

11:00 PM
I'm back at my apartment in SF.  I clean up some stuff, pack a few things that were left behind, and then I go.

Epilogue
All in all, things could have been a lot worse.  I owe special thanks to Vinod and Saureen for sticking with me the whole day.  Thanks also to Rob for helping in SF Saturday morning.  Turns out you were quite lucky to leave when you did.

I can certainly laugh about my situation now.  After all, it makes a great story.  Just know that I will never again dare you to help me move...at least not with a Uhaul.

Ostriches in SF?

In case you missed this...wish I would have seen that!

Link: CNN.com - Ostrich breaks free on Golden Gate Bridge - Aug 30, 2005.

Days Go By

This being my first blog post, I'll quickly catch you up on my life, tell you why today is the day that I finally started a blog, and give you some thoughts about what lies ahead.

Days 1 – 842 of Life in Silicon Valley: The Oracle / Foster City Years

I graduated from Cornell with a BS in Computer Science in May 2002, and being the 49er that I am, I went west to work for Oracle.  Sure, I was 153 years late for the first gold rush, and the dotcom bubble had just burst, but I figured that in time Silicon Valley would rebound stronger than ever.  I planned to get some work experience, and when the time was right, I would move on to bigger and better things.

Amazingly, my life went pretty much as I had hoped.  I learned a lot about software development at Oracle, and in my spare time I met some amazing people.  I also finally had the time to learn to play guitar, read books (for fun!), and enjoy life in general.

I had left the cold of Ithaca and Cleveland behind.

Days 842 – 1133: The Nextag / San Francisco Year

It didn't take me too long to realize that the career paths that Oracle provided weren't right for me.  I like the problem-solving aspects of writing software, but learning API's and keeping up with the Java IDE industry is a snooze.  I had always enjoyed economics in college and had long felt I'd be well-suited for a business role that requires a technical background.

In October 2005 I started work as a product manager at Nextag, and I also moved to San Francisco.  At Nextag I've mainly focused on search engine marketing and optimization.  It's been great to learn how SEM and SEO work.  At Oracle I was so focused on a small part of Internet technology that it was easy to lose sight of the bigger happenings on the Internet.  Despite learning some interesting things at Nextag, over the past few months I've come to the conclusion that the company isn't the right place for me in the long run.  Simply put, I’m a bit too late to the party, and the party isn’t that much fun anyway.

Since joining Nextag, I've spent a fair amount of time getting "linked in" with Silicon Valley.  I've been bouncing around ideas for startups with a number of friends and colleagues, and I know that in time I'll have a company of my own.  I was thinking about leaving Nextag to do my own thing, but about a month ago Ken Norton  contacted me about Jot.

I had read a few articles about Jot back in October, but I didn’t give the company much thought at the time since I was starting work for Nextag.  However, at Oracle I really enjoyed the communal benefits of wiki use, and I’ve done my best to encourage collaboration via wiki at Nextag.  When Jot came calling, I was immediately interested.  A few weeks of interviewing ensued...

Day 1134: The Day that I Finally Created a Blog, and the Day I Accepted JotSpot’s Offer

I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for several months now, but I held off for the usual reasons...I didn’t really have spare time, I was concerned I’d accidentally say something I shouldn’t say about my employer, I don’t like revealing all the details of my private life, etc.  Still, I always enjoyed writing, and I figure maybe there’s something I can share with the world.

At the minimum, I might as well let my friends know about my latest career move in this blog post.  I’m incredibly excited and honored to be joining the Jot team.  If you haven’t read Joe Kraus’ blog, take a look.  I really think Jot is onto the next big thing in enterprise software (if you want to call it enterprise software...it’s actually more of a consumer application that every person at every company in the world should use).  I’m sure I’ll extol the virtues of Jot plenty in further posts...evangelizing the coolest web product I know will be a blast.

Days Ahead: The Jot / TBD Era

So now that you’re caught up on my life, I figure you ought to know what I plan to do with this blog.  Hopefully I’ll write reasonably often, but about what?

I’ll probably write about products that I think are cool, and I’ll point you to news stories that interest me.  On occasion I’ll probably rant about sports, music, books, movies, or TV, and sometimes I’ll just post about stuff going on in my life.

Anyway, I think that's enough for now.  I'm finally reading Moneyball, so I think that's what I'll do next.  Hopefully I'll have something interesting to say after I'm done, so make sure to subscribe to the RSS feeds :)