Blog Entries Tagged work

Here's a list of all 25 blog entries tagged work here at derek.broox.com. I've also got 107 other things related to work.

  • The End of Free Boi Summer posted - 2 comments

    Retired folks often say that they somehow become busier after they stop working. This year I got a taste of what that meant. In April, I quit my job to take a break, reset, and enjoy a summer off with my educator wife. Those planned few months turned into 6+ months of "pretirement" and it was incredible. I wasn't necessarily busier in pretirement, but I was definitely more active and more productive with my own wants... read more

  • Joining and Leaving PayPal posted - 7 comments

    I recently decided to leave PayPal so that I could take a few months off and recharge. Here's how I got to where I'm at... 2013-2015: Building Modest Building a startup is quite an experience. In our situation, it was even more strange because we had a team of 4 with a nice chunk of funding before we even knew what to build. So, we spent ~6 months flipping back and forth between ideating and contracting while we figured things out... read more

  • What I was actually doing for those 15 months in Chicago... posted - 7 comments

    I moved to Chicago for 466 days, where I lived in 3 different neighborhoods and visited 375 different places — 239 of which were restaurants or bars. I walked around 10,087 steps (or 7.67 miles) per day, slept roughly 7.19 hours per night, and gained 1 pound before returning to Iowa. I was actually in the city on 400 of those days and ventured out of Chicago on 117 of them. 68 of those (spread across 17 different trips) were spent in my actual home, with my wife in Iowa. I was also fortunate enough to get out to Washington DC, San Francisco, Arizona, and Napa Valley... read more

  • A Visit From The President posted

    Once I got to work, things were fairly normal - well aside from most everyone else being dressed to the nines… especially the ladies. But then around lunch time, about 30 giant secret service dudes started showing up along with cops, dogs, etc. We had a mandatory office leave while they swept the entire place. (Remember, this is Obama's campaign headquarters. These are the people who love the president and are hired to re-elect him... read more

  • My New Gig: Helping Reelect the President posted - 19 comments

    So my buddy, Harper is currently serving as the CTO for the 2012 Obama Campaign. This spring, he told me I should interview to join his team. However, after taking the 5 hour commute and a couple other minor details into consideration, I declined. … and regretted it immediately. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, working on technology for our president with a team of baller engineers... read more

  • Sorry to have to write this posted - 3 comments

    This is one of the best, most condescending emails that's ever been written about me. Back in my corporate days (circa 2007), a director sent this to all of information management. Subject: Sorry to have to write this... Importance: High Folks, I'm confident that it's no one in our group - given your maturity and professionalism, but you can help me by spreading the word that the reoccurring stupid and immature prank of taking, or tearing, a "bite" from Friday donuts (and other food) and putting the remainder back into the box is a thing of the past, starting now. If you see anyone doing this in the future, please politely ask them to take the whole thing and not replace the remnant.  Please also politely inform them that if I ever see someone biting, or tearing food to resemble a bite, and replacing the remainder, it will be a very bad day for that person... read more

  • Dipity Doo Dah! posted - 7 comments

    So a lot of you have probably heard by now - I started a new job last week. I've actually been contracting for this company part-time since the beginning of the year, but last week marks the start of me going full-time for a San Francisco based startup called Dipity. This whole process sorta started last November when Harper introduced me to a dude named Derek Dukes - the CEO of Dipity. After a bit of conversation, he had me talk to some of his team, they gave me a couple programming tests, and actually offered me a full-time position. Getting that offer was super exciting, but I wasn't quite ready to jump into the startup world... read more

  • Leaving Red Five posted - 7 comments

    So, two and a half years ago I left my cushy corporate job to join a small marketing/web development company called Red Five Interactive. I made that move primarily because corporate politics bothered me... but I also wanted something with a little more freedom that would encourage me to learn new things. Red Five was exactly that. See, when I started at Red Five, I was an anti-mac guy; I hated the Apple fanboys... read more

  • Three Months Free posted - 9 comments

    Welp, I've now been free from the corporate world for a little over 3 months now. Ha. Man it rules. It was scary and a little stressful of a move, but I am so, so glad that I dove in. No more Microsoft Office, no software audits, no B.S... read more

  • Joining Red 5 posted - 8 comments

    Holy first day. Seriously... I haven't felt this n00b in a long, long time - I'm both stressed and excited about it. So first of all, the drive. It's longer, but sooo much better than my last drive... read more

  • Leaving Pioneer posted - 4 comments

    It seems like just a few months ago - my last block at Cornell College - when I'd drive out of town via 8th Avenue and park in a cornfield entrance at the top of the hill. This is where I always went to get away from the loud dorm I lived in to make important phone calls. This time I was making my call to Marv Hardisty - checking on the job I interviewed for a few weeks prior. It was an interesting call - first he asked me about brooksfsw.com, one of my huge Soap Shoe web sites that I let get away. He asked me if I ran it and if I was aware that it was now a pornography site... read more

  • T Minus Eight Days posted - 5 comments

    Until I am done working at Pioneer. That's right. On Monday this week I put in my 2 week notice at my cushy corporate job. Why? Back up to a month ago when my promotion (supported by 3 levels of management) was brought forward and then shot down by the director of Information Management... read more

  • 4 Years Old with a Bar and a Tattoo posted - 2 comments

    As of last Friday, I've been at Pioneer for 4 years... and I'm still an entry level programmer! Haha, weak. However, I somehow carried over 9 days of PTO this year... which Brings me up to 18+9... read more

  • Optiplex'd! posted - 3 comments

    Oh man, so I got a new computer at work. Dell Optiplex GX620 -P4 HT 3ghz -2gb RAM -150gb HD -DVD ROM/CD-RW -And a ball mouse, wtf? I need an optical mouse in this piece. Combined with my new dual LCD monitors, I'm loving life at work. I haven't even had it setup for a full day yet and I already want to get a new setup for home... read more

  • 1 Year Anniversary. posted - 11 comments

    Starting today Kari and I have been together 1 year!!! haha, actually today I have been at Pioneer for 1 year... wtf that went fast. I really have no idea how long Kari and I have been together... she has no idea either so we're straight... read more

  • Kraus is gone but the burger lives on posted - 9 comments

    Today was Chad Kraus' last day at Pioneer... weird. So here's a little story of him and his time here... He started the same day I did almost a year ago. The punk actually got the job I applied for, hehe whatever, I write web apps (roxor)... read more

  • Pioneer Glacier posted - 10 comments

    Yo check out the glacier we have sliding off the roof of the Shull building, it's been sliding for about a week now. Outside - Inside read more

  • Techdeck desk park: out of control posted - 3 comments

    Jan 5, 2004 1:47 PM Seriously, this is getting out of hand. I had to move so many things around on my desk to get my tech deck stuff to fit in here... Check out my ramps and rails. I am so lame.I need to fill them with spray foam and attach them to my desk. Everything is hollow, so it's sooo loud... read more

  • Brown-outs rule posted - 5 comments

    So, today when we got to work we were in some sort of serious brown-out (we were getting a little power, but not quite enough). The flourescent lights flickered, the PCs would boot until the harddrives started spinning, then it would start over again.. Some rooms/cubes got a little more power than others. Doug, a guy I work with took his PC into a conference room and plugged in, so me and a couple guys went in with our RC cars and Tech Decks and watched Office Space. Now, it's 10:30 and the power is back on... read more

  • Work is Fard... I mean Fun... and Hard... Hard and Fun posted - 6 comments

    My job includes a lot of challenging work, but it rules for several reasons. a) people are cool here b) my bosses are just as cool c) we have drag races, both big and small d) we have guns and shoot things e) people that have been here over 20 years make donkeys out of cheese, and people, and people that pet the donkeys read more

  • Cubed posted - 1 comment

    So Friday was pretty exciting. We got to move cubes at work. Now I have a much cooler one, and I'm near my buddies. It's going to be a lot of fun. I took a Panoramic shot of my new cube, Click Here to see it... read more

  • Being young and making cash rules posted - 6 comments

    The guy that led my orientation at work just asked my buddy and I, "How much more time do you guys have?" We were like, "Um, what?" He said, "this summer." So we got really confused. and then he's like, "When does school start back up?" "Ummm, we're full time, sir" read more

  • Why my job rules posted - 6 comments

    My boss just wheeled this giant box on wheels over to my cube. It was about waist high, 5 feet long and 3 feet wide with no top on it. Anyway, he told me to get in. I was like, "umm, you just want me to get in the box?" He's like, "yeah, it's ok, get in." So I got in, and he put this purple fuzzy pimp hat on me and pushed me all around the floor really fast. read more

  • My cube posted - 8 comments

    A lot of people have wanted pictures of my cube at work. So here ya go... Also, don't forget to check out the webcam link above. I usually turn it on during the week. The Whole Cube - Right Side - Left Side - Toys read more

  • Des Moines posted - 5 comments

    I got a really good job right outside of Des Moines in the city of Johnston. I start June 1, so I'll be outta here at the end of May. I'm gonna miss my friends a lot, but it's a great opportunity for me, so I'm taking it.Update: I went to get an apartment yesterday. I found a pretty dope one in West Des Moines, right next to Clive. If anyone lives near there, I need someone to skate/soap with. read more