Andrew's Boiling It Down

Thursday, October 19, 2006

I gave notice on Monday and October 27th will be my last day. Having spent almost two years working the same job, I felt more and more that it simply wasn't working for me and I didn't see my job or that feeling changing in the future. I wasn't improving my skill set and I had little opportunity to apply the ones that I had. I wasn't learning or growing in a field that demands both.

After all of the excitement of Aaron's arrival quieted down, I spent some time thinking about and looking at other options. I did a bit of interviewing. I turned down one offer, decided not to pursue another possible offer and didn't make the cut with a third company. None of the possibilities really excited me.

In the end, I have decided to take an entirely different direction: That of the contractor / consultant. I think that I am getting a good start by loosely partnering with Dewaard and Jones. I have known Bob for 3 years and have always enjoyed working with him. Bob wants to move into more of a sales, design and architecture role which has opened up a coding role for me. I think these two roles should complement eachother nicely. I will also be working with Rob Schripsema and Dick Dewaard.

In addition, I plan on putting time into a couple of web based business ideas of my own. Things that I have wanted to try for a while but I never was able to put the time into them. My new position should give me a little bit more scheduling flexibility and provide me an opportunity to balance these different priorities.

I know that there is more risk in this new venture but the near zero risk of my previous job was driving me crazy.

Thursday, October 19, 2006 3:06:23 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

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IE7 OWA 2003 Send Save Exception

I just installed the RTM version of IE7 and still having an issue with OWA (Outlook Web Access) on Exchange 2003. I have tried two different servers from three different clients and IE generates an exception when I hit the send button after composing an email.

I found a few references to uninstalling the S/MIME control using the "Add/Remove Programs" Control Pannel but attempting that resulted in a rather comical error: "Another version of this prodcut is already installed... use Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel."

The short term solution is to disable the S/MIME ActiveX control in IE7. Tools -> Internet Options -> Programs -> Select the "Managed add ons" button at the bottom. Then select the "Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer" from the drop down list. Select the "Mime Control Version Class" from the list and disable it under the settings.

Seems to solve the issue for me.

Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:43:16 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

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Monday, October 09, 2006

Opprtunity at Victoria

I have beem following Spirit and Opportunity since their arrival more than 2.5 years ago. This is simply the coolest thing in a long time. Gotta renew my membership in the Planetary Society.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20061006a.html

Monday, October 09, 2006 7:05:20 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

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Sunday, October 08, 2006

Back at the blog.

I just updated my blog to the new version of dasBlog and hope to blog on a more regular basis.

Life has been busy... Anouncing the arrival of Aaron Martin Robinson. Born August 6th. Aaron's arrival and my marriage to Jennifer are clearly the two biggest events in my life. Oh and how life has changed!

Lots of additional pictures over on my photo site including the birth action shots:

http://photos.binaryocean.com/?path=Aaron