Beware Here Be Dragons...

Well as some of you know I had a job interview on Friday afternoon. I started job hunting in Dec when I wasn't sure if my contract was getting renewed, and when it was, (just a week before expiring!) I stopped looking.

I was phoned 2 weeks ago by one of the agencies saying that there was a prospect at one of Mark Shuttleworth's companies - was I interested? I thought it was certainly worth checking out, and so the interview was set up. I was told to ask for Karen Lamb. I checked out who she was, what she does etc, so I could be suitably knowledgeable when I arrived.

I rushed there and made it JUST in time on Friday. I dashed into reception, to find Karen standing there waiting. I tried to act casual and greeted her by name, saying I recognised her from the photo on the website... she seemed impressed - so far so good.Then she paused for a while and said, 'he's still busy, would you mind waiting...?'. I said no problem, and then asked, ' Who am I meeting with'. She said, 'Mark'.

MARK!? OMG. My interview was with MARK SHUTTLEWORTH.
I am not usually nervous for interviews, but this news did rattle me. I was thankful that I did have to wait, and it turned out to be quite a long wait, close to 45 minutes! I could hear the receptionist phoning the PA every few minutes saying how they must hurry him up and not keep *me* waiting. *LOL* It turned out he was luncheoning with a lady who had won lunch with him when he was auctioned off at a charity event. I had no other plans for the afternoon and the office park he has in Durbanville is stunning and I was enjoying being there and seeing the people coming and going. All very relaxed but very productive at the same time. The place has a lovely vibe. I also took the time to SMS friends and family asking for good luck. I got some good advice and encouragement and so by the time Mark himself arrived to greet me, and apologise for keeping me waiting I was feeling quite calm.

As I walked into the meeting room with him I said, ' I had NO idea I was meeting with you, I thought I was being interviewed by Karen, so I read up all about her - but luckily I know who you are too!" *LOL*

He is a very warm, and 'soft' man. He is gentle and soft spoken, and seems very unflappable. You can see he is intense and passionate about what he does, but that doesn't make him hyper in any way. I think the interview went well, although I am not sure if I sounded suitably excited about his job, as it's very unspecific right now. They need someone to make sure their 6-months Linux release happen successfully, but they are not sure how to achieve that, or what it means or entails. So it's quite intangible and fairly risky. But I do think it would be a good challenge.

Unfortunately it is quite a commute. About 35km from home, on the other side of Durbanville. Also, when he is around he likes the guys to work till about 10pm. Also to the job entails some international travel, 3-4 times per year at least. Which does sound great, but I am not sure if I can commit to all that right now. So I may not have been gushingly enthusiastic enough...

Well I guess it's up to fate (and Mark) now... When I left the receptionist said that I had been in for a long time. Longer than anyone else so far. So we'll see... ;)

J&B met 2005

We went to the J&B Met this year again. We have gone most years since 1998, including when Quinn was 3 weeks old and also when Griffin was 3 months old.

Shown here...
<-Quinn at the J&B Met at 3 weeks old in 2000 (the year of the big fire!)

Last year we even used to event to celebrate our combined milestone birthdays of 30 and 40 - it worked out well because the Met was postponed to April after an Equine Flu scare in January/February.

This year we weren't actually planning to go, but the day before the big day Richard was offered 2 tickets to attend in the HP VIP tent and with reserved parking, and well we couldn't say no to that... ;)

The 4 of us at the J&B met in 2002, Griffin at 3 months old, Quinn was 2 years old ->


So I rustled up an outfit - a dress I wore to a wedding a few years ago... and off we went. It was great fun, and having access to a VIP tent is definately the way to go. even though we normal book private picnic sites and are not part of the real student pleb crowd, being put up in an airconditioned marque with free drink on tap and being able to swan around with the rich and famous is something I could get used to.

We saw Gareth Cliff and Claudia Schenkle (or whatever Miss South Africa's name is), Kurt Schoenraad, Stuart Taylor, Colin Moss, Joanne Strauss and some other models and Miss SA's etc.

Also it turned out that some of the CSC directors were being wined and dined by HP, and so showed up in the tent too. It was a small victory to have cracked an invite as well and to be able to fraternise with the high and mighties...

We were also given some betting vouchers, and I made an effort this year to try to understand some of the betting intricasies. I have been ridiculously clueless up to now. So I played some horses and races, on my own and WON - and so did Richard. *grin* Now we are not big gamblers, but we walked a away from a day that didn't cost us a cent with a few hundred rand in our pockets - that's a good feeling. it was fun.

The lunch was delicious, the weather was perfect, and we had a stunning day.

We were slightly inebriated by this point - late afternoon...