My tenure at Isilon is starting to be a real struggle. It isn’t that the job has become significantly more difficult or that the hours are more pressing. In a lot of ways, I’m doing less actual work - but the additional responsibility weighs on me throughout the day (and evening… and night.)

I think I’m affected by a few things - career direction, a desire to spend time with my family, and general wear-out. More and more I feel like the management direction is not what I should be in at this time. It isn’t that I’m not learning a great deal; I am - how to govern my time, set goals, plan for the future, be accountable, and interact people. When I describe that, it seems obvious that I should be into my job. That leads me down the path of ownership, lack of focus, etc. While I love Isilon’s technology and think it is a game-changer in the marketplace, in my management position I am becoming more and more removed from that technology. I’m about people and process and growing the organization - but I don’t particularly care for big companies. So while I seem to be a natural leader, perhaps I need to be closer to the technology than I am.

said Eriko as we were drifting to sleep… I might want to have one sooner than I thought. Not now, but maybe in a year…

Her original timeline was 4 years. The doctor (for Jerry’s 1-year checkup) said the “ideal” time had been rumored to be 3 years. Predictions?

We just received our new camera (DSC-W55) to replace our old one that I lost.

I like it - the small and compact nature makes it very easy to carry around and whip out for a timely picture. The previous camera had much better optical zoom, which I will miss - but most of the pictures are of Jerry and they tend to be from close up.

Without further adieu, here are the new pictures of Jerry!

The recent movie inspired me to read Fleming’s original Bond classic. Unfortunately, I was a bit tainted as I had already watched the movie. The book was reasonable, but I didn’t particularly care for the French that was used often to describe the places and for fancy quips between characters.

The movie stay relatively true to the book but there were some subtle yet significant twists. It was also slightly modernized to reflect the current world political situation as one would expect. The wikipedia list of differences is here.

I read the 2000 edition from the library, but there is a 2007 edition available. The book provides an overview of ISOs, NQOs, ESPP, and ATM (along with a few other topics.) There is enough here to cause any interested individual to feel a strong need to call a competent tax accountant.

I will be giving my dad’s accountant, Jeffery Bowles, a call very soon.

A quick rant about AMT - what a mess. From here, “Because the AMT was not indexed for inflation, its reach has expanded annually, delivering a significant tax increase this spring to an estimated 4 million households. The AMT would have spread even more rapidly after President Bush’s tax cuts reduced taxpayers’ normal bills, but Congress enacted yearly “patches” to restrain its growth. The most recent patch expired in December, and unless Congress acts, the tax is projected to strike more than 23 million households next spring, many of them earning as little as $50,000 a year.”