the daily commute

After commuting on the train a good amount of last month, I must say... I kinda like it.

An hour is a great amount of time to have to yourself each day... Before I would commute by subway or bus, 30-60 minutes, but I had to switch lines, or avoid other passengers getting on and off at each stop, I took my laptop out maybe once or twice on the subway... The second I started getting into a book, I'd be at the station where I had to switch lines or some other distraction... and I rarely ever sat down, unless the train was nearly empty... Although I would still take the subway over driving anyday...

The scenery of the commuter rail isn't bad at all, passing over many bridges through water and salt marshes, boats are moored along the way at several of the north shore marina's... and the train passes right through the middle of them. You even catch a brief bit of the ocean while passing through Manchester/Beverly... and some great sunset's off to the west... My mornings usually consist of drinking my coffee, listening to tunes... and thinking about the day ahead as a nice slow wake-up call, my evenings consist of a brief rest after staring at the computer all day, perhaps with some tunes and taking out a book, article or laptop...

The conductors are pretty nice guys, say good morning and good evening to you on your trip...

The toughest part for me is the schedule, with subway life you can pretty much get to work at whenever and leave whenever and not be on a set schedule... This morning I woke up at 7:16 and had a choice of catching the 7:33 train or the 9:15am train.. So I had about 12 minutes to get ready, which may have been an all time record for me...
and tonight I have a few chances of getting home, but as the night gets later my options become more sparse...

getting your first mortgage

Part of buying your first home involves researching a lot of different concepts and terminology that you don't typically use or need while renting or living free of a mortgage...

Now that I'm almost through the process, I'm going to document the things I've learned thus far about financing your first real estate purchase.

Good credit. Pay your bills on time, even if it is the minimum. If you miss a payment, make sure to pay it within 30 days. If you wait, 30, 60 or 90 days, it will be reflected on your credit report and will affect your credit score. Your score along with your income are the key factors towards determining how much you can afford, and how much the bank will lend you. The lender will tend to pre-qualify you for more than you actually should spend.

So, I didn't have a whole ton saved up for a down payment, but I was told that wasn't a huge problem as there are programs out there for first time homebuyers with good credit and without much cash on hand. The catch is: seasoned reserves, the lender and bank underwriter like to see that even though you don't plan to put much money down, they want to see that if need be you could afford a few months (2-6 depending upon the program) of mortgage payments. This means money that has been untouched for 90 days or more. In order to cover closing costs (estimate 5k), I ended up getting a seller concession clause in my mortgage, meaning I got a bigger mortgage to pay for the closing costs over the period of the mortgage terms. You still will need some money on hand for the costs you incur prior to the closing date; to cover for a small deposit to show the seller you are serious about the property and are making a serious offer. Prior to closing you will also need to pay upfront for a home inspection and appraisal which generally run between 250-350 each. You should also start saving your bank and credit card statements, pay stubs, investment and retirement account statements as well. If you've been renting, keep a running list of landlords, their address' and phone numbers because you'll need to provide this information to them. Keep a steady job for 2 years, they will contact your employer for reference.

Here is a chart of the current average 30 year fixed mortgage:


From what i've learned so far, the rate is a reflection of the amount of money out there in mortgages. If the rates going down, people are still buying homes, and taking out mortgages... This is a national chart, and there are a lot of other things to consider aside from the rate... (As the rate goes up, prices of homes actually tend to go down) And being a new homebuyer with not much assets, youre rate will most likely be higher than the average.

I was supposde to close on May 31st, but instead closed on June 29th and captured a nice low rate of 5.25 on the 80% portion of my loan.

looking for a roomate...

How picky should I be when looking for a roomate? I'd like someone who I can trust. Someone with a reliable job always helps... It'd be cool if I could find someone with similar tastes in music, food, brews.. and perhaps share some interests... Maybe a similar outlook on life, work hard but enjoy whats out there-- Today marks the day where I start to 'interview' people to see if I'd like to have them as my roomate.. I'm starting at 500$ for rent, I posted an ad this morning on craiglist and already got a response... That is good, must mean my location is somewhat in demand...

we'll see...

moving day....

And, i'm done... at least for a while.

After moving yearly the last 8 years of my life, I am finally done with the yearly move thing.... wpi dorms, wpi fraternity house, worcester apartment, brookline apartment, allston apartment, cambridge apartment, and now gloucester condo.... phew... that was a lot of work... the good thing about moving every year is you tend to throw away stuff each year that you don't use and also notice the things you haven't touched since the last time you moved it... It was great living with so many different roomates, and in so many locations to really get a feel for the different areas of Boston...

So after last years horrible moving experience, I did it right this time:
1) Didn't move on the busiest Boston moving day of the year (September 1st)
2) Didn't use a truck rental service that has no idea how to run a buisness (U-haul is forever banned from use by me or anyone I know)
3) Determine exit order for stuff, and packing order based on that..
4) Everything boxed & labeled with new room codes (great for friends that don't want to ask you each time where this is going)
5) Took a day off from work, to avoid weekend conflicts.
6) Enlisted friends and family in the workforce...

And hopefully i'm done moving until I decide to sell or completely rent out the property. It's too early to tell how long that may be, but we'll see --

sailing on the Charles River

After deciding to move to Gloucester, I'm now in my final stretch of enjoying my time in the city... Sailing on the Charles River (by the Hatchshell) is something I've always considered since moving to Boston, but never got around to doing... Well one of my co-workers mentioned it to me, and I thought I'd give it a try....

So for 80$, you get a 30 day trial membership which includes full access to the classes and unlimited use of the boats... Here is a picture of the current conditions on the Charles:


I'm on track to get my Helmsman rating (good enough to let others on the boat with me), but if time permits I'd like to take even more classes that they have available.

Let me know if you want to join me sometime!! for a class, a solo sail on your own, or perhaps you can join my crew and help me with the sails!

Introspection

My birthday happens to fall pretty close to the half-way point of the calendar year, the timeliness of this date is perfect as it provides another annual opportunity to reflect on the bigger picture of my life, am I still heading in the right direction? are my new years goals and resolutions being followed? do adjustments within my personal or professional life need to be made?

modo ætas

North Shore - Gloucester

After living and working in the heart of the city for a few years, it's time I move on... I'm purchasing my first home, a condo up in Gloucester, MA. Most of my friends are still living in the city, which is good for when I want to visit -- But personally, I just couldn't keep throwing money away in rent...

So, this will be interesting... My commute about doubles, but with a commuter line stop steps away from my new home, I plan to start to enjoy my commute's with a good book or laptop(wifi coming soon) for the ride. It's going to be nice to be live so close to the ocean with Rockport, Gloucester and Manchester by the Sea beaches so close...

aetas

aetas : an age, stage, period of life, time, era.

our lives, our experiences... the good times and the bad, with friends and family... coworkers, aquaintainces, random people that enter and exit our lives without even an introduction...

you start to wonder, with new life brought into this world every day and sudden or eventual life leaving this world daily... how are you going to maximize your time here to it's greatest potential?

Do you do the same thing you did yesterday? Do you try something new? When you say you like doing something, that means you've done it before... you're trying to get better or more efficient at doing that.. or maybe you're just trying to get a grasp on the concept of what you're doing..

live every day as if it were you're last? do you really believe that?
Maybe that would mean, don't pay your bills, skip work if you feel like it, call everyone you know and care about, enjoy someplace special....

live every day as if it were youre first... with that same excitement and wonder, to take advantage of what's out there.. carpe diem.

kaizen

continuous improvement

Nobody is perfect, but that doesn't stop us from trying to become better people. Some people are ok with letting the days slip by, doing what's required or asked of us, and carrying on. Others look for weakness' within themselves, their lives, their organizations, their company's and do everything within their power to continuously improve. Kaizen is a philosophy which has really struck a chord with how I try to give purpose to my time here on earth. As days and years quickly fall through the hourglass of our life, we must take each day and try to improve our life, the lives of others, and the world around us for generations to come...

working late...

Well these last two weeks at work have been pretty busy. My code is being tested thoroughly but I guess when your software is going to handle the incoming loan requests over the web, it needs to be rock-solid. I've spent many a day well past sunset, but the sun setting over the city is usually a good time for a small late break....



To the far left is the buildings of Back Bay Boston, midway is the famous Fenway Citgo signs glow, and to the right you see the Charles River and the Mass. Ave bridge that goes to MIT in Cambridge....

Take Off!!!

What a great weekend :) I'll write about it when I have a chance.

software engineering

About 4 months ago I started a new job as a software engineer for American Student Assistance. My whole professional and academic life I've been hesitant to join the ranks of the programmers for a few reasons:
1) Theres always a new programming language to learn, slightly better than the last, but still not as intuitive as us as humans would like when instructing a computer how to react... I thought that I would wait until the day where I could in plain english describe to the computer what I'd like to happen and it would do the work behind the scenes... Well that day isn't coming soon enough... but it is still coming....

2) Trends in outsourcing, with more and more companies looking into outsourcing and/or offshore development of their code.. I personally saw the job market inside the US possibly diminishing in the future... but it seemed that management of the software engineers would tend to stay here on US soil so that company stakeholders would keep control of the development and process/progress..

Despite these few reasons I decided to make the switch, the increased pay scale and potential had nothing to do with my decision :) The reason I made the switch was to learn more about the process of software engineering, to understand how to someday manage software engineers, and to get a gauge to understand the time/effort required to complete specified functionality... With hopes and dreams of someday managing my own corporation, most likely in a technical field, I knew at some point in my career I had to experience the software development life cycle first hand.

Loon Mountain

So i've been ripping it up all winter long at Loon(25 days so far!). I got a Threedom pass which gives me unlimited use to Loon, Waterville, and Cranmore... Checked out Waterville once, it was pretty good... I hear Cranmore is a small hill in North Conway and I haven't got around to treking out those ways yet for that...

I rented out a condo alongside the base of Loon's south mountain, with waterfront views of the Pemi river... At first it was a lot of money, and wasn't sure if I'd end up getting the full use out of the place.. But everyone I've brought up there seems to have a great time, and I've been pretty much living out of the place on weekends...

Here's a picture of me with my youngest brother and sister on their first day of snowboarding!!

Surfing Bunnies (going after carrots)

by artist Aaron Leighton, visit: www.aaronleighton.com/


click below to view my comments on this piece:

Sunray by Sun Microsystems

Back in the dot com hay-day I had a chance to work for Sun Microsystems. Over the course of my time with Sun, one of the most fascinating devices I came across was the Sunray device.

Pictured here:


So, what is it? and why is it so cool?

It's an ideal desktop machine for work, or even companies which want to give their employees a device so that they can work from home... Now this isn't a full fledged computer.. there is no hard-disk inside to store all you're data... but the desktop experience is pretty much just as if you were sitting there behind a computer.

Let me get to the cool part... Since none of your data/desktop is really on this little box (it's out there somewhere on the network), you are given the flexibility of mobility... Theres a slot on the front of these devices for a smartcard... Plug in your smartcard and up pops your desktop. Done working for the day? but need to maybe finish up a bit of work when you get home? Take out your smartcard, head on home... and plug your card into your Sunray at home, poof.. right where you left off...

Cool? Yes. Practical and Plug 'n' Play for the masses? not quite yet. but soon...
After all, the future is now...

san diego trip

Ah New England... we look forward to warm summer days during the winter freezes and when we're melting walking down the summer streets we wish for the cool breeze of fall and early winter.... Well, this winter, aside from spending a lot of time up at Loon mtn snowboarding, I decided to get away for some time...... and am I glad I did.....



So waking up this morning, I decided to go for a bike ride down to Sunset Cliffs in San Diego....

What a great start to the day, and my week vacation in San Diego.

myth tv - computers in the living room?

2005, back in 1970s when people were working on the room size mainframes the crazy ones probably pictured us flying around in hovercrafts and spacesuits... Well, even though we aren't quite there yet... we have come to the day where people are considering putting an additional pc in the living room... The age of the media center PC. Your best audio and video equipment is in the living room... You may have seen Tivo or other computer based program recorders out there.... Perhaps you already have converted your whole CD audio collection to a computer format like MP3... You would like to view pictures from your last vacation taken with your digital camera on your largescreen tv while your favorite songs play as background music. Perhaps you'd prefer to view the news, weather or email from the comfort of your own couch... This is the current state of living room computing... While most people are happy with a laptop and wireless connection, us geeks like to take it one notch further.... Living room centric computing.

Now, i'll go further into my home setup... along with some of the other options currently available.

let it snow....

Today Boston got hit with it's 3rd significant snow of the season. Most people are complaining about how slushy and nasty it is out, but I just absolutely love it... Why? because a few years ago I came to the logical conclusion that if I'm going to stay around Boston, I need to pick up a winter sport.. Back in my younger years I always played Basketball during the winter, and from a large family so it wasn't very economical for us all to pick up skiing or other mtn sports. So during my college years I tried my hand at Skiing and then Snowboarding... It was fun. I was of course a bit fast and out of control... My scientific pythagorous brain was so used to thinking the 'shortest distance between two points' and that would tend to be the path I chose for going down the mountain... Result: Me flying down the hill at speeds way faster than any novice should be travelling... After a few near tree experiences (maybe a few collisions with kids half my size as well) I realized that speed was really something you mastered after you have complete control of your ski's/board. Well, last winter I bought my first snowboard,
165 cm K2 Nemesis, a big, light, fast board... but a lot of fun.

let the fun begin....

good, intro's over... lets cut to the chase.

if you have a pretty good mp3 collection, but want to listen to it in other places of your home besides your computer room, you need to check out this software from Slim Devices This software allows you to stream music to any other laptop/computer in the house, preferably one in your living room hooked up to your stereo system... Ok, so you're not as geeky and don't really want a PC in your living room... you shell out some bucks for one of these



So it looks a lot cooler, comes with a remote, and is money and you know it... It's on the top of my 'I really want but have no reason to buy' list...

It get's better... using this software allows you to have access to your music collection from *anywhere*... allright, I mean anywhere with decent internet... A few things complicate the picture, but are easily overcome... First it requires going into your router's configuration and allowing a few ports forwarded to the SlimServer. Next you realize that your ip isn't static, and next time your router's IP changes, you won't know how to access your songs from the outside world... This is where a service/program on your computer from good ole no-ip.com comes in handy. They have services/daemons that will run and update a DNS table each time your IP changes (translate: you can have a name to remember that always corresponds to your current IP address at home)

I'll probably post a follow up with more detail, if you'd like --

Internal struggle over quality of content

I consider myself a jack of most trades and a master of few. So if this sentence isn’t structured properly, or I continue to run on, sue me… I didn’t pay attention during the sentence diagramming portion of 7th grade English class. No, but really what I’m getting at here is criticism. My own self criticism of my art, writing, music compositions and recordings, has been the bane of my willingness to share my creativity with the world… They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when I’m the first eyes to see it, and think it’s no good… well, why would I want to share it with you then? Well this blog says those days are over, sure the things I may write or share may not be my finest piece… but at least it will be authentic. I don’t plan to put lots of time into this weblog, but I really do want to expose some of my creativity to the people who care to see it.

So thanks for reading, and if you do happen to like something I share, please let me know…

why blog?

why blog? what is the point of blog.telaetas.com?

2005. Another chapter.

I'd like to start the blog with a song:

g michael amante - telaetas

telaetas

Pronunciation: tel-aye-tas
Etymology:
[latin] tela -ae f.
a web in weaving; a warp; a spider's web; a loom; a design.
[latin] aetas -atis f. [age]:
of human life , either a lifetime or time of life, age,
time, a period of time, epoch.

G.(erald)
Pronunciation: Jeh-rald, G, Jer-ry
Etymology: spear warrior

Michael
Pronunciation: Mike, Michael
Etymology: like the Lord

Amante
Pronunciation: Ah-mahn-tey
Etymology: noun, lover, adj. loving