Changing things up, because that's just how I roll

Yesterday marked my last day on the Android Email/Gmail team at Google, now that Email is fully folded into Gmail. I think I'm leaving the project in really good shape, and certainly in a fantastically better spot than just a year and a half ago when I first joined the team and Google as a whole. It's been a hell of a ride, but it's time for something new.

Next up on my plate is AndroidTV, where I'll be working with my old buddy Chris McKillop again. I'll be brining my familiarity with Android development along with me, but other than that I know basically nothing about the project, which is exactly how I like it. Life is boring if you're too well prepared.

That said, bringing my Android experience with me is perhaps more than I'd like for taking on a new adventure, so it remains to be seen how long this team will hold my interest. I think a lot of it will depend on what sort of projects I get to work on and what direction the platform develops in.

I had initially set my sights more broadly throughout Google, but since Android is the new hotness it's a lot easier to find a seat in an Android team rather than somewhere else, and I ended up getting declined by teams who wanted me to join but didn't have an open space for me to fill.

I suppose I can at least look forward to a relatively easy transition.

No Google for me

Oh well.

The Google interview

Went very well last week. Had a splendid time chatting with the engineers there and enjoyed a delicious free lunch. I'm hoping I might hear back from them next week or so.

In the mean time Barnes and Noble has shown a bit of interest in dragging me in to work on the Nook products, so we'll see if that goes anywhere, and I'll be keeping my resume spread around just in case none of these current opportunities pan out.

On the less job-searchy side, the flights down and back were a huge pain in the ass. A broken plane and subsequently cancelled flight saw me arrive in San Jose very late, and a delay on the way back had me almost miss my connection in Denver. The flights themselves, once we were in the air, were quite nice though. I sat beside some lovely folk, including, by random chance, Chris Wiesehan, the receiver coach for the Blue Bombers, who was a very nice fellow and quite enjoyable to chat with.


The hotel was splendid, though slightly less scenic than the one in Saratoga that Apple had me in. Visits with friends went quite well, much sushi was eaten, and good times were had by all.


I'm really looking forward to getting this all taken care of so I can move down to California and get myself settled and comfortable.

Travel arrangements to the Opt-In Village

I'll be heading down to the Opt-In Village in April for an interview. I'll be flying down on the 21st at 1:30 and arriving at 7:30 in San Jose, and then flying back from San Jose on the 23rd from 11:45 to 7:30. Going through Minneapolis on the way down again, and Denver on the way up instead of Toronto.

Got a hotel room in Mountain View near El Camino and 85 this time, which is a very familiar area for me.