In Person at Amazon

The pace of the Amazon interview process can be described as glacially slow. First there was a phone screen, then two weeks later a programming puzzle, then two weeks later another phone screen (last Friday)... finally they are interested in bringing me into interview. I had just about written them off entirely, thinking they'd get back to me after I'm in Florida!

So next Tuesday it is... I'll see how it goes. There are still many bridges to cross before getting a competitive offer on an interesting job. Amazon would be a good move education wise - working on some different technologies. On the other hand my two friends who are ex-employees put forth a rather reserved endorsement, that included cautious talk of long hours and chaos. Kinda sounds like me talking about Microsoft.

Moving represents adventure, and starting over. Coincidentally, I'm reading Life of Pi and just got chapter 29, which starts with an appropriate quote:

Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they've known for a great unknown beyond the horizon? Why climb this Mount Everest of formalities that makes you feel like a beggar? Why enter this jungle of foreignness where everything is new, strange, and difficult?

The answer is the same the world over: people move in the hope of a better life.

That is a powerful motivation indeed! More on this at a later time.