Leaving Northrop Grumman

After 15 plus years, I recently left Northrop Grumman.  It was certainly a sad transition but it was for the better.

NG was a great phase in my life and I highly recommended the company.  Long story... in mid 2001, I was laid off during the dot-com crash.  My family and I were living in Scottsdale at the time and I looked around for another software gig but there was nothing happening.  After a short while, my wife and I decided to move back to California.  Without a job, we drove along the coast looking for a place to call home.  We eventually settled on Encinitas and shortly thereafter I landed the job at NG.

Some of the many highlights that stand out in my memory:

• My first project at NCTSI at Point Loma
• Working on SRMT
• Visiting SPAWAR Old Town
• BACN first flight at MCAS Miramar
• Moving to Spectrum offices
• Participating in the company Toastmaster's club
• Moving to Mission Valley office for a couple years
• Being nominated for the Emerg1NG Leader program which was a life changer for me
• Getting into Scrum
• Flight test for SNP

Many thanks to all the folks I worked with over the years, especially Curtis E., my manager for 13 of those 15 years.

My new gig is with Georgia Tech Research Institute where I will be working on cyber projects.  It is an exciting new area for me and can't wait to get going.

Sleepy Dog

Our dog likes to take lots of naps.

Tahquitz Backpack

Our last Philmont training hike was a one-nighter up to Tahquitz Peak area in the San Jacinto Wilderness.  We left on Saturday morning to Humber Park.  We got lucky and found some parking pretty close.  Devils Slide trail was pretty steep the entire way up and we took it pretty slow due to the heat.  By the time we got to Saddle Junction, the troop was a bit tired.  A few us went to the meadow to filter water and then setup camp.  Dinner was nice and I went down early under the stars.  We got up early the next morning and made it down very fast.  Overall, it was a great tuneup at a wonderful location.

Lily Rock from Devils Slide

Saddle Junction

Saddle Junction signage

Off The Grid (almost)

Our solar generating system went on line about a month ago!  We got 16 panels installed by Sullivan Solar which will generate all of our electricity.  We will surely be in the black during the non-winter months but we will have to wait and see how much we generate during winter.  We also got an electric Fiat 500e so it will interesting to see how much net out at the end of the year.

Big Ride

We did a new thing this year with the troop and heading up to Irwindale for the Big Ride!  The Big Ride is a cycling event put on by some folks out of Antelope Valley.  Participants have choices of 25K, 50 mile and 100 mile routes.  We had a small contingent but riders in all 3 segments. 
We fought traffic driving up Friday night.  We setup camp on the nice grass near the lake.  After the riders meeting we all hit the sack.
The 100 milers woke up really early to get going.  Me and another scout were doing the 50 mile route and were up and about by 7:00.  The first part of the route had us going north up the San Gabriel River into Asuza canyon.  It was uphill but a nice ride in the morning.  We turned around at the trail end and headed downhill, first to the dam and then to the first rest stop and Legg Lake at Whittier Narrows.  The next segment continued south down the river to El Dorado Park in Long Beach were lunch awaited.  After some rest, we headed back up the river trail.  The sun finally came out and made things a bit hot.  We stopped again at the Legg Lake rest area for water then make the final stretch back to camp.  It was pretty grueling for me since I don't ride much but all the scouts did great.  We met the 100 mile guys on the dam.
Once back at camp, we pile in the cars and fought traffic on the way home.  It was a cool event and something to consider again in the future.

Books Read

• Deep Work by Cal Newport
• Atlas Obscura by Joshua Fora and Dylan Thuras
• On Trails by Robert Moor
• City of Fortune: How Venice Rules the Seas by Roger Crowley
• Pacific Crest Trailside Reader by Rees Hughes and Corey Lewis

Memorial Day Weekend Activities

• San Dieguito Academy memorial service
• Finished the patio and got all the furniture in place
• Had a great day with my parents and the family
• Awesome hike at Del Mar Mesa Preserve

Mt. Laguna

For the last official troop outing of the year, we headed up to the Mt. Laguna for our biennial pioneering event.  We hauled up the staves and ropes and built and awesome tower.  The scouts are getting good at it and taught the new guys well!  This was the first time I had seen the little Laguna with water up to the rocks!  Big Laguna was full all the way up to the dike.

Pioneering Tower

Little Laguna