25-II-2003.
The main small event of the day, which merited five photos, was Mrvica getting a manicure. Her claws just got too long. The plier cutter which I bought in Hungary eight years ago was exactly the tool for the job. I guess in nature their claws just wear out as they grow, so the length stays proper. Living in a plastic box on just cedar bedding, they don't get used much and just keep growing.
I emailed this to Škrba today (or copied him, found this also in an email to my parents):
From yesterday to today I talked several times on the phone, with an interesting outcome.
Around noon I called, as agreed, these guys in Cueblo for the second part of interview. The guys from Atlanta have meanwhile asked for more paperwork, so I started the talk with Taos with "sorry guys, but I got another offer, and family also doesn't agree to move to Taos". [we spent a couple of hours googling out the place, looking at pictures, real estate prices etc] "Hey, wait, no moving - half the company is spread across the country, working from home, telecommuting." "Hmmm... let's talk".
At the end of the talk, they asked some time to agree among themselves how much to offer and said they'll call during the day. They called within five minutes and offered 70K$ plus assorted benefits. There I said I'll let them know today, when the Atlanta's official offer is supposed to come in.
Atlanta called in the afternoon, asking for even more paperwork, which I then scanned and sent, missing only a page from Nina's passport. And then the aitch-ar guy there says that as soon as he gets that he can release everything - the offer and the visa paperwork. Something is not tuned right in there, I think to myself, they drag that visa paperwork for three weeks, and still haven't sent them, and how do they mean to send before I see the offer... hmmm. And offer from Taos came within 20 minutes, via email, I printed it and have it in black and white.
Kept thinking it over all afternoon and evening, we consulted Nina as well (Go wasn't in), and they all prefer not moving. This morning I called Berix to ask for advice, and the longer I talked with her, the more she came to the conclusion that these in Atlanta are muddying something, catching foreigners to profit on them the better. That's why they stall with the offer, why the offered salary is lower than advertised, and there are other symptoms [like the "variable part of the salary dependent on personal and group performance", which is usually a scam to boost bosses' salary, she said], which all raise serious red flags. On the other hand, we both know Jake, who is coowning the Taos shop (she knows him personally).
So then I called Taos and said I agree, then called Jack and told him I'm back in as a customer, and he also says "I don't get it what are these guys in Atlanta doing, every day they call and ask for more papers - do they know what they are doing?". Then I emailed Atlanta and thanked them for cooperation.
Then a message arrives from Taos, they ask for my measurements for a Herman Miller chair - Berix told me later that these are absolutely the best chairs there are. I refused the chair, but said I'd prefer getting a shelf and one of those little cameras you put on the monitor, so we can see each other while talking. Agreed generally, specially as this is cheaper. And all that in two days, while these in Atlanta needed a week between the interview and the day they said I'm in.
So... I'll travel to Taos, four times a year, a week at a time, plus one or two travels to something else. Meanwhile we're considering a move to the coast. Lena has to switch schools anyway, and we already liked Virginia Beach.
My website, now under the sGradlj name, including the first few programming jokes (and auntie Ema too, see Fefi), is hosted at Earthlink.
Mentions: Cecilia Roxbury (Berix), Cueblo, Ferenc Farkaš (Fefi), Gorana Sredljević (Go), Gradivoj Škrbić (Škrba), Jack Baran sr, Jake Bauer, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Mrvica, Nevena Sredljević (Nina), sGradlj, in serbian