New Job!

March 2024

After four months of unemployment and stress, I finally started a new job today.  Hooray!

The job is very interesting: Researching the options for replacing a no-longer-supported Windows CE Operating System on a medical device with a Real-Time version of Linux Ubuntu.

Having been forewarned by my recruiter as to the nature of the work, I actually started looking into it last week and figured out that I will need to learn everything about the following:

Yocto - which creates software packages for installing the Linux Operating System

U-boot - which is the program that boots up your computer

Qt - the software that creates and manages the Graphical User Interface (GUI) in Linux

I installed Yocto on my 'fast' laptop and tried using it to generate Linux builds for my Raspberry Pi. Then used the Raspberry Pi to go through some device driver tutorials. That was fun!

On Friday, FedEx was supposed to deliver the client hardware but they claimed that they couldn't find the house. By the time I was notified about it, the hardware had been take back to their local office and it was too late to go get it. So I had to run over there on Saturday and pick it up.

There are two boxes, one containing my 'company' laptop and another containing the prototype hardware I'm supposed to be using. I didn't try setting it up til today because I don't have all the information to set up the network or even log in to the laptop yet. And I'm certainly not going to try turning on the prototype hardware until I get some instructions first! I don't want to start out by frying the hardware.

We had our "Kick-Off" meeting today and they went over the planned schedule and expectations. I don't know how they expect to get this done in only 3 months; I'm supposed to get the following done:

1. Examine the existing Windows CE-based software and understand how it works.
2. Build the old software using Visual Studio and load it on the prototype hardware
3. Build a basic Ubuntu system (using Yocto) which will run on the prototype hardware.
4. Convert the Ubuntu system from 'standard' Linux to Real-Time Linux.
5. Rework all the device drivers supporting the hardware on the board to function under Real-Time Linux.
6. Generate a report describing in detail the entire process.

Easy-peasy! (If I had about a year)

For now I'm just going to focus on loading the Yocto software and seeing if I can run through the simple tutorials or something to make sure I know what I'm doing.

Fun!

One Year Ago

It was a year ago today that a little part of my brain died, taking some control systems down with it.

In the ensuing year, there have been little signs that life will never be the same again. I get twinges in my head which feel like the onset of a headache; they are signals that I need to stop what I am doing and rest. Typically a thirty minute nap is sufficient to feel almost back to normal, but sometimes it isn't enough. The odd feeling is not affected by the ingestion of analgesics or NSAIDs or even antihistamines. It's just my brain saying, "Stop. I've had enough. I need to spend some time getting rid of the junk floating around up here in the cerebrospinal fluid and I can't do it with all this consciousness  going on!"

My day now requires, at some point, a nap. Not a long nap, but a nap nonetheless. This isn't a bad thing since I'm working from home, but it would be quite difficult were I required to work a full-time desk job at some office. I'm not sure what this means for the future.

Cheryl has been looking into the possibility of my retirement, but we don't have quite enough money for that. We don't own our house yet, and it's difficult to see how that is going to happen anytime in the near future given our current situation. From what we can figure, I need to keep working until at least the age of 70, but I seriously doubt that's going to happen. My body just isn't up for it.

When I wake up in the morning these days, I'm always waiting for the next shoe to drop ... on my head.