Tigerdog is Home

10 Weeks Since the Grand Explore: Amazingly, our road trip to ABQ went almost exactly as planned.  My son Dov, Henry the Greyhound, and I completed our Grand Explore on July 3rd.  Yes, at long last, Tigerdog has come to the Land of Enchantment!

We took the I-81 to I-40 route, driving about 300 miles per day NJ PA MD WV VA TN AR OK - except for the last day, when we opted not to overnight in Amarillo and drove straight through OK TX NM, 600 miles.  Dov posted pictures of our Grand Explore on Facebook.  Highlights of the trip include visits to:

• The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson, in Nashville
• Graceland. home of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, in Memphis

We've spend these 10 weeks (already!?) getting settled.  We registered our Toyota Highlander, bought a new Kia Forte, got New Mexico driver's licenses, and registered to vote.  We're home!

16 Days and Counting

10 Days Until the Grand Explore: Our New Jersey house has been sold.  My contract job at Merck has ended.  Our daughter will (God willing) be graduated from high school next week.  My just-engaged son (the film editor Dov Yellin), Henry the Greyhound & I will start our Grand Explore to ABQ on June 27th, driving about 300 miles per day, arriving on Independence Day.  My wife (the artist Perri Yellin) will supervise the NJ packing, fly to ABQ on July 1st, then supervise the NM unpacking. Our daughter will join us in Paradise Hills later in July.  Yes, at long last, Tigerdog is coming to the Land of Enchantment!

64 Days and Counting

Recalibrate:  Yes, the Countdown to ABQ has been recalibrated with a new target date - July 4th, the day that Henry the Greyhound is expected to arrive at his new home.  People in our family have visited and stayed at our new home for days or weeks at a time.
But we'll know we're home when Henry is here.

70 Days and Counting

Even Closer to There: Our NJ house is still Under Contract, and I've started to ask people whether I'm crazy or not.

Actually, I know the answer. Come July, my wife (the artist Perri Yellin) and greyhound and I plan to uproot ourselves from the Garden State (that's NJ) and move to our new home in the Land of Enchantment. Albuquerque, to be more exact. Paradise Hills.

And, after 30+ years as an employee / contractor doing technical writing, training, business analysis, and quality engineering - I have started my own home-based, single member LLC, Tigerdog Communications.

Tigerdog is designed to be a reliable, high-quality provider of technical communication products and services to organizations, companies, and industries in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, and in the United States and Canada that either:

• Rely on high-technology products and services to sustain their daily operations, or
• Develop high-technology products and services for their customers and communities

I believe Tigerdog’s best clients will be businesses with between 10 and 510 employees -- businesses that need and understand the need for outstanding technical communications, but may not have, want, or need that expertise in house.

I am planning to make a pre-move visit to Albuquerque to start sharpening my message and getting connected with my best clients.  I look forward to meeting with you!

88 Days and Counting

Closer to There: Our NJ house is Under Contract.  It doesn't look like our home any more, and it's starting to not feel like home, either.  We have made arrangements with the movers to move us, and we're planning the route we'll take to ABQ with Henry our Greyhound.

I've taken to watching In Plain Sight reruns, just to catch glimpses of Albuquerque.  I log on to the KOB webcams, too.  This is going to be a Grand Adventure, and we're starting to get excited about it. 

Here is the Answer to "Why Albuquerque?"

Albuquerque: The Unknown from Puzzled Pictures on Vimeo.

I Got the Paul Krugman Blues

120 Days and Counting

Almost There: Where did January go? We got back from ABQ, celebrated the new 2010 Tax Year, went back to work . . . .  After that I'm not sure.  But I am sure that February is here, along with a series of milestones:

• February 8: Perri and I are married 34 years
• February 18: I turn 59.5, which eliminates IRA and 401(k) withdrawal penalties
• February 23: We're 120 days until ABQ and counting

Working on Tigerdog has taken a back seat to working on the ABQ move.  We have been sorting, tossing, and packing; painting, fixing, and replacing; storing lots of stuff (boy, have we got a lot of stuff) in our garage; and setting up our Livingston, NJ home for sale.  We know we are almost ready, because it doesn't look like our house any more.  Our Realtor has an Open House scheduled for next week.  Away we go!

Welcome to Albuquerque!

Or Else:  Yes, there are many things the visitor notices upon arrival in Duke City:  the southwest-colored Sunport; the monumental public art; the open skies; the friendly people.  But, driving north up I-25 to our Paradise Hills home, what always catches my eye is the sign

Move Crash

Vehicles From

Travel Lanes

I have crossed borders into many states and several countries, driven into many cities and through many counties, yet I do not recall ever seeing a welcome message quite this direct.  Call me crazy, but I don't think this is the best that ABQ has to offer.

What is the best?  Today's best was the Church of Beethoven, where Perri and I were treated to a performance of Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto.  We unfortunately received the news of yesterday's passing of Felix Wurman, the CoB's founder and guiding force for many years.  May his memory be a blessing, and may his work endure!

Also on today's ticket was the St Clair Bistro.  A great place, across the street from Old Town.  My only complaint - we had to wait until noon to taste the wine!

Roving Pothole Repair

Parser! Check Please!:  WCBS Newsradio 880 in NYC announced that one of our major highways was backed up during rush hour due to "roving pothole repair".  Yes, I imagine it isn't easy to catch those little guys. And to get them to hold still while they're repaired . . . .

For those who have not been blessed by viewing  the Geico Pothole Commercial, here are the words:

Oh no! Your tire`s all flat and junk!
Oh, did I do that?
Here, let me get my cellular out and call you a wrecker.
Oh shoot, I got no phone.
`Cause I'm a pothole?
Soooo . . . 'Kay bye!

Reading the words isn't half as much fun as hearing them!  For those of you wondering who The Voice is - she is (apparently) Dayci Brookshire, "a voiceover actress from New York hired for the commercial" (per Geico).  She's got a great career ahead of her.

Visiting Our ABQ Home

December At Last:  Perri and I are planning to visit our ABQ home from December 20th through December 30th, not including travel days.  We were in town last December, too.  It's a nice, quiet time.

We have some plans - The Nutcracker, Church of Beethoven, River of Lights.  But the most important event is likely to be the Qwest installation of our telephone and internet services.  At last, it will really feel like home!

Renewed: STC Gold Membership

It's Gold:  Tigerdog Communications, LLC has just renewed our Senior Membership in the Society for Technical Communication (STC).  For several reasons, Tigerdog opted for Gold Membership ($395), which includes:

• Online publications
• 1 Chapter (Kachina - New Mexico only!)
• 1 SIG (I added two more)
• 7 Web Seminars
• 1 Online Certificate Course
• Access to the STC Salary Database
• A Premium Listing (50-word description) in the Online Buyers Guide & Consultant Directory

The value received (IMHO) is much greater than the amount paid. 
I was introduced to the technical writing profession, knowledge, colleagues, and friends through STC, and I am very grateful for the community of which Tigerdog and I are a part.

Technical Writing & Pharma: Part 2

Wait! There's More!  Part 1 attempted to paint scientific, medical, pharmaceutical, and technical writing into the Grand Spectrum of Professional Writing.

Yes, they are all "writing", except if you're a technical writer trying to get a job. Here's what I've found in my experience as a "regular" technical writer in IT, defense, telecom, semiconductors, financial services, and now pharma:

• Scientific writing is for science geeks who can write and writing geeks who really love science (but not necessarily technology). It's not for regular technical writers.
• Medical writing and pharmaceutical writing are for life science geeks who can write and writing geeks who are really into drugs (in a clinical way, of course) and medicine. It's not for regular technical writers.

If you're a regular technical writer trying to get a job in pharma, there are two ways:

1. IT - writing SOPs, SDLC documents, and 21 CFR Part 11 CSV documents. You know the content; the pharma company provides the structure.
2. Regulatory - writing hardly anything(!), but putting together electronic INDs and NDAs. You don't need to know the content; the FDA provides the structure.

A couple of years ago, I thought about trying to transform myself into a medical writer. I even earned an AMWA Certificate in Pharmaceutical Writing. Still, no medical writing manager took me seriously - I just didn't have the history in life science.

Now, what if you're an "irregular" technical writer - say, a regular technical writer with (somehow) a background in life science? Couldn't you expand your horizons and satisfy your intellectual curiosity - by becoming a medical writer?

All I can say is: I have seen it done - exactly once.