UPPERWEATHER.COM _{-Meteorological Musings}

I am always looking for other jobs, not because I am unhappy or really ready to get one, but because I always want to see what's out there. When it comes to meteorology jobs or science jobs in general, any good ones want you to be comfortable with linux. They also want C++ and sometimes JAVA and HTML. All of which I neglected during college. I took the minimum required classes in CS, despite my advisor always insisting that it was important. Now I realize how important it is, so I have tried to teach myself enough to be comfortable in these languages. I picked up a couple for dummies books and started making stuff. I now feel pretty comfortable with Python, HTML, and to a lesser extent JAVA.

Linux is the way of the future and we need to accept it. Linux runs all of the big atmospheric computer models, it is so much easier and cheaper to run multiple processors on. It runs the bigger programs and databases better and faster, and the best reason for me to learn it is: if I want a better job I need to know how to use it.

I have always been scared of linux because you have to know all of the commands to use it at all. I never wanted to get stuck while trying to do something simple, or something that I had to get done quickly. I imagined trying to get on the internet and having to configure it every time.

I had a couple of older computers, and my wife has our only good one. Of course this means I am always on hers. I needed to either get me a new one or find a way to speed up the others. I figured this was the time to do it. I put Ubuntu on the older ones and even deleted the windows partitions. I felt like the only way I was really going to learn it was to make it my only option.

I have been at it for a little over two weeks and though I have felt like an idiot most of the time, I have really been happy with my choice. Ubuntu is really user friendly. I was on the internet within seconds, all my IM programs are in one easy to use program. I even have a server that was up and running within minutes after I found out it was there. I am too proud to ask for help on the linux forums, so my learning curve is a bit slow. I am connected to the internet, my computers run faster, and I have found tools that make so many things easier. I really can't imagine anything that I am missing.

I know I have a long way to go before I can put Linux on my resume, but I know it will be a plus.

Hey, mister future employer! I am going to be the best all around meteorologist you have ever seen.