Get to know Allen Glass—our dog loving, technology & cyber security guru, Software Developer—through our latest Coffee & Conversation feature!
Q. Describe your “perfect” meal, complete with dessert.
A. When I was living in Seattle and during the months of February/March, the rainy/cloudy season has been going on for the better part of 6 months. After a long work week, every Friday my wife and I would treat ourselves to one of the many favorite restaurants we had in the area. There was this one Hunan cuisine restaurant called Dong Ting Chun nearby in one of our favorite parts of town. In the 40-50 degree weather, the windows would fog up from the hot pot and other southern Chinese delicacy dishes this place would serve. There were a handful of dishes my wife and I would alternate through. There was this one dish called Stir fried beef with wild chili that came with enough spice to numb your mouth while giving perfect amount of savory flavors. We’d get that and then a dish that complimented the spice like Grilled Lamb Golden Soup or Dong Ting grilled fish which were served in these large and sometimes ornate serving dishes. It’s hard to think about dessert after eating this, but I’d say given the opportunity, I’d finish this meal with a cool and light singular scoop of ice cream. This would cut the heat a bit, add some sweetness, and be light enough to consume after eating heavier food. Given that this is my longest answer, it may be easy to say that I might just miss this place and only just a bit.
Q. What’s something about you that might surprise people?
A. I model (well sort-of). Check out https://www.petinsurance.
Q. What’s something you know more about than most people?
A. Cyber security – working for Microsoft’s internal security organization you pick up a thing or two about how enterprises and people set themselves up for compromise against attackers.
Q. What is one of your favorite places that you’ve traveled to? Why?
A. Visiting the Andes in Peru would have to be my top choice. I had never been exposed to an environment like the Andes in Peru as I had grown up in a very flat part of Texas. Seeing clouds roll over the mountains of the Andes while overlooking the Sacred Valley is an experience I will never forget.
Q. What’s your favorite movie? Favorite book (or favorite Artist/Band)?
A. Movie – Interstellar. The engineer in me wants me to ridicule the physics involved in some of this movie, but at the same time it’s a great suspenseful movie about exploration into the unknown.
Book – 1984;
Artist/Band – Dr. Dog
Q. If you could have dinner with one person (living or dead) who would it be?
A. Teddy Roosevelt would be my pick. The man would have a number of interesting tales to tell I’d imagine.
Q. What’s something you’re passionate about?
A. Tech! That may seem a bit obvious coming from a software engineer, but I didn’t enter this field if I were not passionate about driving real change via technology. We as deliverers of technology based services have the ability to abstract away the complexities and monotony of day-to-day items so that our customers can spend more time and brainpower on the things that truly bring themselves joy in their own work. Tech for me is the way we empower and enable everyone to accomplish more than has ever been done before.
Q. What’s something you would tell yourself 10 years ago?
A. For starters, I’d say buy bitcoin. Afterwards, I’d say, stay true to your core values, because that is when you are at your best.
Q. If you could master one skill you don’t have right now, what would it be?
A. This is a tough one and a tie between becoming fluent in French/Portuguese or learning to play an instrument.
Q. What are your personal hobbies?
A. I have a wide range of activities that I enjoy depending on the weather and my mood. There is road biking, hiking, boxing, playing with my two dogs, 3d printing and modeling, gaming, and I’ve just started getting into cooking to try to expand the number of items in my fairly limited culinary menu.
Q. Who inspires you?
A. A great senior developer by the name of Steven Meyer that I had the pleasure of working alongside with at Microsoft. Steven experienced chronic pain and a limp after a serious injury a few years back, but despite this, you’ll rarely see him without a smile on his face. He was always there to help other engineers and was never afraid to speak up whenever there were any doubts or concern with the project. He is the engineer and coworker I inspire to be.
Allen, it’s an absolute honor and joy to have you at EB!