Yazan Armoush

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Quick Info

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Yazan called me; he and his wife Yara were flying out to Arizona for a conference, but Yara was denied entry at the US border at the ticket gate
Yara has a complicated US-border history: she came to Canada as a refugee while her parents were in the USA, and on a prior attempt to visit the US, CBP told her they’d make sure she never saw her parents again
She is now a Canadian citizen and her parents have since moved to Canada as well, yet she was still denied
Yazan believes the denial is due to outdated information / visa status in the system
My take: it could be any number of things. Best bet is to file the right forms to formally request the reason for the denial so they can actually address it

Dinner with Yazan at Al Zameens (Syrian; not sure on the exact spelling)
Tried a lamb intestine dish Yazan said is a Syrian specialty and only done well at this spot; I found it pretty flavourless
The chicken platter was solid though
Chatted about a lot of things, eventually landed on Kevin
Yazan said he was disgusted with Kevin too and felt that having him around brings down our reputation
I pushed back: Kevin does what he does in his own life, and we get to pick and choose which areas of our own lives we want him involved in

Yazan and Yara picked me up from the airport, then group hang at Karachi Pizza in Ridgeway Plaza where Medo, Amir, and Kevin met us
Kevin walked in looking much skinnier than before, even skinnier than Amir
Amir put away 10 slices of pizza
Kevin first told the group about Léa; was heavily sleep-deprived, slightly aggressive and agitated, and clearly uneasy with the gender identity situation while telling us
On the drive back, Yara told Yazan (Yazan relayed it to me afterwards) that Kevin “isn’t normal” and that she was disgusted when Kevin had said “he saw every part of her body” about Léa

Spoke with him; mentioned the contractor came and filled the crack in his foundation
Contractor gave him a warranty for the next 25 years
Only cost $565
Had to drop early to go speak with Tanay

Came on late to play Fortnite
Mentioned he spoke with Ian Hanley (blog) - a cyber security expert who recently got an offer over $500 kan d w a s p re v i o u s l y makin g$ 350k
Ian has a book and has been helping Yazan find leads for positions
Yazan said Ian reminded him of me

Discord call with Kevin Barta
Talked about his interview with a recruiter at Armin (sp? - some security company) for a sales engineering role - went well
Mentioned he gave his salary expectations during the interview; advised him not to do that as it boxes you in
Had a broader conversation about having more confidence and knowing his worth - when you don’t want to lose a job, desperation can seep out and undercut you
Yazan was very thankful for the advice and wrote down notes
At work today with Ned Baker, calmly told Ned to wait on the consultant for a PCI certification item
Insisted by asking Ned if he knew the item - when Ned didn’t, Yazan said they’d go with his approach
Ned wasn’t happy but begrudgingly went along
Yazan was pleased he stood his ground instead of accommodating Ned’s anxiety

Spoke on Discord (same call as Kevin Barta)
Talking about difficulties at work with manager Ned Baker (VP of IT & Cyber Security) at Medcan
Has been taking my advice to stay calm and drop from calls early before they degrade
Ned noticed Yazan doing this and has gotten irritated
Finished 9/~20 checklist items for PCI certification

Conversation I sparked - Yazan discussed compensation with Ned
Showed median compensation for his roles is ~150k TC (getting ISO/IEC 27001:2022 + PCI DSS v4.0.1 certification for Medcan)
This was right after previous technical lead Kamen left (disliked, pretty bad)
Kamen had claimed Yazan made his life difficult by not helping - Ned relayed this to Yazan
When Yazan brought up compensation bump, Ned accused him of leveraging Kamen’s dismissal and potentially forcing him out (typical Ned rambling)
Ned agreed to bring compensation discussion to HR - that’s where it was left