Month: May 2005

New Home?

Tomorrow morning, we have an appointment with a realtor here in Northern Virginia where we’re looking to live. So far, we’ve looked at the neighborhoods and they look very nice. We hope that we find THE HOME tomorrow. This is what this week is all about and we hope that our new home, which ever one it is, will be nice and roomy with some trees and grass.

Cold Up Here

After a scorching weekend in Houston, I’ve been freezing all day here in Virginia. It’s been in the low 50s all day and rainy. Luckillky, I did bring a light jacket.

I also have sort of settled into my temporary housing here. I had to stock up on a few groceries, of course, but that just means I get to eat breakfast in the morning. It also means that I have to get up a little earlier in the morning so I can eat. I also brought a few DVDs to kill time and fortunately, this apartment comes with a DVD player. Guess I’ll have to have a Star Wars prequel marathon so I can be all prepared for Episode III…

Last Time For Big Blue

2012-01-08 23:29:16

I am about to embark on my last travel week for IBM. I’ve got one week to turn over my responsibilities and then I’m finished. The hard part will probably by “excavating” my IBM laptop and pulling out all of my personal information from all the rest of the garbage that I’ve carried around – some of it for almost 10 years. It will be good to get a laptop without all that stuff – with an empty “My Documents” folder. Of course, I’ll instantly fill up the “My Pictures” folder with all my digital pictures, but that’s okay I suppose…One of the many things I’ll miss at IBM is the IBM hardware I get to play with. I’ll probably have to borrow my friends’ Employee Purchase Program periodically to keep my computer fetish satisfied.

At least I’ll get to sit in the front of the plane this week…

One More Week

I am just about to wrap up my penultimate week at IBM. The moving process is going to be accelerated and probably quite a bit uncomfortable – especially for Laura as she has to do quite a few things by herself while I’m working in DC. The trick will be to get everything squeezed into the time alloted. It looks as if we will have to be moved out of Houston by the first week of July.

This is a bit faster than I expected… but I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

Ah, well: time to get back on the plane…

Going Over To The Dark Side

2012-01-08 23:29:15

Now I’ve gone and done it. Big changes are coming down the pipe. I’m not sure I’m prepared for so many changes all at once, but I’ll have to deal with it, I suppose. “What have you done?” you ask. I have tendered my resignation to Big Blue and will be departing the company soon. I will now go “over” and work for the “Evil Empire” of Microsoft (as my Mac friends usually put it). The biggest change, though, is that for this job, Laura and I will have to relocate to the Washington, DC area. It’s not a bad area, and I’ve been getting used to it on my current project.

This is one change that’s very two-sided. I will enjoy the ability to be outside in the summer without melting, but will miss the vast quantities of Tex Mex restaurants. I will enjoy the luxury of being home with Laura on a daily basis, but we will both miss our Texas-based families dearly. [I already miss my Wyoming-based family since I only get to see them once a year or so…]

Work-wise, I think this move is very necessary since at IBM, Microsoft specialists are limited in how far up the chain they can go. Not so at Microsoft, of course. Plus, in my almost 10 years at IBM, I have become so familiar with the system and the way of working that I have become somewhat complacent. This change will shake me up – make me uncomfortable. And that’s just where I need to be: challenged. I’ll be challenged in all kinds of ways. Now, I will not be at the top of the food chain, but somewhere in the middle and forced to strive harder for recognition. I will not be intimately familiar with all the rules, so I will have to learn more to make sure I know where my boundaries are. I need that kind of challenge. I need to get off my butt [and off the plane!] and stimulate my brain more. I can do that better at Microsoft.

So, IBM: “So long, and thanks for all the fish!” [Douglas Adams]