Going Over To The Dark Side

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]