/me hums that “changes” song…
Lots of changes in my life lately; so blogging’s been a low priority. Let’s go in chronological order:
- Quit my job with Sun Microsystems after almost five years of service. Sun was still a decent place to work, and I really liked the team I was on. Those fellas seriously kicked ass - they were among the best and brightest people I’ve ever worked with. However, after lots of reflection and looking around, I realized that my career choices at Sun were severely limiited. It’s really hard to move laterally and climb any kind of a ladder in a company that is shrinking. So, that brings me to Item #2…
- Got a killer new job at an online advertising firm (NO, it’s NOT SPAM! Banner ad vending and stuff like that - the pay-per-click business.) An old buddy of mine got hold of me and asked if I’d like a “Director of Enterprise Systems” position. Just out of the blue like that. I couldn’t say no. So now I’m responsible for around 200 Linux and Solaris boxes. :) I’ve got room to maneuver in a company that’s actually profitable. What a concept! I haven’t been this pumped up in a long time.
- Lost my 15” Powerbook as that belonged to Sun. Not a huge deal; the new joint gave me a 12” Powerbook (867 Rev A w/ Superdrive) and a T42 Thinkpad with a 1.7Ghz P-M. Both are nice machines - right now I’m using the Powerbook for more personal stuff and the T42 is running Linux as my desktop and portable workstation for the office. Linux works well in this environment; as I’ve got to manage a lot of servers and I need tools like “GQ” for LDAP management.
- The new gig also gave me a Blackberry. This is a mixed blessing. The g33k in me digs it - I was even IRCing from it the other night. However, the family man in me hates it; as it’s a really sophisticated electronic leash. But this may pass once the team gets built up and the load can be distributed amongst a few people… which brings me to the next point:
- I get to hire people! Minions, yeah! :) This is good - I’ve been needing a challenge outside of tech-related stuff; and I’ll be able to use all that management stuff I studied in college. However, don’t think that I won’t be down in the trenches hacking away and racking servers - I won’t let myself become a deskbound manager, and I believe that a good manager won’t make his guys do anything he wouldn’t do. Besides, this place isn’t big enough - there’s a TON of work that needs to be done.
- All in all; I’m really excited. Too bad I won’t be actually going to work today…. the company’s paying for us to have a day out at Bay Meadows (the horse race track). Awwww…… ;) :D :D