More slacking. I know, bad kev, no donut.
The last couple weeks have been fairly hectic, and I Haven’t been terribly inspired to provide updates. The updates also have seemed a little inane of late, what with some people around here writing actual content. With any luck my brain will start to come back, but if Rachel keeps messing up my brain like she did this morning, I will not hold my breath.
Work at my old place of employment wrapped up last week. I didn’t finish anywhere near what I wanted to get done before I left, but I guess that’s ok. New people have been hired, other people are moving around within the organisation, and management has finally realised they need to invest a little more in the portfolio. It’ll be a tough year, but they’ve characterised it as a rebuilding year, so they’ll have a little slack. I wish them all the best, and hope the new folks turn it around.
As coop pointed out, I was very unhappy where I was. It always surprises me how when something is finally over, no matter how bad it was, there’s always some level of sorrow or regret. Thankfully, it hasn’t lasted. I left on pretty good terms with everyone, which is about all I can ask for. I don’t plan on ever going back, but you never know what the future holds.
I started my new role this week, and have a lot of reading to do. I’ll be doing some consulting, as well as some strategy and business development work in a field I’m comfortable with. I’m joining at an interesting time, where there’s been a fairly large shift in focus in North America from a strategic selling side. I’ve worked with all the folks on my team before, but that was as a customer, so this will be a little different. I’m looking forward to it. In keeping with that whole “kev doesn’t really want to get dooced”, I will not be mentioning my place of work by name here. I’ll also try and obscure what I’m doing specifically. It’s intentional, and it’s not without reason.
I’m going to be working a fair bit in the US, so I had to get a visa from our friends down South before I started working. On Monday I made the 50 minute trip down the 416, and spent about a half hour answering questions from a couple of very nice USCIS folks. I had all my documentation, and have successfully applied for entry before, and left (happily) with visa in-hand.
Tuesday I went to Toronto to visit the office there, finish some paperwork, and get my cel, laptop, and access information. The laptop I got is a wee bit ancient, but it makes a fine serial terminal for the two Sun boxes I’m using as my sandbox. I don’t think I’ll be trusting any data on the 6-year-old hard drive any time soon.
Since then I’ve downloaded a pile of documentation and software, and will be spending the next few days reading and playing. I’ve talked to my new bosses, as well as a couple of my teammates (all of who I know from past work), and I think things will get interesting in fairly short order. For now, I Have some 1500 pages of documentation, templates, and proposals to go over. I’m looking forward to this gig.
So, on the work front, everything’s shaping up nicely. I’m still not sleeping the whole night through, but I’m considerably happier than I was, and am looking forward to the rest of the year.