I just realized it's been 20 days since my last post. That's quite a long time to go silent - at least for me. With a little perspective, though, you might understand why. And it hasn't been becuase I don't have anything to say, trust me.
One thing that has been sucking up a lot of energy is an upcoming career move. Yes, that's right. I am going to be leaving Microsoft and my job as a Partner Technology Specialist at the end of March to pursue an opportunity as a Product Manager at NSI Software. Now that I'm over the initial anxiety of trying to decide whether or not to leave the company that many "geeks" dream of working for, I am genuinely excited about the new job. For one, the folks I'll be working with are great people. They're incredibly smart and talented individuals from what I have seen. Second, it gives me a little more focus and allows me to do something that I've wanted to for quite some time - product management. Yes, there are plenty of PM jobs at Microsoft - I'm aware of that. The problem is that they are all in Redmond (at least most of them, anyway) and we're just not ready to move yet. And I think this is an excellent move regardless of how geography might have played into the decision. It will give me a chance to get out and see how the "real world" works. And I will be able to remain closer to home and spend less time away from family. I couldn't be happier with my decision.
Why bare my soul here, you ask? Well, perhaps it will prevent me from having to answer the question a thousand times individually. ;-) It's amazing the phone calls and e-mails I have received as this news started to spread. Folks I only worked with once or twice called me up to wish me the best and find out what I was going to be up to. So, to everyone that I work with on a daily basis that happens to stumble upon this, "So long, and thanks for all the fish. Honestly, though, thanks for making me look good for 5 years."
The other thing that has been competing for my attention is the upcoming move of this site to WordPress. I've decided to give it a whirl and have almost finished porting the look and feel of my site over to WP 1.5. I'm very impressed with the simplicity of the themeing process in WP 1.5 and how easy it is to modify the blog code to tweak things in just the right way. The administrative interface is just phenominal and the capabilities are very powerful: categories, plug-ins, editing, etc. Kudos to the folks who built this great software. This doesn't mean that I'm abandoning .Text and CS alltogether - the code is still alive and kicking over at GeoTraxFan.com as well as my wife's scrapbooking site. I just think WP 1.5 is the best fit for what I'm looking to do with my personal blog.
And by the way, did you see that I was "Grinded" yesterday? (Credit for the term "Grinded" to Ryan who sent me a congratulatory e-mail...) What an honor! I've read Mike's posts for well over a year and it's one of my favorite feeds.
More posting to come...I've got lots of things I've come across in the last 3 weeks that I can't wait to share!