The Times They Are A-Changin'
Thanks to everyone's friend Mr. Dylan for the title quote. \
I am coming out of a long blogging hibernation. Actually it has been a hibernation of many sorts. First off, I have been exceptionally busy for the last two months in Sarasota, Florida USA working with Jackson Hewitt on migration from VSS, CC.NET, Nant to TFS 2008 version control and Team Build 2008. It was a good gig, in most respects, but kept me from my family. I have to say I really enjoyed working with the Jackson Hewitt folks. After spending seven weeks or so with the JTax folks and in process dealing with some very tough personal family traumas as well as a final week in which my wife and the triplets were all extremely sick and it was all my loving wife could do to keep from begging me to come home I decided this was the end of my major traveling days with Magenic. Actually I decided it was time to not only not spend so much time on the road in the long distance sense but to not be spending so much time away from home in general even on a day to day basis and to refocus energy.
The move from Magenic was not a new idea. I had evaluated seriously back in the spring a role with Microsoft as a Program Manager on the Visual Studio - TFS team. The wife didn't want to move across the country from Boston to Redmond at that time and I bowed out just as I was about to travel out and do a round of in person interviews. I was truly stoked about the potential but not crazy about the move at this time in our life. I kept my resume posted and continually evaluated positions since- nothing seemed just right though I came across many opportunities.
I finally committed and pulled the trigger and off from Magenic I go. The plan is to have more time with family and have more time to spend writing and with community involvement. Some of my community involvement will be different because I am no longer going to be a paid full time consultant but working for a single large company instead. Oh, did I mention that the companies HQ where I will work is a 15 minute drive from my house. I can have lunch with the family and also not have to leave long before the rush hour into Boston to be at a client site on time and miss dinner and the toddler's bedtime most every night either fighting traffic back home or working late to avoid it all. This should leave me time to actually complete my book I have begun and begin the one I am drafting (St. Jean- want to help??) and play with Spec# and F# and Silverlight and Rachel, Eli and Mollie and the list goes on- not least of which is my spouse and of course my TFS/Team System focuses. I should have more time to do some of the things I love to do with the community in my blog, the forums, Code Camp. I have missed every Code Camp in Boston because I was either away on business or just returned and just didn't want to spend a weekend in Boston with colleagues even at Code Camp, which I love, instead of the family. I have made Code Camps in other locations but never Boston. Go figure.
Nothing is ever as good as it sounds and I'm sure this will bring its own set of challenges and frustrations and trade-offs into life (such as Cigna health insurance versus my beloved BC/BS)- but one must try those new things. So... look for me to be emerging from my hibernation, look for me in the forums and on my blog and commenting on other blogs and look for me at Code Camp and the local user group meetings. My apologies to all those I have gone largely silent on. It's not you - it's me. :-) Between current billing client, travel and the alluded to but not to be further discussed trauma I really just had time enough only for exactly what had to be done on a day to day basis and even that has been a major struggle- only the coolness of the project I was workign on saved me. Okay- that last statement is not entirely true- the saving graces were actually the coming home and having the kids running into my arms yelling "da-da" and then Rachel not letting me more than 2 steps from her at any moment. Rachel is a major daddie's girl. You now have my attention again if you are willing to share your attention with me as well.
Best ways to contact me- I have yet to decide what I will use as my primary email. I have a lot of them for amnay reasons: there is a manicprogrammer email which goes along with this blog's domain, there is my longest running email of ruminer.net, there is my gmail account, there is teamsyspug.org. I use both Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk. I'd recommend my gmail/google talk id: michael.ruminer. All in my address book will be getting updates from me with new contact info for IM etc if anything changes and even if doesn't I haven't yet changed out my Windows Live ID and passport so I'm still michaelr@magenic.com and will let you know as I change that.
All in all- I look forward to getting back into the loop hot and heavy.
Have to run to the pediatrician with the wife for regular checkup on two of the three so no time to check this for grammar, spelling and most of all coherent though etc. Out it goes.
-Michael
michael.ruminer/gmail