Empty Desk Syndrome

Well, this is it. Today was my last day at Cingular. I must admit I really enjoy the fact that after 1.5 years of consulting and development here I could clean up my office in 30 seconds and carry all my belongings (Coffee Cup, Headphones, 6 programming books) out under 1 arm. God I'm going to miss being a consultant! I love the detachmet that comes with it. You're never influenced by the tides of corporate take overs, layoffs, transfers, etc. I've seen folks cry when they leave their jobs or get canned. They are so desperately attached to their jobs it's sickening. They're fully imprinted with this fear that they can't get another job (which may be true in some cases) or they are so specialized in what they do that no one else will need them.

My next job is a permanent gig. I suppose it implies that I'll have to get involved in all the internal politics of the company. Plus, the postition and title inherently carry way more responsibility which I sort of like & dislike simultaneously. If I can truly have 100% control of the the design and architecture of the system then I know I can build something robust, modular, scalable, .... (I'm running out of buzz words here) .... , optimized, and bug-free. But if I end up having to make too many compromises to support flaws in the existing architecture of some of the internal apps & systems then it can become very painful very quickly. There's nothing worse than being held responsible for problems that you didn't create and/or can't solve.

But for the time being, to heck with all that. I'm SUUUUUUUPER stoked about my upcoming trip to Thailand. I'm back down to my fighting weight and can't wait to hit the scuba dives and jungle hikes. My brother climbed some waterfalls in Koh Samui which I missed last time I was there. It's going to be off the heeeeeeezeeeeee !!!! Matt's knee is still jacked so I'll have to win the v-ball tourney's alone (or lose them alone depending on how you look at it). In that spirit, and the news of the new job, I'll finish with 2 quotes from Vince Lombardi:

"To achieve success, whatever the job we have, we must pay a price."

"It is essential to understand that battles are primarily won in the hearts of men."

Adios Bitches!