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Big NewsFar and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. |
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Thursday, July 29, 1999
One year ago: Fever Dreams
Two years ago: Nerves Sit Ceremonious
I went downtown Wednesday morning to pay my electric bill. I was there early enough that I had time to walk across the street and treat myself to a large mocha frappucino, and the biggest donut in the world, at Starbucks. Once the office opened, I had my choice of tellers, as they all piped up when I walked through the door: "Can I help you?" I wrote a check and drove off to work.
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I was at work for a few hours, then I took off for an appointment.
Now I can finally reveal what I've been elliptical about for the past few weeks. I'd gotten some email from Chip, a friend of my former manager Val. He has a website, currently a one-person show, and he wanted to take it to the next level. Things fell in place quickly, and I'm going to work for him. I'll be owning the not-yet-created user education part of the site, so I've been studying up on technical analysis.
Chip had arranged for the folks that are joining him to meet for lunch, at the Red Hook Brewery in Woodinville. It was a beautiful afternoon, so he, Kellie, Kat and I ate on the deck. We each told our story; mine was longer than the others, and not just because I'm the oldest in the group. I just had more details to talk about, in the complicated journey that brought me here.
We drove a short distance, to see the unfinished office space that will be our future home. Chip tried to get ideas from us about how to divide and lay it out, but it was hard to imagine furniture on the blank concrete floor. The building is a short distance from Jack's old house, just across the valley.
I left my car there, and rode with Chip to see the offices we'll start out with, in a Bellevue highrise. Someone's got a good business idea there: office suites that can be rented by the month, with kitchen, reception, conference rooms, and so on, shared with all the other offices. The view is quite amazing! We settled who would get which office. Chip's wife and child, and a bunch of visiting relatives, met up with us and inspected the place also.
As Chip drove me back to my car, we were caught in a power outage in Totem Lake. Yikes! That stuff about "treat the traffic signals as a four-way stop" is bogus. It's really, "Treat the traffic signal as an opportunity to play chicken." Chip said, "Can you start tomorrow? Monday?" But it will take a bit longer than that for me to transition things at my present team.
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I stopped at Costco on my way home, and treated myself to a new set of tires, in honor of my new job. I also purchased my new snack obsession: Salt 'n' Black Pepper Potato Chips, Arizona brand. The pepper gives them a real zip!
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I'd let my co-manager know on Tuesday that I'd be giving notice soon, but today I had to tell him, his manager, and the leader of the entire team, that I'd need to leave soon. It was gratifying that they were sorry to lose me; I've worked with Michael for over two years! But this is a good move for me, and a grand opportunity. My last day will be a week from Friday!
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