One man's voice Thoughts, rants and commentary of a simple man

Change is afoot

Today is a sad yet exciting day for me. It's a day that is marked with emotion, trepidation, joy, reminiscence and a pinch of anxiety. Today is my last day in my current job as web developer for Bay Alarm Company.

I've been with Bay Alarm for a little over four years now, having left my previous role at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc (NUMMI) after a nine year career there. I came on board at Bay Alarm primarily to help migrate the previous incarnation of the online account management system to a newer, LAMP based solution. From there I began to take on deeper responsibilities, most currently in the realm of SOAP interaction against payment gateways and middleware development bridging disparate data sources for resource tracking.

I've loved every minute of the work I have done here. I've loved working with my coworkers, two of whom have mentored me far beyond any expectation I could have ever had for mentors and one with whom I share a joint peer-to-peer type relationship. I've had the pleasure of working on several large scale projects, both software and hardware driven. I've had the opportunity to challenge myself with learning new technologies, methodologies and practices. And I have been blessed with having had the support of a great team, great managers and a great company helping me push forward in my development efforts.

Because of this, it has been exceptionally difficult wrapping my head around the notion that I will no longer be a part of this team. I will miss my team more than I can put into words. But at the same time, I am looking forward to new challenges, new experiences and new growth opportunities in my new endeavor. I am excited to be stepping out into something new. And though it is hard for me to say goodbye to my family at Bay Alarm, it is with great anticipation that I say hello to my new company.

In addition to my team, I would be remiss not to mention my family and the wonderful support they have shown me in the last few weeks as I struggled with this decision. My wife, Sandi, has been extremely supportive even though I am sure she is a little worried about this change. My kids have been excited for me, my bother and sister both have supported my decision and my in-laws have shown their support and congratulations for me in this move. All in all, I can say that this will be a good thing.

Still, I am sad. Sad that I am leaving such a great team. Sad that I will no longer have the working relationship that I have with our Marketing department, our Customer Care department, our Finance department... all of the groups that I have the pleasure of working for, and with, while I've been here. And while there have been a number of people that I have worked with that I will never forget, there are few that I absolutely have to give a special shout out to because without them there is a good chance I would have never been able to do my job:

• Deanne - The most awesome DBA ever in the world, the fastest vi user ever in the world, the most security conscious person in the world... how did I ever develop software without you? You have been an inspiration, teacher, mentor and friend to me from day one. I am going to miss working closely with you, talking structure, architecture, data, interface and even knitting with you. I learned things from you that I never even knew I needed to know. Thank you for everything you have ever done for me.
• Royce - You still amaze me everyday, both from your technical expertise and who you are as a man and father. You have blessed me in so many ways, from your constant barrage of lunches to our drives to Fremont when my car was broken to a few late nights of getting things in order on our server. I have learned so much from you over the past few years, most of which I will carry with me for the rest of my technical life.
• Jason - Bro, you are an amazing developer. You've challenged me, you taught me, you've supported me. We've worked on some really cool stuff together and have done some amazing things. I've had the greatest time becoming your friend and I am proud to consider you my peer in all things technical.

So as my day draws to an end, and I begin to place my career at Bay Alarm into boxes, I'm taking a step back to remember all the awesome times I've had here and all the amazing people I've met here. You will all be missed.