Yesterday, I resigned from Dell. I’ve been working there for four years now, with a large portion of my time being spent on the online framework team. Its been an interesting period in my life. There are definitely some characters on the team I worked with. People will be missed, but its time to move on.
The last few weeks have been more fun, as I’ve started to wind down my responsibilities at work. I’ve been told a few times now that I seem like a totally different person. I’m typically a pretty cynical character. Lately though, friends say there’s optimism in my tone. Its been a while since I’ve felt in charge of my future. It feels good 
At the same time, its a time for some sadness. I’ve spent my days with friends I will probably never see again. People who have been part of my life for the last four years, through work, common interests, and random inebriated friendship. Last week my happy hour brought together many of them in one location. It wasn’t until then when I realized the medley of people I will most likely never see again. All of this just to see my amazing disappearing alcohol trick. 
Two nights ago, my immediate coworkers and I got together at a bar for a night of fun. I’ve never seen most of these people inebriated. Apparently getting married moderates a person. But for all but one of the group, the wives were out of town or otherwise occupied.
It was fun watching them cut loose and enjoy themselves. The week before, we had an off-site where there was some drinking. But that event was a corporate sponsored event, so not everyone cut loose. Fortunately, the event two nights ago had no such corporate representation, so a person’s true persona could be revealed.
Some things I hadn’t really seen coming presented itself. Maybe I’m a bit obtuse. I’d like to think I can see these sort of things coming. I completely missed it until recently. Its given me pause, but I think this is the right thing to do still. I hope it is at least.
I will miss the good times. I will miss the late nights upgrading our production layer. I will miss the crunches, working against a seemingly impossible deadline. I will miss telling business partners why their pet feature is either impossible to do within the time constraints, or just utterly insane. I will miss the random conversations I got myself into on a daily basis. I will miss the other gym rats. I will miss my team mates.
And oh yeah, I’ll miss my paycheck :-p
But its for the best I think. Programming was never what I really wanted to do for a career. I hoped it was just a stop in my life and right now it looks that way. I guess I’ll find out in a few years.
As for Austin itself, its a growing town. Apparently its considered a big city, but it doesn’t feel like it. I think thats why a lot of people like living here. Some big city trappings combined with a small town feel creates an interesting environment, and this is attractive to a lot of people.
But not me.
I will miss the random nights of debauchery. I will miss the random hikes in the outdoors when the temperature wasn’t anywhere near the triple digits. I will miss runs around Town Lake. I will miss the strange little bars you can find in South Austin.
I will definitely miss the people I’ve met in my time here.
Now its time for the next phase of my life. Time to go to Wake Forest and see if I do have the chops to pull off a career as a lawyer.
I guess I should pack eh?
No tag for this post.
Related posts
