I have accepted a job-- it's the move to the smaller, very smart org that's focused on infrastructure.

I heard through the grape vine, that even though my director was very grumpy today, he was slightly less grumpy when he learnt of my choice.

Funny. I just realized that even though this my job and my choice, the feelings that I wrote down first were about my director's indirect approval. I completly skipped my feelings and desires.

Today I walked into Matt & Pat's bathroom. It's right next to the laundry room and I was doing laundry.

The sink was surrounded by dildo's and butt plugs, all washed off and air drying.

Thank you for reading this.

This re-org is an interesting dance. Another position was offered to me today. I talk with that manager next week.

I'm not the only lead that these positions are available to. The longer I wait, the more leads they will make offers to. This creates a game of musical chairs. I don't know who I'm playing against, but with each passing day an offer could be snapped up by someone else. I think I have till Wednesday for two of the jobs. The third could vanish shortly.


Is it respectful that I am taking a week for this? Will someone interpret me not making a snap decision as lake of passion for the offer? I had a chat with one of higher-ups about my career. He is very smart and it did help, but I also felt a like I was under the microscope. At one point he said "I hear you talk more about managmenent than about leadership... let's dig into that."

I am learning more about my career choices. My first choice, to stay where I am, isn't as open as I thought.

First, some explanation. My organization is going through a big re-org. I am a lead-- the lowest level of boss at this company. People report to me. Above leads are managers- leads report to managers. Above the managers are directors.

For a variety of reasons, mostly personality conflicts, my current manager was recently assigned a new lead. This means my manager will have more leads than any other manager. With this new lead, my manager probably doesn't have enough head count to fully staff his leads.

On top of that, some of the other managers are short staffed and looking hard for new leads.

That's how my name came up. I have worked for the product for years and am familiar with much of the the people and technology. They think I'm more likely to succeed in a new position than most of my peers.

My manager made it clear that if I wanted to stay, he would find a way to load balance the work. But that if I found one of the other offers interesting, I should feel free to pursue it and not feel obligated to him.

At least that's what they tell me. I do believe them-- if my director didn't trust me, then I wouldn't have a job.

I'm sifting through my career choices...

First choice, I stay where I am. I will be the most senior and experienced. The business around this area is better understood, though not that glamorous. My two manager don't have that much experience in this area, so I will really have a chance to shine, or fail spectacularly. I'm a little worried that my two managers are not that strong. I won't have the most learn here, but I will have the chance to make a big contribution to a profitable, but boring organization.

Second choice. I move to a very sharp org. I will working with very strong engineers and very smart management. We will work on infrastructure. I will be judged more on my engineering acumen than my business skills. This is a smaller org, but very visible and important.

Third choice. I move to an exciting, dynamic, Web 2.0, we-don't-know-what-we-are-doing-yet org. We have a chance to really make something big here. We could also end up making some kind of pie-in-the-sky, freaky Facebook/Twitter ripoff that no one uses. The engineers are fairly smart, though not as smart as my second choice. My managers are smart, though one is rather irritating-- people avoid working with him. This will be the nosiest and most frustrating org, but the opportunity could be the greatest.

Something strange is happening at work today. I know a large re-org is in the works. I don't know all the details. However today, within twenty minutes of each other, two managers asked me if I'd consider being a lead under them. Hmmm.

The store is doing ok. January sales are healthy. We still have to work long and hard, but things are looking up. We have some cash in the bank account and can catch up on some of the bills.

C2 is going back to Iraq. He is intown visiting family and friends.

It sounds like his plan is to stay in Iraq as long as possible, which is probably two more years. The money is too good.

The nice thing about the old espresso machine is that it just worked the same way every time. If it didn't work, I just needed to plug it in. If it was seven in the morning and I wanted my coffee, it never blinked an error codes at me, tricking me into spending 15 minutes reading the manual only to discover that it just needed more water.

C2 is in town for the week. He is taking his earnings from Iraq and buying properties. He's bought a property on the Hood Canal and he is looking at condo's on Capital Hill. Good for him.

I have to admit that the espresso machine is very nice. You hit a button. A minute later a shot of espresso squirts out. The machine takes care of the grinding, tamping and brewing.

We are all a little over cafinated right now.

Matt found a $1000.00 automatic espresso maker on Craigslist for $200.00. He's driving over to pick it up.

RO things that Matt spends $200.00 a day on stuff. I think it's more like $50.00. Regardless, every day when we come home Matt has bought something new. A new cell phone. Ikea desks. A gallon of chocolate. A bread knife. An enameled dutch oven. A USB hub. Books. Stuff. Frivolous stuff.

RO is trying to talk to Matt about his shopping and to encourage him to save a little for emergencies.

I enjoy having Matt and Pat as room mates. There are downsides-- there is too much stuff in the house right now and its starting to look like a bunch of pack rats live there.

But there are also upsides. Someone different to talk to. More people to share the cooking and cleaning. Matt can be a great cook and has been making fresh bread most every day.

I sit all day at work, so I like to take a good walk in the evening. RO stands all day, so he likes to relax all evening. I usually end up walking alone. Now that Matt and Pat have moved in, Matt likes to walk with me after dinner, and Pat likes to chat wtih RO. Perfect.

Sunday, RO & I hung out with Matt & Pat. We had dim sum and traveled on the Seattle's new Link Light Rail.

The stops on the train are interesting, but not in a good way. For some reason two thirds of the stops are to Seattle's poorer neighborhoods. If I picked a stop at random and told a friend I went there, he'd probably make a joke about buying drugs.