Dave’s Personal Blog

I thought I should let everyone know that, although things will never be”back to normal”, I’m feeling great.

I’ve been back to work for almost 2 weeks. The diabetes is under control and my blood glucose level is where they should be. Getting used to the new routine of finger pricks and injections hasn’t been an issue, which was a very pleasant surprise. Dietary changes weren’t overly onerous… just the portion management being the biggest change.So, all in all, things are going well. I’ve even started learning Mac/iPhone development and Spanish.

Dave

I came close to death last week. Such a thing gives one pause to think…

Life is too fragile to waste on bland food, bad music, cheap wine, weak coffee, unpleasant women, undue rushing about, and poorly written software.

… I’m just sayin’, is all.

Carpe Diem

Steve Jobs isn’t the only one who can quote Dylan.

… speaking of Steve Jobs and changin’ times… I may be bumping into Mr. Jobs at the local Cupertino Starbucks before long…

Next month I’m heading to California… Silicon Valley to be specific.

After over 3 years of saying “I’m not interested” to Google, I’ve accepted their offer of a position. I’m not sure how public I can be yet about what exactly I’ll be doing… but it will leverage my experience and expertise in Agile Development, TDD, Ruby, Rails, and RSpec.

This change is not without some sacrifices, but we think it’s the right move at this time. One downside is having to end my association with Obtiva… which I have greatly enjoyed. They’re great people and great to work with.

One benefit is that I won’t be having to focus so much on billable hours to cover the bills anymore… so there should be more time for things like RSpec and writing.

I’m in New York doing some teaching this week. I’ve been before but usually only for day trips… once for an overnight. This is the first time I’m here for several days at a time. Tonight the weather was nice enough to get out for a walk after class. It’s such a blend on the streets. I’ve grown myopic living in rural Atlantic Canada where everyone pretty much looks the same. I sat this evening at the window counter of a burger place (corner of 6th Ave and W 32nd St) facing out on W 32nd. I like watching people, so this was a great way to spend a meal. Pretty much no two people who went by had the same shade of skin (maybe a slight exaggeration.. but not by much). And my hotel is in the middle of “KoreaTown“. Home is going to seem somewhat blander.

I’ve been doing some work with Obtiva for a while. It’s been a good experience for everyone involved, and so we’ve decided to take the relationship to the next level.

I’m happy to announce that I’m now part of the Obtiva team, doing project work and training (primarily Ruby and Rails based).

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

The last year had some high points (hanging out in Chicago with Aslak Hellesoy & David Chelimsky, making the switch to working remotely from home full time and so having more time with Nancy and the boys, making the switch to fulltime Rails, rediscovering my Nintendo fanboyness), but also some serious suckage (mainly having to do with cash flow and a skank of an ex-wife).

Have a good year, everyone.

This is mostly for people who know me but might be behind on what’s been going on.

To start with, my marriage (of 14 years) finally fell apart in summer 2003, in the midst of my sojourn working in Northern Virginia.

Fast forward to March 2004. I decide to leave Adaption Software (which I started with Pat Welsh) and join ThoughtWorks. I finished with Adaption in early July, and started at ThoughtWorks in late July.

July was an interesting month, I bought a house in semi-rural Nova Scotia (about 15 minutes down the highway from where I was before), bought a nice, new Nissan Pathfinder, and met & fell in love with a fabulous woman (Nancy Blenkhorn. Nancy is simply amazing. Anyone else have a girlfriend with her own server farm? Or who can set up their wifi for them? And of course, she’s beautiful, sexy, and fun too.

The house took a while to get furnished and “homey”, but it’s comfortable now, and very cozy.

Fast forward to the present. DiamlerChrysler made it worth my while to leave ThoughtWorks to stay when our involvement ended. So I’m contracting relatively drectly to DiamlerChrysler now, onsite in Detroit every other week. Part of the deal was being able to work from home part of the time.

So I’ve set up shop at home, and replaced my ThoughtWorks issued WinDoze laptop with a shiney white 14″ iBook G4, as per my last posting.

It’s official. My 2 week notice is given, I’m no longer with ThoughtWorks as of Feb 11. Due to changes in my personal life that make me not want to travel as much as was required, and a very compelling offer, I’ve decided to hang out my own shingle once again.

For the foreseeable future I’ll be consulting to DiamlerChrysler in the Detroit area as architect and OO/process coach/mentor/guru, spliting my time between onsite & home.

ThoughtWorks is a great company, full of great people, and I’ve enjoyed working with/for them. The situation just stopped working for where my personal life is going.