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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Today was the beginning of my second week at frog and I feel myself slowly coming out of my shell. By my reckoning, I should be a full-on tadpole by the end of the week, graduating from "annoying new quiet guy" to "annoying new guy that won't shut the hell up." This is a wholly new experience for me.

After one week, I still have a lot of adjusting to do. I've gone from working in a building with 17,000 esteemed colleagues to a significantly smaller space with around 70. From having a thousand in-house amenities to having sixth street and all it offers just two blocks away. From having earned the trust of my coworkers to having to earn trust all over again. I hope and expect to build relationships as strong here as I had at my old company. When the COO of a Fortune 200 company finds out you're leaving and calls to wish you well, I think that's some trust right there.

Anyway, back to the topic. I'm working with this guy, Jared, who is frankly a super-genius. I thought I was a geek, but I can't hold a candle (or a tube) to this guy!



fare thee well

Sunday, September 24, 2006

I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats! I couldn't have asked for a warmer send-off than the fantastic party Jonathan hosted last night (and into the wee hours of the morn'). Again, thank you, Jonathan. And a tremendous you-have-no-idea-how-much-it-meant-to-me thank you to everyone that was there, including a couple of folks that flew in all the way from San Francisco! I love you all, especially the ones who went the extra mile not to spill their drinks on me. ;)

In related news, we've found a buyer for our house in San Antonio and secured an apartment up in Austin. So things are pretty hectic to say the least, but Karen somehow manages to keep it all straight and is awesome about letting me know what parts I need to do (with friendly reminders and all). Thanks, honey. Seriously, I don't know what I'd do without you!



frog

Friday, September 01, 2006

It's going to be announced tomorrow, so I feel pretty comfortable finally sharing it with the world: I've been given the incredible opportunity to work with the talented folks at frog design up in Austin. The creative consultancy titan is bringing me on as a Senior Design Technologist next month.

This exciting move brings to a close nine memorable and immensely rewarding years working at USAA. I started my web development career by working on relatively small projects for USAA's corporate intranet, but was quickly pulled aside to design and develop USAA's first presentation framework for their member-facing site with another developer and graphic designer. Over the years, that initial team of three has grown and evolved into an all-star cast of designers and producers who bring quality, usable web applications to life across the enterprise. I will miss all of them and will certainly do everything in my power to stay in touch.

For the next week-and-a-half, I'll be doing what I can to help minimize the impact of the Technical UI Architect void I'm leaving behind at work, as well as selling our home and preparing for the move from San Antonio to Austin. With some luck, both transitions will go smoothly and none will be worse for wear.



statCollector