As I’m sure you know, Microsoft has been reorganizing, eliminating positions and reducing headcount … layoffs.
Well, after 9 years, I’m one of the folks hit by that.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that’s it’s great, wonderful, etc. etc. It’s not. It’s hard and it sucks. But it could be a lot worse … Microsoft’s severance package is extremely generous and it will certainly give me the opportunity to take a little vacation time while I determine where I want to go from here. Beyond that, I will have assistance for outplacement as well. So, even in the leaving, I find myself lucky to work for a company as great as Microsoft. And, at the end of it all, I know that I will land on my feet and that the experiences that I’ve had at Microsoft will certainly be a part of that. I have had worse things happen to me … I have been through far worse things than this … and I have always come out better for it.
It has been a good 9 years. I’ve seen a lot of change at Microsoft and a lot of priorities realigned. I’ve seen the company grow in new directions and in new ways that none of us would have imagined in 2000. It’s always been interesting and challenging, to say the least. It’s been a fun ride and I don’t regret a moment of it. I, too, have grown a lot during this time.
Now … the question of tomorrow. I cannot tell you anything right now. What I can say is that I will be taking a week or two off (the longest *unplugged* vacation that I’ve had, I think, since high school) and figuring out where I want to go from here. But I can tell you this … I have been very involved in the community here in South Central, in Second Life, and in the open source world. That will not stop. I will continue to be active in those communities. It is something that I believe in.
But … for right now, for a time … I’m gonna take some time off. I’m gonna go hit my XBox and blow stuff up. Aliens and bad guys of all stripes … you have been warned.