Just over two weeks ago, on 22 February, I made a terrifying change in lifestyle. Yes, terrifying. Absolutely. But at the same time, thrilling, fun, exciting, all that wrapped up together. I left my loud, noisy, poorly air conditioned lab where, for the past several years I'd worked alongside some great, amazing people, testing and debugging Linux, Xen, VMWare and other things on Enterprise class hardware and living life. I left all that so I could go to work for a company called Canonical. I'll say it right from the start, this is a dream job.
Of course, with any new position and company, there's a bit of settling in to be done, and then a honeymoon period. I can so so far that the honeymoon is not over. I've gotten settled in, and started working in earnest on a 'First Project'. That's mostly been research and a little bit of tinkering, but I've also kept myself busy doing ISO testing for the next LTS release of Ubuntu, 10.4 or Lucid Lynx. So what was it like starting out?
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As I said, terrifying. Not only was I starting out in a new job with a new company, I was starting out in an office just a few feet from my bedroom. The job is almost 100% telecommute, and it's not been as scary as I had feared. Yes, there was and still is a bit of adjustment. I don't get the exercise I used to, and I don't have anyone to chat with locally (though we do have a great bit of fun on IRC and via e-mail, and there are many weekly conference calls). On the other hand, I am not driving 2 hours a day. I'm not filling my tank 3 times a week. I'm not having to go out for lunch just to get away from the heat and noise of the lab.
I must say, though, that I would not be doing as well, were it not for the people I work with. The QA team at Canonical are wonderful. My manager is a great guy who's very helpful and willing to listen and offer advice when asked. My Mentor is insane, we get along well. The other members of the team are just brilliant. I almost feel like the Poor Cousin among them, but I know that as time goes on, I'll be contributing more and more, and as I get a real feel for how things work, and what needs to be done, I'll be able to provide more useful comments on various topics.
The job itself has been fun too. I actually pass the days quickly. I was really wondering just how I'd occupy myself if all I did was sit in front of my laptop all day, but honestly, between getting everything set up and working on a few things, I've been pretty busy. My days have flown by (far faster than they did at my previous job) and I am amazed at what I've gotten done so far, and kinda sad that I didn't have time to do more. However, I am also being very mindful of keeping work and life separate. When quittin' time rolls around, I quit. Period. Otherwise, I fear I'll end up in a cycle where I work 16 hours a day every day, and make no time for myself.
Another part of the adjustment is exercise. I'm not getting any. I've got plans to fix this once I start getting paid. First on the list is a gym membership. There's a 24 hour gym in Pittsboro (weird, we don't even have a 24 hour diner, but we've got a 24 hour gym) that I want to try out. I'm also looking into, once the weather warms up and stays that way, buying a nice, used road bike and start cycling again. Mountain biking would be fun, but the closest place to do that is still too far away to make it a daily, or even regularly, scheduled thing.
I also have my first trip coming up in May. I'll be heading off to Brussels, Belgium for the Ubuntu Developers Summit, an intense, week long gathering that will define and shape the next Ubuntu release.
All in all, I think I am doing well now. I enjoy my job and love the people I'm working with. The benefits are great, the pay is great, and the indirect benefits are awesome. There's still a bit of settling to do, and a lot more to learn, but I've got a good base to start from and a supportive team to depend on. I'm having a ball, and working once more in the trenches. I've been looking for a chance like this for years, and now that I have it, they'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hard drives!
Das Aggregator!