Georgina’s site will be looking funky for a while – I’m moving it from where it is into my space so the dns will look odd. Other stuff of mine is also being moved but even I don’t look at it so no-one else can possibly notice it.
A couple of months ago I blogged that I had been successful in applying for a place on a teacher training course. I’ve been trying to get into teaching for a few years because it was something I really enjoyed as a nurse and in general. Because of when I took exams and when I did my nurse training convincing educational authorities to let me in without having to do additional pre-training was always fruitless. But things change, goalposts are moved and like I said, I was offered a place for a course starting next month. And then something else happened – I started work for Automattic.
So I was left in a position where I could almost choose:
- Teaching. Always wanted to do it. Decent salary from where I was looking from. I’d not actually done it though. I would not be in control. Long hours.
- Automattic. I keep doing what I enjoy doing. I control work conditions. Hours would still be long.
There are more factors but I think they are the main ones.
A lot of thinking has been done. It was resolved ages ago because it had to be, because I needed to know where to focus my energies and because sometimes only deciding something and deciding to live with that decision makes you face up to what is actually in that decision. Dithering around helps no-one. It’s no surprise probably that Automattic won.
1. I really do enjoy doing what I do. Sure I have some requests / feedback that make me wail – and that’s the case right now which is why I’m taking 5 to blog – but overall I love what I do. I know I’m good at it and that I’m delivering a good service.
2. Because I set my hours I have the flexibility I need when J has a relapse. No training or traditional employer would tolerate that need and I doubt I would if I were in their shoes.
3. Automattic and what I do is a known quantity. I know what I am doing, there are no surprises involved and that helps keep things on an even keel. Teaching = stress.
I could still do the training next year, or after that and I know at times I’ll wonder about what could have been because being a Teacher probably offers me more security in various ways, but then it isn’t doable just yet, it may never be doable and possibly I’m just a little tormented by the closeness of the dream I’ve had. Heh.. I just wrote I could do the training next year. That’s not going to happen is it? Hardly likely J will make a miraculous recovery. That sounds like it’s after sympathy – it’s not. It’s just a statement of fact. (Which sounds the same. Bah)
I’m not unhappy to have made the choice I did. In fact last week in San Franscisco just confirmed absolutely that my decision was the correct one and I am very happy with everything involved with what I do. It means that I can now focus not only on Automattic but also in expanding other online interests I have – nothing big, nothing that will ever make me pots of cash but it’ll buy the odd thing every once in a while (I’m hoping it’ll buy more of course!). So teaching will not be – their loss, wordpress.com’s gain :)
Wonderful. That’s the word that sums it all up.
I now know what everyone in the company looks like and sounds like. That’s important. It makes things more real for me. There were two defining moments for me:
- sitting around a bench next to the bay with the Golden Gate Bridge to one side and Alcatraz in the middle while we discussed and agreed various details
- the main table around which we worked sat 8. At one moment there were 8 of us, each with a laptop and each typing away working but not talking. The whole company at work. That was good…
We got heaps of work done. I know support response times dropped on my days out / back but apart from that the impact from that pov will have been small. It’s so much easier to get things done, talked about and talked around when you have the added benefit of eye contact, intonation, body language which comes with proximity. It may well be a connected world but those things cannot be replaced. And it was damn good to meet everyone I chat to daily. Faces to Text. Humour to words.
WordCamp. Apart from the relatively unplanned (and therefore not as good as I think I could have done) presentation I did, it was okay. I know I didn’t enjoy the SEO session (Bill and Ted? Think Ted – only…..worse?) but it wasn’t so bad. I know I see blogging very differently to many which explains things to me. It did mean though that I was providing support live from Wordcamp – as well as IMing my girls too :) The evening part was good too – I met another one of the guys backing Automattic (whose name I’ve not seen anywhere so it’s not appearing here either) and had more of a chat to a few people. There was a meetup of sorts the night before with people who had come over early and I met Scott of Laughing Squid – the best logo ever. (And still the company on http://wordpress.org/hosting with – afaik – no complaints at all. That’s in over 2.5 years). So Wordcamp was good.
San Francisco. I kept marvelling about the roads. It’s not that they had them (so do we!) but that they were so straight and so damn long. And in some cases, very very steep. I’ve a pile of photos that I should move to a directory – they are online as I uploaded them so J and the girls could see what I’d been up to – but I need to see what dross is there too.
Product. We all worked well together anyway but the product of this last week means that we work better now and that means that wordpress.com users will see that benefit in many ways. And wasn’t that the point?
There’s probably something I wanted to blog but I’ve forgotten. I’m still extremely tired despite 14 hours sleep last night (which happened unexpectedly as I sat on the bed and keeled over) but which a day’s solid work has contributed to.
It was good fun it was :)
Check-in: 14:30
Flight: 16:30
Arrive: 10:30
Coach: 12:00
Leicester: 14:30
Home: 15:15
Wednesday – sleep and blog stuff.
So the inane chattering was – according to Donncha – pretty good. I think it was less.
I just deleted 3 paragraphs… this stuff here is surreal.
Flickr photostream – I am in there ….
I’m going to retreat to wordpress.com support :)
Update#1
— Okay, done that :)
I met mdawaffe !!
Update#2
Talking to a guy (Hi Bill!) I have done blog work for about FreshlyPressed and what we offer bloggers who need help. A woman in the queue in front of Bill: “Do you have a card?” Me: “No, I’m english”. I’m not sure she got quite what I meant…..
Update#3
I am really really bored.
Update#4
The SEO one … zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz tedium on stage.
It seems I have a presentation to make…. no if you’d asked me an hour ago if I was doing anything I’d have shook my head in all honesty.. it’s all fun though :)
It’s 08:40, I’m stood in a room that will seat ~50…
They talked about some of the criminals, a lot of what happened, much history but they did not say just where Nicholas Cage stood in The Rock.
I’m not blogging much about what is going on here because it’s all work and doesn’t need to be blogged as such really. I just met Mark Jaquith !
And it’s 22:38 here on 3 August but at home it’s 4 August. D is 16 today. I really really wish I was there for her today.. I’ll try and ring later.
It’s tough :)
20:08 and the house wobbled. Properly. Weird.
Update: 4.7 Richter. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/
I have just had probably the best sandwich I have ever eaten. It was Pastrami Wednesday down at Memphis Minnies. So coupled with potted greens I tucked in. Wonderful. Gorgeous. Beautifully cooked. I can’t convey the experience adequately. Added to that was a couple of slices of BBQ and as I liked it I am now officially safe in my work here :)