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Busy April – Next Steps…

Hello there!  I’ve been negligent in my posting lately – obviously I’ve not posted since I talked about resigning from my potion at Michael Foods.  Some may be wondering how things have been going since last Thursday.  Well, they’ve been just fine.

The response from my managers and coworkers has been a positive one, though it always is slightly different than one usually expects.  Just goes to show that you don’t always know how people are going to react to things.

One big thing that has taken me by slight surprise is the amount of work there is in handing off responsibilities.  At Michael Foods, we have done a great job of documenting everything we do.  With that said, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the transfer of knowledge, and backing out of projects that are already in progress.  Anyone who has resigned from a long-term position probably can relate to that.  Also, since the light at the end of the tunnel is visible, you get more motivated to get it done.

At any rate, I’ve run out of time to read my feeds, keep up on Twitter like I want to, and post my pondering’s on my blog.  That’ll change in the coming week or two, but for the past several days, I’ve been lax in all of these functions.

So I thought I’d also let you know what you can expect in the next few posts, I’ve got some thoughts swirling around personal improvement, and personal responsibility – specially to oneself and your career.  There may be one post, there may be a series of posts related together – just don’t know at this point as it depends on what I want to write at the time.

I’ve been working a lot on Avatar Consultants – on the physical side (office space, comms, etc…, I still have not updated the site with more information on services, support, contact info, and of course the usual theme elements that need to get done (Dave call me please! 🙂 ).  More later!

links for 2007-04-14

links for 2007-04-13

It is done…

Over the last several weeks and months I’ve alluded to a coming change in my career, and it is finally taking place.  After a lot of thought and deliberation, I have tendered my resignation at Michael Foods, Inc.  I am vacating the Sr. Technologies Analyst position at the end of April 2007 to pursue consulting, writing, and some technology training opportunities.

It’s been an educational and rewarding ride over the last 9 years there, with many, many learning’s that I’ll carry with me throughout my career.  I’ll post fully on this later as I get closer to the end of my tenure there – I have many thank-you’s to hand out, and I’m afraid that it’ll be hard to leave in the end.

For the very short term, I’m looking forward to the weekend with my family to celebrate our decision (Amy is 100% behind my decision) and relax.

Spring In Minnesota

I mentioned in a post last week while I was in Orlando that it was snowing back home! Well, guess what – I had that pleasure this morning driving into work.
SnowInApril
Snapped a quick cameraphone pic before going inside the office.

links for 2007-04-10

Didn’t use my “mobile kit” at Connections

Did you know that I didn’t actually use my “mobile kit” when I was at Connections last week?  It was much too productive to simply pull out my sleeping laptop and jump on the available WiFi or T-Mobile EDGE service.  This fact really makes me think harder about what my next mobile computer should be.  A traditional laptop/convertible/tablet becomes a stronger option than it was two weeks ago.  More thoughts on this later.

Elevated SPAM Levels

This past week I’ve seen an increase in the amount of comment spam I’ve been receiving.  There have even been some attempts to get them moderated or accepted as trackback comments.  Ugh!  Not real bad yet, but getting close.

Back on Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista I know I like to “ping-pong” between operating systems, but I just thought I’d mention that I’m back on Windows Vista.  Since I’ve finally upgraded my major software licenses from Windows XP and Office 2003, to Windows Vista and Office 2007 – I’ll be on full shipping versions rather than late-beta and release candidate versions.

One of many learning’s at Windows Connections 2007 this year was the complete integration of the “Vista wave”.  Yes, there were tidbits there even for a seasoned Microsoft junkie like me.  One new thing I picked up while at Connections was Office OneNote 2007.  The improvements over OneNote 2003 are significant and provide a much more organized (as if ON03 wasn’t organized enough!) interface to store your notes and research.

Good stuff – now I just need to replace my aging laptop with a newer Core 2 Duo unit, and I’ll be set.  And no, I’m not using the Aero interface – simply because my current Intel 915G integrated display controller doesn’t support it.

Later!

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