Guru Labs

A few people have expressed concern that I haven't posted in so long, and I appreciate that. I have a bit of news that I think will explain that. About a month and a half ago, my company went through a group layoff. Unfortunately, I was one of those who was given the opportunity to pursue other opportunities. At the time, at least one person told me, "well, I guess now you'll have plenty of spare time to work on your blog, right?" And as it turns out, my previous post was indeed posted after I got laid off.

Having a blog with a decent amount of readership, I had some decisions to make. I could announce on my blog that I was looking for work, in the hopes that my readers would be able to help me out. After many weeks of unemployment, I'm still not entirely convinced that choosing not to was the best idea. Within a couple of days of the layoff, several friends at other companies heard the news and asked for my resume. With over a dozen such requests, I didn't expect to be out of work for more than a week. I knew that many companies were looking to hire, and that the odds were in my favor.

I spent the first week at a career seminar that my company had paid for, and my free time that week were spent building a wedding cake for a dear friend of mine. There was no time to blog. By the time that was all over, I had still only interviewed at one company. They had expressed interest, but had not yet made an offer. Not being one who counts unhatched eggs, I continued to look at other companies. I decided that it was in my best interest to spend my time studying and brushing up on career-related subject matter, working on my resume, and applying and interviewing at various companies. The blog had officially been put on the back burner.

Three friends from one company in particular suggested that I apply there. After some hesitation based on the job's travel requirements, I finally did so. It was a company that I had known about for years, and had wanted to work at for almost as long. I spoke on the phone at length with one of the owners, and then interviewed with him and the other owner. By this point, I was still interviewing, but hoping that this particular company would make me an offer. They did, and despite other offers that I have been expecting, I have decided to accept this one.

I am happy to say that starting next week, I will be working as a trainer at Guru Labs. As one who is becoming a more active member of the open source community, I love that there is a company who is offering training services for that community. I am also thrilled for the chance to work for them. I have had the opportunity to teach training classes at other companies before, and I have always enjoyed the experience. I have also had some small opportunities to write technical documentation for several companies, and I have always jumped at the chance, and have always been disappointed when the writing assignment has ended. At Guru Labs, these two things will be my primary job functions, and words cannot express how happy that makes me.

As it turns out, this change in employment also means a change in direction for my blog. I will be spending a good deal of time on the road, hanging out in hotel rooms without kitchens. This means that I will also be eating out quite a bit. My only chances to cook much of the time will be on weekends. I hope to experience foods and cultures in other areas, and log my thoughts and experiences here. When I am cooking at home, I will still try and cook something blogworthy. While I still plan to study pastry when I can, I will once again start posting non-pastry recipes as well. I also plan to continue posting the occassional tech article, and even have one currently in the works.

For those who have been wondering, that's a brief recap of my life since leaving my previous company. I do miss working with all my previous coworkers, and I hope that those who are there are surviving with the increased workload, and that those who the company really couldn't afford to let go but had to anyway have managed to find work as well. I'm looking forward to my new job, and my new coworkers. Life is good.