Rants and Articles.
Leaving the nest
Much as the baby sparrow leaves the nest to perform whatever sparrow-approved activities are the rage these days, I leave IBM to pursue different (if not bluer) horizons.
Come next Friday I’ll be leaving the premises to engage in the exciting job of webmasterdom and Internet Technologies Integration at an undisclosed location much nearer home. If this does not sound like an exciting job to you, try doing low level programming for almost two years.
In retrospect, I must say that it has been a somewhat exhausting, albeit very interesting run. I must confess I am fairly glad to be leaving now, since church towers and sniper rifles were increasingly catching my eye for the past two z/OS releases. Usually not a good sign.
During my stay here, I’ve experienced what it is like to develop software the way it’s meant to be done. Many may bash IBM and other software behemoths for being unproductive and lacking the dynamism of smaller companies, but having been privy to both methodologies, I can assure you that there are reasons why stuff is made this way in the proverbial cubicle farms. That’s not to say that the process of attaining CMM 5 (a process I had the fortune to be a part of) was any fun at all. Basically it means documenting everything (if you take a dump, you keep a record of how many squares of toilet paper you use).
Through this almost two years I have worked with incredibly talented people, and to you, my coworkers, whether you are here, on the US or on other IBM sites: I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It’s been a blast.
— sergio on July 26, 2004 
Comments
Changes are usually good for life. I wish you luck on your new adventures and enterprises. Peace.
My deepest adn most sincere congratulations.
Welcome to the Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God.
It is a very little known fact, in 1928, I was revising the first drafts for CMM 5 back in 1928, when, as I have written elsewhere, «I received the Vision about the Work while I was reading those notes. Deeply moved, I kneeled down – I was alone in my room – and gave thanks to the Lord, and I remember with emotion the sound the church bells of Our Lady of the Angels.»
Now you will be helping us finance our own church towers and sniper rifles.
Good luck Sergio! Maybe some more time for a comic! eh? Eh? EH???
That’s what I thought. Pansy.
:D
Sergio:
CONGRATULATIONS!
You know what I think about IBM(for us is just HAL).
I think that your new job is an opportunity to explode and use all that incredible creativity that you own (and opportunity to create more comics).
I am so happy because you are leaving that fXxXxng and dirty company.
And now you are going to be partner of another EX-HALer(Elroy), that’s good.
Well my dear pequeño saltamontes echele ganas y felicidades!
Regards
oesda
President of the Sindicato (OGT)
“El sindicato crece y se expande”…
Congratulations for your new job! You deserve it! Best of all lucks and keep up the good work! ;)
Tell us later about what it’s like to be around an army of Elroys!
Cheers,
You are officially out of ibm now?
good!
I might hire you for off-time, late-night-coding so you dont miss the all-nithers, hehehe
Good luck on your new job! hope you get what you are looking for.
Leaving great (?) companies is good after all. I’m also leaving, in a couple of months. So greetings… Buenísima suerte, desde el DeFectuoso.
The frog finally leaped… good to know you didn’t cook yourself in the water…
Time for a party don’t you think?
Congrats!
A change is as good as a rest! Best of luck.
I hear they are hiring people at Intel, why not go there instead!
Anyway, good to see that you changed your job to something that fits your desires more.
Now, if only you could get your old job as a comic writer/illustrator back…
Gabo.
Josemaria’s comment moves me in unexpected ways.
Karina: It sounds so glamorous. I can’t wait for that teaching thing. I’ll see what I can arrange with Margarita soon.
Thanks everyone! I’ll post more information regarding this soon-ishly. By the way, I’ll be working with Macs! Woo-Yay!
One more day to go!
Will you do a nice dramatic exit, or just walk slowly away, hiding the tears in your eyes?
I would do something like go to work dressed as a tibetan monk, and make sure to tell everyone to look at lines 4736 to 6798 of your code, and they may also find the message.
Or chew some printouts and throw them at the ceiling.
Or just put my hand inside the back of my pants, fart, and loudly sniff my hand, and when someoen asks, make them sniff, and say: This is how IBM keyboards smell like.
Or… you get the idea?
Party party party party party party party
you definitly deserve a goodbye…
no change that,
you definitly deserve a WELCOME party.
Regarding your review of Tomb Raider: Actually, hitting a shark really hard on the nose WILL stun them. It’s a biological fact. They have special sensors in that area that are very, very sensitive. It’s still hard to believe that she could “ride” him though, but the stunning part is somewhat realistic.
Congrats on finding a different, if not better, job. My dad’s a computer engineer and he’s having trouble switching companies. No one wants to pay him that much (haha).
And, I love your site design, not to mention your sense of humour. I shall definitely be coming back. :)
Off to the races! You know your life will be filled with lots of excitement now, and if not… book some teaching hours on your agenda. There is something both empowering and challenging about the professor-student relationship. Plus the job is a great provider, if not for money, for other just as necessary things (love, sex, drugs, the universe and everything else).