La fin d'une ère

Today is my last day at work with Webtrends. I haven't counted the days exactly but it was somewhere around a five and a half year stint. Ups, downs, overs. It had everything. Layoffs, icecream socials, nerds. I made some really good friends and I learned a lot about software engineering.

The way that I got the job at Webtrends is a funny story. My friend Paul and I had went out drinking and then saw a show. We closed the place down and came back pretty well trashed. The day prior I had noticed that Charles Petzold, the author of my favorite Windows Programming book, was giving a talk at Powells Tech books in the morning. Needless to say I woke up 15 minutes before the talk was supposed to start with a raging hangover. Jumped out of bed and put on the clothes that I was wearing the night before and drove down to Powells.

His talk on the history of computers was very interesting. After he was done talking I turned around to the table behind me that had two complete strangers at it and asked "Are you guys software engineers?" The answer was yes. Then I asked "Are you guys hiring?". The answer was yes. They were Pete and Andy and that was how I got my job. Got in right before the Webtrends 100. It was nice to meet Charles Petzold and get his autograph. He is a nerd god.

Now today is my last day with Webtrends. How do I feel you ask? I feel like moving to Costa Rica.