Freedom

It's done. I've done it. My days at TPC are officially over. Here I am on a Wednesday afternoon, writing a quick blog posting, not worrying if someone at the office is watching over me. Here I am in the early midst of building a new business that I'm passionate about, instead of handling stress on things that don't matter to me. Here I am with my baby girl just a few steps away, instead of coming home late after shes already in bed. I like it here. Here is good.

So it ended very well over there at the TPC - my boss took it well, my friends an co-workers organized several events - lunch at the goose, TPC sponsored send-off with catered brownies, cookies, hot chocolate, etc., then we wrapped up the Friday with drinks at the Old Pro - good times - I didn't have to buy a drink all night, tho I did end up with a helluva cab fare back to Burlingame from Menlo Park - 54 beans plus a solid tip for the Kenyan man who was quietly teaching me the five things one must do to be a good Muslim. it sounded simple enough, but I graciously told him I didn't need an organized religion to tell me how to live - at least thats what it sounded like in my head - not sure how the slurred and garbled words came out on his end. but in summation - good ol' Thomas Southworth at work (excuse me, I should say "former work") organized the bender and we drank heavy till mornin. Good turn out too (at all the events) which gave me that warm feeling, like 'hey people liked me!?' but it may just be that people wanted the alcohol...

The work part ended well too. I was able to document all the crap I had my fingers in over the 2 years I was there - which was an amazingly cleansing experience. I also was able to hire, and train a pseudo replacement - a very smart young front-end developer named Amy. She'll be in a better place for her career than I was for mine - but she's also in for a wild ride. People will think she's the new 'ben' but unfortunately she is being hired for a very small portion of my role there. So I wrapped it all up nice and clean - have nothing to feel guilty about, nor any baggage. I will miss the people for sure. Good, smart people who hopefully will get their come-uppins come bonus time.

On to better things tho! {ui}foundry is the name of the company I'm co-founding with Mr. KG - or Kenneth Garee as his birth cert reads. I met Kenny thru Miguel - its his bestest friend from the way backs - so I'm in good company. Ken is a stud Flex developer and has a wealth of experience and talent to draw from - pair that with my design and UI skill set and we have a nice little coupling of tools. Hashin' out the details now and solving problems daily - and I'm all over it. Been a while since I've been motivated (half by excitement, half by fear) and it tastes delicious. Lots to do - but we're doin it. Life is a risk - fortunately I've got good odds...