Tag: Big Change

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Life

Big Change #3 – New Job

Recently, in May 2008, I took a position with Stratagem. Though the summer I worked for 2 places as a consultant, KHS in Waukesha, and The Dept. Of Regulation and Licensing (DRL) in Madison.

A little history. I was full time for W3i around 2 years, and then went independent for about a year, then as a consultant with Stratagem. All the different types (full, indie, and consultant) have the pros and cons, and it all depends on what you are doing, where you are, and things you are working on.

I have done .NET, Team Lead, Database Stuff, C++, Data Warehouse/BI (Business Intelligence), ERP Stuff, more .NET and everything in between. Over the past 2 years I have come to love the database stuff more and more, especially BI and Data Warehousing. It is funny, because pretty much 99% of people have no clue what “BI” is. I was just a High Tech Happy Hour at Pooleys and everyone I talked to, “What is BI?” – and this is a tech event!! Anyways, I really do like BI and wanted to move my career forward doing BI. Stratagem hired me to do BI and work on their BI stuff, but there just wasn’t work out there, and I really wasn’t going down the path I wanted to. Stratagem is a great place, great people, I just wasn’t enjoying what I have been working on. (Although I did work on a small part time project for a couple weeks at night doing some SSIS stuff, which was exactly what I wanted to be doing full time!)

Now everyone probably knows I have an iPhone and use it extensively. A couple months ago, I installed the “Career Builder” app from the app store to check it out. It uses your location based on GPS, which I thought was cool. Just for kix, I typed in “Data Warehouse” and there was a result near Madison! Sweet, but what about details? Yeah everything that hit my buttons. Microsoft, SQL Server 2005, Analysis Services, Integration Services, some .NET, etc. Awesome!

I sent in my resume, and figured I would either hear back, and get the job, or wouldn’t hear back at all, not knowing how long the position had been out there, etc. I waited and finally heard back! Sweet. A phone interview, in person interview, informal interview, and another in person interview, and I got the job.

But who is this job with you ask? Well I am proud to say that this upcoming Tuesday I will be the newest “BI Architect” at Trek Bicycle Corp. You know, “Trek”. “Trek Bikes”. The awesome bike company. The HUGE bike company. The type of bikes Lance Armstrong rides. The USA Teams ride. The bikes that have won a ton of Tour De France’s. Sweet, sweet bikes.

Trek is located in Waterloo, WI, which is about 15 miles from where I live now in Madison, and about 14 from where I am moving tomorrow in Sun Prairie, WI. It is about 4 miles from where our band practices, in Marshall, WI. It is out in countryside, on the edge of a small town. Weird how the world HQ for this company is located in such a small town.

In any event, it is a new adventure that I am very excited for. I am really looking forward to get back into BI stuff head first and work back in SQL Server!! (I have been working Oracle for the last 2 months – ugh!)

I will even start riding bikes I’m sure, and I’m betting I am the envy of all my bike nerd friends out in PDX!!!

So this is Big Change #3 out of 3. #1 was moving, #2 is the baby, and #3 is the job. Another whirlwind couple of weeks here, and then the next couple of months, but I am excited and don’t worry, you will see my blogging to continue here. Although I am twittering more (http://twitter.com/scaleovenstove) but I still want to blog a couple of times a week. And hopefully I dive into BI/Data Warehousing and have more cool stuff to blog about in that realm.

One thing, this is the first time since I graduated college where my title isn’t some kind of “Software Dev” title. When I was indie, I really didn’t have a title, even though I was doing BI, so that is different. I don’t see myself going back to being a full time dev, even though I can do .NET. I will still use programming and development as a tool with my BI work, and also just for myself or helping friends.

Go buy a Trek! Save Gas! 😉

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Life

Big Change #2 – Baby

Yes, that’s right. We are having a baby. A baby girl (they think, you never know!) due February 5th. Everything is going along just fine. I am very excited!!

We haven’t done much as far as getting baby stuff yet. We hit some garage sales and got some neutral clothes for really cheap before we knew the gender of the baby, so that was good. I figure after the move (Big Change #1) we will start getting baby stuff like the crib and what not.

There isn’t much more to say at this point, just waiting for the little bugger to come.

Here is the latest ultrasound:

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Uncategorized

Big Change #1 – Moving

Since moving to Madison, WI back in November of 2007, not much has changed as far as the living situation. The apartment we are in is ok, and I was planning on not moving for a while. I just counted today and I have moved like 12 times since 1998. Yikes.

The problem is.. our apartment management company, “The Madison Apartments”, aka “Fiduciary Real Estate”, aka “Stoneridge Pointe Condos” decided they wanted to turn our apartment into a condo. You see, most of the places around where we live are condos, and when we moved in, they said NOTHING about our place being converted into a condo.

Fast forward 6 months, we come home and have a letter saying basically “you can buy it, or you can move” which is total BS. On top of that, I asked if we could move out early, since we are being FORCED out. And of course they said no. Greedy, greedy. I really do hope someone run across this post and sees how greedy they are, and that they should look for somewhere else to live.

Anyway, we found some new condos in Sun Prairie, WI which is about 2 miles east of where we live now. These condos have been sitting empty for a while, and no one has even lived in them. We are moving in there next weekend, a bigger place, and just nicer all around.

The funny thing is, the old apartments are changing rentals into condos, and the new place is turning condos into rentals. You would think that these places would be wanting to keep rentals as rentals, especially the way the housing market is. Do they really think someone is going to buy the apartment we are in as a condo? If they did they would really be missing out. Overpriced and really just not worth how much they want for it.

So, #12 move, coming up here soon. This time I am getting smart and hiring movers. I will get a case of beer, and watch THEM move. So worth it.

This is big change #1 out of 3. Stay tuned for the next two…