On Fri, 06 May 2011 13:34:17 +0100, Stephen wrote:

> On 06/05/2011 4:13 AM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Last day today - actually feeling pretty good.  I've got a discussion
>> that'll happen tomorrow, and interview on Monday, and a couple other
>> very promising leads.
> 
> Good luck with these.

Thanks!

>> The question will really be if we can live where we want to with any of
>> these positions.
>>
>>
> At least you will have options.

Options are good.  Unless something that is "an offer I can't refuse" 
comes up in the short term, I'm probably going to take my time and pick 
something that's a good fit.  We can make it for about 6 months on the 
severance package if we mind our expenses well, but I'd go nuts if it 
took that long.  But having the time to explore the opportunities 
thoroughly means I can really find something that's right for us, in 
terms of position, responsibility, and location.

>> The discussion tomorrow will be interesting, because it's not that I've
>> applied for a position, but I had an 'aha' moment about 2 AM this
>> morning and e-mailed someone I know at the company asking "who do I
>> need to talk to about 'a', 'b', 'c', and 'd', because I think they
>> could be really valuable to your organization and I know how to make
>> them happen", and I got a response saying that they've got 3 high-level
>> people who are *very* interested in these ideas.  So I'm going to need
>> to organise my thoughts fairly quickly (high-level) to pitch the ideas,
>> and then get into the details probably next week.
>>
>>
> Well done! And again good luck.

Slight change in plans, which actually is going to work out better - the 
first discussion will take place next week.  That means I have a little 
breathing room to actually organize my thoughts rather than just talk to 
what I dreamed up at 2 AM Thursday morning.  I'll be able to focus the 
ideas better and ensure that I'm talking 'big picture' rather than 
details (for a couple of reasons), given my audience.  I'm also going to 
have to see if I can find out who exactly the audience is - I have a few 
guesses as to names at the company, but knowing for sure would be better.

>> Pretty psyched about this one.
> 
> You can do it. :-D

The funny thing is this - I know I *can* do it.  I have a very unique 
background and skill set that has just brought all these ideas together, 
and to me, the high level design looks pretty simple, but that's because 
of my knowledge and experience.

>> I'm thinking that getting laid off may well be the best possible thing
>> to have happened now.
>>
>>
> If you have a positive outlook it can very well be. Sometimes we get
> stuck in a rut and need a push to go forward. I'm sure that you will do
> well and I hope that you get to live where you want. What about the rest
> of your family hoe are they taking it?

Everyone's concerned, of course, largely because I really loved working 
on the team I worked on - having the respect of your teammates and 
coworkers is something that cannot be taken for granted.  There was an 
initial "Oh no" reaction (well, more than that), but things are coming 
back to a normal sense of things here and we're seeing it as an 
opportunity to really do the right thing, take the time, and see what we 
can find that lets us do what we want to, not just in terms of my work, 
but in terms of really "writing the next chapter" for us.

Since Ken's done with university classes this summer (he went through the 
graduation ceremony this morning, but he has 8 credits left before he 
gets the degree), the timing was *almost* perfect for us.

Jim

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