Career News: Goin' Mobile

I'm goin' home
And when I wanna go home
I'm goin' mobile
Well, I'm gonna find a home
And we'll see how it feels
Goin' mobile
Keep me movin'
- Goin' Mobile, Pete Townsend (The Who)

Frequent readers of this space will know that I only break out the classic rock lyrics when the news is fairly significant. Today's news falls into that category.

I can pull up by the curb
I can make it on the road
Goin' mobile
I can stop in any street
And talk with people that we meet
Goin' mobile
Keep me movin'  

While I've been something of a nomad in the course of my life (in addition to Washington, I've lived in Missouri, New York, Wisconsin, New Jersey, California, and Oklahoma), before joining me here my darling wife Gale had lived in just two states: Florida and Texas. After making a valiant effort to live in a northern climate for seven years, her health now requires that we make a change.

When I presented this issue to my management, I told them I saw three alternative solutions, of which I had control over the least desirable two. I could leave my wife (not going to happen) or leave my job (don't want that to happen); the alternative I didn't have control over was the possibility of continuing my work with the SQL Server Center of Excellence while living somewhere else.

Today, I got word from my boss that this arrangement has been approved.

Out in the woods
Or in the city
It's all the same to me
When I'm drivin' free, the world's my home
When I'm mobile

At this point, all I can say for sure is that we're heading southeast. Gale has a line on some property in Florida which we're researching; hopefully I'll get a chance to look at it while I'm in Orlando for TechEd. I'll be working remotely from wherever I end up; when I'm needed in Redmond, the company will bring me here.

How great is it to work for a company which will let me have my cake and eat it too like this? And to have colleagues and a management structure who are all supporting me in this change? My family and I are all truly, truly blessed.

More in the future as these exciting plans evolve.. but in the meantime..

Hee, hoo!
Beep beep!
Mobile, mobile, mobile yeah!

-wp

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  It's been a busy six weeks since I last posted here. I've made substantial progress in my recovery from

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  If you live long enough and lead a certain sort of life, you end up writing a lot of correspondence that

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  The warm weather prophesied yesterday came to pass, at least in sufficient measure to allow the deployment

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  We are 32 days in Florida as of today, and so far it's been a marvelous experience. All three boys are

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  The job was in Oklahoma..  the client was in Dallas..  so there was a lot of commuting back then..

• Anonymous
  May 16, 2008
  Congrats Ward! Don't be a stranger.

• Anonymous
  May 30, 2008
  Dude! When you worked in Dallas, did you commute from Oklahoma?