progress

Unlike many in the IT world I've managed to stay pretty static in my jobs. Don't get me wrong, in the early days of the late 80s, early 90s, I could barely stay in a job for more than 3 years before I would jump for something new, different, challenging. Then I hit a contracting job in the mid 90s that had me moving to a different company nearly every day, working on support issues, training, server stuff. Always something different. It kept me interested, until the money ran out and the company started folding up underneath me. I jumped then, after 5 years to my current company.

As I look at the calendar and realize that I am approaching 10 years at my current company. 10 years as a network administrator. I managed to stay fresh, involved, passionate about my job, in the early days by finding facets I could explore. Network Security, interoperability between NT and Unix, learning Linux and implementing it in the network for a specific task. I am the one and only go-to guy here when they have a network problem, locally, in the branches, with the wide area network that I built with my own two hands here. The guru.

It's been going stale though. 10 years is a long time to deal with the same users with the same problems, over and over again. I've been back in school, on again, off again, over the last nearly 10 years I've been here. Out a year here and there, back in, a few classes, then another stall. Conflicted about what I could do, what I should do, what I can do. I threw up many roadblocks to my own progress. Many agonizing weeks, months, of asking myself, is it the path for me.

A friend of mine commented the other day that I have a sponge for a brain. A question is asked, and I'll dive right in, research, locate, assimilate, and regurgitate the answer in a way that others can understand it. Quickly too. I thirst for knowledge, for information, like a man dying in the desert for want of water. She's right. I do. What I like is seeing the pieces come together, forming a unified whole in my head. I like being able to understand it enough to be able to explain it to others.

I have a wide variety of interests, flying, computers, AI, robotics, glassworking of various types, history, english lit. Over the years I've given instruction to other people in many of these. Those times, have been the most enjoyable ones.

Now that many other factors in my life have waned, fallen to the wayside, cooled. The static, the interference they caused in my head has eased. My way is clearer now. The path more defined. There is nothing standing in my way now but myself.

The 20th starts a new semester, and another step along the path.
Here's to putting that sponge of a brain to use...