Suspending Operations

Subject: Suspending Operations
From: anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 05:43:23 -0600 (MDT)

Forwarded anonymously on request. Reply to the list if you want
the poster to see your message. EJR

Hello All,

I want to thank everyone who responded to my Losing My Profession
posting. I thought that each response was helpful in its own way, and I
am glad to see that there are techwhirlers out there who remain
passionate about their work. May that passion remain with you over the
long-haul. At the risk of heresy, I would suggest that part of what is
wrong with our workplaces is that they have no place for reflection upon
such things as the nature of the human condition.

I have been working through this dilemma for the past several weeks. I
do not want to throw the baby out with the bath water. It seems to me
unwise to post a public announcement that Im pretty much sick of the
field, so I ask your indulgence for my mask of anonymity. Realities of
life being what they are, I may need to do more techwhirling.

I would also add that the downsizing I went through encompassed 50% of
the company. The geeks I worked with were all really upset, especially
since no other writer on staff knows how to do anything other than write
end-user material: enter the first name in the First Name field and all
that. Several geeks offered to circulate my resume. But thats all in
the past now, and I am not going to look back.

All I can say is that the responses confirmed the conclusion I had
already reached. I am going to close this door, for now anyway, and let
it go. In the current lingo, I am suspending operations and seeking an
additional source of funding. I cancelled the two remaining interviews I
had scheduled, and I do not see any reason to schedule any more now.
Truth is, I just do not have any desire to be a whirler anymore.
Although the future is uncertain and there is some ambivalence, the
strongest feeling I have is relief that a burden has been lifted.

At heart, I am an English teacher, so I am going to spend the summer
looking for a teaching job. I think that I can leverage my facility with
technology in a whole new arena, and I really believe that Ill be a
good teacher. I like working with young people who have verve so much
more than people with bidness degrees who really dont know much of
anything at all. Its a much different arena than hi-tech, with its own
rules and conventions, so all I know today is that someone needs a tech
savvy English teacher.

I dont feel bad about leaving behind techwhirling, although I wish it
were under other circumstances. Given a choice, Id rather work my way
through this career change comfortably and remove all the anxiety and
uncertainty I am feeling now. Fortunately, there is a real opportunity
here for me to use my whirler background for much better purposes than
those I have been involved in over the past few years. I do not really
care about software development anymore, and it is not easy to admit
that after all this time. Still, I cannot believe that my family and I
will be anything but better off if we bite the bullet now.

Thanks again to everyone who responded. I looked forward to reading the
list every day for the past few years. I feel like some of you have been
my friends. Thanks especially to Eric and Deb, who keep it all together.

Ouch!!!! Was that the door hitting me in my butt on my way out? No, I
think it was a sense (admittedly somewhat painful) of closure coming
over me. Good luck to everyone, and God bless you all.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Forwarded anonymously on request. If you want the
original poster to see your response, you must reply
to the TECHWR-L list. All direct replies to this
message are automatically discarded. Contact Eric
ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com with questions.



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