It is said that the best things come to those who wait. I can safely say that I’ve got good things coming.
It’s been a month since my somewhat dramatic departure from Vancouver and I entered into obscurity. It’s high time that you all found out what the heck happened since then. Some of you already know, but this is for everyone else…
The destination was Calgary. Reason: I have family here (relatives — my parents and sister live in Ontario) and I have friends here. Calgary is also an ideal location for getting a job, particularly if you’re in the high-tech industry. I arrived here in late afternoon on March 1, and have been here ever since.
The job hunt was important, and it began almost immediately. My first (and only) interview with a company was only two days after arriving. I continued to search through the Internet (Workopolis, Monster.Ca, and various other sites) and landed a few interviews with headhunters (ack!).
Things picked up when Critical Mass (the company I interviewed with) called to check my references. Three weeks after arriving in Calgary, I landed a job. I am now a Web Developer at Critical Mass, developer to the stars … or at least American companies with a lot of money.
I started on Monday. I would’ve sent this email then, but I didn’t have a computer. I didn’t get a computer until nearly noon yesterday, and then I got buried under a rush job. They don’t waste time around here trying to break newbies. It was daunting to say the least — I knew no-one, had no idea what I was doing, and was being thrown into a project I new nothing about.
It was great. Really. I enjoyed it.
Except for the fact that I worked until 23:15 last night. On my second day. At least my name is getting around…
I’m realizing that my web development skills are going to accelerate about 100 fold in the next few days as I learn all these neat tricks Critical Mass has developed over the past year or two.
CM parallels Radical in many ways — lots of people (estimates are around 160), they occupy most of a building except for a quasi-architectural firm on the first floor, the average age is in the mid-to-late 20’s, and the talent here is amazing. I hope I can live up to the competition.
But it’s definitely not Radical. Maybe in time I’ll think of them as being the same, but for now … well, it’s a living.
I have a new apartment in downtown Calgary. It’s nice, and has a view of the north and of downtown. It’s really close to a lot of things, including work (a five minute commute on foot) … my roommate (and one of my best friends) Chris joins me in a few weeks.
Hmm…
You’d think that after a month, I’d have a lot to write about. I guess not. My log entries will hopefully be a tad more frequent. Oh, and as I do with each new email address I have — any of you who would prefer not to receive these (relax, they only come every couple of weeks or so), please let me know.
