Leaving Pioneer

It seems like just a few months ago - my last block at Cornell College - when I drove out of town via 8th Avenue and parked in the entrance of a cornfield at the top of the hill... This is where I always went to get away from the loud dorm that I lived in to make important phone calls.

This time, I was making a call to Marv Hardisty - checking on the job I interviewed for a few weeks prior. It was an interesting call - first he asked about brooksfsw.com, one of my biggest websites, dedicated to Soap Shoes, that I let get away. He asked if I ran it and if I was aware that it was now a pornography site. I quickly explained what happened and that it was not my porn site. My stomach dropped and I was convinced that I wouldn't get the job - all because I let a domain expire and still had it in my portfolio.

As the conversation continued, he told me that I didn't get the job (damn you, Chad Kraus), but he created a new position just for me. I was stoked and I accepted.

I apparently won some people over in that interview a few weeks prior, when I met with Jim Hooper, Blair Hoegh, Ron Peterson, Nancy Acosta, and Doug Moore. The interviews seemed easy. Everything flowed well, everyone was easy to talk to, and I had skills. It was a good day - a day that I didn't wear earrings... in fact, I took them out a week before my interview to let the holes close up. And I later learned that Nehru made a $5 bet with Doug that I'd wear those earrings my first day at Pioneer... I did, Nehru won $5.

Fast forward to now - the day before my last day at Pioneer. Thinking about the things that I didn't know before I got here is insanity. I've been on several ridiculous projects. Nick, Nehru, Doug, Minnis, and many others helped me learn me a ton... ASP, Powerbuilder, XML, AJAX, crazy JS, insane SQL (handling even more insane data), large Java apps, C#, RFID, .NET, etc. I learned all about enterprise programming and project management techniques.

Pioneer really has been good... but now it's time to try something different.

I can't thank Marv enough for creating that position for me. And the same goes to everyone else for the mentoring, guidance, and good times. We got a lot accomplished and had a ton of fun doing it. There are so many freakin stories... I can't even begin.

Sorry for the cheesy article... but that's how I feel.

And now... it's onto something bigger and better smaller and sweeter.