Today Amy and Tom are flying up to stay with us and watch the girls while we’re in Vancouver next weekend. We haven’t seen them since Christmas so it will be good to have them out. Hopefully they’ll be having lots of fun with the girls while Jess and I get some much needed R&R up north. They’re flying their own plane up here, which is very cool, and that gives them the freedom to stay as long as they like. I’ve still never seen Tom’s plane so maybe this time I’ll have to check it out. We’ve been telling Ava for several days about Grandma and Grandpa coming to visit, so she’s really excited to see them. Obviously Elise is still too small to understand something like that but I know she’s going to love getting time with them as well.
Last week was an especially crazy week for me at work because I found out that my good friend / co-worker, Garth, is leaving Amazon for a role as a Senior Software Engineer at Disney. Garth was the guy who originally interviewed me, and subsequently hired me, for the contracting role at Amazon that caused us to leave San Diego. Later, once I was hired full-time, Garth was my mentor, as well as a good friend. I think its safe to say that he’s been the most instrumental person in my career so far, which makes it really tough to see him go.
I guess you could say the news was bitter-sweet though, because at the same time my manager told me about Garth’s impending departure, he also told me that the next level for me as a web developer is within sight and is something I need to be preparing for. Generally the way it works at Amazon is by the time you’ve been promoted to a new role, you’ve already been carrying out that role’s duties for some time. For me that means now, and its something I place a high priority on.
We have a new web dev joining our team next Monday (which is the day Jess and I return from Canada), and I’ve already been told that I will be mentoring him. Even though I just got a new mentor of my own, I’m excited to be able to help onboard someone and bring them up to speed. Losing Garth means I am now my team’s most experienced developer, which comes with its own share of responsibilities and leadership opportunities.
The first of these new responsibilities arrived Thursday, which was the same day I got the news about Garth leaving. Although I can’t go into any details at this point, I can say that it comes all the way from the top and will be my first opportunity to create something that will be publicly visible. Can’t wait to post a link to it once it goes live! In order to keep up with all the high-priority work I’ve got going on right now I’ve had to put in extra hours at night and over the weekend. I expect these long days to continue right up until Thursday at 4:00pm, which is when I unplug from the world and begin our vacation.
Luckily I’m on Spring Break from school right now, making it easier to deal with everything at work. Once we return from Canada I’ll be back in school for my final quarter. Going to enjoy this week, maybe even get an extra jiu jitsu class in since the girls will always be accounted for, and get ready for the trip. Then I’ll be more than ready to get back in school for the final push. Plenty of updates coming soon.