That's a Wrap

I'm not very good at goodbye. Fortunately, today had no feeling of finality. It felt more like I was heading off for a short leave of absence. I guess with 14 years at a company, it stops being about the company and starts being about the people. Thanks to Linked-in and Facebook, those connections will remain intact.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about Sun and Oracle lately, checking and double-checking my decision to leave. One hears all the time that Oracle is evil and a terrible place to work. I don't actually think that's true. Oracle is certainly not the warmest, fuzziest company out there, but I think a lot of that is just a reflection of Larry. Oracle is actually a fine place to work. The benefits are decent. The working environment is very reasonable. It's a stable company, unlike what Sun was. It's perfectly OK. And that's why I'm leaving for Cloudera. In a decade or two, when I'm tired and burned out, a quiet, stable job will probably sound very appealing. Right now, though, I'm not looking for quiet.

I am so excited about starting work next week at Cloudera that I can hardly stand it. I'm trying hard not to let expectations get too high, lest I set myself for being let down, but I really see this as a huge opportunity. For the last couple of years I've been looking for something to hit out of the park, and now I'm finally walking up to the plate. Batter up!