2009-12-28

Coincidence Meet Opportunity

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="T-Shirt from first day. Full Disclosure "]T-Shirt from first day.  Full Disclosure [/caption]

It's been pretty quiet around here lately and for good reason but I think I am ready to write about what is going on. Anger, frustration, fear, worry, and depression dominated my days and nights until recently when I finally made a decision that I have been contemplating for at least a couple of years. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="159" caption="Back of T-Shirt given to me"]Back of T-Shirt given to me[/caption]

In February I started work for a very interesting company that, in the end, was a huge learning experience which I will eventually come to view as positive. In October my team was notified that we were being laid off, an action, I came to find out, that had been in the works for part if not all of my time there. I was offered an opportunity with the outsourcing company that was taking over but in the following week it became clear to the both of us that we would not work well together and I was laid off for the second time in a month. I knew this was my path and outwardly I tried to make the best of it but inside I was waging a battle against the darkness.

While my family circled the wagons and my friends piled on the encouragement I threw myself into job search. I sent out resumes and cover letters like I've never had to before to the limited number of jobs that were available. The truth of the matter became clear to me over the next couple of weeks as I saw very few positions available and even a few of the ones that I applied for rewritten for a lesser qualified person with a significantly reduced salary. At some point there were no more jobs to apply for and I needed a distraction.

A well timed conversation and fortune cookie provided just that. If you have ever played the fortune cookie game or "in bed" or "under the sheets" you will understand. If not, watch the first minute of this video.



And now that your all caught up and confused in multiple languages you can see my inspiration for starting inbed.me which has provided an interesting diversion between searching for jobs.

As November turned into December and we crept toward Christmas I realized that finding a job this close to the end of the year was a long shot. I decided to take the time and evaluate what I wanted to do and who I wanted to work with so that I had a clear idea of what to do about it. What came out of that was 2 part: 1) I enjoy working with and the work that comes out of tech startups and 2) Tech Startups do not need someone like me full time. The solution to part 2 is to spread my time around multiple startups, giving them what they need while giving me gainful employment. It's an idea that I've had for a while now but never had the confidence to try but now that any excuses have been cleared away and I am surrounded by people who are willing to help me I think that it is time.

Out of all of this J Squared Consulting is being born to provide server consulting, monitoring, and response. I'm doing one of the things I love to do and by doing it this way, doing it with the people I want to do it with.

I would like to end this by thanking all the people who have helped me out over the last 3 months as I went through some difficult times including my family and friends who have all pitched in one way or another and made what could have been a disaster into something much better. I owe each one of you and look forward to the day I can repay your kindness.

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