During the last few years we were in Rochester, there was a string of 10 year anniversaries. Now it feels a little like we’ve hit the reset button: today was my 1 year anniversary at CompTIA.
When I mentioned it to Donia over the weekend, it seemed kind of unbelievable. Today, though, it felt more like it did when Kate turned one. I remember everyone asking “Can you believe it’s been a year?” And I remember saying “Yeah, it’s definitely been a year.” When it’s been so hectic, it feels like an awful lot has happened. Even with time moving a little faster as the kids are getting older, selling the house and moving added so much to 2011 that my flight into Chicago and wide-eyed entrance to the CompTIA HQ seems like a long time ago.
As far as work goes, I don’t have any regrets about the decision. Now that the newness has worn off, I can feel the frustrations of working life starting to set in. But I recognize them as muted versions of some of the frustrations I had at IBM, so I just handle them the way I was learning to back then. Also, the worst frustrations are completely absent. There are things I miss – mostly the camaraderie that came from intense work and the feeling of being a rung up the ladder as a manager. I knew I would miss those things, though, and getting peace of mind and reasonable workload is a good trade. Beyond that, I’ve been able to do things that wouldn’t have been available to me at IBM: writing in an official capacity and traveling for both education and presentations.
I do feel like I’m still getting to know the place, especially since it was slow starting while I was living in Rochester. There are still several ingrained behaviors that keep me from completely feeling like I fit in. Just like the frustrations, I realize that the discomfort probably won’t ever go all the way to zero (and maybe it shouldn’t, lest complacency set in). And just like the frustrations, the good outweighs the bad in the personality of the association. We had a great meeting today going over the budget and the rationale behind it. It’s the type of thing that can’t happen in a large company, and even then I’m positive that not every organization would take the time and explain things like that to help keep the employees informed. I feel like there is a lot of good momentum and potential, and that’s a nice feeling to have about the place that is providing your livelihood.
It’s been a great year. Not without its issues, but overall very rewarding. It will be several years before we’re able to fully evaluate the decision to turn our lives upside down; if things keep improving from this first year, I think we will be in good shape.
