jmoiron.net

I suppose this post is long overdue in a lot of ways. I've ended my employment at Attila Technologies and started a position at Advance Internet. I've quit my job as a toolsmith/utility/architect and have become a python/django developer. I started my new job not in Journal Square (where the company is located), but in Austin, Texas.

I have some experience with Austin; my aunt Mel, herself fantastic, lived here with her wonderful friends before she passed away, and I've been down here a few times before to visit. A few months ago, really, after not having my contract formally renewed at Attila, and not getting any raise whatsoever, or any offer of any kind of compensation at all other than what I had been receiving, I decided to pursue other options. I decided on Advance, and upon that decision they told me that they were sending some developers down to Austin and wanted me to join.

The long and the short of it is that I wanted to join, too (even at the cost of a week's vacation), and given the flurry of activity and learning this experience has been, I'm glad I did it. We are visiting a contracting company called Optaros who have developed the application that it seems me and a few other developers will soon take over.

Optaros Austin is, to this point, the epitome of a laid back awesome "agile" development environment. The people on our project are cool, varied, professional (in a good way), intelligent, excited about their work, out-going; pretty much everything good imaginable and with the relaxed, calmly upbeat tone Attila lacked. Part of it is probably Austin itself, and another part of it is probably them. I came into the situation here completely lost on both sides (having not worked a day in AI's office and having never met any Optaros guys), so it's been pretty interesting for me so far. I think that I've been able to make a fairly decent contribution all things considered, although I'm not really sure. The separation from the familiar for me has been very good, and seeing the architecture and the way in which they go about development have given me a lot of ideas on how I will want to work upon my return to New Jersey.