Be Careful What you Wish For
Nine years ago, I abandoned my software development job for my current position as an IT security administrator. While life as a code jockey was fun, it also meant long hours away from home; there was a stretch of some months in 1998 where I worked an average of 80 hours a week on a critical project that was behind schedule. There were years where I didn't see a sunrise or sunset during the week; I'd arrive at the office at 3 AM and work straight until 9 PM, with short breaks to raid the cafeteria vending machines for lunch. Keeping to that lifestyle put a strain on my marriage just when my wife needed me the most -we had our first child that year, and in 2001 we were expecting our second child.
My employer was also on shaky economic footing at the time. Our primary product was a midrange CAD/CAM suite, and the most recent software release was a disaster. It had gone out in spite of the objections of the QA people (myself included), and we were paying a price for it on the bottom line. Our CEO brought in a hatchet man to get rid of the deadwood and make the company attractive to a takeover; we were all dead in the water, and we knew it.
By comparison, a job as a UNIX systems administrator for a multinational corporation seemed almost insanely stable. My employer got wind of my impending departure just before I gave my two week notice and tried to keep me, but I decided to trade the adrenaline rush of my old position for a promise of stability and security.
A funny thing happened along the way between then and now; I seem to have misplaced that stability and security somewhere.
The 2001 riots began the week I started my new job, which should have been my clue from the gods that things weren't what they seemed. Being extraordinarily dense when it comes to pseudo-divine signs, I kept at my job and was rewarded by being moved from my systems administrator job into the newly formed security administration team. I soon discovered that I went from being in a position to where I was merely invisible to one where I'd have to massively screw up just for someone to look at me. Well, I thought, I could put my years in the barrel and then I could move to a more visible position.
Once again, the gods proved to have a sense of humor; our entire IT division was outsourced to my current employer. I've survived layoffs, being moved from team to team, and other "cost cutting measures", all while I continued to dream for a more stress-free life.
Perhaps my pursuit of some stability and security translates into my reading habits. I identify with protagonists who just want that little plot of land and a semblance of normalcy as opposed to the type A personalities who crave adventure and excitement; I cheer on the Karigan G'ladheons and Reisiltarks more than the Kvothes or Kris Longknifes. I admire the Elrics, the anti-heroes trying to find their place in the world yet saddled with an enormous burden. The obstacles they have to overcome may or may not be world breaking in their implications, but those heroes rise to the occasion because they can put their dreams aside and do what needs doing.
Recently I read Eric Bledsoe's The Sword Crossed Blonde, and his protagonist Eddie LaCrosse is cut of the same mold. He's not quite running from his past, but he definitely tries to avoid it as much as possible. He just wants a quiet place out of the way to ply his trade, but his past catches up with him and he is thrust into solving a terrible crime. If you can imagine a fantasy version of some of the 50's/60's Westerns, you get the idea.
In the Historical Novel/Mystery genres, Adelia Aguilar of Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death novels is of similar stature. While not running from her past, all she wants is to either go back to Sicily or be left alone. Naturally, she gets neither.
How have your pursuits shaped your reading habits? Who do you identify with?
My employer was also on shaky economic footing at the time. Our primary product was a midrange CAD/CAM suite, and the most recent software release was a disaster. It had gone out in spite of the objections of the QA people (myself included), and we were paying a price for it on the bottom line. Our CEO brought in a hatchet man to get rid of the deadwood and make the company attractive to a takeover; we were all dead in the water, and we knew it.
By comparison, a job as a UNIX systems administrator for a multinational corporation seemed almost insanely stable. My employer got wind of my impending departure just before I gave my two week notice and tried to keep me, but I decided to trade the adrenaline rush of my old position for a promise of stability and security.
A funny thing happened along the way between then and now; I seem to have misplaced that stability and security somewhere.
The 2001 riots began the week I started my new job, which should have been my clue from the gods that things weren't what they seemed. Being extraordinarily dense when it comes to pseudo-divine signs, I kept at my job and was rewarded by being moved from my systems administrator job into the newly formed security administration team. I soon discovered that I went from being in a position to where I was merely invisible to one where I'd have to massively screw up just for someone to look at me. Well, I thought, I could put my years in the barrel and then I could move to a more visible position.
Once again, the gods proved to have a sense of humor; our entire IT division was outsourced to my current employer. I've survived layoffs, being moved from team to team, and other "cost cutting measures", all while I continued to dream for a more stress-free life.
Perhaps my pursuit of some stability and security translates into my reading habits. I identify with protagonists who just want that little plot of land and a semblance of normalcy as opposed to the type A personalities who crave adventure and excitement; I cheer on the Karigan G'ladheons and Reisiltarks more than the Kvothes or Kris Longknifes. I admire the Elrics, the anti-heroes trying to find their place in the world yet saddled with an enormous burden. The obstacles they have to overcome may or may not be world breaking in their implications, but those heroes rise to the occasion because they can put their dreams aside and do what needs doing.
Recently I read Eric Bledsoe's The Sword Crossed Blonde, and his protagonist Eddie LaCrosse is cut of the same mold. He's not quite running from his past, but he definitely tries to avoid it as much as possible. He just wants a quiet place out of the way to ply his trade, but his past catches up with him and he is thrust into solving a terrible crime. If you can imagine a fantasy version of some of the 50's/60's Westerns, you get the idea.
In the Historical Novel/Mystery genres, Adelia Aguilar of Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death novels is of similar stature. While not running from her past, all she wants is to either go back to Sicily or be left alone. Naturally, she gets neither.
How have your pursuits shaped your reading habits? Who do you identify with?