Clearing my desk at T-Mobile…
Well I packed up my desk today. My comfy compact corporate cubicle is now empty of any personality it once had and the dusty photos of the family are stored in my backpack for safe-keeping. My on-off relationship with T-Mobile is once again heading to an ‘off’ cycle. Maybe I’ll be back there again some time in the future. In the meantime it’s an opportunity to do something different - in the middle of a recession.
I have worked at T-Mobile in Seattle several times since early in 2002, both as a contractor and as an employee. I have enjoyed watching a small telecoms company grow into something that is now challenging the behemoths of Verizon and AT&T. Their phones and their phone plans are second to none and time and time again they have won Customer Service and innovation awards. They are fundamentally a good company.
Unfortunately though like so many relationships, especially ones that are realistically one-way, there often comes a time when a period of break-up is necessary. Now is one of those times. T-Mobile has bid me a ‘bon voyage’ and sent me out into the wilderness to fend for myself. Now I’ll have to learn a new daily routine. No more 7:30am trips to the kitchen to fill my coffee cup; no more 11:45am visits to the Chinese restaurant; no more meeting-packed days in conference room 4H; and no more all-hands meetings to learn the scoop on the upcoming phones. Now I’m merely a customer once again.
It’ll be nice to be in charge of my days again. It’ll be nice to have lunch with my wife. It’ll even be nice to be a little scared about where the next pay check is coming from. Change is inevitable in life and ultimately change is a good thing.
You can expect a change in direction and content on my blog going forward. I always write about whatever is on my mind, and that is one thing that is not going to change. It’s just that now there will be different things on my mind, and those are the things I will write about. It’s time to devote more time to writing. It’s time to get out and help some people develop better life skills. There are lots of things to do.
T-Mobile? Yes, I’ll miss you, of course I will. Breaking up is never easy. But there’s a big wide world out there that’s calling my name.
