Might be about time for me to put the leftover pizza away. Lisa is working on some NIH reviews that she has to get done in the next ten hours. We all overlook a deadline from time to time, and she has had so much going on, it’s little wonder she has to work on a Sunday evening from time to time.

Tomorrow, I get back to it as well. My scheduled workday is from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s probably best that I offset an hour from my normal 8-5 to stay in tighter alignment with Redmond. I have reports to work on, certifications to earn, and meetings to attend online, so the sooner I can get up and get my head in order, the better off I will be.

Might need to get a little hand holding with the expense report app, too.

Other than that, I need to go through the Azure Fundamentals course and see if there is anything I am overlooking. I want to crush this certification exam. I haven’t ever earned a perfect score, but in this case, it really ought to be a goal.

So, I hit the books, hope they don’t hit back and get this exam in the schedule. Then, continue to work on the “talk”. With any course, you have to get the talk down, so you know what you are supposed to be addressing at any given time. It’ll take a little time, but all things considered, I think I can handle it.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best.

Peace y’all.

OK, I didn’t get my entry written yesterday during the day, but if there was ever a time for me to throw out my self-imposed “12-hour” rule, this is it.

Microsoft is a big company.

Microsoft does a lot of great things.

Taking in all that Microsoft has to offer is like drinking from a fire hose.

It’s a more than a little bit overwhelming, but the best part is probably the team of people that I find myself working with. What a cool and supportive bunch of people.

I went through a number of presentations yesterday, and then had a team icebreaker and dinner last night. We had a lot of fun at the escape room, and dinner was fantastic at a place in Lincoln Square called Maggiano’s. The conversation was great, informative, and pleasant. A lot of the conversation was just generally informative about where we’re going, and what was to be expected of us in these new roles.

Now it’s Tuesday morning, and I have to get over on campus pretty soon. This is such an incredible opportunity for me, and I am so grateful that everything aligned for this experience to happen to me.

Tonight I might get a little break to get caught up on some rest. I still feel like I’m trying to catch up on sleep.

There is work to be done!

Peace y’all.

It’s about ten until noon on a Sunday, currently sitting in lounge space at MCI – Kansas City International Airport. Terminal B.

My flight was supposed to leave at 7:00 this morning, but due to a mechanical issue, there is currently a 12 hour delay, and the hope is that this bird will head into the sky about 7:30 this evening. A four hour flight that will touch down two hours later thanks to the shift in time zones.

My wife has asked me to not inform the world when I’ll be traveling, so I won’t be publishing this for a few days now. I’ll push my first week at Microsoft up to the cloud a little later in the week, so by the time people see that I’ve been away, I’ll be back home again. Probably all for the best anyway.

Lisa and Dane are coming to the airport in a bit to take me out for lunch. I don’t want to head all the way back to satellite parking, and I need them to grab me a Type C cable anyway. I am thankful for my wife. She is the best.

That’s about all I have to share for now. I might tack on a little more later when I have more to write about.

Peace y’all.

Starting over on my WriteChain. I had done so well for almost two years, then the new job happened. I wrote a couple of blog posts, and left them in my drafts folder for a couple of reasons. One of the important reasons is that my wife has asked me to avoid posting anything that gives away that I am away from home for her safety, and that makes perfect sense.

This past week has been a whirlwind, but a positive whirlwind. I sat a couple of afternoon seminars with an incredible woman, Rita Robbins, whose title is “Master Trainer of Trainers”. She changed my outlook on any number of things relative to my career and the way I look at how people learn. I need to take a look at youtube to see if she has any recorded content that I can share with my wife and kids. Incredible speaker, she really made me think.

Now I need to put together a plan to pass another certification exam (that part didn’t change) then grind through some test teaches with an audience consisting of two apathetic Yorkie-mixes that would much rather I focus on their petting needs.

That’s about all I need to cover for now. I’m going to chill out and focus on watching a little college basketball for a bit.

Peace y’all.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life. I catch an early flight and head up to the Microsoft home office in Redmond, Washington. It’s going to be an interesting ride, both the flight and the beginning of my life with my new employer.

I’ve got everything just about packed up, with a few things left out for tonight and tomorrow morning.

Tonight, KU is playing at Texas Tech, down early. I’m trying to relax a little bit, with a Golden Belgian Strong from 23rd Street Brewery. Not a growler, but a “Crowler” – a 32 ounce aluminum can that they fill and seal there at the pub.

Butterflies in my stomach.

Make that condors.

I’ve got my backpack cleaned out and reloaded. Trying to remove some weight on that front. I’ve done a few loads of laundry, and have my suitcase just about packed.

I’m repeating myself.

I have some new body wash. The fragrance is “Bourbon and Oak”. Is there a particular appeal to smelling like a drunk lumberjack.

So, I need to empty my cup, kick a few penguins off the iceberg, and relearn what I think I already know, but this time I’ll get a little help. Lisa pointed out some things – I’m used to picking up a book and learning this stuff on my own, trial, error, experimentation. Now I’ll get proper support. I’ll have people around me to help me learn, and that’s going to be huge.

Game now. Sleep later.

Alarm is set. Boarding pass is printed out.

Peace y’all.

It’s a Friday night in rural Douglas County, and the rain is falling along with the temperature. This precipitation falling now will soon turn to sleet, and the driving tomorrow will be all the worse because of it. I hope that it doesn’t affect my travel plans for Sunday.

Lisa, Dane, and I went over to a some friends’ house for dinner tonight. Great times, great people, and great food. John has a knack with a grill and smoker. Ribs, chicken, cheesy potatoes, and a nice salad, plus a desert of a rustic apple tort. Fantastic.

Tomorrow I’ve got some more stuff to pay attention to, laundry, packing, scheduling – making sure I have my schedule up to date in my planner as I have updated my Outlook application.

It still feels so odd to be making this change, but if there was a better time to make a move, I have no idea what it is. Earlier today my week one onboarding schedule started to get a little bit more busy, with more daytime and evening team building activities being added.

All of the tools are going to be in front of me. All I have to do is add them to my kit and use them one at a time to address the issues as they arise.

Peace y’all.

Good evening to any and all reading this, especially any grandchild or descendant that happens to stumble upon the rantings of the old guy.

The old guy being me, Grampa Bob.

Today was kind of a special day. It was my last day at Centriq, a place I’ve called my professional home for almost sixteen years. I joined the training center in Leawood in March of 2003, and since then there have been a lot of changes, and it was time for me to be one of them.

Sunday I fly to Redmond. I start a new adventure (and it will be an adventure!) with Microsoft.

Yeah, I know it seems like I’m dwelling on it, but give a guy a break, huh? It’s exciting, and I’m dealing with the anxiety, and I’m worried about how I’ll perform on this stage. All pretty normal really.

Got another piece of good news – another one of my old MCT friends is joining this same team as well, and that’s very good news. Mike (Baz) is one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve met wen it comes to mobile technology, and I’m sure there is plenty I can pick up from him.

I’ll put a little more thought into it tomorrow.

Peace y’all.

It’s Wednesday night, and stuff is starting to get real. I’ve got my hotel booked, and my airfare booked. I’ve made an appointment to have lunch with my manager on Monday. I fly back next Friday. It’s all a matter of trying to figure out what will happen on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

I have an idea that I’ll get my “marching orders”, although I question whether or not the appropriateness of that particular cliche. There are a lot of things I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m expected to know now versus what I know I’m going to have to learn. I feel like I need to have an empty cup when I show up, because what I think I know needs to be broken down and reassembled into the most effective message, and maybe I need to have a little direction about that message.

It’s still damn exciting. So many changes, so quick. I have a lot to learn, and I will learn it. I’ll probably mess up a couple of times in the process as well.

Time to deep dive. Time to kick some penguins off the iceberg. Maybe I’ll pull a Johnny Mnemonic and give up my childhood memories for a few more gigabytes of storage (just kidding mom!).

OK, if you go back and watch Johnny Mnemonic with Keanu Reeves… pay attention to the size of the memory storage. They didn’t follow Moore’s Law… would’ve added some credibility to the movie… and with a hardcore electrical engineer in the cast like Dolph Lundgren? C’mon Dolph! You’re better than that!

OK… enough for tonight. I have a last day at Centriq tomorrow.

Peace y’all.

Hey, gang! To all of my future grandchildren and anyone else that takes the time to read what I write, today was a day. I can tell the world that after 16 years with a great training center, Centriq, I have accepted an offer and will be assuming a new career as an Azure Technical Trainer for Microsoft, as a member of their WorldWide Learning team.

This is a pretty big step for me, but there really is no better time. Lisa has tenure and is secure in her position at the University of Kansas. Bonnie graduates in the spring from KU, Dane graduates from high school in May, and Gracie is doing well at KU as well in Architecture and Design.

I have butterflies the size of condors, but that’s to be expected. You don’t see a lot of guys my age stepping off into the unknown like this, but it’s too good of an opportunity to pass up.

So, I’m making some travel plans now. I onboard very soon, so decisions have to be made and plans locked down.

This is my dream. I’ve seen so many of my peers make this move, and now it’s my turn. A part of me had a hard time wrapping my brain around it, while another part of me says, “You’ve worked hard, and you’ve earned this shot”.

Now, to make the most of this opportunity.

Peace y’all.

Yeah, it’s a Monday night in rural Douglas County. Not a whole lot to report tonight. Somethings are changing. Some things will likely be the same tomorrow as they are today. Yeah, I know, kind of a boring day. Hoped to have some new and interesting news to share, but alas, I’ll have to wait another day.

It was nice to have some small chats with a couple of my friends, online. Just as there are parts of my life that change every day, there are others out there that have the same issues, although their changes might be a wee bit more interesting than mine.

Tomorrow I head back to the classroom. Initially, I was going to have one remote student and one in the classroom, and now I’m going to have three remote students instead. It’s an Azure class, and I am grateful for that. I can’t teach and learn enough about the Azure tools right now.

That’s where my future lies. Just as I recognized my future with Windows NT when it first crossed my desk, Microsoft Exchange and Windows 95, Windows Server 2000 and Active Directory, I know that the future of IT is the cloud and Microsoft’s Azure solution set is a big part of that.

Tomorrow awaits.

So does my bedtime.

Peace y’all.