About 18 months ago, Julie and I left family and friends and our long-time residence in Utah and move to California. It’s been a wild ride. We’re enjoying it now, but initially it was quite a shock. Here are some of the changes:
| Old: Utah | New: Norcal | |
| gig | 23 total years at Novell, last project: Novell Cloud Security Services (identity services) | 1.5 years at VMware Cloud Foundry (identity services) |
| rig | 4wd SUV | sporty hybrid hatchback |
| digs | big new house on a golf course in the foothills | quaint rambler built in 1922 — 1/2 the space for 3x the cost |
| OS | Linux, Windows, NetWare | initially Mac OSX with Linux in a VM, but I rebelled back to Linux, where the user experience and package management are more consistent |
| code | C/C++, C#, Java | Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Java, some Go and Scala |
| VCS | Subversion, Continuus | all git, all the time |
| release cycle | once a year or two | twice a week |
| team culture | circle the wagons and defend turf from intruders (and management) | aggressive and competitive internally and externally, very open to alliances with other groups |
| hallway banter | child raising techniques, church activities, the impending doom of the company | programming languages, startups, new tech, cycling, public transportation, wineries, kids, live music venues, vacation destinations, weekend festivals, sailing |
| politics | Republican (Utah, duh) | Democrat (bay area, duh) |
| climate | very cold in winter, very hot in the summer | mild all the time with some spectacular days, but mostly feels somewhat cold |
| yard intruders | deer, mice | raccoons (up to 6 at a time), rats |
| picnic supplies | must be planned: wine purchased at rare state stores with limited hours, food must be purchased somewhere else | a quick stop to any grocery store or corner mart and you’re set |
Overall, change can be a very good thing. And We’re enjoying the adventures and cycling a lot. Now back to work.
