As just about anybody who reads this blog knows, I was laid off in September of last year. While the lay off wasn’t a big surprise, it was sudden and left me in a tough spot. For a while I was hoping to make a move to Redmond to go work at Microsoft, but it just wasn’t in the cards. After about 4 months of free-lancing, contract work, odd jobs and a few hundred hours playing Rock Band, I’ve taken a full-time position at Piehead Productions.

Why Piehead?

A lot of people have asked why I chose Piehead. Mostly because I have expressed a lot of interest in moving away from web agencies and also because I’ve got some sort of connection with just about every agency in the state. In the end, there were a few reasons I chose Piehead. So, here they are:

1. I’ve known a few of the people at Piehead, Jeremy and Clint, for a few years and have done some work with them in the past.
2. Piehead is new to the web development scene, but financially stable. This provides a unique oppotunity to be part of the technical decisions that shape the compay without the fear of getting laid off again.
3. I can telecommute a fair amount, giving me the opportunity to work from the Sunder Fortress of Awesomeness.
4. Quite possibly most important is that Piehead supports my ambitious side. Some past companies have frowned on my open source work or felt that be an active member of the geek community was a waste of time. Piehead understands the value of having community leaders at the company and has been encouraging of my after-hours geekiness.

What will happen to Sunder?

Have no fear about Sunder Media. Since January, Kelley has been the largest contributor and done the majority of the work. While Sunder has always been a side-project for me, Kelley has turned it into a functioning and profitable entity. I will still be doing some after-hours work for Sunder as needed, but rest assured that there will be no major changes for existing Sunder clients. As always Sunder will be happy to help small businesses that can’t afford a big agency or projects that are too wierd and/or risky for more traditional web shops to handle.

One More Thing

On a slightly related topic, I will no longer being leading/contributing to the AmpForms project. It was a fun way for me to get into open source and learn some new techniques, but has not really gained a following or much interest. I’m planning to shift my free-time to working on the Orchard project. Orchard looks to be a tool that Piehead will be able to use on a variety of projects and allows me to put my CMS background to use.

In Closing

Thanks to all of my family, friends and colleagues who’ve helped me out over the past few months. It’s been tough, but thanks to groups like BarCampManchester and Geek Lunch, I’ve always had a good professional support network. Finally, a big thanks to my wonderful wife Kelley for putting up with my grumpiness and supporting my fake plastic rock habit.

I’ve decided that I need to find a nemesis. It may sound ridiculous, but I’m actually completely honest.

Normally, you would find the term nemesis used in comic books and movies. It could be the evil super villian destroying the world or the grumpy dean putting your fraternity on double super secret uber probation. In any situation, a nemesis is somebody who tries to foil your plans, usually in unexpected ways.

It may sound like a horrible idea to want a nemesis, but for a programmer, a nemesis could be a catalyst to becoming better. Knowing that somebody is out there, ready to expose flaws in your code, submit dirty words into your forms or upload nude photos of Bea Arthur onto your server is a good motivation to make things right the first time. Each time you or your nemesis acheives victory, the losing side must plan more inventive and advanced strategies to win the next battle.

The nemesis relationship is a sybiotic one where both parties grow and become stronger. The being said, here are a few nemesis ground rules I would reccomend.

1. Attacks against your nemesis should be such that they expose flaws or weakness, but avoid causing damage. Just like comic books, nobody every really dies, they skulk away to comeback another day.
2. You should avoid getting your nemesis fired or divorced.
3. No firearms.
4. No felonies.

If you’re interested in being my Nemesis. Let me know. Here are the general job responsibilities:

1. Expose problems with my apps
2. Counter points I make on my blog and/or Twitter
3. Ask heckling questions at my presentations
4. Generally foil my plans for world domination
5. (Suggested by GrimDaddy) Point out my bad taste in music.

Anybody interested should let me know.