More Vacation Pics and a Little About What's Been Going On

I know that you aren't used to sporadic posts here at BDTH. Especially when I went for almost two years averaging posts on twenty-five days per month! And my post used to be longer. Now they are short and usually pointing out the latest photos to be added to my Flickr pages. Like the image at right heralds the posting of thirteen new Ocracoke photographs. A little explanation as to why. Jenne and I have been doing a lot of traveling lately. Some fun - Ocracoke vacation - and some not very fun - to visit for the last times, Jenne's terminally ill uncle. Mixed in with all that there has been the start of a new job for me. As you may know I have returned to the world of technical support and the IT help desk and I couldn't be happier with a job. I have been working for two weeks now - the first week and two days being training and the last three being on the phones - and enjoying what I am doing. I never should have went to software testing. It was never "me". I always regretted leaving technical support and moving to QA. I lsitened to the well meaning advice of others and not myself. I knew it was the wrong move when I did it, but I didn't want to dissappoint people that thought this was the right move for tech support people. A natural progression in the career advancement of the IT professional. What a crock. I was damned good at support and damed happy. The path I should have taken was one to help desk directorship. Not QA punching bag and let me tell you that the software QA professional is the most abused person on planet IT. Software developers hate you because you point out the bugs that they created in their "flawless and clean code." Management hates you because you are finding too many or too few bugs and you have pissed off the developers. Marketing hates you because you found bugs that delayed the project, or you demanded and got more time, thereby moving the release date farther out. The customer hates you because they found a bug that you didn't and they scream at your management and marketing, and both now hate you more. I think that about covers the suck that that is testing. My hands are washed of that. Seriously, why leave a job that makes you happy, that are good at, and that makes you enough to be comfortable/happy? For more money? If more money is your answer let be the first to tell you bluntly that you have seriously fucked up priorities. Happiness, fullfillment, those are priorities that lead to more positives in life. Jenne said the other day that I said to her, at least two times a month how I never should have left technical support and working with people. I feel good helping people, and I feel appreciated. It's a little too corny to say that I feel uplifted, but I do feel happy and I have lots of energy and I feel positive about life. For the first time in a long time I can say - and this from the perspective of a diagnosed depressive - life is good.