Those of you who know me, know that my family was in a serious car accident several years ago. It’s taken a toll of my my neck, my sleep, and the way I look, but all things considered, the end result could have been much worse.
Anyway…. Volvo decided to put us in a book and an online video. Here is the online portion:
http://www.volvocars.com/us/footer/about/VolvoSavedMyLifeClub/Pages/default.aspx
Do you and your wife still drive Volvos?
Unfortunately, no. I would love for my wife to be driving the kids around in a newer XC60 or XC70, but it’s just not in the budget right now.
It’s pretty interesting how small the world has become with the internet.
I came across the Volvo Saved My Life Album some time back and revisited it yesterday – watched your story (and others) – then did a web search for “Volvo Saved My Life” and by accident found your blog- pretty amazing to be exchanging a message with the “actual” person behind the pictures and story – Six degrees of Separation (of sorts).
It sounds like you have done very well in IT.
I’m in IT too – a Senior Programmer Analyst working for an insurance company.
I’ve done well but have worked mostly on older stuff.
We are now converting our auto policy system to a 3-Tier Architecture so that should provide opportunities to work with more modern skill sets and technologies.
I have a Business Degree not a degree in technology and I’m not CIO …..
If you have an opinion, what do you see as the “modern” technical skills on which to focus?
By the way, it looks like photography is also a productive interest of yours and Gentry’s.
My partner and I are also taking up photography as a hobby (He’s done some in the past but I’m just starting) – so again it’s interesting that you and she are more than just a little interested in photography….
My take on what modern skills to focus may differ slightly than someone else’s. Although I do have a computer science degree, I don’t do any programming. I am the client architect for a large company and currently focused on rolling out Windows 7 to 7000 desktops. This project is opening my eyes to modern skills. Primarily, I see virtualization as a big need. Before I can push Win 7 to single end-user, I need to make sure our 650 apps will work. Instead of building physical labs across the country, I am building a virtual lab with VDI (Virtual desktop infrastructure). This will allow app testers to login to a Win 7 desktop and test their apps remotely. It will also save me a ton of money by not having to build the physical labs. I am having a “bake-off” between VMWare’s VDI solution and Microsoft Hyper-V. Right now, VMWare has the more mature feature set, but Hyper-V is MUCH faster and has better stability. Of course, server virtualization is huge too as servers become more powerful. With Intel’s new Nehalem architecture, we are seeing Windows servers scale on par with traditional Sun Solaris and IBM AIX servers.
If I were start developing today, I would install Visual Studio 2010 and learn the new .Net and Silverlight. .Net is displacing Java in many organizations. I’m not sure what the future of Silverlight is but it looks interesting and has some great apps as a showcase including the NetFlix movie player, a really nice Facebook app, and the new Windows Mobile platform will be based on Silverlight.
Something else would be learning the navigation of Outsourcing. Most of company’s IT is outsourced to a large provider. Some of this works well, other times it seems to impede progress. We are considering all options for the future including wholesale renewal with the same provider, a new provider, multi-sourcing, or bringing it all back in-house. Someone who can speak the language of sourcing will do very well in the modern world.
Not sure if that’s what you were looking for or not, but those are areas which are impacting my current work life.
..and yes, my wife has owned a photography biz since 2002. She has done very well and it allows her to set her own schedule as she tries to corral two young boys while I am in the office all day.
Thanks Joey for taking the time to write a very thought provoking and well thought out response.
I just wanted to let you know that I did see your posted message and that yes it’s what I was looking for – which is “your take” on things.
Best of luck to you, your wife and boys!