2010-03-29

Celebrating Milestones this Spring

So, I've got some milestones this spring that have caused me to do a bit of reflecting.

First and foremost, I just ticked over into a new decade, having celebrated my 30th birthday yesterday. I won't bother boring you with the meandering story of my life, but, rest assured, I've seen a few things and called more than a few places 'home'.
Here's hoping I have learned a few things that will make my next 30 years even better than the first.

My second milestone, as it coincides with my birthday, is the fact that I've just marked a decade with my employer. Random reminisces here from my recent office move.
10 years ago, I was working three pedestrian jobs in an attempt to pay my way through college. My friend's Dad told me about a position in the company he worked for, and I was hired as a temp. I hope that they agree they made a good investment in me (and continue to do so). My work is so different from that which I was hired to do back then. I've completed one Associate's degree and have almost finished my Bachelor's (actually, I just applied for a Master's program as well, and my coursework will overlap), as well as having attended Autodesk University eight times, two AUGI CAD Camps, having been a member of AUGI for nine years and constant immersion in the industry to try to keep my knowledge fresh.

Work ID Badge Photo - 20 years old

My third and final milestone is the 5th anniversary of this weblog. Here is my introductory post, along with the story of how I got the name for the blog.
Since the inception, I've blogged about AutoCAD 2000 through AutoCAD 2011 (okay, I *will* be posting about AutoCAD 2011). I've also used MAP3d and AutoCAD Architecture and posted resources for them, as well as my foray into FMDesktop CAFM software. Currently I'm migrating to the Revit MEP suite and helping to support our CMMS software migration. Of the 340 articles/announcements/tips I have posted, well, I'll admit my smattering of tips about Access and other MS Office products and hardware seem a little random; I am inspired to post about what I'm working on at the time, and my work *is* pretty random. ;-)

Social media was non-existent when I was born and in it's infancy when I started my current job. Five years ago there were perhaps a dozen Autodesk product-geared bloggers and now there are dozens and dozens (I had a list a couple of years ago, I got over 120 in the list before I gave up keeping up with them all). The world is changing fast, and boy, what a ride.

How long have you worked for your current employer? How long have you held a certain position in industry? Please, feel free to reminisce with me. :-)