The Interweb knows who I am...

I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR and the discussion was on life blogging and user generated media. One of the guests made the remark "who with a computer hasn't Googled themselves or their ex...". Well, I haven't Googled myself in years and my hit hit count isn't really great since Mark Davidson is hardly a unique name. However, I was quite flattered to see that someone blogged about a document I wrote.

I was impressed that he read my Component Assembly Manifesto and he felt compelled to comment on it. I wrote this document during the post boom years when I was a software rock star. I was on a flight to Rochester on a business trip and the movie was Sweet November and it totally sucked so I wrote the manifesto in a fit of inspiration.

This manifesto had a pretty good impact and impressed a VP at a major New York investment bank that he flew me out to the Big Apple under the auspices for me to give a private talk to his staff but his real motive was to recruit me. This was a few months after 9/11 and Eve was pregnant with Jade so I didn't want to relocate. I was afraid of "dirty bombs" and didn't want Jade to be raised in New York City. This was a bit of a missed opportunity since the bank is doing doing awesome since then. The compensation structure at investment banks is based on results so half-million dollar annual bonuses were not out of the question for talented Engineers who lead strategic technology initiatives. If I had made the move then I could have had Google type wealth. I like to think that the type of tools that my document inspired may have contributed to those stellar earnings.

I'm no longer a software rock star - just a working stiff punching the clock humbly in obscurity. I think I made the right choice at the time. I love living in California and I just have to solace myself with the fact that I'm living in paradise with my wonderful wife, child and mountain bikes.