June 21 of last year was my final day as an IBM employee. Before departing, I wrote these words on my office whiteboard:
I’LL BE BACK. — A. Schwarzenegger
It took me a while to fulfill that promise, but today I am back at IBM as a contractor. In fact, I’m posting this from my new office. Said office is not where I thought it would be — although my interview took place in Research Triangle Park, it turns out that I will be working at IBM’s site on Six Forks Road in northern Raleigh. I didn’t even know IBM had a site here. But if this is where Big Blue wants me, then so be it.
As is typical on the first day of a new job, not everything was ready for me when I arrived. For example, my phone has still not been turned on. (I have my mobile phone in my pocket, though, so I’m not exactly incommunicado.) However, my e-mail account was activated a couple of days ago. When I accessed my inbox for the first time, I found that I had a half dozen routine messages about things like passwords and voicemail access. I also had twenty-nine spam messages.
UPDATE: Number thirty arrived while I was posting this entry.