What's in store

As you may have read last week, I made a trip out of town last week to interview with a very large defense contractor to do GIS work. Unknowingly and ironically simultaneously InfoTech/VARGIS presented me with a unique offer, and then later a decent financial package for the next year.

My interview I think went very well, however infotech has presented me with the offer of being able to ...get this...work from home. In my field most of the operations are very computer intensive and you need a super computer to run the majority of them. In Frostburg, I have such a computer.

My initial plan was to purchase a new computer at home that would have been able to perform these tasks. I had one priced from Dell, but learned yesterday I won't have to do that. I was initially thinking that I would need to have the license for my software on my computer, thus needing a high end commercial computer.

Yesterday, I learned the details and I won't need a high end computer, as a matter of fact my computer is up to standards to perform these tasks. I'll be working remotely through a process called VPN. I will be running my Frostburg computer from home on a Virtual Private Network. VPN is kinda new to me, but Kim's been doing it for a while and Robert knows it inside and out.

I already have it installed and set up my accounts on my computer, so I could actually start working from home anytime with complete access to our network at work However I have a meeting tomorrow and I need to get a few things set up and organized in Frostburg before I start working remotely. I will probably continue to commute to Frostburg for the rest of this week and then start working from home next week.

Quality of life had a lot to do with my renewed commitment to my current company. I realize we are still going through some growing pains, but I would also rather be a part of the team that builds something special than be someone who comes in after it's built.

This is going to be a perfect situation for me because I'll be able to work my own schedule. Meaning I don't have to wake up two hours before I start work to fix breakfast, shower, get woke up and drive 68 miles before I start work. Not to mention the drive home. This should open up another 3-4 hours a day for me in dead time, that's time committed to doing work things (driving to, getting ready for, returning from.. etc.) that you are not getting paid for.

I'll still have to make an occasional trip to Frostburg, but not on an every day basis. This will also remove a lot of stress of driving 68 miles in the early morning hours during inclimate weather. There were actually four or five days this past winter that I couldn't make it in because of the weather (two last October). This will no longer be a factor, because I can run the computer from here.


Have a good week.


Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.--Anais Nin