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General : Jump! It'll Feel Good
A Change In Scenery
Yesterday’s commute was long and painful. The gridlock started the moment I got on I-5 and it didn’t open up until the Mini dealership in Fife. Fortunately, I won’t be doing that again for a while. Why? Because I left the corporate world after ten years to pursue my side projects full time. Yesterday was my last day in the office. I transitioned my projects to others. I turned in my stapler. I sent out a last email. Then, I jumped…
Why did I do it? Aspirations for an Olympic curling medal? An increased desire to be the first blogger to finish the Tacoma marathon (those GritCity folks sound serious)? Dreams of becoming a subsistence farmer in downtown Tacoma?
The reality is that my life/work/work/work/school balance has been a bit out of whack so I chose to get rid of one of the works. I owe a lot to my experiences at one of Fortune’s Top 100 companies, but it’s my extra curricular endeavors that had become increasingly rewarding. Some of these projects are online. Some are offline. Other than Exit133, I haven’t really talked about any of them here. There are several partners involved in these endeavors. We have a co-rec sports team management website that has been online since 1999 with tens of thousands of devoted registered users and a desperately in need of updating. We’ve worked with local non-profits. We work with boards. We have a website to relaunch in 2007. There are a few other projects that will come to fruition this year that we find pretty exciting. Plus, there’s always Exit133.com.
It’s hard to undo ten years of commuting. Waking up this morning without an urgent need to dive into traffic was a strange sensation. My new commute will be a fifteen minute walk from our home to downtown Tacoma. I’ll be working from UWT, Metro Coffee, Blackwater Cafe, Cutters Point Coffee, Tully’s or anywhere else I happen to find friends and/or a wireless connection. Our office is downtown Tacoma. Our hope is that I’ll be more accessible for all of you as we try to make Tacoma something new and exciting.
I’m proud to say I now work in Tacoma. I look forward to working with you.
p.s. I’ll work on that backlog of 365 Days of Tacoma photos and your emails now. It’s been a busy few weeks, but my schedule seems quite open all of a sudden.
Link | Posted on 21. February 2007, 11:39
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Congrats!! Must feel good to not just knock off a substantial chunk of commute time, but to devote yourself full time to endeavors that really interest you. Best of luck!
1 | Posted by nitsuj | Feb 21, 11:54 AM
That walk to downtown sounds pretty appealing … until next winter, that is. I walked to work in downtown Tacoma for two years and I gave my umbrella a lot of use. You might want to opt for a 3 minute drive on some of the really nasty days.
2 | Posted by erikemery | Feb 21, 12:02 PM
Driving the Volvo? Meh. You need an electric car.
Congrats on finally making it official. Sneak in any last-minute Pro Deals?
3 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Feb 21, 12:07 PM
I was dying with anticipation about this announcement. It was worth the wait. Hopefully those of us who currently live and/or work far away from Tacoma will be restructuring our lives soon to be closer to the action, as well.
Perhaps a new side project could be a downtown bocce and curling facility for all those previous national champions and national champion wannabes to train.
4 | Posted by drizell | Feb 21, 12:08 PM
It’s my dream to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics on the US curling team. I’m all for downtown curling ice; that way I wouldn’t have to commute to the Granite Curling Club in Northgate to hone my sweeping skills.
5 | Posted by erikemery | Feb 21, 12:15 PM
Fabuloso! To shed a decade of work habits can be daunting but you have a lot of folks behind you and as a closet entrepreneur I’m living vicariously through your actions and look forward to your many many successes to come.
Maybe now we can get an Exit133 T-Shirt in the works? :-)
6 | Posted by Davest | Feb 21, 12:19 PM
Good luck to you Amigo. You’ve shown the guts to do something too many of us just dream about and continue to dream about. Someday…..
Let me know when your up for a pint at one of the local Tacoma watering holes.
7 | Posted by Dirkster | Feb 21, 12:48 PM
That’s awesome. You are truly an inspiration to us all. Also tried to nominate you for that unrecognized leaders tacoma club award thing but I don’t think they took my nomination seriously.
8 | Posted by RR Anderson | Feb 21, 01:00 PM
All the best to you Derek! – The gang at that three-lettered CO-OP are envious..see you soon.
9 | Posted by Les | Feb 21, 02:16 PM
Best wishes on the first day of the rest of your life! I’ve done that commute thing. Someday, we’ll get some high speed trains going.
Until then, it’s a long slow death.
You’ll be much healthier and happier with your new commute and maybe you can get some real work done!
10 | Posted by morgan | Feb 21, 02:23 PM
Congrats! I also recently made the leap to local life and it’s quite heavenly. You’ll like (living and working in) Tacoma … :)
11 | Posted by alicia | Feb 21, 02:31 PM
Thank you for the words of encouragement. I've had a good first day of freedom. I started at Metro Coffee. I then moved to the UWT library. I had lunch at Paddy Coyne's. Now I'm ready for an afternoon run. On a side note – here’s some inspirational curling action.
12 | Posted by Derek | Feb 21, 03:43 PM
Oh man. What a day. I want to quit my job, too, but it’s the only one I have. Maybe I should work on that.
13 | Posted by Erik S | Feb 21, 04:56 PM
Congratulations for having the courage to make the necessary leap of faith. I’m retiring June 30 after 43 years as a CPA and returning to Tacoma after only 50 years! I’ll be in Tacoma this weekend to checkout places to live
14 | Posted by michael | Feb 21, 05:10 PM
Congratulations! No one should have to make that commute. I tried it for three weeks last year, and that was enough for me.
15 | Posted by jenyum | Feb 21, 08:05 PM
Sob – wail – knashing teeth…very sorry to loose the contact at work but inspired to examine alternatives for myself one day. I know your calm and respectful intelligence will serve you well. I will faithfully follow any rss feed you create. ;-)
Cheers, team-mate!
16 | Posted by bob | Feb 21, 08:15 PM
A little commute never killed anyone, but a long one sure does. Best of luck Derek.
17 | Posted by sparkrobot | Feb 22, 11:23 AM
I’ll be working from UWT, Metro Coffee, Blackwater Cafe, Cutters Point Coffee, Tully’s or anywhere else I happen to find friends and/or a wireless connection. Our office is downtown Tacoma.
Congrats. You won’t miss the commute. Great to see more people living and working in the city.
I tried if for 6 months from Tacoma to Kirkland and never liked it. Now it takes me 7 minutes to drive to work.
18 | Posted by Erik | Feb 22, 12:22 PM
Let me be the 19th person to say congratulations.
As for the marathon: We are very serious about this … We are not, however, fast runners. So … are we really racing?
19 | Posted by Niki Sullivan | Feb 22, 03:30 PM
Congrats Derek! We all benefit from every moment in which an active, thoughtful community member like yourself spends their time in T-Town. Hope to see you around!
20 | Posted by judy cullen | Feb 22, 11:27 PM
It’s a clumsy feeling isn’t? I found as I wondered away from the ‘corporate doors’ I was able to take full deep breathes for the first time in a long time. Congratulations! Maybe I’ll see you at the ‘office’ one day downtown that is. Cheers.
21 | Posted by JT Paige | Feb 24, 04:38 PM
Wow! this was just what I was looking for! Thanks dude!
22 | Posted by rist | Feb 24, 11:48 PM
I celebrate your decision to be working where you’re living! And working for the benefit of our community! I’ve been commuting down the hall for nearly a decade and highly recommend it!
Cheers and thank you :)
23 | Posted by Cheri Rae | Feb 25, 12:56 AM
Seattle has a curling club, why don’t we? I for one, think that should now be your main focus. It will also help us learn that Canada really is friend and not foe! Congratulations on your leap. – Ken
24 | Posted by Ken G | Mar 1, 12:39 PM
Best of luck on your new life. Speaking for all of us who try to sell down town Tacoma everyday you have become our source of reasurance that it is worth it to live and work in Tacoma, Thank you for taking the plunge and curl on!
25 | Posted by CJ | Mar 5, 05:31 PM
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