The woman who gave me the actual shot was all business. I did get a choice of arm (I chose my right arm, given my tendency to sleep on my left side). There was no bedside manner, no gentle prep. Liz told me she barely felt hers, but my shot was like an angry hornet. The woman jabbed my arm like she was checking the temperature of a beef tenderloin.
Today was my last day at The Nerdery. Though my tenure there was brief, I view it as a singular experience to have worked alongside so many incredibly creative and talented people.
Jello shots in the Chicago Nerdery kitchen, shortly after a presentation on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Sometime back in 2014, there was a mention of The Nerdery in an article about lumbersexuals (a portmanteau of the words lumberjack and metrosexual).
Well, in the time that followed – I guess the company more or less embraced this moniker. And kind of went all-in on the lumbersexual trend.
Attended the Nerdery Chicago holiday party tonight, at Headquarters in River North. It was a pretty dark space, so I didn’t get a ton of photos. But we had the whole lower level all to ourselves, which made it a nice oasis from what sounded like quite a busy night upstairs.
I love the little night to the side, that says “Be Careful.”
I’m still learning names, and suspect it’s going to take me a while yet… given that I’m deployed offsite for most of the week. But I’m getting better, albeit slowly. Still a lot of people (and dogs) I haven’t quite met yet.
At the end of the work day today, everyone in the Chicago Nerdery office walked over to a nearby parking lot for a group photo.
As tired as I was at 5PM, I’m really glad I stuck around. I got to hang out with folks, drank some beer, played some cards, and had a great time. I still feel like the new kid at school some times, but tonight was not one of those times.
At the end of the day on Friday, I went over to the wall to see what my bio looked like. I felt a little sheepish, as it was painfully obvious to anyone walking by that I was checking this enormous projection of myself out… but I was just really curious how my video turned out.
I love that someone at HQ sent this to Chicago, completely omitting my first name in the process. I also love that someone in Chicago saw what was going on, and added their own little note to the process.
As I scanned the room and heard about each person’s role, I thought about all the other things they must have on their desks, waiting for them to do still. It was a Monday morning, first thing. And everyone surely had emails, phone calls, meetings with staff and clients waiting for them. I imagined they all had more pressing, more important things to attend to.
It’s been a long while since I’ve travelled for work. Today, I hopped on a plane at Midway – heading to Minneapolis, to visit The Nerdery HQ for my orientation as a new employee.
I’m excited to announce the news that, in August, I’ll be working as a Senior Software Engineer at The Nerdery in Chicago. I’ve kept this news under wraps for a while, but I’m thrilled to be able to share this publicly. I’m over the moon excited at my new role, and looking forward to this next, big chapter in my career.