At the end of April I posted a bit on my change in plans and what I thought I’d be doing for the next few months, with part of that being some uncertainty on both sides about what the work would be and if it would be a good fit. The initial work went very well, a chance to use skills built here and there to lead and facilitate a team through a complex exercise. After that I moved into a coaching role until I went back into the rotation, and then – things changed. Nothing to do with me, just some overall changes to priorities and pace that meant the work I would have been doing just wasn’t there.

I’m disappointed because I was looking forward to that particular challenge, but beyond that there’s no sense of loss or gap – it’s the nature of consulting and free lancing that work shows up, some completes, some dries up. We came to a pleasant parting with the luxury of some notice, always nice to get that. I spent Friday and part of today making sure I had closed out the few things that would stay open after I left, enjoyed a long lunch with a few colleagues, and called it a day about 3pm. Not a bad way to end a contract, not a bad way to start a vacation (tomorrow!).

That puts me back to Plan A – spending a few weeks thinking about what I want to do next. I’ve got a list of ideas and attributes already,far from complete,and I’ll write about some of that over the next few weeks.

I’ll see a few of you this weekend at SQLSaturday #200 in Philadelphia, and I’ll be back to writing the week of June 10th. Now I’m off to finish up a few chores so I can start my vacation with everything (well, mostly everything) cleaned up and put away.