Farewell to IBM...

Last Friday marked my last day at IBM. I'm not sure what's next. Here's my goodbye note, which I sent only to internal IBMers.


Summary: I'm leaving IBM; contact info at end of message.



Dear colleagues and friends,

As I look forward to my first summer off in over a quarter century, I want to thank each of you and all of you. Over the last eight-and-and-a-half years, we might have collaborated on UI design or on creating an article, a short course, a tutorial, a manual, a white paper, or a book. Or, we might have more generally solved a customer problem, or in some cases averted one. I hope that our work has resulted in a more positive and successful experience for our customers -- the people we really work for.

Along the way, we have:
> Worked hard, accomplishing more individually and collectively than I can imagine, even now.

> Survived a lot of change. (Atria, Pure Atria, Rational, IBM; what can I add to this point?)

> Eaten many meals together. Yes, there have been lunches, and I hope those will continue. I've eaten many dinners with some of you, and even a few breakfasts.

> Had fun. Some of you will remember ... Halloween costume contests; throwing parachute toys off the third balcony and marvelling as they made their way back up to the third floor; singing happy birthday to Joan, our receptionist, from the same balcony; the Hawaiian-themed Christm-er-holiday party; the candy dish; the candy dish rules; the fresh-baked bread; Jo's poems; the plastic insects that lived in the plastic plants; Friday lunches; emergency ice cream runs; filling Fred Mueller's offices with balloons; hiding Scott Chapman's shoes in plain sight on his ceiling; Evelyn's raffles; playing miniature golf; Christmas potluck lunches.

> Gotten to know each other. We've shared stories of our love for the humans and animals in our lives, of our kids and parents, of our pianos and our travels. We've celebrated life's victories, cried together over our losses, and laughed endlessly about the absurdities and delights of life.

I may be leaving my work behind, but I hope to stay in touch with the people here (that's you). So here's how to reach me:
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