Current assignment

One of our first impressions when moving to Michigan was "these people sure are friendly". It was very different from the 'cocoonishness' that Canadians were falling prey to. I know my pre-conceived notions of Americans were blown away; pride is not arrogance. Where Canadians are apathetic, Americans are proud of their country. It's still one of the only places in the world where people are dying (literally) to get in.
The first year in MI was a whirlwind of changes. I worked out of 4 offices over that first year, landing at the last one and staying there for a long time (right until today, in fact).

I settled back in to Notes development.

Geeky stuff I've enjoyed; recommending a replica server based on the users' IP address (very important for mobile users), document authorizations by clicking a mailto: link in email, using a 'design elements' view to move only updated database elements, using Notes Nomad and passthru for 'anywhere' Notes access.

I spend more and more of my time interacting using the computer. I hardly have need for a phone anymore. I'm really at the point where I could do my job from any location. I wonder when I should have my boss read this :-)

Two years ago, we decided it was time to put the family back in Canada. My status in the U.S. never became anything permanent, the kids were unable to work at any 'real' job, etc. I've been doing the cross-border commute. It's not actually as bad as everyone thinks, it's just funny to ask the U.S. government for permission to go to work every morning. Just like every other group of Americans, they're mostly very friendly people at the border. They have a very important, stressful job to do, and they do it well.

Our time in MI was a wonderful experience, and we wouldn't have wanted it to turn out any other way. It led to us meeting C&K, but that's a story for later.