Open Source and the Magic LAMP

After getting pregnant with sweet baby boy number 2 My husband and I felt the 24-7 life of business ownership was not an ideal situation for an infant and newborn. Both they, and we, needed consistent structure. Someone needed to get a real job.

Because my husband had focused more on the printing side of our business and I the web design / server admin / development, it was thought I would have a better chance of making more money.

With belly still deflating and memory shot from sleep deprivation I entered back into corporate life after 8 years with a contract at Harcourt Publishing thanks to Donna Quinn at COMSYS.

I started out as a Visual Designer working with a talented UI designer under a brilliant Usability expert Karen Bachmann. I got a chance to work on an Ajax / Java app with Riptide – the brilliant Java Shop. The folks at Riptide, including a fantastic developer by the name of Moe Treibiz, were awesome and I learned a lot from them. I saw how Project Management was expertly handled by North Highland. I watched them at work their craft with awe.

The best part, however, was the opportunity I got to develop a PDF generation system with XSL-FO without knowing anything about it before hand thanks to Fred Ganter – at the time the lead of the Content group. This esoteric skill would open doors for me down the road.

I was introduced to so many wonderful technologies, methodologies and people in such a short period of time.