Day 0: In the beginning…

…there were email and VPN accounts. Had my first conference call, complete with desktop sharing. Direct deposit and tax forms are out of the way.

Everyone (I think) is remote, so instant messaging is one of the preferred communication methods. Looks like we’ll have a chance to meet in person for a team meeting outside of London in a few months.

Am I overwhelmed? Not as much as I had feared. If I let in all of what is expected of me at once, then I think I might break out in hives. But I’ve done this before, so it’s more about getting to know my new dancing partners and the new house rules.

My curiosity was satiated in the first internal conversation I had this morning – so many cool things happening right now that will benefit our customers for years to come. And I get to be a (small) part of that.

Now as soon as my new work machine gets here, I can have it setup and do some proper tool/database blogging.

Tomorrow I’m going to break out the big legal pad and red magic marker and start compiling notes based on the ideas posted by our users on the Developer Exchange. It’s not uncommon for users to ask for features that have been in the product for a few releases, and this will be a great chance for me to get a better idea of what users find lacking in the tool.

The Rocky Mountain Oracle User Group (RMOUG) conference is right around the corner, and there’s plenty of work to be done for that too. I’ll be recording videos and doing live webcasts as well to help promote v3.1 once it’s ready to come out. I kind of feel like the dog in ‘Up’ that gets distracted by anything that enters his field of vision!

My goal is to keep a daily diary via the blog. Some days will be personal stuff like this, many more will be pure ‘tips and tricks’ stuff. It’s going to be a sweet ride, so hang on tight!