Well, a *lot* has happened since my last post, so I suppose it’s time for an update. This was originally going to include some photo stats as well given quite a few phone changes (acquiring of an iPhone 16 Pro, acquiring of a moto g power 5g, and loss of my work iPhone 14), but I’ve fallen behind on photo tagging, so that will have to be a future post.

As to not bury the lede: After almost 18 years at Salesforce, I quit my job in November.

There are a lot of things I could get into about why (and maybe that’ll be a future post), but the TL;DR version is: I burned out in June badly enough that I got three months of medical (mental health) leave from my doctor, went to therapy (with an amazing therapist), and decided that I couldn’t stay in the tech industry for now.

So… freedom!

In lieu of work, I’ve been pursing creative outlets: Baking, writing, and sewing for now, and I also want to take up drawing at some point. I’ve also been scheduling (and executing) a bunch of travel plans, starting with a San Francisco/San Diego/Phoenix trip we just got back from.

One thing I regretted from leaving rather unexpectedly was not getting a chance to really say good bye in person to my teammates, some of whom I’ve worked with for almost all of that 18 years. With my therapist’s blessing, I booked a trip to SF to meet my teammates the first week of December (during release planning). My manager (and his EA) threw me a farewell party during that time, which was amazing and one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.

It was also a good chance to see SF friends for the last time in a while… now that I’m no longer employed by a San Francisco-based company, I’ll have much less reason to travel there in the future.

Afterward, we did the “usual” hop to Phoenix, with a bonus (slightly too) quick trip to San Diego. They were both extremely enjoyable, although they also both just reinforced how much I’m glad we can walk everywhere in Pittsburgh (and don’t need to own a car). Also, having the ability to really enjoy the time without the looming prospect of a return to the usual work week felt really nice.

Photos from all of this will be up on my photos site eventually. Now that I’m home again until the next significant travel plans (early next year), hopefully I’ll actually catch up on all the photo tagging and processing that I’ve been neglecting.

Life is good. :)