Professional notes (more big news)

Here's a list of events that occurred at my job during the last week:

• I made an agreement to work remotely from southern California.


• I received the project bonus I've been waiting on for some time.


• My company announced that it is being acquired by Oracle.

On a comparatively minor note, I'm in Madison again this week, eating way too much as usual. This is my first time being the most senior member of the company out here, so I get to do the driving. Actually, it's just me and a QA guy named Giri representing the company this week. We're enjoying the perks of business travel. Tonight we drank some scotch and Smithwicks at an Irish Pub. It's been interesting chatting with him about our different perspectives of the world. He wants R and I to come stay with his family in Dubai for a visit. He told me to just book the plane tickets and he'll take care of the rest, and I believe him. Nice guy, that Giri.

It's an exciting time to be with the company. This news about them selling to "the world's largest enterprise software company" is pretty major. We are becoming a global business unit for Oracle. Our CEO, a guy who sits about 20 feet from me, will be reporting directly to the president of a company of 80,000 people. One thing is for sure: we are not a small company anymore. Our software will be the lead product or, as they put it, the "nucleus," for Oracle's entrance into the insurance industry. I'm not sure what this all means for me yet, but I'm curious to see how it all goes down. I don't personally have a lot riding on it, but it will be fun to see some of my coworkers get filthy rich.