Not lost and forsaken at fifty seven

I read an article, "Lost and forsaken in Canada," in today's Toronto Star.  It was about an immigrant to Canada who in despair had jumped to his death from a bridge into Highway 401 traffic.  The Toronto paper described him in this manner.

Jiang Guobing was well-educated. He had a doctorate in nuclear engineering from a prestigious U.S. university but apparently that was not enough for Canadian employers.

Having immigrated to Canada from Honduras as a child, I understood his despair. Coming to this country with very well-educated parents and watching them struggle and never achieving their dreams was very hard...

I think that's what happened to Jiang Guobing. He lost his way. He felt like a failure, not only to himself but to his family.

Having lost a job in corporate American myself, I find it easy to guess some of Jiang's feelings.  I'm sure being highly educated and probably successful, he felt very frustrated not being able to work in his chosen field. 

I am one of those high tech people, who no matter what the company said, really got rid of me because I was too old and expensive.   I was also a little too ethical for their tastes, complaining loudly when they mistreated people working on my team or when they played around with the financial results.

When you've been very successful all your life and have been in same company for twenty years, losing your seat at the whim of new under forty manager who was also your fifth manager in two years is a little galling, but it is a regular occurrence in corporate American.  If you are over fifty and in the technology business, you're probably an endangered species.  It doesn't matter how successful you are, likely you are considered a dinosaur even if you are very technical.  If that isn't the case, consider yourself very lucky to be working in an enlightened company.  I can assure you Apple wasn't and probably hasn't changed.

Leaving Apple wasn't the end for me.  It has been the beginning.  Though not everything has been perfect or worked out as planned, I can say that in spite of the many challenges, 28 months after leaving Apple, I continue to put bread on the table, and the future is very bright.

I have learned a tremendous amount since I left Apple.  I actually can talk from experience about Linux, Windows XP, lambda speed networking, and how to market products through the web.  I continue to believe that my sales techniques can be of great value to companies, and I recently provided some sales help to a telecommunications company.  I even manage to sell a few of my own  high quality prints by the web.  Now I am just finishing up some last courses in real estate so I can take advantage of the broker's license that I got by passing the North Carolina state exam in September.  Going back to school, while intimidating, hasn't slowed me down.  I think it has accelerated the changes brought about by my developing web presence.

In fact I would have to say that beyond my close friends and family, the family I developed from friendships on the web has been key to keeping me from being lost and forsaken at 57.

My writing for the web allowed me to develop a new identity to replace the one that I lost when I left Apple.  It kept me from becoming just another anonymous old guy who got replaced at tech company.

I've written lots and been written about enough to drive my numbers to the point that I'm very excited about my web stats.  On Feedburner, I have 1,385 subscribers to my two main blogs.  Just this week, Typepad has recorded over 22,000 visitors to my two main sites, and the numbers seem to be increasing rapidly.

Writing for no monetary compensation has given me something to fall back on whenever I was between jobs.  It's been a great way to get my thoughts sorted out and to find a great support group of people who believe in the intrinsic value of communicating through the web.

I don't pretend to have any great secrets or wisdom to share with the world through my blog.  I do hope that my observations help others enjoy another perspective. Usually it has some pretty neat pictures of the mountains or ocean attached.

Filling in the blanks of knowledge that have been created by our increasingly mobile and fractured society is one of things that I believe blogs do best.  We've become a society where Google is the local authority.  I think blogs to it better if you can find the right one.  The conversations I've had on the web have been good ones that would be hard to duplicate if I were limited to just the people in the this geographic area.

I fill more connected because of my web presence.  That along with absolutely stellar family, friends, and business associates has helped smooth my transition from the dysfunctional world of Apple to a new life where I can't wait to get up every morning and see the sunrise, whether it is over the mountains or the water.

I wish Dr. Guobing had been as lucky.

On another note, this is post 1,001.  I made it over the top.