My Employer

I’ve had this thought bouncing around my head for several years and it is about time that I get it down on paper. I don’t want to be guilty of the sin of ungratefulness but more just because I want to make this public, even if no-one ever reads it.

My career took a major step when I started programming on an apple, and the Motorola 68000 processor. I thought that the instruction set and model made much more sense than the competing Intel offering. It isn’t to say that I was an Apple fan. I wasn’t. Never have been. But the Motorola chip was superior from this programmer’s standpoint.

Once I graduated, my wife and I moved to Phoenix, mainly out of desperation as the country was in a recession and my wife landed a job at a small software company. Eventually, I ended up working there too, in the hardware portion of the company (where I worked with embedded M6805 processors). Eventually, I could see the writing on the wall and the need to find a new job. After an online posting, a recruiter asked me if I would mind moving to Chicago and working for Motorola. I responded that “You’ll be able to hear the sonic boom from there.” I interviewed for a position where once again I’d be working for my beloved 68k processor. I eventually helped find a memory leak that had been plaguing a system for 10 years.

Since then, I haven’t regretted my time with Motorola. Yes, the company is about 1/3 the size of when I started, but I still love working there. I work with good people. Motorola has helped me gain my master’s degree in Computer Engineering. It has made it possible to adopt three wonderful children. It has helped me obtain the “American Dream” where I own my own home, free and clear. It has provided insurance so that my fourth child could be born and my wife survive a harrowing childbirth. It has given my family and me a wonderful life these past 15 years. I will always be deeply grateful for the opportunities provided by Motorola in my personal and professional life. It doesn’t seem to be that most people work for the company they’ve always wanted to work for, and are extremely happy being there. I don’t feel that they have abused my devotion nor my time. I know that at sometime in the future, Motorola may not have need of my services, and if that time does come, my gratitude will be none the less. I have enjoyed my time there and for the most part, worked with exceptional people. (Of course, that can’t be universal, and I’m sure some aren’t fond of me either.) I don’t hope that day comes, as I’ll be more than happy retiring from the company. But if it does, I’m still happy for the help in creating my family and will be eternally grateful for what they did provide for me.

This isn’t as eloquent as I would like to be, but, hey, I’m an engineer. It’s the best I can do.