Call to action

On Friday last I accepted the offer of the position of Product Designer at MSK Data Products.

There's still some bits and pieces to be sorted out to finalise my visa and such but it's safe to say I'll be packing up and shipping out to New York City in the coming weeks.

I first heard about the project last Spring and it has been on my mind ever since. I've settled on describing it as my 'call to action'. I don't know a single person who hasn't been directly or indirectly affected by cancer, myself included. The opportunity to contribute towards such a worthwhile and far-reaching thing is difficult to resist, so I'm going for it and going to give it my best shot.

Gratitude

Thank you to everyone who has sent work and job leads my way since I got laid off in September, I've been taken aback by the kindness of friends and strangers.

Thank you Paul for reaching out and letting me join this amazing team.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me make this decision, listening to me churn it over again and again giving sound and thoughtful advice.

Thank you to everyone I've had to bug so far for references, advice on shipping things, random visa stuff and life in general in NYC.

There's a lot to figure out. I'm equal parts excited and terrified. I'm going to be tapping on everyone for advice on anything from where to live to what ISP to pick to where to how to speak New York. I'm cloudsteph {at} gmail {dot} com or @cloudsteph on Twitter, all tips welcome - I'm buying the ice creams/coffees/pints/Manhattans!

Special nods in particular to Ronan, Andy, Pat, Breda, Gráinne, Dermot, Una, Ronan, Eamo, Court, Nick, my folks and my spirit animal Liz Lemon. Gems, all of you.

Saving the most special of nods for Shane who gives me the support and confidence to even just consider myself able for any of it. Here's to the great adventure ahead of us!