It’s been 5 months since my last confession. A lot has happened since I last blogged back in August. At the time my focus was on my upcoming trip to Bermuda. Since then I have left Microsoft and returned to freelancing. The decision to leave Microsoft was not an easy one to make, but I felt it was time for some new challenges. It’s interesting that several hundred of my Microsoft friends and colleges responded to my departure mail and not a single one asked “why?”.

I vowed to spend the winter skiing… the goal was to rack up 40 week days before March. The good lord apparently had other plans for me, because there is absolutely no snow this year. Ok, plan B – work hard this winter so I can take time off for salmon fishing this spring and summer.

I’ve been freelancing, working from home, for over a month now. Here are the  pros & cons…

Pro: I no longer have people constantly drifting in and out of my office to commiserate, brainstorm or eat their breakfast.

Con: My dog does like to barf up unidentifiable objects under my desk.

Pro: Half a day’s work in my home office is equal to about 4 days work in my Microsoft office.

Con: I’m losing track of days & nights. I find it irritating that nobody else seems to want to work Sat. & Sun.

Pro: Money’s better. Yes… even factoring in the posh Microsoft benefits package. Thanks to the MS Alumni Network I still have privileges at the company store and I’m still a member at the Pro Club.

Con: Uhhh… money doesn’t buy happiness?

All in all it’s been a great month, I love working for me. I’m a great boss.

Since this site is for MS employees, I’ve transferred my blog to a new site:

http://peterstern.blogspot.com/

I can always be reached through my website:

http://www.petersterndesign.com/

Aloha

-Peter