Decompression – phase 1

It’s now been a couple of weeks since my 21-year career at Quest came to an abrupt end. My LinkedIn post about exiting Quest has by far the most engagement of all my contributions on that platform, with over 12,000 views and more than 100 reactions as I write. The irony of this fact is not lost on me.

I’ll blog specifically about my Quest exit later, but I’ve spent the time since then in “reset” mode, taking a step back from work and testing-related things in general.

An empty calendar is a real delight after so many years on the hamster wheel of frequent meetings. With my role having covered essentially every timezone, very early and very late meetings were the norm (although I’d become better at not accepting meetings starting before 7am or finishing after 11pm). Having long periods during the day without interruption from meetings has given me back opportunities for simple pleasures that have suffered greatly over the last decade (or more in some cases).

My wife and I have been practising meditation and yoga for several years but my daily practice has often failed to take precedence over the demands of work. It’s been great to put these important factors for my wellbeing back where they belong – as priorities.

Bike riding was another important and enjoyable pastime that I’ve neglected so it’s great to make a daily ride part of my routine (weather-permitting!). I’d forgotten how much I enjoy the feeling of freedom on two wheels.

I’ve also been reading a lot, some tech-related but plenty not (e.g. Status Quo gig history research, animal rights, vegan advocacy, some fiction).

It would have been nice to take the chance to travel for a while, but of course current COVID-19 restrictions make that impossible in this part of the world. But we’re at least thinking of where we might like to explore within Australia when our freedoms are returned to us.

I haven’t entirely disconnected from the testing world, though, and have invested some time into my LinkedIn profile (still work in progress) to ensure it more accurately reflects my experience and contributions in readiness for my next steps. I’ve also made some improvements to the configuration of this blog, so there is now an archive by month and I’ve categorized every post so hopefully it’s easier to find the stuff you’re interested in (and thanks to Paulo Lai for his feedback inspiring me to make these long overdue changes).

I’ve been working on a personal testing-related project for most of 2020 and have more time and energy to dedicate to it now, so it’s coming along nicely. I hope to release details of this project publicly very soon!