As of last Thursday, January 22, I stopped working for Sun because of a reduction in force. The past 20+ years of my technical writing career there were indescribably rewarding and fulfilling and I have my collaborators, editors, and numerous other colleagues to thank. Their professionalism, support, camaraderie, and the stellar examples that they set are invaluable to me.

Blogging on java.net in the past four years has taught me a lot. I plan to still post once in a while, if only to champion some of the Sun-sponsored open-source projects, such as OpenDS, OpenSolaris, and OpenSSO. They are staffed by experts and are, I'm convinced, heading for a resounding success.On hearing the news of my job loss, my 87-year-old godfather, an accomplished and admirable individual, didn't say "I'm sorry" as so many others did. Instead, he observed with a smile in his voice, "Kiddo, I know that good things are going to happen to you because of this change." First, being called kiddo at my advanced age is a perk. Second, his optimism is catching. I look forward to the next horizon.