Windows 7 blog my-verna-syndrome-was-cured-by-the-

I pulled a Verna last week. Overwhelmed with work, house projects, and other stress, I think I kind of snapped. Well, not really. I didn’t have a panic attack or anything, but I wasn’t my “normally” even-keeled self. And I could feel the pressure building. So as I wrote last week,Windows 7, I took two days off work. One was a planned vacation day; the other wasn’t. And in Verna fashion, I grabbed my stuff and high-tailed it out of Building 19. Except I didn’t have a suitcase. Just lots of birthday flowers … which did make the experience a bit humorous. After a much needed few days off work, I returned to Building 19 yesterday. I have a new attitude … and in fact, I now refer to myself as the “New Attitude Gretchen.” (Josh reminded me that “New Attitude Gretchen” can be shortened to “NAG” … but I think that’s his problem.) I have to say that yesterday was a great day. After taking a friend to the airport, I got to work nice and early. Around lunchtime, my team gathered for an “off-site” at my favorite restaurant. (An “off-site” is just a long, long meeting held away from campus where the group can brainstorm and step outside of our everyday surroundings.) The off-site was fantastic. I already knew this … but the meeting reminded me how smart and talented my teammates are and how lucky I am to learn from their expertise. After the off-site, we attended the premier of Behind the Code an internally produced series of shows that highlight Architects within the company. Behind the Code isn’t my team’s project – so I better not go into any details on the series, but it did get my mind working. The show’s guest was Mark Zbikowski, a Microsoft Architect who has been with the company for about 24 years. During the interview, Mark talked a lot about the different projects he’s work on, his accomplishments, his defeats, and, most importantly, the impact he’s had on the company. And then I realized … when Mark joined Microsoft, I was three years old. For that matter, when Bill Gates and Paul Allen started the company, I was negative three! The year Microsoft’s stock went public was the year I had a Care Bear themed birthday party. Windows 3.0 was released before I was a teenager, and the day Microsoft celebrated the launch of Windows 95, I began my senior year in high school. Why I am I writing this? Well, it’s not to expose my age; that’s for sure. I kind of like that people around here think I’m older than what I am. But watching Mark’s interview and, earlier, contributing with such enthusiasm at my team’s offsite, I realized that, even though the company is older than I am and hit some of its most important milestones long before I even became a semi-conscious teenager, the culture hasn’t changed that much since those early days, and you didn’t have to join Microsoft in 1981 to make an impact. You don’t even have to work in a technical role to see the differences you’ve make. And I really, really like that. A lot. I know it sounds like I’ve drunk the Kool-aid, and maybe I have. But I was thirsty for a drink, and once again, the amazingly talented people around here served it up. So, I’m happy New Attitude Gretchen is around. I promise not to pull any more "Vernas" for a while gretchen