Huh? 337? Combo breaker?

The title might be a little confusing, so here’s the explanation from the Captain. The 337 days are there since I really don’t see how that number is any worse that a year. Or 336 days. Or whatever other time interval. I don’t acknowledge any and all celebrations that go like “X time units since moment Y”, so you can just take that as my little personal rebellion. Oh, also that’s 1000 days to go till 1337.

According to historical records, I haven’t worked at a single place for more that something like 10 or 11 months, always leaving for greener pastures after about that long. A combo of sorts. And seeing as I have no desire to leave Yandex anytime soon, the combo is broken.

Okay, but why? See below.

i heart u guyz ^_^

First thing first, or, namely, the people. They’re really awesome. Not that the people I have used to work with before are not, but… hrmm, I don’t even know where to start. From the beginning, I guess. Nearly all (with few notable exceptions) people have been automatically positively disposed towards me. And that definitely isn’t just my awesome charm, as in the “outside world” there are much less of those.

I come and ask a person, whose name I don’t even know, to help me, and, most likely, they agree. That, or they point me to the right person. That, or they feel sorry for not being able to help me. And it doesn’t even have to be work-related: I can come with pretty much anything. They will let me make a call from their cellphone. They will recommend me a good barber, and lend me their discount card. They will likely give me a lift. In another city, they will take me on a guide, and they will take care of my valuable possessions while I’m away on those freakish adventures of mine.

And then there are people I already do know. With them, we can do stuff completely irrelevant to work. Be it watching a movie, going abroad, having a dinner at theirs or mine, snowboarding, going to a bar… whatever, really. Simply put, these people are awesome, and I love them all.

But hey, that still doesn’t mean I used to leave my former employers because the people were not as awesome. In fact, quite the contrary: in most cases, they were.

+150 XP

It’s no secret that for me, learning the new is crucially important for staying… being… hoping to become… ugh! Whatever-ing happy. When a day passes, and I haven’t learned anything, I am sort of disappointed. When a week passes, and I haven’t learned anything while working, I am sad. When a month passes and I have barely learned anything, I am depressed. And when I see no light at the end of the tunnel, I look for some other place where I can still learn.

Yandex has lots of projects with lots of technologies and lots of people. From all of those, I can learn. And do learn. And after the 337 days, there is still much more knowledge to absorb, many more technologies to work with, and many more people to exchange experience with.

Now, my approach of “it’s all about getting experience” has been criticized, and maybe it’s not the primary focus of my life anymore, but still, it’s important as hell.

The freedom

That isn’t really new, but is still pleasant: I can do pretty much anything I want to do, how I want to do it, if I still get the things done on time. Want to skip a Friday and go somewhere for three days? “Yeah, okay.” Wanna work from 5 P.M. to 5 A.M.? “You’re good to go.” Itching to dress up like a zombie and dance like a crab in the middle of the office? “Well, it’s not like anybody will stop you.” Suddenly got the inspiration to draw Darth Vader on the ceiling? “Okay, here is the ladder for you!” Feel like wearing a swimsuit today? “Just don’t get anyone drooling. Or if you do, be careful”

Is that it?

Yeah, it is. I’m still here, and will likely be for at least a couple more years.