So this is my response to turning 30. As you can see by the name of this blog, I'm extremely optimistic about my life expectancy. Unfortunately, I'm less so about my prospects. I've come to a bit of a crossroads in my career and my place of residence. I've been working for a huge IT company in New York State for 2 years (gee guess which one). It hasn't sucked too much but it has the feel of one giant rut. Not much of anything in the way of raises and the prospect of the long messy slog to the top. That's if things go well. I imagine that if I stay there long enough my soul will abandon my body and I'll come to appreciate what a priviledge it is to work for this company.

So what do I do with that snazzy MBA I got for myself then? Suck it up and fight my way up the Giant IT Company corporate ladder? Search for greener pastures at another company? or say "screw the MBA" and do something completely different? I guess I'm open to suggestions, otherwise it would be silly to put this on the web.

My other issue is living in New York State. I grew up in Massachusetts, so I'm used to taxes, but New York has made clear to me what real taxation is. I pay more in land and school taxes than my parents do in Eastern Massachusetts. Mind you, they live in a significantly larger house in a good school district. There are other little things which also annoy me, like Yankees fans and the fact that the plumber I use has to be specifically licensed by the town I live in rather than the state, making home improvement projects more expensive.

So with all this whining, I should close with something positive. I'm happily married, i've got a beautiful little girl who will be 2 in a month and twin boys who will be born sometime in August. So if I'm cranky it's because I want to do right for them and not work crappy long hours for meager raises which don't keep up with the cost of living in this damn state.