I'm leaving on a jetplane...
Regular readers may have noticed that I have been rather quiet for the last month or so. Besides taking a bit of a well-deserved break after a hard semester of teaching, this has been a rather busy time. Back in August 2010 I presented my resignation for the post of Lecturer in E-commerce Law at the University of Edinburgh in order to go back to Costa Rica. The resignation took effect on the 1st of January 2011, so I am currently in between jobs, planning my move, packing my life and setting off into the sunset.
I have been in Edinburgh since 2002, so this may come as a surprise to some. The truth is that it was never my intention to stay in academia for longer than 10 years, and it has always been my long-term plan to go back if the right opportunity presented itself. As it happens, such an opportunity arose so I will be going back to join the family business (educational software developers). Besides, I am really not built for the cold of the Northern Frozen Wastelands. I had a great time in Edinburgh, it was an unparalleled job with amazing opportunities, but the time has come to move on.
The fact that I will be leaving academia does not mean that I will abandon the TechnoLlama persona. On the contrary, as I will be working in the software industry I believe that I can bring other practical approaches to the blog, as well as maintaining the light-hearted tone. I love blogging too much, and this blog in particular is a labour of love, insomnia, an unhealthy curiosity, dogged hard-headedness, and lots and lots of coffee. Expect irregular service for the next couple of weeks until I have established my new routine. Those following me on Twitter can still expect duck pictures, as I believe I will continue my travels around the world. So not much will change, other than the fact that I will not be moaning about the weather that much.
I’m trying to think of a snarky one-liner, but for some reason I can’t. There is an annoying bit of moisture in my eyes that does not let me come up with anything witty, so I guess that I will just go back to packing.
11 Comments
Graeme West · January 21, 2011 at 4:31 am
Hi Andres,
So sorry to hear you're leaving Scotland! Just wanted to wish you the very best of luck in your new job, and to say thanks for all the endless enthusiasm and knowledge that you brought to those of your classes that I attended at Edinburgh. A got a whole lot out of the experience, and I'm sure everyone at the law school will see it as a big loss to the department that you're moving on.
I can think of a snarky one-liner, so here it is – so long, and thanks for all the fish!
😀
Graeme
P.S. it's 0.4ºC warmer in Glasgow on average than Edinburgh – maybe the tropical west coast would me more to your liking 😀
Roger Lancefield · January 21, 2011 at 4:47 am
Very sorry to hear that you are leaving these shores. I've greatly enjoyed and benefitted from your posts and your tweets. Many thanks also for the work you have done for the Open Rights Group — all UK computer users have benefitted from your efforts there.
Enjoy your return home and best of luck with your new position.
John Lockhart · January 21, 2011 at 5:20 am
You swine! How could you leave us? Damn you. Oh well, at the very least you can bring us back cheap duty free… XXX
Michael · January 21, 2011 at 9:46 am
Very best of luck for the future; I'm glad TechnoLlama won't be disappearing any time soon! 🙂
Mathias Klang · January 21, 2011 at 11:13 am
I refuse to believe that you are really leaving. You'll be back 🙂
Chris Marsden · January 21, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Pura vida! Having just returned from the land of the quetzal and caiman, you're going to a far far better place – happy landing!
Hyojung Sun · January 21, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Very sorry to hear that you're leaving.
I wish you all the best!
Enjoy the nice weather! 🙂
Simon Bradshaw · January 22, 2011 at 5:21 am
Andres,
So sorry to see you leaving, but the best of luck in the new work! I can honestly say that it was a pleasure being taught by you and if and when you're back over here I hope we have the chance to meet up again. All the best – Simon
TJ · January 23, 2011 at 5:44 am
Hi Andres – Scotland's loss is Costa Rica's gain. Best of luck with the new opportunity – TJ
WardblawG · January 25, 2011 at 6:33 am
All the best in your new role. I know a guy called David Wood, massive MLM proponent, that lives in Costa Rica also. He seems to love it.
Best wishes
G
John Anzani · January 27, 2011 at 8:07 am
Hola Andres
Sad to hear you've left Auld Reekie. Glad to hear that you have a new challenge and that we can still find out how you're doing via Technollama.
Take care
John