I just finished doing something I was beginning to doubt I'd ever do.

I wrote a letter of notice of employment termination.

Better known as "two weeks notice", it's actually one-week's notice.

I was hired today by the company that recently sold the building I work in.

Known in the local building vernacular as the Seattle Trade and Technology Center, it has long ceased to function as so named and instead today houses the North Campus of the Seattle Art Institute, Argosy University and, as principle Tennant, the the world leader in streaming technology, Real Networks.

For the last year-plus I've been hesitant to mention the place by name for both reasons of safety and reasons of not giving Real bad press.

I guess I'm not your ordinary janitor.

Because that's what I was. All this time I've danced around the term with saying I was in "building maintenance" but I worked for a janitorial company. At STTC I was the day porter for the company that recently sold the building and the building's new ownership.

My duties under the former were really Engineer Lite as I didn't clean terlets or stock boxes of facial tissue or clean up puke. I replaced flush valves and did exterior work, re-glued wall base and painted, pressure washed, reset fire panels, etc. (I will forever remember with pride that Real Networks trusted me enough to give me unfettered access to the heart of their operation so that I could reset the fire panel in that particular area.) However, I was still classified as a contracted Day Porter.

My duties under the new ownership have been fuzzy. Old Owners were extremely (and rightly) particular about the exterior of the building. They judge worth by different criteria than Old Owners. I am not schooled in the engineering arts. I am pretty bright and willing to learn and prideful about what I do. Given enough fundamental knowledge, I can usually puzzle out the right answer or a different answer that works just as well. New Owners would tut-tut all of that and ask if I'd "been to school".

Let me stress that there's nothing wrong with that. You can run your business howsoever you like. You may judge your workers by their choice of underarm deodorant if you want. It's not strictly a question of good or bad criteria but rather a question of style and fit.

So. Under New Owners I wouldn't be expected to change a ballast or paint a wall or patch a hole. Under Old Owners, I'd be asked if I knew how to do it and told to "go for it".

I will be revisiting this subject probably all weekend and into next week (whether or not you can stomach it) but I really want to thank the Chief Building Engineer at Old Company (which is now My Company) for remembering me as he said he would. In fact, I know he's been angling me into his employ ever since my current building was sold. Thanks, Jim.

I also want to thank my only real Lead Engineer and the only person who knows what the hell he's doing (sometimes) at the STTC. Shawn has become a very good friend and his persistence in keeping my name in front of Jim was a damn nice thing to do. I also want to thank him for his camaraderie on the job and for being an all-around good guy.

Okay, more of this will come out over the next few days.

For now, I'm an Assistant Building Engineer. Kewl!