I've been noticeably quiet over the past weeks as I've switched horses, so to speak, and joined Brightlight Consulting. I had already been following Brightlight for a number of years, encountering their significantly talented people at various Netezza sites across the fruited plain.

the press release is here:

http://www.brightlightconsulting.com/news_2010_DavidBirmingham.htm

At the Netezza conferences this year, many of you saw the slow-motion videos of surfers mastering those monstrous waves. Also during this season, I happened to attend another conference where the speaker shared some famous words from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in a similar context to what I was now experiencing right there on the conference room floor:

There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows...

I was standing on the top of the wave, so to speak, and had a choice before me. Ride the wave, or return to the shallows.

Now, I don't put a lot of stock in epiphany-styled revelations, but in this case a tingle went up my spine, realizing that the TwinFin had completely changed the game - it was time to seriously get on the wave and ride it, or commit to the shallows of the everyday. As many of you know, Brightlight has stood out for a number of years as being a go-to partner for all-things Netezza, and their VLDB consultants have solved large-scale problems where others feared to tread.

"You have some serious thrill issues, dude," Crush the Turtle, Finding Nemo

As I have been inundated with pings and kudos from many of you who already know the story, I thought it was worth sharing, especially for you Shakespeare and surfing aficionados, a rare breed indeed.

And to surfin' Enzees everywhere - here's to a "so totally awesome" 2010 and all the promises it offers. All the best.

See you on the waves!