Blogging from the other side

It's been a while since I've blogged but I think the excuse of moving over the Atlantic to live and work in Grand Rapids, MI is a valid one. Especially when I've had to get used to searing hot temperatures and not the grey rainy days of SE England.

It's been so long since I blogged that I found out that Blogger is not working well with IE8, ah well add it to the list of buggy programs I've encountered the last few weeks... but I'm not talking about the programs at work ( I love working with devs who test their work and make life hard for me ) but all the online apps I've tried to use since moving over - credit unions, cable and ISP companies, banks, tourist guides, restaurants, all of them with glaring bugs.

Now that I'm settling in it's time to start re-connecting with the testing community again, especially after reading some recent blog posts.

Pete Walen has written a great series of posts on testers rising to the challenge of showing their value. It's given me a lot to think about and something to talk over at future GR Testers Meetups

And whilst I want to explore and enjoy my new country, this blog from Tony Bruce reminded me that I do think of testing as a career and not just a 9-5 job.

My commuting time for my new job is minimal, a 10 minute drive so I now have more free time and am not standing on Waterloo station platform waiting for trains or standing squashed on the train itself. Which should mean I have time to read and digest ATDD by Example by Markus Gartner.

I also want to dive into the interesting series of blogs by Jeff Nyman on learning Rex and Racc and Building Your Own Language ( I also liked his recent post on Testing That is Effective, Efficient, and Elegant which has got me thinking about my testing and if it is all of those three E's. )

It's been a manic few weeks, now it's calming down and time to enjoy the challenges ahead.