Today we got an email from Bill MacGowan, our chief big-wig HR guy.  He sent the following e-mail  to all of Sun: 

"In times of disaster, people often ask how they can help.  Devastation, sometimes thousands of miles away or perhaps in your local community, is a time to come together and help those who are suffering.

In response to the recent cyclone in Myanmar and now the earthquake in China, Sun's Global Citizenship wants to remind the Sun community that a year-round disaster relief drive  (click here) is available to make your giving easy.  Over the years, thousands of dollars have been raised by the Sun workforce through the online drive to aid disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian tsunami.  In disasters like these, financial contributions are the best way to help, to purchase food, medicine and other supplies near the disaster.  

To help, go to the Sun drive.  Pick the amount you want to donate, then proceed to the check out page, where you can designate to which charity you want your donation to go from the pull-down menu.  Also on this page, employees can check a box for automatic matching funds from the Sun Microsystems Foundation (yearly limits apply).  The drive is open to all, including Sun partners, friends, and family but matching funds are only available to Sun employees. "

I love that Sun (I view Sun more as a person, than a corporation) is so supportive of reaching out and helping anywhere in the world.  It's cool Sun makes it easy for us to give, and easy for us to get matching donations. I love that we are aware of what is going on in the world and want to help.

...that isn't always a good thing.....even if you have the best boss. 

As a result of our 4pm Friday conversation, I'm heading to Raleigh on Monday, as opposed to returning to Colorado.  I'm going to lend a hand on the other side of the Big Project.   While I'm glad to be called on to help, and I am for sure NOT complaining about that, there is some downside to this trip -

Wardrobe:  I came to Michigan to hang with my family.  My wardrobe consists of yoga pants, t-shirts and jeans.  Not exactly the best dressed business traveler, even by Sun's casual standards.

Elevation:  I was just getting re-acclimated to the Rockies, and now I'm going to sea level.  I'll be gasping for air (again) when I return. 

Toiletries:  I packed super-dooper light planning to raid my sisters goodies and try new products.  Therefore I'll have no salon products when I arrive for business, which I guess will be fitting given my wardrobe is so down home casual.  I might like my salon products more than the average mountain girl....

Doggies:  The Mountain Dogs were already suffering from feeling abandoned by me....who knows how much doggie cold shoulder I'll get when I return.....big bummer for me.

Regardless, the upside is I'm already on the road, and this saves me the trouble of wondering what to pack.  I'm also already on Eastern Time, so I won't have to adjust day one of working on this time zone.  Always a silver lining...

I'm breaking topic today and going to blog a bit about my work in Puerto Rico.  I want to recognize the professionalism, dedication and amazing individuals I've been blessed to work with over these last few months. 

As is public knowledge Sun/former Storagtek had a large manufacturing and repair facility in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  The facility manufactured and repaired highly technical and complex storage equipment.  The average seniority in the plant was 20 years, with many people approaching 30 years of service.  Sun made the decision to close this facility about a year ago, and outsource this work to lower cost areas.  I was given the opportunity to manage the Services piece and have been acting as the Senior Transfer Manager since May. 

I had mixed feelings about this role.  It was highly visible, challenging and would put my skills to the test with the opportunity to learn more than you might in a year over just a short period of time.  The other side of the equation is that shutting down a factory is serious, not from a customer service and dollars/cents stand point for Sun, but from the individual and personal impact.  People have dedicated their entire professional lives to this operation, and are like family.  Now, the family is being disbanded and livelihoods are being seriously impacted on an island with high unemployement. 

I was uncertain of what to expect when I made my first trip to the plant in May.  Would this be a safe environment for me?  Would the animosity be so palpable that I would want to run and hide?  While I know this is "business" I am an extremely empathetic individual, how would it feel to be openly hated?

The reality of the matter is that I was welcomed with open arms by the people.  Yes, I was here to execute on the plant move.  Yes, certainly stuck out like a sore thumb being about a foot taller than most of the women here sporting a shockingly white complexion.  Yes, they were all loosing their jobs.  But no, somehow these amazing people were capable of separating the "business" of the plant shut down from "me as a person". 

And, the commitment they demonstrated to the move and shut down.  I can only marvel at the dedication and hours worked to make this as smooth as possible.  They want the move to be successful even though they have no future with it.  Just humbling.

I now have people in Puerto Rico I call friends.  We've worked side by side for two months, solving problems, laughing, complaning and just plain working hard.  While I cannot recognize each individual, I want to salute some of the people I've worked most closely with - Ismary, German, Sampol, Osvaldo, Betsy, Beverly, Jose, Ana, Carlos, the Roberto's, Wegberto - in addition to friendly faces that greeted me each day as I walked the floor with an Hola, Buenos Dias, along handshake and kiss on the cheek. 

One thing I know for sure is that What Goes Around Comes Around, which to me means my Puerto Rico friends are going to be blessed with rich, full lives.  My life has been enriched 10 fold by the opportunity to know each of them....blessings to you all.

ps.  Further evidence of the attitude  - this sign was hanging up in the plant....we should all be this wise.

I've been unusually fortunate to have the same great manager (DonM) for almost 2 years now - which equates to 14 years in Sun Life.  Don is not only a great manager, but a wonderful human being.  He is open, honest, generous, and if you know Don the list of adjectives goes on and on.....I'll  miss working directly with him and my smart, occasionally sassy, yet brilliant colleagues in the Global Customer Services Operations team.  We had a great evening in the "Pope Room" at our face to face meeting last week as depicted below.  I was fortunate to have an instructional lesson from a Business Analysts on how to convert KG to LB...I will take that lesson with me!  (ok, this is probably an inside joke, so many of you won't get it...) 

Check out DonM in the Big Guy's Chair -

For those of you not familiar with the "Pope Room" and believe your projects are in need of some divine inspiration, just let me know and I can fill you in on the details.  It's much less expensive than heading to Rome....

But with time, all things must change.  I'll be re-joining the Global Customer Services Supply Chain Management team.  This is the group I was originally hired in to almost 7 years ago (rev 14.8 vs rev 5.2 way back then).  I'll be working for KevinT, who was part of my original  interview panel.  I've been in and out of this team a few times over the past 7 years.  Some may be thinking it's a bit like a bad penny - I keep turning up!  But regardless, I'm very thrilled to be back working with Supply Chain Management. This is one of my core competencies and passions, unlike I think many of our techie bloggers - whom I read with great respect and awe as they blog about open source, rss, blades and other terms that leave me doing research.

Don, Mike, Kendall, MarkT, Paul, Christine, Kei-Yin, Vince, Jim, MarkF, John and Keith - you rock!  Thank you for making the last 2 years great for me, and great for SUN!!!!