The reference call cleared.
AdaptiveBlue had offered me a consulting systems-administrator job, pending two conversations with people who had worked with me at Beatport. I was still at Peek and did not want to make noise there, so Colorado references were the obvious move.
They checked out. The next question was when I could start.
This was not a big ceremonial job change. It was another piece of work added around the work I already had. AdaptiveBlue was building GetGlue, a social product for books, music, movies, and television. I had gone into the office twice, met the team, and was ready to begin sitting with the person who knew the existing systems.
The contract arrived by email. I printed it, signed it, and then hit a very normal 2010 problem: I did not have easy access to a scanner.
My solution was to bring the paper back myself. I had to come in anyway, and handing somebody a signed contract was easier than turning the apartment into a document-processing center.
What mattered to me was getting started. I thanked them for the opportunity, asked when they wanted me in, and started arranging the system walkthrough before the paperwork was even back in their hands.
The job also reconnected two parts of my career. Beatport had given me the people who could vouch for the work. New York was giving me small companies that needed the same practical infrastructure experience.
There was no grand plan behind it. Peek was my main job. AdaptiveBlue was a second job. I liked the team, the product was growing, and they needed somebody who could get into the systems without a long runway.
The references were good. The forms were printed. I would bring the pen-and-paper version with me.