Reuters

17th Workaversary

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Today marks my 17th work anniversary. I haven’t done a retrospective of the numbers involved in a few years, so it felt like time for an update.

It’s still only been three companies: Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, and now LSEG. Back in my 2022 update, I mentioned I was moving into a new role. Three years later, I’m still in that role. So here’s how the breakdown looks on this workaversary:

8 offices 2 continents 12 managers (4 of them just in the past 3 years) 7 different groups across those 17 years (though the lines blur a bit, since lately I’ve been helping out in a group outside my own)

The most important part isn’t the numbers, though. Even if it can feel a little discouraging to watch people you’ve known and liked move on, I still find the work exciting, the problems worth solving, and the culture a place I want to show up to every day.

8 Years and Counting

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Today is the eighth anniversary of my starting to work at Thomson Reuters. On one hand it does feel like I’ve been here for a long time. On the other hand it’s still challenging to grasp that it’s been eight years. One of the things I’ve learned that’s good about a large company is it changes as well as your role changes so even though it’s been eight years I’m not doing the same thing I was doing when I started in September 2008.

Thomson Reuters for me by the numbers was something I was thinking about in my head the other day. In the eight years that I’ve been working here lots of things have changed for me. I have managed five different groups. Six if you count the one I had for about a week or so however I don’t. I’ve had five different positions. I’ve gone through three different managers. Funny enough I switched between all them within a three-month period that started with a voicemail when I was returning from my honeymoon. I have worked out of three different offices as well as working from home however if you really counted out I’ve gone from Office 1, to Office 2, to Office 3, back to Office 2.

On a personal side I have lived in three different apartments. I have dated, got engaged, got married. Oh and I also two kids within those eight years. In context my life is vastly different than it was on September 8, 2008. On a personal and professional level far better off than where I was. In anti-climactic fashion I realized about a year and a half after it happened that I have been at Reuters longer than any other company.

Spent the Day at a CIA Listening Post, Well Sort Of

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Today I am in London and I spent my entire day at a CIA listening post. Well that is partly true. It was depicted as a CIA listening post in a James Bond film but in reality it is just a Thomson Reuters Data Center in London. I am not sure of what movie but several people have confirmed it. I can talk about it only because when I pull the area up on a public map the building is labeled.

I was in a workshop all day, but the views from half the building are of the river overlooking the Millennium Dome. I would have loved to take some pictures but I am pretty sure they frown on that. The workshop was very interesting. I have two more days of it but the next two are a bit different than the first one so we shall see how they go. I was just thankful that we got to the office and back without too much drama. The trip was already planned before we found out about the Tube strike. Thankfully we left early enough this morning to get a cab directly to the office. We were able to take the DLR halfway back to the hotel and then got lucky finding a cab. The down side of the morning cab was I went to bed at 11:30 and got up at 5:30 to be out early. Tonight I am aiming to goto bed a bit earlier to get up tomorrow at the same time.  Thankfully the strike is over tomorrow, but I have to deal with it next week if they keep to their plans to strike again

After work I got drinks and dinner with one of the trainers who is staying at my hotel. I was also able to get a pre-pay SIM card so i am a bit more connected for the long trip. WIFI at the hotel is great. Work is more limiting so having additional freedom is nice. Even after all the suggestions from MC, Cathy (thanks Cathy but I am not spending 50 pounds on a Doctor Who tour) and others I still don’t know what to do this weekend while in the city by myself. On that note I am off to bed. I will try to read some travel guides tomorrow night.

First Day Back at Work

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Knowing that I can only take a week or so off we wanted to make sure that MC had helped when I went back to work. Her parents were eager to come and spend time with us and the baby. We scheduled it so they would come Tuesday and settle in so I can go back to work on Wednesday. I was very grateful to know that they were both here to help out.

Because I stopped writing for a while after the baby came most of these posts are backdated. I don’t like doing that because I end up forgetting specifics of what I want talk about. My first day back at work is a perfect example of that. I want to write about it, but I really don’t remember much about it other than to say I don’t remember much about it. I know I was tired, I know everyone asked about the baby, and I know I shut off lots of pictures. I did have a lot of email to catch up on. It took me probably two or three days to get up to speed on where everything was with my ongoing projects.