There comes a time when every apprentice must pack up their meager tools and leave their master’s employ. So begins the long road of the journeyman, whose turn it is now to ply their newly learned craft in the hopes that one day they might meet their old master’s eye, a master themselves. For me, that time has come.
 
Yesterday, with a heavy heart, I tendered my resignation. I had known it was coming for some time, but I wasn’t sure how to proceed. For one thing, I didn’t want to leave before the project was finished.
 
I’ve worked my ass off for three long years to see Delicious Library 2 ship, and I was determined to be there. I wanted to stand on that stage again, holding that cube. I wanted to ride that train to the end of the track, then coast to a long, lazy stop, laughing and crying with pleasure and relief.
 
But more than that, I wanted to leave with honor. There’s a treachery to the job hunt, a sea of covert résumés and secret interviews. Even though we all understand that that’s just business, Wil is my friend, as well as my employer. A man has nothing if he has no honor, and I knew I would have to live with hearing Wil tell everyone yet another one left him for Apple.
 
Finally, I realized what I had to do. I had to quit. Rather than look for another job, I would simply quit, be unemployed, and draw a hard line between my past and my future. Then no one could ever say that I had abandoned Wil, and potential employers wouldn’t have to worry about making an enemy by poaching his last engineer.
 
In order to lessen the impact of my departure, I left my official last day unset. I’d go after we shipped, once things had stabilized. If Wil wanted me to help with the inevitable dot-one, I’d gladly stick around. As an added bonus, releasing the tension of Wil and I trying to figure out what the other is thinking would allow us to work in peaceful productivity.
 
I would describe Wil’s reaction as relief. It turns out he was thinking the converse of what I was thinking. How can I tell you it’s time to move on without losing you as a friend? Without the fear of a bad reaction, he was able to express his feelings with eloquence. Then we chatted like the old friends we now are, freed of the awkward yoke of commerce.
 
So, what’s next?
 
Well, I’m not officially going indie, but I’m not packing up to move to the valley, either. My wife and I have been through a lot lately, and we don’t need the stress of my trying to make a living without a regular paycheck. That said, Wil and Mary’s combined generosity should suffice to give me an extended vacation.
 
I intend to use this time to launch United Lemur, a software company that will explore building great applications, as well as the marriage of business and charity. Delicious Monster might have inspired a generation, but this will be its first direct descendent.
 
Wil gets to play the excited grandparent, and with his help, United Lemur is hitting the ground running. We’ve already got an application under development. Since I couldn’t work on it myself, I assembled a team of engineers who are essentially volunteering their services on a fun project that’s more interesting than the code that pays the bills.
 
While I don’t care if you know who they are, I promised the team I wouldn’t reveal their identities. That way, if the project flops, nobody knows they had anything to do with it. If it’s a huge success, they can stand up and take their due. That said, I can tell you this: they’re all better than me. I believe it was Merlin Mann who rhapsodized on the joy of being in awe of your minions?
 
I’ll also be working on another book. This book, developed and written entirely by me, will actually serve as a compliment to my software project. Once all that’s out of my system, I’ll go back to the rat race. If any of you rats are looking for an Apple Design Award-winning Cocoa developer with ungodly amounts of XML experience, I know a guy.
 
Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind if United Lemur somehow ends up consuming Cincinnati.
 
But that’s not all.
 
I have a pile of books to read about Madagascar, learning French, Calculus, Algorithmics, Mac OS X internals, and more. I also have a wife who hasn’t seen me in three years. I’ve got to take a refresher on how to show a woman I love her, and how to earn, every day, the fact that she settled for my dumb ass.
 
Mary and I have been together for eight years now, and I’ve known her for over half my life. She left her home in Hawaiʻi to be with me. She sat through months of hand-wringing while I was at flight school. She let me sell our home to move into some guy’s basement so I could live some crazy dream.
 
How I ever managed to end up with a woman like that, I’ll never know. She’s tall and beautiful, with dark eyes, and soft lips that curl up at the corners to form her trademark wry expression. She’s simply the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and every day I wake up next to her is a day in heaven.
 
The upshot of all this is Wil wants to concentrate on finishing Delicious Library 2 alone, without having to worry about other people stumbling around in his code. Did you order the “coast to a long, lazy stop”? Sorry, we’re all out. All we have left is a “sudden, jarring life change.”
 
I am now officially unemployed.
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        Addenda        
 
Thank you all for your kind words, both public and private. It means the world to me. Here are a few comments to that effect:
Daniel Jalkut
Congratulations and best of luck to you. Enjoy your vacation and take it for real. It will be a long time before you find yourself seriously uncommitted to any work project.
Dan Lemur Wood
Eep! Which is to say, my hat is off to you. Best of luck in the next leg of your journey. I'm glad you will be able to get re-acquainted with other things in life that matter!
Dan Weeks
Congratulations Mike. I look forward to seeing how successful you are with both your loving wife and your new venture.
Jake Spurlock
Good luck, I look forward to the future projects!
Colin Barrett
Mike, I wish you the absolute best of luck. You're talented, driven and incredibly sharp.

I can't imagine anything but success in your future. Go get 'em!
Random Lemur
You could always move back to Honolulu and give me a job ;-D

Nah, stay where you are. It's time to dig in and spread your roots underground.
twenty3
Congratulations on taking a big step. Its always hard to make enormous changes like this, but I know that even better things are on the horizon for you.

I'll give you a few weeks before I start recruiting you like mad. :)
Marcus S. Zarra
I wish you the best of successes in your future ventures. With your talent and the amazing support of your wife, I suspect we will be seeing great things from you in the future.
Kevin Mitchell
Congratulations, Mike. It is a cool thing you're doing, and it has made me smile and get a wet eye. You do what I wish I had done. Bravo!
Paul Goracke
I am particularly glad that the parting is amicable. Congrats, Mike--and best of luck!
Random Lemur
Good luck, man.
Sam D
Good luck and can't wait to see what trickles out of that mad mind of yours...
Andy Matuschak
Congratulations, Mike, and I wish you the best of luck! Your post has inspired me to get back to the grindstone on my own work. I envy your resolve!
Gus Mueller
Congrats Mike!

I'm of course hoping you'll stay around the Seattle area (hey- the sheep are hiring!), but I wish you the best of luck wherever you go.
Justin Prine
Best of luck Mike. Leaving somewhere you love is always hard when it's time to move on. Enjoy the time off.
Warren Dodge
Another big change and the adventure continues! Best of luck.
Victoria Wang
Wow Mike, I'm sure that must have been a tough decision. Wishing you the best in everything to come, and especially looking forward to the United Lemur part :). Cheers to you! Btw, just had to say: that is really sweet the way you talk about your wife :)
Joshua Pennington
Follow your heart, it always seems to know what will truly make you happy.
Jeff Byrnes
Good luck to you! Really enjoyed reading this, as it offers me food for thought when it comes to dealing with employers of my own.
Adam Lindsay
Good luck, Motherfucker.

And I mean that in the nicest possible way.
H. Eriksson
You are my hero!
Ben Reubenstein
Can't wait to see where life takes you, I am sure it will be amazing. Balance is the key to happiness, so it is good to see you have recognized needing a change.
 
Did you order the “coast to a long, lazy stop”? Sorry, we’re all out. All we have left is a “sudden, jarring life change.”
Monday, March 3, 2008
Step 2