Well, “Monday morning you sure look fine… Friday I got traveling on my mind” <sung badly and offkey>
Ah, have to love Fleetwood Mac.. and Monday of this week? What a day…
Originally I had posted that my employer, Websense, had agreed to let me work remotely, and in a PT basis where I could continue to draw my health insurance, and make a decent wage while traveling the US with my wife… It was a sweet deal.. Note the word “was”.
Monday we had a news release. Seems an investment company bought Websense for 1 billion dollars. All stock is frozen, and will be paid out at $24.75 a share, which is a GREAT deal for everyone (including me). AND they will take the company from being traded publicly to being a private company. Again, GREAT for Websense, as the requirements to be publicly traded are onerous… and I mean that. I have said many times over, if I were a CEO at a company I would NEVER go public..
So what does that mean? Well, it means that Websense no longer has to meet SOX (Sarbanes Oxley) requirements. This was a law put in place due to the Enron and WordCom meltdowns.. to keep CEO’s and CFO’s from claiming that they didn’t know their accounting was skewed and avoid legal action… nor do they have to report to the SEC, and a number of other painful regulations that you have to meet.. It truly is costly in both time and money. and again, I would NEVER go public.
So what is the big deal? For Websense? a great way to focus on product development and delivery. For me? Remember that SOX thing? Yeah, that. I am a SOX IT auditor.. so no SOX?
No IT Auditor…
They may need a financial audit team so that should they every decide to sell the company they will be able to show an audit trail, but as far as my job? Well, as soon (or sooner) as the deal is inked, I will more than likely find myself gainfully UNemployed.
And truthfully? I am ok with that. This may allow us to spend our time focused on each other and unwinding from the stress over the past few years. When you ask what stress? Don’t ask, I can’t list it all here, but it has been a bit much. I feel I am in desperate need of some relaxing time. Some time with my wife and family and a chance to seriously unwind. Maybe some time with my toes in the water and ass in the sand.
I cannot begin to thank Websense enough for the gig they gave me, or the support that I have received from them… seriously. great company to work for. For Lynda and me?
Happy trails.
