It’s the official countdown to my final hour at Best Buy. I made a simple Flash counter that will keep reminding me how much time is left until my seven-year “career” at Best Buy is over and done with. I have nothing negative to say about Best Buy as a place to work and I’m truly going to miss a lot of people that I’ve worked with at the Fullerton store and others who have moved around the company. You know who you are.

It’s over. This next part is my simple story and some recollections from the past.

I’ve spent the last 7 years in and out of two Best Buy stores starting off as a seasonal digital camera sales rep wearing the blue shirt. I quickly moved up to the black shirt and found myself on the doorstep of my future career: information technology. I saw the birth of Geek Squad; well not the actual birth, but I was there when Best Buy bought them and converted their black shirts over to white button-ups and clip-on ties. I remember being excited for the prospect of branching our services out of the store and into people’s homes. I was already a manager at this point and was promptly given the opportunity to serve as one of the first wave of field agents, but a dark cloud was hovering over me: my horrible driving record. Even though everyone wanted to promote me, I was stuck because of this one thing. I ended up waiting it out and quickly became part of the second wave of agents. At this time I was able to add something new to my uniform; a shiny new badge and Agent #1828 was created. Among the other perks, I also got a free cell phone and a company car.

I worked my way up and up, gaining more and more knowledge and experience as the months passed. I then found a mentor of sorts who taught me more than I could have ever imagined while on the job. At this time, Geek Squad was a fun and exciting place to work. We didn’t know what we were doing because everything was so new and the details hadn’t been ironed out yet. We were literally inventing processes and procedures as we went along.

Of course, nothing lasts forever and sure enough, this time came for me. I was promoted into working specifically with small businesses and the management quickly changed. I feel less and less important in the jobs I did and the whole operation seemed to be more about money and less about the customer. We won’t go into that here, but needless to say, I was starting to feel burned out. In a bit of twisted irony, I lost my opportunity to work as a field agent once again to a tarnished driving record. It was at this time that I was placed back in the store doing what I used to do. A step backward actually turned into many steps forward. This was last February.

I began the search for a job and anyone who’s been looking through this economy will agree that it’s not easy, but they always say it’s easier to find a job when you already have one. I can say that although it took almost a year, I was able to find my ticket out. At first, I regretted having been placed back in the store, but at least one great thing came out of it: I met my girlfriend in that store and she’s been the best thing that ever happened to me.

With that said, things are going to be different from now on. The days are looking better and the feeling of growing up is getting stronger. 2010 is poised to be a great year and if I can help it, I plan to make it my best year yet.

I’d like to thank a few people that have helped me along the way. A few of these people still work for the company while some have moved on to bigger and better things.

• Nathan Garcia — Thanks for everything you’ve taught me and the many ways you’ve helped me grow as a person.
• Rich Hames — Thanks for always treating me with respect.
• Bob Solkol — Thanks for giving me a chance to show everybody what I was capable of.
• Tom Richards — Thanks for teaching me how to be a better leader.
• Enrique Gomez — Thanks for always being there for me.
• Britne Watson — Thanks for always having my back and letting me vent.
• Henri Padilla — Thanks for helping me take care of business.
• Scott Giles — Thanks for the interesting conversations.
• Steve Castner — Thanks for being there when the crap hit the fan and for inspiring me to get out of the “black hole”.
• The Geek Squad team at Fullerton — Thanks for welcoming me into your ‘family’ and treating me like one of the guys. Good luck to those that plan on leaving soon! And to Alice, thanks for the card!

I know I’m missing a bunch of names here, but you all know who you are! Thank you.