I'm a Python guy with a Java day job so I'm guessing my situation isn't that different from what he dealt with in 2006. Heck, most of us Java guys are dealing with it in 2012!
Python didn't drag my day job down. Instead, it gives me the understanding of what Java's shortcomings are and why IDEs and frameworks exist to cope with them.
It also changed the way I looked at design patterns. Before I knew Python, they were pretty intimidating. Now, I look at a strategy pattern implementation and find it more a cute attempt to compensate for something than anything else.
Python didn't drag my day job down. Instead, it gives me the understanding of what Java's shortcomings are and why IDEs and frameworks exist to cope with them.
It also changed the way I looked at design patterns. Before I knew Python, they were pretty intimidating. Now, I look at a strategy pattern implementation and find it more a cute attempt to compensate for something than anything else.