because not enough websites start with the letter “Z”
Posted in life on Aug 18th, 2008
For the past six weeks or so I have been participating in a placement program at my employer. My position was eliminated and this program is designed to locate a new position for me within the company. While I applaud the thinking behind the program - that it is better to retain employees than to [...]
Today marks the two year anniversary of my employment here in Kansas City. Saying that the past two years have been tumultuous would be a massive understatement. If, as Nietzsche said, “That which does not kill you will only make you stronger”, then I am stronger today than I’ve ever been in my life.
In the [...]
Posted in life on Oct 18th, 2004
My career turned twenty-one over the weekend. I started my first full-time, paying programming job on October 17, 1983. My career is now old enough to legally drink. Woohoo!
A lot has happened in the past twenty-one years. I’ve worked for state and federal government agencies, created frameworks for a wafer manufacturer, headed projects at [...]
Posted in life on Jun 9th, 2003
I am having a crisis of faith this morning. My employment situation is such that I may have to find a new job soon. It has been almost three years since I found my current position. In that time the technology that I have been using recently has gone from a cutting edge, in demand [...]
Posted in life on Jun 2nd, 2003
I find myself feeling anxious most of the time now. With my current contract ending in just 28 days and no certain income beyond that I am starting to feel very out of control. I want to attack this situation intellectually; with lists and phone calls, networking and favors. I want to map out tasks [...]
Posted in life on May 28th, 2003
I have been focused on my job situation for the past few weeks. My current contract ends on June 30th and there is some question as to whether I’ll get another contract here or not.
In the past when I’ve been faced with this kind of situation I’ve gone off my tracks a bit and reacted [...]
Posted in life on Apr 25th, 2003
I respond to job stress by looking for a way to change the situation. In the past this has led to cross-country moves to new job situations. If moving to a new job situation eliminated the stress and I was able to stay in the new situation for as long as I wanted this would [...]
Posted in life on Apr 10th, 2003
It has been an interesting morning here. The state budget address was given yesterday, and it targets consultant spending as one area where cuts should be made. Naturally this has upset many of my consultant coworkers. The one thing that I keep reminding myself as I listen to and get sucked into these discussions, is [...]
Posted in life on Jan 29th, 2003
Once again my job is in jeopardy. My client, the State of Illinois, is having their annual budget crisis. Even though this occurs every spring it is impossible to be emotionally prepared for its arrival. This year Illinois? first democratic governor in 30 years enhances the festivities. Although the press releases insist that a [...]
Posted in life on Jul 18th, 2002
I work as an independent software consultant. Currently I am sub-contracting through another company to the local state government. As consulting gigs go this is pretty cushy. The contracts are one year in length, with the cost of the two one-year extensions built in from the start. Basically if you can do the work and [...]
