May 17, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Thanks, but I do enjoy what I do. It's not a passion, but I'm not sure what that is for me.
My best days as a technologist as behind me. Not my best days.
A sabbatical would be nice, and I almost took one a little over a year ago, but I had no idea what I'd do for the time :w00t:
May 18, 2009 at 12:44 am
This year I will be 48 and have been in I.T. for 25 years - what I have found is you have to re-invent yourself every few years or so , I started out as a COBOL A/P , did seven years of that , moved over to Mainframe technical support (Burroughs/Unisys - MCP and DMSII ) for ten years and then onto SQL server .
It was always tough to restart each time , but not impossible , and the advantage I have had over younger colleagues is in the non-technical area - problem solving is problem solving and gets better with experience and also in the way you deal with others - you learn to cope with the world as it exists not as you would prefer it .
As for my best years being behind me - not a bit I'm no slower at picking things up (I never was an I.T wunderkind to start with - just a competant technician) and I fully expect to have to re-invent myself again with the next 10 years .
What would really distress me is if someone decided to promote me to line management - that would be a sign that I'd finally lost it !
May 18, 2009 at 7:13 am
Steve, I think you are going through Men-O-Pause. 🙂 You will get over it soon.
May 18, 2009 at 2:26 pm
umailedit (5/18/2009)
Steve, I think you are going through Men-O-Pause. 🙂 You will get over it soon.
I always thought it meant Men Oh Pause the women is dangerous!
:-PManie Verster
Developer
Johannesburg
South Africa
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Holy Bible
I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times. - Everett Mckinley Dirkson (Well, I am trying. - Manie Verster)
May 18, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Manie Verster (5/18/2009)
umailedit (5/18/2009)
Steve, I think you are going through Men-O-Pause. 🙂 You will get over it soon.I always thought it meant Men Oh Pause the women is dangerous!
Sounds like the best technological days for this THREAD are in the past.
For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]
May 18, 2009 at 3:19 pm
The pause is that tiny moment of time between the face turning red and the yelling and slapping starts. Gives you time to duck. :w00t:
For guys it's that period of time where you figure that ducking is no longer worth the effort because it just means the beating will be longer.
ATBCharles Kincaid
May 19, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Its funny as we continue down the road, we wake up one day and we are now managers. I used to be a hard core programmer and now I am management. It all started when I went on vacation and when I got back I was informed I now had an employee. Next thing I knew I had a department.
I rarely code, instead I write briefing notes, project charters and attend meetings. I miss the old days, especially when the new challenges are frustrating and never seem to have an end in sight.
That being said in the new world of management I do not do all nighters and actually see my family so the trade off as I get older in that sense is worth it.
May 19, 2009 at 11:28 pm
~traveller (5/19/2009)
Its funny as we continue down the road, we wake up one day and we are now managers. I used to be a hard core programmer and now I am management. It all started when I went on vacation and when I got back I was informed I now had an employee. Next thing I knew I had a department.I rarely code, instead I write briefing notes, project charters and attend meetings. I miss the old days, especially when the new challenges are frustrating and never seem to have an end in sight.
That being said in the new world of management I do not do all nighters and actually see my family so the trade off as I get older in that sense is worth it.
I would always like to be hands-on with coding especially with SQL but sometimes I wish I could sit in a managers' chair and be the one that decide what has to be done. A managers's job can also be boring/frustrating because of all the paperwork and stuff.
:-PManie Verster
Developer
Johannesburg
South Africa
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Holy Bible
I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times. - Everett Mckinley Dirkson (Well, I am trying. - Manie Verster)
May 20, 2009 at 9:34 am
WAIT A MINUTE !
I instantly recognized the Timex Sinclair. I guess that kind of dates us, doesn't it?
May 20, 2009 at 9:42 am
It does, Bob, it does
May 21, 2009 at 5:01 pm
~traveller (5/19/2009)
Its funny as we continue down the road, we wake up one day and we are now managers. I used to be a hard core programmer and now I am management. It all started when I went on vacation and when I got back I was informed I now had an employee. Next thing I knew I had a department.I rarely code, instead I write briefing notes, project charters and attend meetings. I miss the old days, especially when the new challenges are frustrating and never seem to have an end in sight.
This week, astronauts upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope, performing two spacewalks in the process and sending it on its merry way to provide more incredible images from space for us all to marvel at.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, crime, corruption, and poverty continued unabated.
The technical challenges are more straightforward. Not easy, but they work in predictable and logical ways. Your computer doesn't lie to you, steal from you, or do you intentional harm. It's not lazy. It's not emotional. It's not petty, political, greedy or incompetent. It's not out to get you or profit at your expense.
Being a technologist and being in management are very different jobs and have different types of issues to deal with.
Just ask Dilbert. 😉
May 22, 2009 at 8:40 am
Bob Abernethy (5/21/2009)
This week, astronauts upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope, performing two spacewalks in the process and sending it on its merry way to provide more incredible images from space for us all to marvel at.
Five. Not two. Even improvised a bit. They had one bolt on a hand rail that would not come out. They could not screw it all the way out and they could not put it back in. Management agreed that since there was not going to be any more missions to service the HST that he hand rail was no longer needed. They removed the hand rail by fatiguing the bolt. :w00t: For those that don't get that term it means that they bent it back and forth till it broke off.
This is a great example of what we have been talking about. They used a very old technique to solve a current problem. This means knowing how to apply old things in current ways. Also when to give up the old because the state of the art produces better results. "The state of the art hangs on the wall. The state of wisdom goes in my pocket."
ATBCharles Kincaid
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