March 6, 2009 at 11:08 am
•Retraining - Just about every company I've worked for in the last 25 years has encouraged and paid for (at least heavily supplemented) the costs involved. What more could we ask for?
•Ergo Chairs - and keyboards, minimum level of lighting and even a nice live plant in every office. My current employer just put a popcorn machine in the break room! Life is good.
•Extra vacation - "The US standard is still 2 weeks..." Yeah, and it tickles me when I hear Europeans "feel sorry" for us poor Yanks. Right! That's why all the workers are fleeing the US. Oh, wait, other way round.
I'm rarely at a company long enough to earn more that the minimum number of vacation days. But I always seem to have to take a whole bunch of days off at the end of the fiscal year or lose them (they're not really lost -- just converted to sick days). I work in front of a computer all day then go home and relax by sitting in front of my computer. This is what defines me, it is who I am. I am "Tomm the programmer" not "Tomm the sit in front of the TV-er" or "Tomm the sit by the pool-er".
When you meet someone for the first time, what is one of the first questions you ask them? "What do you do for a living?" In other words, "What have you chosen to give your life meaning?"
•Medical benefits - Americans are already over-insured. As anyone with any economic knowledge can tell you, make a product appear cheaper than it really is and you get shortages and other higher real costs. The price of medical care increases at twice the normal rate of inflation -- do you honestly not understand why? My employer pays $12k a year for my insurance. Convert it to hospitalization only (for about $2k/year) and I'll split the $10k savings down the middle with my employer. I'll pay for normal doctor's visits myself and still come out ahead thousands of dollars a year.
•Telecommuting - Some companies encourage it and some still don't quite trust it. So work for the former. Stop complaining about "my employer does/doesn't do...!" Leave them and get a job with a company that gives you what you want. No one forced you to work where you do and no one is forcing you to stay. Anyone who complains about being overworked and underpaid should add the addendum: "and I'm just too fricking lazy to do anything about it."
•Professional Advancement - You mean like into Management??? No thanks, I plan on dying at the keyboard.
•Overtime - You want to get paid more for working longer hours? Fine. Are you willing to get paid less for leaving work early?
Didn't think so.
•Holidays - More holidays? Are you kidding? If work is that burdensome to you, find something you enjoy more. When you work you produce "things" that are consumed by someone. Others produce the "things" that we consume. So if I want to enjoy the benefits of a plentiful supply of (food, medical care, Internet access, you name it) I am glad that so many people work so hard to provide those things to me.
•Retirement - Pensions? One of the reasons I have turned down all management positions is that I dread the thought of retirement. When I can no longer work, there will be no more reason to remain alive. American men who work all their lives and then retire quickly start deteriorating in health and die within 18 months (this is an average, of course).
That is completely understandable. Humans are the only animal that require a reason to live -- a purpose. Our work provides us with that purpose. Work is not drudgery. It is not something that a malevolent universe shackles us with in retribution for some past sin. It is the spark of life. It makes us want to live a little longer -- to see what awaits us tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.
Why do you think prisons are effective? In most modern countries, the prisoners cannot be physically mistreated, they get three meals a day, medical care, access to libraries and even cable TV. What prisoners don't get is purpose. It's hell.
It's been fashionable for quite a long time to complain about "the ol' ball and chain." Please! Read a little history to gain some perspective. Life is good and getting better every year. And it is the ability to work hard to enrich our own lives (physically and mentally) that is responsible.
As someone put it: TANSTAAFL. Or, be very careful what you wish for...
As for unions... Don't get me started!
Tomm Carr
--
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March 6, 2009 at 11:21 am
SQLSimon (3/6/2009)
The US standard for vacation is just 2 weeks????2 weeks? I'm stunned.
2 weeks?
Why? The only reason I take those two weeks is that if I don't use 'em they expire at the end of the year anyway. (No reason to throw away free days. I guess I should think about taking sick days, too, since those never get used, either.)
I'm guessing the US is a much more fun place to work if y'all need so much time off...
:hehe:
March 6, 2009 at 11:39 am
If we're going to delude ourselves with false promises, why not aim higher? In other words, rather than the micro-collectivist construct (unions), why not endorse Marxism, a macro-collectivist construct? Marxism worked out great in many parts of the world (Cuba, the Soviet Union, N Korea, to name a few)... the leaders of Marxist regimes were satisfied with their system, after all.
March 6, 2009 at 11:45 am
David,
Some of us actually have a life. We only work to support our real life away from the job. If you have to be forced to take your two weeks just to keep from losing them, you can come to work for me...I could use a slave.
March 6, 2009 at 11:59 am
Tomm,
When you meet someone for the first time, what is one of the first questions you ask them? "What do you do for a living?" In other words, "What have you chosen to give your life meaning?"
What you do for a living shouldn't NECESSARILY be "What have you chosen to give your life meaning?" I am one of those persons who always has many irons in the fire at once. I have a job (which I really enjoy) that funds my life away from the job, allowing me to do alternate energy research, compose and perform music, travel to see friends all over the world, etc. These non-job activities give at least as much meaning to my life as my vocation. Don't misunderstand me, I love my job and it also contributes to improving the quality of healthcare for everyone by supporting medical research with clinical informatics. It is just not the only thing I do.
March 6, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Irish Flyer (3/6/2009)
David,Some of us actually have a life. We only work to support our real life away from the job. If you have to be forced to take your two weeks just to keep from losing them, you can come to work for me...I could use a slave.
I might be interested, Flyer. Especially if your stock price is doing better than ours. 😛 I'm very partial to exclusive, private health care, too, for the family, though. I also like working with people who are smarter than I am (not that it's hard for me to find a workplace like that). A hiring bonus would be nice, too. I've gotten used to those...
Do you offer more free software than the law allows before everyone else on the planet? And access to all the code underneath it? Getting paid to fiddle with beta software is fun. Do I get to play with really big, expensive hardware for free all day? (I don't mind sharing lab SANs with others.) Or even really small, expensive hardware? (The Windows Mobile breakfast thing this morning was awesome. Very much looking forward to that launch this year!)
Do you have weather that lets me ride the Kawi 6R to work 350 days a year? (OK, it was chilly @ 25°F this morning, but not hypothermia-inducing.) Twisting above 10k RPMs on the way home is better for the soul than a day off...
Besides a personal, monetary bailout, you could interest me in a meeting-free workplace!
Steve, that what I want your Union Thugs™ to get for me: No More Meetings!!
:hehe:
March 6, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Tomm & David Reed,
I like the work I do. I like spending time with my friends and family more, but it doesn't pay the bills. That's great that you find life fulfilling when it's all about work, but just because others don't feel the same doesn't mean they are in the wrong line of work - it means they have other priorities.
Also, "if you don't like it, do something about it" works a lot better in a booming economy than one that is a hair away from depression. It's more like "if you don't like it, try to deal with it until the economy improves and be glad you have a job." My honey already got laid off and his 14 years of experience haven't gotten him a single interview thus far so my job could be the shittiest in the world (it's not) and I'd have to deal with it until I managed to find another one, or we and the kids would starve and be out of a house.
--
Anye Mercy
"Service Unavailable is not an Error" -- John, ENOM support
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." -- Inigo Montoya in "Princess Bride"
"Civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice." -- Will Durant
March 6, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Anye Mercy (3/6/2009)
Tomm & David Reed,I like the work I do. I like spending time with my friends and family more, but it doesn't pay the bills. That's great that you find life fulfilling when it's all about work, but just because others don't feel the same doesn't mean they are in the wrong line of work - it means they have other priorities.
Glad to hear that. I can't speak for Tomm, but I don't think I'm saying you have to love your job. There are days that I don't like mine, but overall, I've had much worse! Nobody's shooting at me (most days) @ this one... 😀
Did I say (out loud) other peoples' priorities were wrong? If I said that out loud, I apologize!
I am a huge fan of the proverb: "Get paid to do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life."
Anye Mercy (3/6/2009)
Also, "if you don't like it, do something about it" works a lot better in a booming economy than one that is a hair away from depression. It's more like "if you don't like it, try to deal with it until the economy improves and be glad you have a job." My honey already got laid off and his 14 years of experience haven't gotten him a single interview thus far so my job could be the shittiest in the world (it's not) and I'd have to deal with it until I managed to find another one, or we and the kids would starve and be out of a house.
I'm sorry to hear that your honey's in that spot. I don't know where you're @ geographically, but if there's anything I can do to help out from over here in my little corner of the world, I'd love to!
My wife and I have talked about our worst-case scenario (Microsoft decides to add me to the list of former employees)... and it's her job to come up with the short list of "new places" that we'd choose from to move to in order to find work since we're pretty sure that the Seattle vicinity will be a pretty competitive job-seeker market if there's another big RIF and we get caught in it.
[Yeah, Steve, she knows that you think Denver's a nice place to raise kids and horses. It's on the list already.]
It's my job to make sure that I'm as employable as possible and stay that way, since we're a single income family. Like any other DR plan: we've got to be honest with ourselves about the options and have something written to execute on if the unpleasantness we don't want to happen ignores our wishes. The "spend less" part is the one I like least. 😉
March 6, 2009 at 1:08 pm
David Reed (3/6/2009)
Do you have weather that lets me ride the Kawi 6R to work 350 days a year? (OK, it was chilly @ 25°F this morning, but not hypothermia-inducing.) Twisting above 10k RPMs on the way home is better for the soul than a day off...
David, you must only ride your motorcycle in the rain, because it rains 350 days a year here. 🙂 We work just a few buildings apart.
Besides, we're not going to let PM's join our union anyway. 😉
March 6, 2009 at 1:39 pm
David Reed (3/6/2009)
I might be interested, Flyer. Especially if your stock price is doing better than ours. 😛 I'm very partial to exclusive, private health care, too, for the family, though. I also like working with people who are smarter than I am (not that it's hard for me to find a workplace like that). A hiring bonus would be nice, too. I've gotten used to those...
Do you offer more free software than the law allows before everyone else on the planet? And access to all the code underneath it? Getting paid to fiddle with beta software is fun. Do I get to play with really big, expensive hardware for free all day? (I don't mind sharing lab SANs with others.) Or even really small, expensive hardware? (The Windows Mobile breakfast thing this morning was awesome. Very much looking forward to that launch this year!)
Do you have weather that lets me ride the Kawi 6R to work 350 days a year? (OK, it was chilly @ 25°F this morning, but not hypothermia-inducing.) Twisting above 10k RPMs on the way home is better for the soul than a day off...
Besides a personal, monetary bailout, you could interest me in a meeting-free workplace!
David,
Your interest is noted. My company is private, but 1 yr revenues are up 42% and I profit share with my employees. My employees pay $150/mo for full family medical coverage on the best plan Blue Cross offers and includes dental and vision. I employ a bunch of superbright people and get no complaints about compensation. We work on state of the art hardware and software in a an environment where 20TB describes a smalll box. Our meetings are short and have agendas. They are for distributing knowledge quickly and evenly, not time wasting.
I hear you about the Kawi, I have a vintage R1 Turbo I like to let out of its cage periodically. Fortunately I live in San Antonio, where you can ride all but about 10 days a year through the TX hill country.
March 6, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Irish Flyer (3/6/2009)
What you do for a living shouldn't NECESSARILY be "What have you chosen to give your life meaning?"
It's not a question of necessity. It just is. The meaning of life results from productive effort. Like the fact we have to eat to remain alive, it is a feature of life and the universe in which we live. The benefit of being human is that we get to choose. We must eat to live, but we get to choose what we eat. We must produce to have meaning, but we get to choose what we produce.
And you don't have to remind me that our choices are limited. Of course they are. At 6ft-2in, I am too short to play in the NBA and far too big to be a racing jockey. I've tried my hand at writing but I suck big time and I'm just too damn ugly to be on the big screen. We all have constraints, but we all are left with plenty of choices to make.
Until, that is, we join a union.
Tomm Carr
--
Version Normal Form -- http://groups.google.com/group/vrdbms
March 6, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Tomm Carr (3/6/2009)
And you don't have to remind me that our choices are limited. Of course they are. At 6ft-2in, I am too short to play in the NBA and far too big to be a racing jockey. I've tried my hand at writing but I suck big time and I'm just too damn ugly to be on the big screen. We all have constraints, but we all are left with plenty of choices to make.
This year's NBA slam dunk champion is 5ft-9in.
And if you think ugly will keep you off of the big screen, I have two words for you: Paul Giamotti. 🙂
March 6, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I ask David about the bike regularly, and I'm always amazed he's riding in the rain. I think riding every day is a personal choice in that weather. I think more people would ride more often in Denver than elsewhere.
Anye, come to Denver, the weather is great, real estate is down, but jobs are few and far between right now.
I hope you enjoy your job, if not, look for another. You don't have to quit, but if it's not something you want to do more often than not, plan to move on.
March 6, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Steve Jones - Editor (3/6/2009)
I ask David about the bike regularly, and I'm always amazed he's riding in the rain. I think riding every day is a personal choice in that weather. I think more people would ride more often in Denver than elsewhere.Anye, come to Denver, the weather is great, real estate is down, but jobs are few and far between right now.
I hope you enjoy your job, if not, look for another. You don't have to quit, but if it's not something you want to do more often than not, plan to move on.
I don't want to quit - I was just pointing out that it isn't as black and white for most people as Mr. Carr was implying, that in this day and age most people can't afford to just quit a less than ideal job, and many employers are taking advantage of the poor economy with the thought that their employees really don't have much choice but to deal with what they dish.
And, sadly we are stuck in Houston because that's where the kids' mom lives and we don't go anywhere without the kids (and somehow I don't think moving honey's ex is really an option...)
--
Anye Mercy
"Service Unavailable is not an Error" -- John, ENOM support
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." -- Inigo Montoya in "Princess Bride"
"Civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice." -- Will Durant
March 6, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Anye Mercy (3/6/2009)
Also, "if you don't like it, do something about it" works a lot better in a booming economy than one that is a hair away from depression...
In a bad economy, few people complain about their jobs. They know how fortunate they are just to have one. Only in a good economy -- when the most options are available to them -- do people complain about their jobs.
I've been laid off 4 times. The last time, I took a course to get my CDL and hit the road for a year. By agreeing to work for the trucking company beforehand, they even paid for the training. It wasn't a great job, but it paid the bills, gave my life meaning (and hope) and got me thru a tough patch until I could get back to my "real" job in front of a computer. Whether in good times or bad, looking back I can find nothing worth complaining about.
Tomm Carr
--
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