And so it begins...
Today is the first day of my official leave of absence. I hope to get a few things accomplished today as I try to figure out my new routine.
Things to get done this week:
- Business card design: I need a card to include with any craft sales
- Clean up clay work area
- Create several items for the craft store
- Get into a regular exercise routine
- Cut the grass :)
Update
Well the store was fun, but it was way more work than it was worth at the time. My biggest regret is that I have not continued to make clay sculptures. I did not come up with a successful app and make money on the app store. But I'm still working on things all the time.
Getting ready to get started
Next week I start my "Year Off", and I can't wait. I put it in quotes because I'll actually be very busy. I'l be doing things on my own schedule, but I'll keeping a regular work day.
The first week will involve:
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Getting a batch of items ready for our Etsy store.
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Creating a business card to include with the Clay work.
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Working on a submission for Artomat
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Getting started with iPhone development. Very interested in seeing if I can make any money with some simple apps. Its important to get my foot in the door as early as possible.
I'll be trying to post something related to this work and my thoughts on how its going every week or two.
Taking a year off resources
My time off starts in April, and I have a bunch of work to do before then. I thought I would post some of the sites and articles I looked at before I talked to my employer.
Big Ba-Loo
I try not to talk to much about where I work or what I do. Pretty much everyone reading this should know that I'm a Software Developer. What most of you probably do not know, unless you work with me, is that I now work for IBM. The company that I used to work for was acquired. Its been pretty much normal sailing so far, but I'm sure things will be changing in interesting ways in the near future. Now I will continue with more of the not talking about my work. We went to the opening of the local Renaissance Festival this weekend. Its always a blast to see the shows and all the people dressed up and attempting to behave in a manner thats in sync with our fantasty view of the era. You get wizards, faries, pirates, jesters, and all manner of costumed folk. I also tend to spend money on overpriced trinkets that I don't really need. This year I got a comical dragon incense smoker and a leather book cover with a dragon pressed into the cover. If you don't know it by now, I have a thing for Wizards and Dragons. I like to say I collect them, but L likes to say I'm a nut.
Current Music: Southern Culture on the Skids "Devil's Stompin' Ground"
Reading and Thinking
I was just reading over at Wil Wheaton Dot Net that his new book will be in stores soon. I just recently read his first mini-book called Dancing Barefoot. I really enjoyed it and I expect Just a Geek to be as good or better.
Our lunchtime discussions lately have revolved around the concept of balancing our free time with our jobs. I personally value my free time very highly. Our whole lives should not be just about our jobs. The company we work for is pretty good about not over-working us too much, but they do expect more than 40 hours a week as the norm. One of the ideas that we have discussed during lunch has been doing four 10 hour days instead of five 8's. I really like this idea, you have more time in the office for those four days, but you get an extra whole day off.
Now let me say that there is no way this idea would ever be implemented at my office. Its so crazy no one would ever even think to bring it up as a real suggestion.
My company is very conservative when it comes to these kind of things. The concept of Tele-commuting has been brought up repeatably over the last few years and each time its totally shot down. We have VPN access and we have the ability to work from home but that is reserved for when you're sick, for when you have to work late or on the weekend. Oh well, its still fun to dream about these things.
Outsourcing...(Que ominous drum roll) Another topic that comes up everyday is IT outsourcing. My company has embraced this idea completely. However, their current policy is that we are only doing it to grow our development group faster. Indeed we are still hiring locally as well.
Now, I can understand that outsourcing can make very good business sense these days. But, just because it is good for the company does not mean that it's the right thing to do. I don't think the company realizes how unsettled this whole process has made us. We are not afraid that our jobs are going to disappear suddenly, at least not yet, but being treated like a commodity that can be bid on tends to make one question your loyalty. Now I know a lot of people that will fire back with, but you are a commodity, to be traded and bid on like a box of nails or a roll of sheet steel. Bull-Shit! We are people that have an emotional investment in this company. If the company wants us to feel like we are a part of this family, then they need to show us the respect we deserve.
Instead of spending all this time getting a group of cheaper developers up and running, the company could have just hired a couple new local developers and kept the rest of us content.
Current Music: Jane's Addiction "Classic Girl"
Older and Bolder
As I get older Birthdays make me think more about the past, mistakes I have made, and where I thought I would be at this point in my life. I have never been good at planning for the future and thinking about what I want to do with my time. I guess thats part of the reason we celebrate birthdays in the first place. Sometimes you just need to stop and think about where you are and where you are going.
In general I'm fairly happy with my current job. There are things I would like to change about it, but I always find it hard to complain about getting paid well to write software. I have been lucky over the years with meeting many very cool people through work. My current job is no exception to that pattern. I don't have much in common with most of my co-workers, but there have been a few that I can truly call friends. The problem is that the people I have the most in common with keep leaving. The reasons differ, but often it comes down to feeling like they don't fit in. Now, I'm known for getting along with just about everyone, but I have to ask myself if I fit in here? I'm not sure that I do and I can't decide how to handle it. It probably doesn't even matter. As one of my friends said "No one really likes their job."
Current Music: Alice in Chains "Nutshell"
Working from Home
Updated the clay page with more pictures. I am very happy with this latest Dinko inspired dino. It is just so much fun making this stuff.
I have gotten so much work done the last few days. I always worry about working from home, because of all the possible distractions. These last two days have been great.
Current Music: REM "Belong"
Working for the weekend...
Just read this short article on charlotte.com about how much Americans work compared to Europeans. According to this article on this day we have already worked as much as they will for the entire year. They get more vacation than we do and they work fewer hours total. I don't think the extra work is worth it. Normaly around this time of year I'm busy trying to get some super important project done, while wishing I was any where but at work. I really think I would enjoy my job more if I had a little more time off. I believe that I would be more productive in the long run.
Current Music: David Bowie "The Hearts Filthy Lesson"
Biltmore
The company I work for took me on a corporate retreat to Biltmore last week. Apart from a few crappy team-building exercises the trip was great fun. I can't imagine living in such an amazing place. That kind of lifestyle is so far removed from my reality that I can't even begin to understand it. Lisa and I will have to go there for a weekend trip sometime.
Current Music: Orgy "Fiction(Dreams In Digital)"
IT Outsourcing
By now everyone has read at least one blog or article about all of the US Technical jobs being shipped to India and other places. This trend has hurt us directly. Lisa was laid-off when pretty much her whole department was outsourced. Don't bring up the fact that the department was poorly managed in the first place. Also, don't mention that expensive projects were routinely started only to be canceled weeks from roll out, add to that the fact that the company in question posted great earnings for the year. Sorry to all the people that worked hard, because they thought they had a stable job. Grrrr.
I'm not too happy with this trend. In what seems like just a few months the whole Software Industry has shifted. What was once a promising career that everyone wanted to get into has suddenly turned into a mess. Most of these companies will not see the kind of savings they think they will. The overhead costs and slow turn around times can eat away at the expected savings.
All most everyday now someone at work mumbles something about outsourcing. However unlikely it is that our jobs will head overseas, we are still worried. You never know what could happen when the whole industry is looking at outsourcing as the magic pill to cure all their woes.
I don't know what the answer to this problem is. Too be honest I'm a little scared. What kind of job am I going to have in 5-10 years. I think the real problem here is that companies have never viewed employees as people. We are just another resource to be moved around and allocated in whatever manner they like. Making some profit with happy people should be more important than making a lot of profit with fewer people. Constantly trying to make more money should not be the goal that everyone shoots for. Sure you have to stay innovative, sure you have to have new and better products, sure being efficient and not wasting money is important, and sure some people don't know what they are doing and need to be let go. But, indiscriminately firing people so the officers of a company can add another zero onto their income is pretty damn lame.
Current Music: Neil Young "Old Man"