Jack's Diary

My husband is like B. Mr nice guy & people take advantage of him. Glad you liked the video.
 
So, I'm bumping around 166/167 right now. But I found a perfect snack for my nightime eating urges - Nora seaweed snacks. Not cheap - a small bag is 3 bucks - but tasty and crunchy. I think the whole bag was just 200 calories. It beats the two boxes of vanilla wafers on sale or the bag of pretzels I've been going for recently.

Work is crazy right now. It's always crazy. Can someone please sure I tell them "absolutely not" if they offer me a job? Send me a virtual punch in the face.
 
Thanks, Petal. The boss is really down on P for some reason, and is trying to postpone his trip to Japan until next year. I like the boss but feel like he's being unfair. I think he gets frustrated because P tends to do his own thing, is a bit of a loose cannon. But he's got a wonderful personality, always laughing, very soft-spoken. He's really physically strong, during the company outing he threw a volley ball like a mile.

Anyway, I feel like letting the boss know I'm not planning to continue. They should be looking for a replacement.
 
Is it a work trip to Japan? If so, I can see why he might not want to let a loose cannon out of immediate manageability, even if he's really a lovely person. If not - well, next year is only two and half months away (daunting thought!).

When do you plan to pull the pin?
 
I think the boss is going to regret not looking after the staff . They will eventually reap what they sow .
 
Aiminglow - when I say loose cannon, that may have been a bit strong. He's just in my boss's doghouse - the boss never has a good thing to say about him. It's been that way since I started, but I hear more of it now that I'm working for him. He (the boss) seems to like me, which is nice. Better that way than the shoe on the other foot.

I don't know when I will pull the plug. I still have 2.5 months left to go, and once I tell them, attitudes might shift drastically. The easy overtime might disappear, the invoices might not be paid so quickly. I dunno. I guess I'll just leave up to them.

Interesting note - I found out my boss's boss is the company president in the USA. He's the guy who came over to introduce himself the other day. So, he's a honcho.

Petal - I agree totally. P is extremely valuable to the company and is one of the guys who doesn't have a backup. He knows that and kind of takes advantage on road trips, where he tends to under the radar. But, what do they expect? For him to double up? Plus, if the boss is always scolding you, you don't tend to cuddle up to the guy. Especially if he's unreasonable, which I think he is at times. He is very smart guy, but always finding fault. I'm wary of falling into the doghouse with him as well.
 
Well Jack don’t worry to much because at least you have a back up plan . Hope these bosses someday realise that they should appreciate their staff .
 
Exactly, Petal. Good point. That's why I'm not going to renew this contract, nor accept a job. I will make a go of it. My guy says I can retire.

That said, this job never gets easier. It was a good week until 4 p.m. yesterday when it turns out a bunch of PCs delivered to the customer site, ordered by our rep (who sent me an email asking about the part number kit) were expected to contain production-ready images based on the old image (Linux OS).

Here's the bottom line:

1. The customer never approved the new image I worked on (Windows). They're still evaluating it. They were expecting the old image (Linux).
2. Our rep ordered new PCs and had them delivered directly to the customer. I think he thought they could just load the old image onto it, but it doesn't work that way.
3. Even if the customer approves it Monday, I can't deliver the new image right away because of a Windows Registration issue that came up in testing - something we haven't informed our rep of yet, hoping to get it done before they approved it.
4. I can't start work on building the new image until I get a PC with the correct Windows installed, which will be Tuesday at the earliest, probably later.
5. I'm out of town the week after, so won't be able to work on it anyway most likely.

So it's kind of a mess. There is one potential solution - the manufacturer has a bunch of PCs which will work with the old image - which they would love to get rid of. I think they must have it in inventory. I told my boss about it (I learned from M), and he said that was an option.

So I'm praying that is what happens.

I still feel like I'm going to get blamed. Hey, I'm just doing the best I can under pretty trying circumstances. I still don't get why they transferred hardware to the software department. The guy who's done it for 10 years knows all the in's and outs. He would've known immediately that I couldn't build on the PC I was building on.
 
Hi Cate,

Yeah, the rest of the post is nasty work stuff. I know how people in prison feel now when counting down the days. I don't recommend it - it makes the days seem sloooowwww.

I can't give them the new image because there's a bug - it's based on the wrong version of Windows. The poor guy has been pushing since early summer to get it done, and I couldn't deliver. The first image didn't work because of a sys-prep issue. It took me 3 weeks to turn around the second image because of all the other stuff I had going on. And now find it can't be validated because of the wrong version of Windows. Sure, P gave me the wrong version, but he's probably like me - doesn't know the difference, that we can only use the OEM version.

But when I talked to the customer on Friday, they said they were still evaluating the new version (the original one that I couldn't sys-prep) and just wanted the old version. So I hope they order the old computer, return the new ones, and I'll be off the hook.
 
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I'm at 168 right now - up a bit because I've been eating at night. I finally bought two huge jars of stick pretzels, just to have something around instead of running to the store. Out of junk foods, pretzels feel like they're one of the better ones. At least, they aren't sweet. And since the jars are so big, I really can't go through them all, so a self-limiting mechanism goes into effect. So the lesson is, buy too much junk food so you won't eat it all.

On the enlightened front, I'm just not making much progress. Also, I kind of dropped guitar, after playing it solidly for a couple of weeks. I realized that I had completely misunderstood the chords to "Beast of Burden" and got a little discouraged.

I do have a $200 series videos/books that I bought from Desi Serna. It's very theory-based, which I like because it's good to know theory. The problem is, he will teach you a concept, and then will rip out an amazing lick that you want to learn but will take hours, maybe days. So you don't make progress if you get caught up in that. But it acts as kind of a drag mentally.

I just don't seem to have the will to do it when the Celtics (or Patriots) are playing. They both look pretty good this year. When/if I retire, I'll definitely do better.
 
Jack I don’t really understand all the computer stuff but just sending you some support .
like the sound of a jar of pretzels
 
Fast forward to when you can leave, Jack. Who needs the stress? Meanwhile, I hope the customer does decide to go with the old version. Fingers crossed!
 
:iagree: They sound like a nightmare to work for - what gives with taking a task away from the person who's done it for ten years and knows it backwards? Sounds like they're trying to see if they can get one person to do the work of two, or two to do the work of three - to skimp on one salary, anyway, while maintaining the same output (they'll say they're upping "productivity", and pretend it's a good thing). If they're not careful, all their most valuable employees will get fed up, and quit, leaving them groping around not knowing how to do anything.
 
So, this retirement thing suddenly getting more real. I got an email from a project manager asking about my availability the first week in January. My boss is acting like I'll be around next year.

The thing is, do I really really want to retire now that the job is finally getting easier? I'm pretty sure they aren't going to let me retire just like that. I would have to be pretty firm. I'm feeling like I'm going to let them talk me into another 6-month contract. But, I dunno.

How about a reduced hours kind of thing? Or special projects?

The problem is, I don't feel rich. I like the idea of free time, but I also feel like I might just waste it. I know I do now.

Arggh, I'm so indecisive.
 
Jack, what do you want to do? Your new life, after work, can really be what you want it to be.
 
I love your conviction, Cate. The thing is, I would do guitar and music and - more programming. If I stick with the job, it might be fun. I'm useful. I like the people. I get along with them - it's a social thing, too. I like helping people.

I know I'm painting a rosy picture all of a sudden. This week was pretty easy, it turned out. For whatever reason, the other shoe hasn't fallen, so I wasn't killing myself. Next week I'll be in Chicago, the week after in Atlanta. So, some travel, which I haven't done for a while. There remains the possibility of a trip to Japan next year. And of course, adding to the nest egg.

But then a problem hits and I'm under pressure and hate the job again.
 
I thought I would get that answer :)
One day you will think "That's it. I'm done." & you will know that it's time. Work on your terms, Jack.
I have always loved Van Morrison's music. We saw him once in Melbourne & it was a very disappointing show. The venue was rubbish & he was not happy & spent most of the show with his back to the audience. To say the performance was wooden would be a classic understatement.
 
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