8 posts tagged “job”
Changing the world, one tie at a time..
When asked by a person in my office if I was attempting to re-write the dress code by wearing a suit everyday (except Friday), I naturally responded, "Of course!". I'm not, however, I just wanted to tease him a little. My real goal is to place myself in the mindset of a being a working professional because if I dress for the job I want and not for the job I have, then the opportunities will come easier to me. I'm not even really looking for a position where I wear a suit. I just find that if I "think" success, I'll "live" success, too.
To that end, I am interviewing for really interesting jobs doing things I actually enjoy doing. The side effect is that I really am beginning to change the dress code in the office! I've started to see fewer blue jeans and more 'Docker' style pants and I'm even starting to see the occasion tie!
My goal in 'dressing up' was purely for myself, to do the "dress for success" thing, but I had no idea that others might follow in my footsteps.
I wonder if they're looking for a new career, too..
My wife starts her new job next week!
My wife, Laurie, starts her new job on Wednesday as a Software Engineer, developing in Microsoft .NET 2005. Her last job was, shall I say, a HUGE disappointment, so this is great not only because she is now a programmer.. it's also great because she's making 150% more than her last job!
Great work, Laurie!
This is where I want to work..
If you listen carefully, you can hear the old-school coffee machine whimpering in fear..
Its NEW!!
Its SHINY!!
Its terribly environmentally unfriendly!!
But sooooo convenient, fast and always fresh!
This bad boy coffee machine makes a cup of coffee in about 10 seconds. It doesn't use anything nasty like instant coffee or coffee "syrup", either.. this is fresh coffee from fresh grounds and perfectly brewed.. every.. single.. time!
Its also free (paid for by the office), so I'm pretty cool with that, too.
..its not green, at all!
So, I got my green card today! As promised, here is a picture of what a real honest-to-goodness green card looks like. Was I really surprised that it isn't green? Ummm.. no. I've been dealing with our friends at USCIS for exactly one year now, and if there is one consistent thing that I've learned: they are consistently inconsistent. Constantly.
Not only did I get my green card today, I also got my North Carolina driver's license and North Carolina license plates. By the way, everything you hear about the DMV.. its all, painfully, true. Two hours of squirming in my chair-shaped torture device waiting for my number to be called and they didn't even have WiFi so I could at least get some work done!
I even tried guessing the WEP key of the Volvo dealer beside the DMV office.. no luck. It wasn't "volvo".
However, I did run into my old friend, Inspector Dan - the nice guy from the sherrif's office who helped us get our ducks in a row to make our car "American-ized".
If you missed it, and like to look at super-hard to duplicate USCIS identity cards, then don't forget to check out Employment Authorization Card, which exists only in memory now that "they" took it from me.
Worst practices in Software Engineering..
- Migration of customer data on the same day as a major User Interface (UI) release
- Releasing a new version of the software without testing
- Failing to provide up to date user manuals for the new software
- Removing valued and useful features
- Increasing time for users to complete common tasks while reducing usability
- Making major changes to operational workflow
- Inconsistent labels on buttons and menus from one screen to the next
- Provided online help that is two versions old
- No online help where it should be
- Last but not least.. failing to recognize that a rollback should have been done
The process of Software Engineering is a very plastic science. I mean, there is no way to calculate the solution to a software problem like there is to calculate how much steel to use in a bridge or how much thrust to use when launching rockets.
Are the problems listed above major problems? They are in one sense, but in the world of Software Engineering, they really aren't that bad. I mean, look at this list of software problems that had far-reaching negative effects:
- Software for radiation therapy miscalulates the doctors intent and overdoses patients. Eight patients die and 20 others are injured
- Particle accelerator used for medical purposes incorporates software that permits a "race condition" error. The race condition allows a safety interlock to be ignored which causes the death of five patients and many other injuries.
- Ariane 5 rocket explodes during ascent due to old software being used on new rocket. An error in converting a 64-bit number to a 16-bit number causing the engines to over-throttle, causing the loss of a $370 million dollar vehicle and payload.
- Mariner I space probe is destroyed by Mission Control after it diverts from its launch path. The cause is traced to improperly transcribing a calculation done with pencil and paper into the guidance computer.
- A new software release in AT&T telephone switches causes a domino-effect failure in 114 long-distance switches. For over nine hours, 60,000 people are without telephone access. The problem is fixed with a software revision roll-back.
Now, nobody is going to die if the software that my company provides goes squirrley. Nor will a rocket explode during launch and cause fire to rain down upon the Earth. That being said, while I have anything to say about it, I am not going to have any part of software that gets released with a complete lack of error testing, usability testing and absolutely no user documentation or online help.
I would also recognize when it's time to say "we were wrong" and would call for a software rollback.
The long road to my Green card comes to end..
Teams of lawyers, thousands of dollars, hundreds of pages of forms.. the moment of truth is upon me! On Monday, as 2:15PM, Laurie and I will need to "justify our love" in front of a panel of USCIS agents. If we succeed, then I will be granted that most-holy of US government documents..
<< The Green Card >>
Of course, we have no worries that it will come off fine. We're an actual relationship with a history of co-habitation and co-mingled finances, we are legally married and most importantly.. and most obviously to anyone who has met us, we are in love!
Nevertheless, there is a level of stress involved, because if the meeting goes badly, its going to be "No Green Card for you!! Come back.. ONE YEAR!" At least we've got a ton of good physical evidence to pack along with us to match the googily eye we still share for each other (bank statements, lease agreement, tax returns, car insurance.. all in both our names).
Our lawyer said that we've going to be someone's after lunch no-brainer approval because of how solid our case is. He also shared some cases that he's had that weren't quite so believable, like a guy who got divorced and then married his immigrant wife on the same day! Forget checking dates on that one, USCIS had to check the time-stamps on the divorce/marriage orders to see if it was legal. Laurie and I were also a little concerned about our age difference, to which our lawyer just said, "Oh please.. I've seen a 60 year old woman and a 20 year old man who knew each other for two weeks. You're fine!"
So, wish us luck and if I'm posting from Canada on Tuesday then you'll know how things went.. otherwise, I'll post a copy of my Green Card here and we'll see if it's really green! I also think its kinda "funny" that my employer is waiting until Tuesday before they hand over two contracts to me.. hehe. Best make sure I'm going to be here to work before making a big transistion!
..they expect results."
Those immortal words, spoken by Dan Ackroyd's character in "Ghostbusters", echo the feeling of angst and expectation that I have experienced this week.
I have returned to the life of full-time employee for the first time since August 2004! Ah.. the life of a student.. so varied and diverse, with only one's own spirit and willpower driving the completion of projects.
But now, I have a worklist and a direct report to whom I am responsible to complete said worklist. I have an email inbox that delivers implementation problems and questions to me and a phone that rings and takes voicemails if I don't answer it.
But.. I have an office, a big window overlooking downtown and Subway on one corner and Starbuck's on the other corner. And, of course, a regular payday with what I believe to be pretty decent compensation. I also love my new fully loaded Dell laptop that they provided me with.
It has been a long wait, between re-education and waiting for immigration to approve my work status, but its pretty cool to be working again. It's also a good feeling knowing that the work that I'm doing helps other people find careers, too.
Mostly, though, it's nice getting paid for the work I do - university is fun and all, but the pay sucks!
