Following Edge

Above Ground

michael@followingedge.com () — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 03:58:06 +0000

Here's what my new office desk looks like. We just moved in today [...]

Risky things to tell your boss

michael@followingedge.com () — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:55:35 +0000

Yesterday was the much-anticipated meeting with my boss, where I risked my job in hopes of finding something better. First, I told him that a 20% raise is critically important to me. He doesn't want to hear this, because after 18 years with the company and 11 years in my senior position, I'm making more than he wants to consider already, and the company is so dependent on me for basic operations that they can't give me a take-it-or-leave-it response. He was grateful that I made the discussion easy for him and said he would get back to me soon, but, like I said, he didn't want to hear this and was concerned when I said that I was eager to keep the discussion brief because the second discussion would be something he really didn't want to hear. [...]

Things are looking up

michael@followingedge.com () — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 04:58:03 +0000

I suspect that many people linger for a long time in misery needing to make changes so they can be happier. The lingering comes, I think, from not being able to find a solution that extracts you from your current problem and also delivers something better. Whether the problem is work, or money, or a relationship, it's hard to figure out a perfect solution while you're under the weight of the problem and when there may be no way to see the solution completely from your starting position.

If you've been noticing my occasional gripes about work in the last year [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] (OK, perhaps "frequent gripes" may be more accurate than "occasional gripes), you know that my misery is about work [...]

All night long

michael@followingedge.com () — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 03:25:18 +0000

Just after my last post at about 8:00 last night, I did head off to Portland to fix our broken accounting system (IMACS). By the time I'd made it to Eugene to pick up parts, I knew from my friend and co-worker Chris (who was able to go in to the office) that the system's power supply was the problem.

When I made it to Portland at 11:00, it took me a short while to get the power supply replaced, because, for some reason, the spare part was a different type than the original [...]

What's up with this job?

michael@followingedge.com () — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 03:59:47 +0000

It's 8:15pm and our main accounting system has disappeared. I have remotely restarted it twice, with it only reappearing once for a few seconds. So, I am now starting off on a 2.5 hour drive with tools and spare parts to fix the thing in Portland.

It seems that the last 2 months have just been one catastrophy at work following another [...]

I'm Upgraded

michael@followingedge.com () — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:28:23 +0000

Tossing aside my usual "Following Edge" mindset, I upgraded to WordPress 2.0 less than a week after it was released. Of course, I am a member of the Wordpress "testers" mailing list, so I've known about some of the issues and concerns about the new version. I was also very careful in comparing the upgrade to the old (1.5) version.

Even as careful and informed as I was, my impression is that most people could switch to WordPress 2.0 using the simple upgrade instructions, without my careful methodology, and have no trouble at all [...]

Pajama Day

michael@followingedge.com () — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 05:27:46 +0000

Despite how many imagine the lifestyle of the telecommuter, I don't believe that most spend all of their time working in their pajamas (or underwear) as many wisecrackers like to suggest. Today, however, I spent almost the entire day in my pajamas bent over the computer still trying to plow through my backlog of work, support calls and emails, and an online timeclock project which should have been completed weeks ago.

So, dinnertime arrived and I was still in my pajamas, so I decided I'd stretch the pajama day to bedtime [...]

Cursed

michael@followingedge.com () — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 03:22:02 +0000

After working all-nighters last week, getting through the installation of our new store in Redmond and returning after 11:00pm Thursday, I almost got to "relax" and catch up on work Friday, except that I was still working after 8:00pm getting an Internet circuit fixed for Redmond, then our company's entire computer room was taken offline again both Saturday and Sunday mornings by a so-called-uninterruptible power supply. Now, I'm waiting for a call to start the process of replacing the expensive uninterruptible power supply with a plugstrip, which I think will be more reliable in the short term.

I was waiting to be in a good mood and post some nice, cute pictures and optimistic holiday thoughts... but it may take a long while to get there [...]

Redmond

michael@followingedge.com () — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 06:16:40 +0000

Keith and I drove to Redmond, Washington yesterday to set up the company's new store here. Many people will think of Microsoft when they think of Redmond, and, in fact, our hotel is one of the extended stay hotels immediately on the edge of the Microsoft campus. (Happily, Keith's room doesn't face Microsoft, otherwise I'm sure he would make good on his promise to moon them.)

I felt tremendously unprepared for this installation, given all the work I've had to devote to other projects instead of preparations [...]

The whole legacy story...

michael@followingedge.com () — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 04:59:04 +0000

So what has been keeping me so occupied, doing all-nighters half of the last week? A customer database.

A customer database, you say? Doesn't every database software out there come with a customer database as a sample [...]