So the company I contract with made me a deal beginning of last year when I was about to run out of COBRA. They agreed to pay me hourly with an hourly rate reduced by the actual cost of the benefits they were offering me with the understanding that when the job ran out, as with any contract, I'd be gone. This was an outstanding offer, because it meant ......

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I knew the daily updates would get old… if they weren’t getting tired for others, they got tired for me. But, today is a week… an odd week though… with a 3-day holiday in it. I’m hoping that’s why I haven’t gotten returns on almost anything yet. That’s not to say I haven’t. There are a couple really nice folks I’m talking to, and I worked all day yesterday ......

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Saturday means the lawn, so I’ll go wake the neighborhood up about 7 maybe. Meanwhile I’ll see what I can look at as far as training material for an hour and get a jump on the day. Lots of interruptions, but got some good solid MVVM done via a post by Jag Raheel where he links out to a bunch of other posts to make his points in the article… all good ......

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Another butt-kicking, and before 6:30 AM to be exact. I (obviously) like to write… well, maybe not so much that an editor is going to be reviewing my work, but if I’m doing my own editing, I can go on and on. So my solution to ‘Status Reports’ is to start the weekly report on Monday, and keep it open as a draft, typing in thoughts, problems, solutions… ......

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Spent some time getting my butt kicked by SQLServer2008 R2. I had SQLServer2005 on there and never did really care for the install I had going on that, and I have to believe that’s what part of my problem was because I could not connect to anything useful with the new install. After a failed attempt at a repair, I finally said screwitall and unistalled ......

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I had to run an errand the morning of Day 1 and returned to find the FedEx paperwork from Minerva. My benefits ended August 31. I don’t believe I’ve ever worked anywhere that benefits ended the day of… but it also included the COBRA papers and that’s gonna run roughly $850/month starting *now* … a big bite into the reserves to try to extend the money. ......

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This is officially my first day of being unemployed. I was off half of Monday and all of yesterday, but my pay ran through the end of August. I added the graphic on the right to my blog last night. I had a ‘bar napkin’ on there with a nice glass ring, but Shawn Wildermuth suggested it looked like a condom (in the wrapper). I suppose sized down it did, ......

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My own very recent personal experience mirrors this blog post: Silicon Valley’s Dark Secret: It’s All About Age So what do I do to deal with that? Looking at Vivek’s advice, item number 1 is to move into management … yikes… I firmly believe that if someone thought I had the chops to be a manager it would have happened 20 years ago… nobody wants to make ......

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I’ve worked at the same client for 5 years. I’ve had a really good relationship with the two managers I interface with regularly. Unfortunately, during this ‘dial-down’ situation we’re in, I find myself around the edges of a manager that within days of my arrival in 2005 proved to be someone I had no respect for. Unless my company pulls a rabbit out ......

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Well... I should have known better than to try to interview for a new job, but it was a Windows Phone gig... and could have been a career-extender. Not to even think about the crap that's going on at work right now, this would be a sweet deal. But... I don't interview well. I've proved that to myself and others multiple times. I work on .NET 2.0 web ......

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