a113n’s daily dose

I’ve been overly
preoccupied with PMNC this week, causing me to forsake some of the finer luxuries including my newly created blog.
However, it’s definitely worth it. Aside from the cash on the side attitude the project brings and the sectional addition
to my resume, the site is really shaping up. And since no one is going to toot my own horn for me, I must say it’s quite
impressive. Definitely src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15"/> src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15"/> src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15"/> to Aaron’s kick a$$ graphical work. And some
of the backend coding simply rocks. Though the deadline is a bit tough, I think the accomplishment (a bit ahead of it’s
time, though coming) is an impressive feat by all standards.

I’ll need to make it up the wife though. Being as I’m
a full time Neoteric employee during the day, my nights are reserved for PMNC work with little deviation. It’s comforting
to know she understands and supports the project (given an eye on the spending money it brings in for the both us and on
Christmas around the corner), but she needs attention and appreciation and acknowledgement. The 3 a’s of keeping [most]
women happy & loving.

Tomorrow night we’re double dating with a coworker of her’s (codename Barbie). I’m looking
forward to some non-PMNC action for a change, and with haunted houses on the agenda, a fine evening it will be.

In
Neoteric-land, the *explitive* has really hit the fan. It seems as if this blog of late is a documentary of the unrest and
frustrated environment surrounding the company. The road ahead fills me with such pity and brings a sense of waste and
apathy over my duties. What a prosperous enterprise laid at our fingertips…however I fear that it’s lifespan is drawing
close to an end. I’m sure it was a great life, though I’ve only been privileged to experience a fraction, but I had hoped
for longer associations.

Go out tonight and see href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/10/27/mars.close.up.ap/index.html">Mars.

• Current Location: Bedroom
  
• Website: http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  
  
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  " target="_blank">http://www.i-am-bored.com/
  
  
  
  
• Website Rating: " src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">" src="http://www.dagey.net/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/star.gif" width="15">
  
  
  
  
• Website Description: Collection of humorous, educational, and all-round interesting activities including a wide range of videos, animations,
  
  
  
  interactive flash. A good stop when crusing the web.
  
  
  
  

Yesterday, I was asked what
I was doing by the president of the company. Now during the course of my day I perform many tasks, and at any given point
yesterday I could have responded with:

• writing test cases
• fixing photogallery
  errors
• reviewing revised company rules
• researching mysql upgrade procedures
• modifying apache memory management settings
• report for open projects
• organizing
  overhead tracking techniques

This list is nowhere near exhaustive and outside of the meetings and
discussions and debates and dissertations that run rapmant throughout the day. I told him, “researching cascading selects”,
which is what I was working on at the particular moment he asked. “Are those important?” he asks. I tell him, “We use them
for selecting classifications of hovercraft on the website.” Then the tirade began.

It’s always about the
manufacturing system or the website. In this case, it was the website. “We had one hovercraft order on the website a few
years ago, but nothing since,” he explains. He continues explaining how much money has been invested–but not really an
investment as there seems to be no hope of reclaiming the money. This irritates me greatly. To sit there and downplay my
purpose in the company–why even keep me around? I suggest that we remove the website. No response. His mind is so
one-track. After a minor evaluation I found that in the past year and a half, approximately 25-40% of our orders were from
customers who found us through our website. So what if they didn’t feel comfortable shelling out $20,000 to a website? Is
it so bad that they would like a little human interaction? The man is…I think you get the picture.

So as to not be
a complete downer regarding the inner workings of my professional situation, I have another interview tonight and another
prospective company on the line (line being ethernet). Still got those fingers crossed for Everypath, but I’m ready to
face that I may have to restructure my position and desired outcome. I’ve got time and skill, a powerful combination. If
only I had the patience to go with them…

• Website: http://www.wikipedia.org
  
• Website Rating:
  
• Website Description: Online
  encyclopedia with a staggering number of articles (try ain't and black sheep--who writes articles for black sheep?)
  

My interview back in
September began at 8:30 a.m. and lasted until 1:30 p.m. Overall, I felt it went very well–the last fellow I spoke to was
actually trying to sell me on the company. A week passed. Then two. I had called and emailed twice, just asking for an
update, with no response. At the end of September, the HR manager emailed me for references, which I kindly forwarded along
with my recommendation letter. Last week, the HR manager called my reference at Neoteric…but there has been no word
outside of the request for references.

Of course, I’m not sure if I want contact given my recent rejections. No
contact means futher deliberation…or just a complete blow-off. Isn’t that a bit unprofessional, however?

So I’ve
been throwing my cards around, seeing what hands are playable. Sifting for gold…sooner or later, after you’re covered in
mud and chipped all of your knuckles on rocks, you’ll hit it. Glossy, enticing, precious, unharnessed.

• Quote of the Day:
  
  Me: "Hey
  there pretty lady"
  
  Barb: "He must be talking to you Jason"
  
  Jason: "That is so wrong"
  

Chucking away at my current
off-work (contract work outside of Neoteric) project. I’m not sure if it’s confidential, so I can’t disclose it’s
contents. The project itself isn’t all that interesting, though for a sports nut it could be the end-all-be-all. I’m
just the programmer–the man behind the scenes that goes widely un-noticed until something breaks. And strangely enough,
that’s how I like it.

Credit is always necessary, but glowing banners and flashing text is not my style. Aside from
monetary take, I just expect a simple line–some denotation that my hand carved an edge. Something by which future contract
prospects can guage my service. Is that too much to ask? Would I care if it was?

The drag is that the work, being
outside of Neoteric, draws me away from my family and into a lair of incandescent leds. It is eerily comforting when our
pitch black bedroom is lit up with greens and oranges and blues and reds.

• Quote of the Day:
  
  "I don't
  
  know where this rage toward you comes from--I just want to beat you with a chair."
  
  -Jason, my drawing counterpart
  
  
• Current Location: bedroom [yet
  working]
  

Between the hours of 8:30
a.m. and 9 a.m. on 13-October-2005, a roll of fabric (approximately $200) was delivered by UPS to the main office. At
approximately 9:30 a.m., the office manager contacted the subcontractor who receives the fabric. The roll of fabric remains
at a quasi-storage bay (aka, the front porch of the office) for pickup by the subcontractor. At 1 p.m. the subcontractor
arrives to pick up the fabric, which is nowhere to be found. A company-wide search begins to find the missing fabric,
including multiple calls to UPS. By week’s end, the fabric had simply vanished. On 17-October-2005, the supplier of the
fabric informs us that they have the fabric–it was returned by UPS. Upon investigation with UPS, no record of delivery or
our prior phone calls could be found.

How much money is wasted in the extraction and investigation of a $200 roll
of fabric? Unbelievable sums. This process is multiplied across the board in search of…to be honest, I really don’ t
know. I’m sure he has something in mind–some reason to expunge resources in the name of collecting $200. You may quickly
classify this as a reasonable sum for collection, and I’d agree–that’s 800 beers on quarter-beer night. However, I
contend that the same principle is applied irregardless of the collection sum, be it a $200 roll of fabric or a $.10
bolt.

Unless you’re with Ricardo Semler, your company
needs administration, structure, order, rules. I don’t have to like them, but I do cede to their necessity. However, what
is not acceptable is for a leader (let’s the say the president of the company, your direct supervisor) to lay out reason
why a particular system is necessary, allocate resources to implement the system, expect adherence to the system amongst the
employees, yet abandon the system for himself when it suits his whims. This I do not tolerate. There may be times when
variations are necessary, but they should be documented–they should follow a procedure of deviation. “Because I wanted
to” is not an acceptable deviation.

I do not require much from an employer, but others may require more. Though
my first interest must lie within the company’s interests, I do not allow myself to lose sight of the other employees. The
last leg upon which I stood was knocked out by a simple statement: “What are they going to do?” Such arrogance
sickens me as I think that the duties I perform could be used to ends such as this modern slavery…though my council is
taken, I cannot force it’s application. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

• Current Location: Neoteric
  
• Website: http://semco.locaweb.com.br/ingles/
  
• Website Rating:
  
• Website Description: A
  manufacturing company with a distinctive management policy: no management.