TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

y8s

iTrader: (8)

At some point, Scott did take the artwork and massaged it into something more pro and camera ready. I think it was Lars who brought the use of the TK in Wrench to my attention and, of course, I said OK.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

I guess I quite literally posted a plus cat.

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

My employer just announced its third acquisition of this (calendar) year.

Trying to keep track of which transition/integration plan we're currently on is getting a bit stressful.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Poscat.



For many years, I envied people who had achieved the "Startup" lifestyle.


Preamble: I grew up in the era in which Steve Jobs was figuring out how to put a dent in the universe (spoiler: it involved stealing Woz' ideas and re-branding them), and Bill Gates was in the process of becoming the richest man in the world. And I was in college during the time when Yahoo, Amazon, Google, and hundreds of others which we've all forgotten about, were being born. (And I made my first foray into the stock market just prior to the dot-com implosion. But that's a separate rant.)



By pure chance, I landed a job with The Corporate Overlord immediately after graduating from college. It's not like I applied for it or anything, it's just that I'd made a couple of connections during my high-school years with people who, unbeknownst to me at the time, happened to be serious movers-and-shakers in the broadcast industry. Or, at least, they had been before they retired. And they still had connections.

(And, mind you, this was in a little redneck town in western Florida. I can't even imagine the opportunities available to people who grew up in places in which the average number of teeth-per-capita required two digits to count.)

Tip for high-school kids: If you want to win at life, make yourself available to do pretty much any job, for minimum-wage, for tiny little businesses owned by people who used to be rock-stars in whatever field you think you might want to work in. Yes, you will find yourself doing tedious, boring work at 9pm every Saturday, while all of the cool kids are out getting high and throwing themselves off of piers. Trust me, it is totally 100% worth it when you go back to your old hometown years later, pull into a Circle-K for gas, and one of them is behind the counter. The practical problem is that it's hard to know ahead of time who the gatekeepers are. So I guess the best advice I can offer is this: take candy from strangers in windowless vans. Aside from the candy part, this is literally how I got to where I am today. (And yes, the van had no windows.)

Said company made many acquisitions. I wound up being the Chief Guru of Solving Complicated Problems for one of them, and that was some of the best years of my life.

Or so I thought at the time.





Postamble: I spent most of today ripping broadcast equipment out of a not-quite-yet-totally-failed startup company which WGN had previously partnered with.




And while I enjoyed their beer fridge, their office-cats, and all of their other many amenities, I had an epiphany. Literally, I was standing atop a ladder, unscrewing some studio lights from the reclaimed-wood ceiling, and it was as though God Itself spoke to me.

To wit:



Embrace the corporate overlord. Unless it's Yahoo. I actually interviewed there about three years ago. What a broken company... My impression was that of Nancy Reagan trying to dress like Rihanna, but on a crazy-cat-lady budget.

codrus

I don't write code because of ping pong tables or ball pits or aeron chairs of anything else fancy startups offer. I write code because it's about solving challenging problems with my brain and it delivers the satisfaction of making the computer dance to my tune.

As for startups vs large companies -- the startup offers the opportunity to play a much more significant role in the development of the company, and (if it's a good one) has a camaraderie that large companies are very hard-pressed to match. The "go public and get rich" bit is overplayed, 95% of startups fail and most of those that don't wind up getting acquired for little more than enough money to pay off the VCs.

--Ian

gooflophaze

The only perk I used regularly was the bottle of whiskey I kept in my drawer for the biannual perf reviews. Ball pits are a nice way of "expressing culture" to the outside hires until they're overburdened to ever actually partake in available perks. That said, it looks like I'm going to be interviewed for a position at a older larger company as part of a "culture injection" - I'm a little unsure about how it's going to play out.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Are you expecting pushback from the old guard there? Or do you think it will be a breath of fresh air for them?

gooflophaze

Generally "fresh blood and innovation" lasts as long as there is someone championing it in a VP role - so you're kinda tied to that management structure until they're replaced or atrophy sets in, then things start to get difficult. I'm still surprised that Plan A didn't work out though - need to hone the interview skills.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Well, that's disappointing. I think it would make for some interesting discussion.

While I would say, in casual conversation, my greatest fear is that of falling from a large height, that would not be true in the deepest sense.
I believe my greatest fear would be to be remembered for all the bad/mean things I have done, and not for any of the good stuff.

z31maniac

I'm curious as to why our small office, and a few others around the country, keep getting emails directed at us for the "Flex Program."

My contract states I will be in the office 3 days per week, work from wherever else 2, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Like "it looks like it might hail, so I'm taking the BMW home to put in the garage" or "I'm working from home this afternoon to sign for a package."

The thing is, it's not a permanent work from home option. It basically changes the 3 days per week to 1-2 days per week. We have plenty of space, we have a new guy starting next month, and I think we are hiring an editor for the commerce team toward the end of the year. And I think the Commerce software side is adding 1-3 in the next 6 months too.

I guess I don't understand trying to encourage us to be in the office less? Still have a receptionist, still paying rent/utilities, etc. /confused, semi-rant

olderguy

iTrader: (19)

That wouldn't have anything to do with going to the attic, chopping a hole in the roof, and waiting for a chopper to take you out of the flood zone, would it?

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

Well, damn.

Started the the car for the first time since I started this turbo (and all around refreshing/revision) project, it fired right up at first crank, perfect idle, followed by a loud, gut wrenching valve noise after about a minute or so.
Valves were freshly adjusted while the engine was off the car.
And a head gasket costs a small fortune after the latest round of devaluation ($1 is almost 7 TL these days, and we are in a free fall)

Interesting thing, it runs great when cold, and ONE valve goes nuts when it starts warming up.
F.M.L.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

It would not.




Damn, dude...

I'm trying to imagine doing a major engine repair while under the ticking clock of "Well, if I order parts today, it'll cost me xx% less than if I wait until tomorrow."

rleete

iTrader: (21)

I just found an origami **** channel…
But it's paper view only.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

this. I do front-end development. get to come up with creative solutions and work both sides of Brain.

portabull

good deal on morimoto 7" round headlights for NAs: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/mo...dlights-7.html
i've been running these for ~3 years and recommend them.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Damn. I almost want to buy a pair and track down the Pajero J Top light housings to stick them in instead of installing my D2S HID retrofit in the Montero...

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

This day sucked, and it is not over.

I had just found a great machine shop. The owner, Mustafa, was this incredibly cool, polite guy who really knew what he was doing.
He took an interest in my project and he would do all the machining and valvetrain work.

My phone rang this afternoon, and I just had to sit down when I got the news.
Some ******* stabbed Mustafa to death this morning at a gas station.
He never had a chance, he was stabbed multiple times from the back.
I was told he had stepped in to break up an argument between two random parties.
He was a well known, well liked guy, and his words carried weight, so I am assuming he thought they would listen to him.
They just killed him instead.

Then, as I left the house on my bike (really steep, twisty cobblestone street) the bike just skidded inexplicably, and I fell, with the 430 pound bike landing on my lower right leg.
I was pretty certain I had multiple fractures, and it took me a while to get out from under the bike.
I am at the garage right now, and putting weight on my right leg is becoming more and more difficult.

And then, my wife called.
Her laptop just bricked itself and she has vitally important stuff in the damn thing.
She is pretty upset, and I need to go home and try to recover the dead laptop.

While all this was happening, I just confirmed that the valve clatter I am hearing from the engine is actually not valve clatter, but wrist pin knock.
One sounds a lot like the other, I guess.
So, the engine will come out. Again.

And, two of our three dogs have cancer. Medication is pretty expensive, and the house is a mess.

So, that is my rant for this day.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Not entirely sure how to say this, in a way which won't sound flippant or glib.

That's a seriously hardcore amount of pain right there.