On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:21:21 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> The best revenge is to do well.
> 
> Yeah well... that's not always possible.

It is.  But it doesn't happen without effort.  The good fortune I've had 
did not just drop into my lap; I had to work for it.  The harder I've 
worked, the luckier I've been.  It works that way.

>> Seriously, I was also the kid who was picked last in gym class for all
>> the team sports because I absolutely sucked at all of them.  I had
>> maybe 4 friends through high school, a few more in college (though I've
>> only heard from 3 or 4 since leaving school, and not very often at
>> that)
> 
> Then you have 4 more than me.

Had.  I can't remember the last time I heard from any of them.

>> Even at the various jobs I've worked, I've generally been regarded
>> (until the last 5 years, really) as someone that if they could avoid
>> interacting with, that was a good thing.
> 
> Nice to know that it's only kids, eh? :-S

It's a people thing.

>> I look back at some of the kids I went to high school with and see
>> where they are - and while a few have done well for themselves, most
>> seem to be stuck in some sort of dead-end job that doesn't look to pay
>> all that well.
> 
> Hmm... sounds rather like... MY JOB!

I don't think so.  It seems like it now - it seemed like it to me when I 
was where you are.  I didn't think I'd ever do anything other than IT 
work, couldn't see myself doing management stuff at all.  I maintained my 
integrity and someone noticed and offered me this job when I was about to 
be laid off.  I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started 
(and some days it still feels like I don't, now almost 4 years in), but 
I've found that overall, I'm actually pretty good at it.

I *never* wanted to do a job that involved dealing with people - that's 
why I got into IT.  Computers don't talk back, and when they act up, you 
can whack them with a hammer and they don't sue you.

>> You have the skills and the talent to leave them in the dust.  Do it,
>> and never look back.
> 
> Heh. If only...

Like I said, it won't fall into your lap, you have to work at it.  Don't 
sit back and wait for the recruiters to call you; call them.  Get your 
name out in front of them *regularly*.

IIRC, you're still relatively new to the workforce - it takes time to 
establish yourself and your skills.  You said a few months ago "who would 
want to hire a programmer who didn't know C or Java?".  Here's one answer:

http://www.nat.org/blog/

(May 20 entry)

"The ideal person will be a strong programmer who can tell a good bug 
report from a bad one, will consider themself a whiz at scripting 
(***shell, perl - whatever works for you***), and will enjoy 
understanding the ins and outs of a sophisticated system." (emphasis 
added)

Nat, BTW, is a VP of Linux Desktop development.  While none of these jobs 
may be exactly what you're looking for, my point is that these types of 
positions do exist where knowing C, C++ or Java doesn't matter.  Maybe 
you could contribute your skills to the Mono project and fix some of the 
issues with it - it runs on Windows and is based on .NET.  Or maybe get 
involved in Moonlight, an OSS version of Silverlight that's currently 
being worked on.

There are options, but unless you seek them out, you're not going to find 
them.  Jobs generally don't fall out of the sky and just land in people's 
laps.

Jim

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