Priorities in life and employers/clients

[psychocandy]

I actually pity people that sacrifice parts of their life for the company, the people that go for it are usually the most useless in the place and at some level they are probably quite insecure. The problem is that these twats usually get promoted first and preach their doctrine of activity over achievement to the whole group then everyone in the company runs that way. Personally I have found intelligence and laziness a great mix and one which should be promoted.

My client seems the worlds worst at this. If they can get away with someone working they're nuts off for free they will do!

Mate of mine used to work for a jap company - they were the worse. Told him a week before a booked holiday that he had to cancel cos he was off to japan for 3 months. Apparently, they expected you to put work first.

Stupid git said OK I will. His Mrs went nuts and he lost a shedload of money for the holiday. Wouldnt have seen me doing that. Unless employer had shelled out big time to make it worth my while (and more importantly come up with a deal the mrs went along with).

[northernladuk]

Well you know what the answer is. They are not the only client in the world and you have said yourself many other things come before work... so why are you still there? If I was in your boots you wouldn't see me for dust. One life, plenty of clients. One pissed off client is small potatoes compared to my lifestyle and wife/babies health.

It's not the client that is the real problem here I am afraid to say.

[psychocandy]

Well you know what the answer is. They are not the only client in the world and you have said yourself many other things come before work... so why are you still there? If I was in your boots you wouldn't see me for dust. One life, plenty of clients. One pissed off client is small potatoes compared to my lifestyle and wife/babies health.

It's not the client that is the real problem here I am afraid to say.

LOL. But, I've told them what the deal is, they think I wont do it, so what more can I do.

If they push it, then it'll happen but no point kicking off too much beforehand just in case it doesn't become an issue. Like you said, its business, I've told them its up to them if they ignore or not. And then up to them if they choose to retain my services in the future if they do get 'disappointed'

As I've said before, they are undoubtedly VERY crap at times but you've got to look out for yourself and current advantages are close to home, decent people in team, half decent rate.

If I had something else, then I'd be gone. But I dont at the mo....

[bobspud]

Well you know what the answer is. They are not the only client in the world and you have said yourself many other things come before work... so why are you still there? If I was in your boots you wouldn't see me for dust. One life, plenty of clients. One pissed off client is small potatoes compared to my lifestyle and wife/babies health.

It's not the client that is the real problem here I am afraid to say.

more or less ^^This^^

Niche skills are the last thing you want to sit at one client with they will eventually become obsolete and then you are screwed. You need to take those types of skills and work the market as hard as possible while they are in use then make your CV ultra generic as the market drops and so you can then work your way into the next big thing.

My skills over the last 10 years was SunOne -> Ldap -> Solaris/Linux -> Platform Design -> Virtualisation -> Vmware -> AWS -> Open/CloudStack all in six/seven years and yet I am classed as senior in all of them, and not a training course in sight...

[psychocandy]

more or less ^^This^^

Niche skills are the last thing you want to sit at one client with they will eventually become obsolete and then you are screwed. You need to take those types of skills and work the market as hard as possible while they are in use then make your CV ultra generic as the market drops and so you can then work your way into the next big thing.

My skills over the last 10 years was SunOne -> Ldap -> Solaris/Linux -> Platform Design -> Virtualisation -> Vmware -> AWS -> Open/CloudStack all in six/seven years and yet I am classed as senior in all of them, and not a training course in sight...

To be honest, my skills are mainstream also. Similar to you - mainly solaris and I do need to get into red hat more.

The niche stuff is just an extra on top of this.

[psychocandy]

Clients answer has been to move the work forward one week. I must admit I'm sick of pointing out that this baby thing isnt something I have a direct say in - it all depends on medical advice. Sorry if its inconvenient client but what can I do?

Also, pointed out that its all well and good arranging it for the week before assuming the planned date stays the same, but they also need to remember that my dear wife has been in hospital twice now so if she falls ill again at short notice I won't be trekking to site.

Also, its only 2 hours away, but if there are issues, then the state of customer network won't be an issue to me as I get into my car in the event of problems.... Clients needs to think of backup plan.

They aint gonna do it though....

[vetran]

Also, its only 2 hours away, but if there are issues, then the state of customer network won't be an issue to me as I get into my car in the event of problems.... Clients needs to think of backup plan.

They aint gonna do it though....

Mrs V also in family way, luckily she is only Hormonal in the morning (mainly Moanal) but we have a fortnight spread against due dates on the other two (one a week late the other a week early) so this plan would be unlikely to work for us. Its not difficult they need to assign a backup person to you.

Best case they have knowledge transfer and you do all the work, worst case their backup struggles through with occasional texts to you.

[psychocandy]

Mrs V also in family way, luckily she is only Hormonal in the morning (mainly Moanal) but we have a fortnight spread against due dates on the other two (one a week late the other a week early) so this plan would be unlikely to work for us. Its not difficult they need to assign a backup person to you.

Best case they have knowledge transfer and you do all the work, worst case their backup struggles through with occasional texts to you.

My Mrs been pretty ill. Currently 2nd stay in hospital.

Had a strange email from PM. The project has GOT to go ahead on these dates. OK. Right.

Sent a sarcastic email back saying as mentioned I could not predict or control my availability but I would keep them informed when I knew myself.

Looks like they might have got one of the permies in as backup now. Hes a cracking fella but theres no way to pick it up cold. Its going to go wrong but it seems the date on the excel spreadsheet is the winner and risks arent considered at all.....

[vetran]

My Mrs been pretty ill. Currently 2nd stay in hospital.

Had a strange email from PM. The project has GOT to go ahead on these dates. OK. Right.

sorry forgot to mention that we were so lucky Mrs V so far has been fine, do sympathise with your situation its stressful enough with just the pregnancy.


Dicks, if they wanted unlimited availability they should have hired a full on consultancy at four times the price. FFS life is important, business is not all the time. Sounds like he is just grand standing. Pregnancy & Illness count as 'Force Majeure' surely?

[Mich the Tester]

Easy. Copy and paste the relevant parts of this text;

Dear Mr Clientco

It has come to my attention that you will be requiring my presence during the coming weeks. While I am personally committed to doing what is necessary to make a success of your project, I am not in any position to grant your request as Psychocandy Enterprises has a strict procedure of deferring to management decisions. My line manager is the CEO of Psychocandy Enterprises, Mrs P Sychocandy. I kindly request you to forward your request to her.

regards

Mr P Sychocandy

PS; she's having the longest and worst rag week in human history right now, so you might choose to wear a crash helmet when you call her