Reply to: Are you worth your wage?

[DodgyAgent]

This has to be the post of the decade!!

The food parcels will come flooding in to you Wilmslow

[MarillionFan]

57

Mathematically dyslexic as well.

[ChimpMaster]

57

You don't write a day older than 55.

[EternalOptimist]

Aye, you are not far off the mark there. If you were to meet him in person, a few of the blanks might be filled in though.
I always pictured EO as a smiling, slightly rotund, jolly figure of a man that takes everything in his stride and glides effortlessly through life in as relaxed a manner as a sedated sloth.
Imagine my surprise when MF alerted me to the fact that he, in fact, has the appearance of a man that has been on a dirty protest with nothing to keep him company but a year's supply of Meths. The whole natty ensemble completed by a length of eletrical flex holding up his trousers.
Just goes to show that erudition on a web forum can only get you so far.

watch it , funnyface

[shaunbhoy]

EO your wisdom and twist of words always captivate me. I imagine you to be a 55 year old man with silver/grey streaks of hair, not quite receding but with the overall demeanor of someone who has matured through life experience and had the opportunity to dance his way through challenges without really giving a sh1t.

Great stuff.

Aye, you are not far off the mark there. If you were to meet him in person, a few of the blanks might be filled in though.
I always pictured EO as a smiling, slightly rotund, jolly figure of a man that takes everything in his stride and glides effortlessly through life in as relaxed a manner as a sedated sloth.
Imagine my surprise when MF alerted me to the fact that he, in fact, has the appearance of a man that has been on a dirty protest with nothing to keep him company but a year's supply of Meths. The whole natty ensemble completed by a length of eletrical flex holding up his trousers.
Just goes to show that erudition on a web forum can only get you so far.

[EternalOptimist]

EO your wisdom and twist of words always captivate me. I imagine you to be a 55 year old man with silver/grey streaks of hair, not quite receding but with the overall demeanor of someone who has matured through life experience and had the opportunity to dance his way through challenges without really giving a sh1t.

Great stuff.

57

[ChimpMaster]

Theres a little analogy that I use when I am trying to explain all this to the uninitiated.
I ask them who their favourite author is, then point out that the author is probably not much more intelligent than they are, and doesnt necessarily know more words than they do. But what the author can do is put the words together like no one else can, and make an interesting story.

Anyone can write a book or work in IT, but not many are good at it

EO your wisdom and twist of words always captivate me. I imagine you to be a 55 year old man with silver/grey streaks of hair, not quite receding but with the overall demeanor of someone who has matured through life experience and had the opportunity to dance his way through challenges without really giving a sh1t.

Great stuff.

[swamp]

There are however lots of hanger-onners in IT who make a very good contract living.

Developers usually get found out if they are rubbish, though I've met some lousy ones clinging on for dear life in the public sector.

Testers can be a real mixed bags. Some good ones out there, but plenty get gigs through friends even if they can barely switch on a computer.

I've worked with PMs who can move mountains. I've worked with others who would achieve more if they actually moved to the mountains.

I even worked with a (very expensive) DBA once who didn't know SQL.

[EternalOptimist]

Theres a little analogy that I use when I am trying to explain all this to the uninitiated.
I ask them who their favourite author is, then point out that the author is probably not much more intelligent than they are, and doesnt necessarily know more words than they do. But what the author can do is put the words together like no one else can, and make an interesting story.

Anyone can write a book or work in IT, but not many are good at it

[SueEllen]

Balderdash.

At the end of the day, IT contracting is like hairdressing. Neither really serve a purpose of any importance.

Farmers, nurses, teachers, doctors, builders, plumbers, electricians, scientists. These are the building blocks of society. Without them society would be nothing. IT contractors are effectively the sycophantic leaches off society like bankers & agents, footballers & double glazing salesman. All of these people have value add skills and not core skills.

Depends on what industry you work in.

I did enjoy upsetting a few people years ago by pointing out due to the industry we were working in if we weren't there the wheels of the world would still turn.

Come the revolution Linux developers will be first against the wall alongside Journalists!

I guess you don't like using the internet then or your mobile phone.

Oh and nowadays anyone can be a journalist, much to those who have degrees/training in journalism dismay.

[ChimpMaster]

Balderdash.

At the end of the day, IT contracting is like hairdressing. Neither really serve a purpose of any importance.

Farmers, nurses, teachers, doctors, builders, plumbers, electricians, scientists. These are the building blocks of society. Without them society would be nothing. IT contractors are effectively the sycophantic leaches off society like bankers & agents, footballers & double glazing salesman. All of these people have value add skills and not core skills.

Come the revolution Linux developers will be first against the wall alongside Journalists!

Nothing serves any purpose in Life. We are animals, we enter this world with one scream and we leave this world with another scream, like any other beast. And such is life.

Doctors, builders, electricians etc are all just building blocks on life, and I.T. professionals are yet another block in the game. It's as simple as that; and yet we add value to a business, which can then grow, and give more people jobs, to eventually contribute to society. When that fabric is ripped apart by the offshoring and the cognizant b@stards of this world, then our function and our contribution, and thus our society, is well and truly f***ed.

[norrahe]

I agree with that too - not sure that the two posts are contradictory - if worth is measured in terms of contribution to society, then we are pretty low down the chain. But we live in a capitalist society where worth is measured in terms of financial reward for having an ability that most people don't have, and that is in demand, and we're doing OK. Till bob gets better at it anyway.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to k2p2 again.

[mudskipper]

Balderdash.

At the end of the day, IT contracting is like hairdressing. Neither really serve a purpose of any importance.

Farmers, nurses, teachers, doctors, builders, plumbers, electricians, scientists. These are the building blocks of society. Without them society would be nothing. IT contractors are effectively the sycophantic leaches off society like bankers & agents, footballers & double glazing salesman. All of these people have value add skills and not core skills.

Come the revolution Linux developers will be first against the wall alongside Journalists!

I agree with that too - not sure that the two posts are contradictory - if worth is measured in terms of contribution to society, then we are pretty low down the chain. But we live in a capitalist society where worth is measured in terms of financial reward for having an ability that most people don't have, and that is in demand, and we're doing OK. Till bob gets better at it anyway.

[MarillionFan]

Which is true - the 'worth' is how many people can (or will) do the job.

Most of us are where we are because of the gifts that god/nature gave us - i.e. the right sort of intelligence to analyse and solve problems. Nice to have, but not something we can overly influence, just as a supermodel can't influence height / bone structure etc. Every day I'm damned grateful that I can do what I do. The truth is that a lot more people can be nurses than DBAs or supermodels or coders. Supply and demand innit.

Balderdash.

At the end of the day, IT contracting is like hairdressing. Neither really serve a purpose of any importance.

Farmers, nurses, teachers, doctors, builders, plumbers, electricians, scientists. These are the building blocks of society. Without them society would be nothing. IT contractors are effectively the sycophantic leaches off society like bankers & agents, footballers & double glazing salesman. All of these people have value add skills and not core skills.

Come the revolution Linux developers will be first against the wall alongside Journalists!

[mudskipper]

How right are you! Honestly to damn f***ing God, this is the point that people fail to understand time and again. It is the intelligence to learn something in incredible detail and apply it to any given problem or situation in order to resolve an issue or build a solution, which sets the successful apart from the others. And that does not always take hard work and graft, though of course it might, but more often it requires ability and capability, a modicum of effort and lot of talent and intelligence.

You can't compare us to plumbers or mechanics, who might charge £50/hour to fix your leaking toilet/gasket. Our game is different, this game is about co-ordinating multiple teams to achieve a single goal, to link multiple corporate applications and technologies to facilitate business flows enabling a business to operate, to make the organisation successful without anyone knowing that we ever existed. It's not about the hammer, it's about using that extra tiny % of your brain that 99% of the population doesn't.

And you know what pisses everyone off - is that we make it look damn easy.

Which is true - the 'worth' is how many people can (or will) do the job.

Most of us are where we are because of the gifts that god/nature gave us - i.e. the right sort of intelligence to analyse and solve problems. Nice to have, but not something we can overly influence, just as a supermodel can't influence height / bone structure etc. Every day I'm damned grateful that I can do what I do. The truth is that a lot more people can be nurses than DBAs or supermodels or coders. Supply and demand innit.