William Hindman
dejpolsys at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 18 21:14:40 CST 2005
JC
..if you do your homework you can buy high quality "major" medical coverage
for you and your wife for a lot less and put those extra bucks in a medical
savings account to cover minor needs ...and you can pick any doctor you
like, maybe even one that speaks English ...I get better health care for a
lot less ...the days of the "single plan covers all" are rapidly vanishing.
Steve
1) Access ...painfully exploring VB.Net, using SQLServer bes when client
needs justify it.
2) new tools, old game
3) independent, no advertising, word of mouth still works although I do make
the rounds regularly with old customers that may have new needs and/or new
referrals ...but then I'm semi-retired and not looking too hard.
4) no, never had anyone ask either :)
William Hindman
""Freedom of speech makes it much easier to spot the idiots." Jay Lessig
----- Original Message -----
From: "John W. Colby" <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com>
To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'"
<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 10:58 AM
Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
> Yea, the days of working for IBM for 40 years and retiring at X% of salary
> and full medical are over. The kid graduating from college today will
> likely have at LEAST 5 to 10 jobs over 40 years and in the not too distant
> future will be damned lucky to have any medical, even while working.
>
> I was reading on the internet (MSNBC) the other day that the company
> average
> cost of medical per worker covered was $6000 / year in 2000, and is now
> $12000 5 years later. That is a double in five years and the projection
> is
> that it will continue into the foreseeable future.
>
> Hmmm... $24,000 in 2010, $48,000 in 2015, 96,000 in 2020...
>
> Seems rather likely that only the company execs will have medical coverage
> by 2015.
>
> I am an independent contractor. I pay $700 / month for just my wife and
> I.
> I would pay an addition 200-300 if I had children. Will I be able to pay
> for medical in 5 years? Maybe, but my rates will be a LOT higher. In 10
> years? No.
>
> I do have a plan though. I will pick some thing that happens to me, blame
> it on a deep pocket, sue and retire on my 1/2 billion dollar settlement,
> and
> SCREW the rest of you guys. ;-)
>
> John W. Colby
> www.ColbyConsulting.com
>
> Contribute your unused CPU cycles to a good cause:
> http://folding.stanford.edu/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Lawhon, Alan C
> Contractor/Morgan Research
> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 10:38 AM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>
>
> Randall:
>
> Good luck on getting reemployed. I've been down the exact same road as
> you,
> (i.e. laid off by a defense contractor), so I know where you're coming
> from.
>
> After I was laid off, (along with a group of about 6-8 other people), it
> took me nearly four months to get re-employed, during which time I managed
> to drain nearly all of my savings. The strange thing about being laid off
> was that this particular job was my first "professional" job after I had
> graduated from college - and it only lasted about six months - so I was
> blown away when the manager called us all into a small office and told us
> the bad news. I remember thinking at the time, while he went on and on
> about this not being "a negative reflection on any of you or the job you
> have done," ("Yea, right!"), thinking to myself "Hey, this is NOT what I
> spent six years struggling in college for - to be unceremoniously dumped!"
> Fortunately, I was unmarried, so I didn't have to go thru the stress of
> explaining to a "better half" that there was going to be a drastic
> slowdown
> in the income stream.
>
> I've been lucky since then in that I've managed to stay (more or less)
> gainfully employed, but the business we're in is very up and down. As one
> boss once told me, "Alan, in government contracting it's either feast or
> famine. If you've got a contract, it's feast. If you don't, it's famine
> ..." (In government contracting, if you're a "worker bee" doing mundane
> technical work - like computer programming or run-of-the- mill engineering
> work - it's a mistake to ask for [or demand] too much money. They'll just
> hire a younger worker willing to work for less. The reality is that on
> government contracts neither the contractor (or the government) wants the
> most efficient and/or "productive" workers. They want the "cheapest"
> workers. (Nobody ever acknowledges this openly, but a defense contractor
> maximizes profit by hiring workers as cheaply as possible since the
> government pays a fixed hourly rate for each "labor category" -
> irrespective
> of the competence and skill of the interchangeable "worker unit" that is
> plugged into the slot.) It's really just a game ... <End of rant>
>
> I've never forgotten the experience of walking the streets ("pounding the
> pavement") trying to get a job interview where everybody you talk to says,
> "Sorry, we're not hiring ..." (Just make sure that you have a new job
> lined
> up before you make any "career change".) I long ago realized that there
> is
> no "security" in life. Even Albert Einstein, the great physicist, once
> complained about the "constant struggle" people have to go thru just to
> keep
> food in their stomachs.
>
> A funny thing about being suddenly (and unexpectedly) unemployed: You find
> out (real quick) who your friends are ...
>
> Alan C. Lawhon
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Randall Anthony
> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 8:29 AM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>
> Steve,
> I find myself in a position similar to yours, unfortunately I got laid off
> in the process (lack of contractual funding, natch).
>
> 1. I was very much immersed in developing and maintaining dbases and
> applications from Access2.0 through A2K, using SQL and ASP pages for some.
>
> 2. As the work slowed down, my access to developing new apps disappeared.
> Consequently, when push came to shove, my skillsets deteriorated.
>
> 3. The company I worked for was a division of a defense contractor with a
> small IT department. Last I heard that division's IT department is
> getting
> smaller.
>
> 4. So, during this "sabbatical", I decided to bite the bullet. I've got
> one class left, SQL Server 2K Implementation and Administration. I'm now
> an
> MCP in ASP.Net development, I'm studying to pass the SQL Programming exam
> next week, then I have two exams left to get my MCDBA. If I had achieved
> this while working, that company would have given me a bonus and a pay
> raise, however, even if I had accomplished this with them, I still would
> have gotten the axe.
>
> I have spoken with a number of professionals in the field when I was
> contemplating getting my Masters degree. Most concurred that a Masters
> would be beneficial if you were aiming for management type positions
> within
> the IT world, but the return on investment would be negligible if I wished
> to remain technical. Ergo, the next best thing to separate oneself from
> the
> pack in IT is to get certified (in my humble opinion).
>
> I'm starting to get more positive replies from companies I have submitted
> a
> resume to, and I feel fairly confident that I will be affiliated with
> someone soon. I think that could be attributed to my obtaining
> certification.
>
> Randy.
>
>
> Dear Group,
>
> Could you indulge me in a little survey?
>
> 1) What's your main line of work these days? Access development, SQL
> Server
> administration/development, VB, ASP/ASP.NET, PHP...?
>
> 2) How does your work today differ from what you were doing a few years
> ago?
> Is it only that you're using newer versions of the same tools, or are you
> doing entirely different development work?
>
> 3) Are you independent or do you work for a company? If you work for a
> company, what's the size of the company and where do you fit in?
>
> 4) Do you have any Microsoft Certifications? If so, do you keep current
> with
> them, and/or have they made any difference in your current position?
>
> Thank you very much. I'm approaching a career crossroads with the decision
> to stay in business as an independent developer or not. I have picked up a
> fair amount of .NET knowledge (the hard way -- is there any other?) but I
> have no Microsoft certifications.
>
> Regards,
>
> Steve Erbach
> Scientific Marketing
> Neenah, WI
> www.swerbach.com
> Security Page: www.swerbach.com/security
>
>
> --
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>