William Hindman
dejpolsys at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 18 21:28:24 CST 2005
...this belongs over on OT ...but no one in the US system gets left on the
side of the road :(
William Hindman
""Freedom of speech makes it much easier to spot the idiots." Jay Lessig
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Lacey" <andy at minstersystems.co.uk>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving"
<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 11:11 AM
Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>>>Does that mean where NOBODY has decent medical coverage?
> No Charlotte, it means that if you want to pay you get very good private
> medical coverage but if you can't or don't choose to then yes you get in
> line for some treatments but still get emergency treatment immediately. As
> opposed to if you can't pay you get left at the side of the road.
>
> --
> Andy Lacey
> http://www.minstersystems.co.uk
>
>
>
> --------- Original Message --------
> From: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
> Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
> Date: 18/02/05 16:49
>
>>
>> Universal health plan? Does that mean where NOBODY has decent medical
>> coverage? In countries with "universal" medical, you get in
> line for
>> health care. If you're wealthy, you can jump the queue by paying for
>> your care. If you aren't wealthy and you die before it's your turn for
>> the transplant, pacemaker, dialysis, whatever, too bad.
>>
>> Charlotte Foust
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jim Lawrence [mailto:accessd at shaw.ca]
>> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 8:40 AM
>> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
>> Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>>
>>
>> OT: Totally
>> Hi John:
>>
>> Do you think they will have a 'universal' health plan in place in US in
>> the next ten years like some 'Democrats' have been talking about?
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of John W. Colby
>> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 7:58 AM
>> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
>> 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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>> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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