[geeks] ahem

[Bill Bradford]

On Fri, Jun 21, 2002 at 03:01:16PM -0400, Dave McGuire wrote:
> > Dialup ISP:
> > Phase 1 -- Install equipment, try to get customers

Phase 1.5: hire me on as the only tech support guy

Phase 1.5.1: have me build up an entire tech support department of 10 people

Phase 1.5.2: head sysadmin never comes back from 2 week vacation.  News server
           crashes.  Lead programmer and I manage to get it back up without
	   having any root passwords, etc.  We're there till 4am.  We leave
	   post it note:  "Fire us if you want to, but we were here till 4am
           and we're sleeping late tomorrow".  

Phase 1.5.3: come in next morning, have email, "Please see me in my office."
	   I go in expecting to get fired.  Instead, I'm informed that the
 	   lead programmer (I was but a PFY at this point) was now the head
	   sysadmin, i was his assistant admin, and I'd been given a 50% 
	   raise.

Phase 1.6:  Hire some dweeb who did a local call-in radio show about computers
	    to manage tech support department.

Phase 1.6.1: Watch him totally fuck up the department I built

Phase 1.7:  Get tired of both the owner and the head sysadmin's alcohol 
	    problems (ever seen someone so drunk they couldnt find ESC, 
	    logged in as root, on the master auth/mail/etc server?)

Phase 1.8: Resign, move to Texas to work for a different ISP.

Phase 1.8.1: Run into head sysadmin on IRC six months later, talk to him for
	     a bit, call $ISP's tech support and tell them to get an ambulance
	     to his house because he just tried to OD.  Saved his life.

Phase 1.9: Hear that owner cashed out, sell to Earthlink, and move to Colorado

Phase 1.9.1: See Earthlink make everyone re-apply for their jobs.  See most
	     of the people I work with quit.

> > Phase 2 -- ?

Phase 2.1: Live in Austin, have $coworkers and $half-owner from $ex-ISP
           show up at $current_job one day.  "HOLY SHIT, BRADFORD!!!!"
	   "Yeah?"  Have them offer me $salary+($salary*.5) at $newDSLcompany.

Phase 2.2:  Take offer.  Work for company for four months.  Realize that
	    $ex-now-current-coworkers and $ex-half-owner-from-ISP arent
	    as great as I thought they were in '95.  Lose all respect for
	    $guy_who_taught_me_VI_and_UNIX.

Phase 2.2.1:  Find $other_job.  Get $offer, accept $offer.

Phase 2.3:  Take vacation (disney world!).  Relax.  Get back, hand in 
	    3-day resignation notice (e.g., "fuck you, I'm leaving on Friday").

Phase 2.4: Leave $work that Friday, go home, and sleep for 48 hours. 8-)

Never, ever, again will I ever change jobs based solely on money.

Bill

-- 
Bill Bradford     
mrbill at mrbill.net 
Austin, TX