Perspectives of a WASPMDSWEWAP: October 2003 Archives

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October 30, 2003

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Great book, a real encouragement to look at money and making it differently. Reinforces my growing belief lately that working to make money is nothing but a dead end. It would be great to have enough investments that the monthly gain is more than I can make at a job without selling my soul, and then my job could be more of a hobby to keep me from going stir crazy than something that I need to do. And the great thing is that it is possible.

Leaving your money in a savings account that gives you 2, maybe 3% if you are lucky? That will not even keep up with inflation, Better to invest, gettings returns of 50, 100, 1000% or more, that is the real way to make money with money.

The other great idea is that you should look for a buyer before a seller when investing in real estate. Find a buyer that does not have the time, or the knowledge, to find the property that they want to buy, and then find it for them. Buy low, sell a part high, now you are "stuck" with a free bit of land that is essentially free, so no matter what you do with it, you cannot help but make money. It is possible if you have the financial intelligence to spot the opportunity.

Course this is all in my head at this point, I need to do something with it before I know for sure that it will work :)

Posted by Scott at 8:38 AM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2003

Let's see where this goes

So I have this compulsion to post something, but have nothing compelling to write about. Don't expect much from this post, just stop now and go read something worth reading.

Really wish that Jesse was back from Detroit. It is getting really lonely with no one to talk to about stuff. About life. About work. About the joy and the pain. I am unbelievable luck that God brought her into my life. No one understands me quite like her, and she is really the only person that I am totally comfortable being myself with.

I used to be pretty happy just keeping my thoughts to myself, holding my cards close, viewing the world from a distance. No longer. Now I am going crazy no being able to talk to her. We talk on the phone, but I have never been good at having a real conversation over the phone. Cannot feel the same, express the same, convey the emotion, like when we are together.

Really wish that she could have heard last Sunday's sermon - it hit me right dead center where I am at right now. I guess that is the point, and I am not so different from everyone else trying to make it through this life in one piece. Our culture makes it hard to keep ones values and priorities straight. Constant guilt over spending too much time at the office, working, not being a part of the family that God has given me. Straight from the sermon - we only have so many little boxes in the calendar of our life, one leading to the next, until we get to the final box, and what have we really done when it is all said and done. If life ended today, how would I feel, would I have any regrets? Can I get a hell yeah? So why wait to change, why do it later? If a change needs to be made, if I am not living the life that I know that I want to now, when? If I want to live a different life later, why not now? Time for a change, but how big a change do I need to make? I know that I need a different job, this one takes too much time and is killing me slowly, but do I need a different career? Am I going to be able to find a job in this industry that I can live with? That does not cause me to constantly fight with the desire to be the best that I can be, at the expense of the life that I know I should be living outside of my job? Switching careers is a very scary idea for me - is it the right thing to do? If I come to the realization that it is, do I have the faith to trust in God that he knows, that he has a plan? I know in my head that it is true, but when the rubber meets the road, am I too dependent on myself, and what I can do, that I will not be able to let go? God give me the wisdom and the strength to do the right thing.

Doing my job, having my career, parenting, living, having kids, buying a house, all things that I need to be able to give to God and let Him worry about them.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30.

Posted by Scott at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2003

Quote of the day

If at first you don't succeed, you'll be a loser and a burden on society for the rest of your life.

Posted by Scott at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2003

Overtime and the myth of it being worth it

I really need to find a different job soon before I go insane. I was in a meeting the other day about the release that we just had and how much it sucks. Of course engineering knew this before it was released, and had said so, but does anyone listen to engineering? In fact, engineering told everyone that it would suck 3 months ago when we were told that we had to add X features and we had X days to get it done in. And now sales of course wants engineering to fix it, and in less than a week. After the meeting I was talking to some of the guys that have been around a while, and they were talking about how when VP of Engineering and the VP of Product Management were told they had to have the release done by a certain date, and they said that it could not be done, and they were told to shut up because it had to be done by that time.

There is just something fundamentally wrong with the company. I can't keep working for a company that considers its engineers just a piece of equipment to be used. Why should the engineers have to work weekends and late nights? I don't understand what the rational is - if they don't, will they lose their jobs? if they do, and the company does well (not likely), what is the outcome? More work, even longer hours? Will the common people, the ones in the trenches, the ones that make it possible for sales and biz-dev to have something to sell, and to be able to make sweet contracts, ever make any real money even if the company does really, really well? Maybe ten or twenty grand on the stock, maybe? sounds good, but at what cost? Giving up your life for 2-3 years - how is that worth it? Why not take a job that pays the same, but you don't have to work insane hours, and just get a second job at Starbucks or McDonalds? You could easily make 10-20 grand doing that, with way less time. How does this make any sense to anyone?

Of course maybe that is the point, maybe all the companies are the same way, maybe they all treat their engineers this way? I find that hard to believe. I do believe that many companies are that way, and that is the problem with the software industry. Can we change the industry by refusing to work the insane hours and insisting on being able to have a life? A family? The ability to do the things that mean something in the end? Another one of those critical mass things. Enough engineers have to stand up and say no - too few and they will just lose their jobs, and no one notices, and it does no one any good.