Unqualified Advice #2

As a fellow work-from-home "tech" worker, I'd like to hear your experiences and career story. It seems like more and more companies may start following the trend and people might be interested in hearing about it. I can chime in as well. –Kelly

While not really a question, I do have advice/input on this topic.  I was born a poor bl….. wait that was a movie I was watching last night.  I am a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science.  I was hired at CDS Global in the summer of ‘98.  It was a brilliant time to be in IT as everyone that was in the know, knew that come Y2K every machine was going to come alive and kill all humans, in a few years we will wee that January 1, 2000 SkyNet was born. But I digress, with my Simpson College education I was hired to work on our marketing database which I have continued to do in some form or fashion over the last 16 years.  

Enough on me, now about working from home.  First I do not think it is for everyone.  If you are the lazy bastard that naps in the office, you will literally just go and sleep in your bed.  The office napper should be excluded.  The penny pincher that will not get large bandwidth high speed internet because they are fine with their DSL as "it works" should be excluded from working from home, they will spend most of their day waiting for files to be pushed around the tubes of the interwebicon. The last auto-exclusion group of people are those that won't have a dedicated office.  No home office, get your ass into the real office.

Pros:

• it is quiet here 
• with IM and Phone and Email and video streaming it is easy to be connected
• it is harder to get pulled into other people's problems to fix, which in turn makes it easier to stay on task
• I actually get to use my "unlimited" minutes on my Sprint plan for all my calls I am on
• I get better/healthier food for breakfast and lunch than the work cafe made
• the toilet paper is superior at my house to the 80 grit work offered
• it is really easy to check on late jobs and make sure everything is running smooth

Cons:

• if I do not go out to dinner I can be a shut in for days and days at a time
• it is harder to get pulled into other people's problems to fix
• I actually get to use my "unlimited" minutes on my Sprint plan
• I get better/healthier food for breakfast and lunch than the work cafe made
• the toilet paper is superior at my house to the 80 grit work offered
• it is too easy to check on late jobs and make sure everything is running smooth

I do think that is it really important that at least quarterly that you do make it into the office and have face to face time with your teammates, and the people you support.  Just to let them know that you are around, and to make sure that all obligations are being met. In summary, I like it much better than I thought I would, but working from home will not be for everyone.

Your thoughts? 

Which bread wrapper provides the best protection from wet weather for shoes? –Ted

Originally being from Iowa, this makes me an expert in bread wrapper shoes so this question is right in my wheel house.  First you don’t want any of those French baguette bags, as they are very narrow and made of paper (unless you have been binding your feet to a size 1, then this may be an option for you). Second you don’t want to use a generic bread bag like a white bag that simply says BREAD, they put holes in their bags to let the GMO chemicals and gluten monsters out to roam the Earth. Third the point is, the plastic isn’t to keep your shoes dry, but it is to keep your feet dry so I suggest you put on a pair f socks, then a gallon size zip-lock freezer bag, then another pair of socks, then your one pair of hole filled-pig slopping-nut chopping-chicken feeding-church going-school shoes.  The water you walk though will clean off the filth from your one pair of shoes, your feet will stay dry, and people will like you more as you won't smell like pig shit.

Where is this country headed? –Ted

Ah, my first trick question. This country being the center of the universe is going nowhere!  Once you get past where the water falls off the edge of the maps, it is just past where is says “There be Monsters here” you will see that the planets and Sun and Stars actually orbit around us and we don't move.

Can wealthy people succeed from the Union and buy their own country? –Ted

It is a little known secret, but we already have and it is called Texas.

My underwater basket weaving class has increased its price. They say it is for the emergency medical technicians they have to have on site and the costs of cutting such large holes in the ice. I have suggested that just three holes would be sufficient one to have your head submerged and two for your arms. This, i believe, would greatly decrease the immediate onset of hypothermia. However they say that to get credit for the class you must have complete submersion. So my question is how much should I spend on repairing a vehicle that I plan to replace in a month. And what Color of truck should I get?  -Jeremy PS They don't offer my favorite color on vehicles. Like clear would be hard to do. Duh.

First let me solve you ice problem. In the fall, float a door in the water.  Then when the water freezes you simply turn the knob and you have a doorway to your underwater basket weaving class. Say “Hi” to Ronnie Harmon for me.  Now, on to the real question you asked.  Only spend as much as it takes to get it running and drivable, unless you don’t need it or don’t need to sell it, then don’t drop another penny into it.  If it is going to a private sale they will beat you down anyways, if you are selling to a dealer, they will just screw you on the price of the new one. As for the color, clear would get you in trouble when it is “no pants Monday” so I would suggest going with a nice white truck.  Then you can dress it up with stickers. Hello Kitty stickers.

Han Solo or Spock? –Guts

Hmmm Spock is in a Beastie Boys song (3:20 for that line)

But Han is the best at love

I will go with Chewy, since I am hairy like him.

How come no one ever wants to play Trivial Pursuit but they love Trivia Crack? –Mike

Ah, this is a great question.  First it is for the social aspect of Trivia Crack.  I mean how else can you get together with your friends and play a game is not for over your phone in the quiet of your own room watching pr0n on your computer? Second, people like to cheat.  It is hard to cheat when you are sitting at a dining room table with all eyes on you asking a question on 80’s pop television. But it is easy in your bedroom to pause one’s pr0n and hit up the google and type in the question to easily get the answer.  See now they are smart.  Third they were tired of the social game words with friends, as everyone downloaded the bot that played the biggest word for them.  So there you have it, people as social cheaters that love to win when they play games.

So when is the right time to start looking for a job and does a resume really matter that much? - JB

Please see the flow chart I made for you below:

Cam's when is it the right time to look for a job, do resumes matter graphic

How do you feel about challenges? –Cas

I’d like to tell you that challenges are nothing more than opportunities. I’d like to tell you that challenges are chances for you to shine.  I’d like to tell you that challenges are meant to make you stronger.  But none of these things are true, challenges are something that “they” have put in front of you for “their” entertainment.  I have probably said too much as the New World Order reads everything, but I leave you with this:

Don’t you think he wish he had never been given this challenge, or at least gave his challenger a drink before they started?