Okay, for all you folks in big markets who are claiming that $25k is what you make at burger king, let me clairify:
1) The guy wanting $50k had 20+ years of experience, and that's not uncommon for salaries for such a person in this area
2) This job does not require a college education, but an AA degree would be helpful.
3) Training someone in the software (AutoCAD, fwiw) is a fairly extensive task - not something for on-the-job training. Training someone to draft to our company standards, and to learn the ins and outs of our niche in the Architectural world is not an overwhelming task, if they know the software - maybe a month to get up to speed.
4) You folks are the same ones who bitch when I tell them that to design the simplest building from scratch will cost in the neighborhood of $3/sf. Hell, somehow, you think that the time that goes into it is done for free. You grab a book at Lowes and think that to spend $1000 on a set of house plans seems expensive, but even assuming that your custom 5000SF starter castle will take 10-12 sheets to just give you floor plans, some accurate elevations (pictures), and all the windows and doors and foundation details you'll need to build it will take about 120 hours of drafting and the same of an architect & engineer (combined). Four people for a week and a half (2 CADs, and ARch, and an Engr). Simple job, right? So, tell me, this $25/hr drafter - he'll get benefits right? And vacation? And sick leave? And he'll need software, and a modern machine, and office space, and all the other G&A overhead. So, if I keep him busy 40 hours a week I can bill him at $50/hr and make *maybe* 5-7% theoretical profit. Of course, to guarantee I can keep him busy, I'll need a comfortable backlog...which is somwhere in the 4-6 months range. Trust me, you won't want to wait until next November to get your plans - I've seen your type in my office, and you figure if you can order it online out of a plan book and get it shipped in three days, I ought to be able to get you a set of plans in a week or two (heck, I don't have to ship it, right?).
So, counting time for the arhchitects and engineers (which, I'm sure you'll agree should make more than a H.S. grad drafter - say $40-60/hr?), you're looking at a cost of $15,000 for the most basic of sets. And that won't include any construction services or fancy stuff. And anybody making 5-7% profit is probably going to go under. The industry shoots for about 20% and he good firms will top 10% when alls said and done.
Now, a fresh out is going to get about half as much done as someone with experience, and will take a good 50-70% more arch/engr time in the process. You do the math (you took math in college, right?)
So, remind me again, how much is this drafter worth? Experienced freelancers charge $35 to $45 and hour (I don't have to pay taxes, benefits, or leave on those guys) and they don't bill when the work slows down. Remind me how much should I pay a young drafter? If you come up with more than $14/hr, I hope you never go into business for yourself, or if you do you'd better hope for another round of VCs with too much money and a big bubble - and you'd better get out early. 'Cause with attitudes like you folks have, you'll be back to mailing out 1500 resumes when you run out of money, and it won't take long.
Actually, I take that back. I hope you DO go into business for yourself, and I hope you decided to come after my market. Because, quite frankly, I'd love to have somebody to compete against who is twice as expensive as I am. That would be a very nice luxury. And when you go out of business, I can hire you at half what you thought you should be making, and you'll be happy to have a job and health insurance. And then you'll work 60 hours a week so that I can get that new boat. You know, the one I'll spend the weekends on while you're in the office finishing up that project which is just one in a 4 month backlog that keeps you employed.
They (a) pay too little for you to want them (b) occur in places where you can't afford to live to the salary they'll pay you (c) require working in a team, and you don't interview like a "team member" (d) already know somebody (ie: the job interviews you've gone on already have a "wired" candidate) (e) want a specific skill class that
1) you don't have and
2) probably doesn't even exist
How do I know? I spent a month looking to replace an employee, and got a whopping 2 resume's from a month of online ads and paper ads. And this was for an entry level position. All I needed was somebody fresh out that knew the software I use (the most popular in my industry, by the way) - I would train them in the in-house particulars. I got two resumes - one from a guy with no experience in the software at all, and one from a guy wanting $50k. For a $20-$25k position.
Either you and the employers in your field are looking for different things in your employee/employer relationship, or neither of you are looking in the right place.
As for your friend still looking for a job after 14 months. From the position of a hiring manager, that person is "stale." With a 14 month resume gap, I would suspect that - even if he or she looked good on paper and in person - there is something "wrong" I may not be seeing that others have seen. Dangerous to pull the trigger on that one. That's not necessarily fair (okay, it's not fair at all), but would you buy an '05 car with 2000 miles for full retail price, even if it was the color and style you wanted, when the '07 models were just about to be delivered?
Sorry for being a bummer, but I'm in the office on a Saturday, and am pusing 70 hours so far this week. And I'll be here tomorrow. I haven't taken a pay check since January 1 (all of my employees get paid on schedule, not to fear - and don't cry for me, I'm on pace to make 6 figures this year).
Nope, he's got a liquid medium into which the gas is being absorbed. Thing is, I'm using it for private use. I'm guessing he'll have to sue God over this one. (Either that, or my mother. I'm not saying you can't sue an old jewish woman, but you're eventually going to spand any settlement you get on the counseling you need aftewards)
Has everyone forgotton that practically eveyone in business has a universal collaboration device that predates email and vastly surpasses it in usage? It's a phone, people. And for the vast majority of the business population, communication of ideas between two or more parties occurs more rapidly via syncronous voice interaction (you know, talking).
Face to face is even better and more efficient, though clearly it has colocation issues.
Hey, unless there's a clause that says they get a fixed value per unit sold, there's no foul in the content industry. Those with enough clout to get gross points will still get their share, those with profit points will continue to get screwed, just like in every other format. Why should this be different? Price this format at little more than a rental or two, and it just might take off.
BTW - count me among the host of/.ers that saw these things priced at DVD levels (in my case, in a Best Buy newspaper circular) and immediately started counting the days 'til its demise.
It's hacked, so I suck the shows off that I like and recode (actually, just re-parse - no recoding required, but sans extra fluff sections) to mpeg2. That gets stored on my Firewire hard drive tower. Some get burned for on-the-road use. Some go onto my MiVX box. Others are just stored for future reference.
(BTW, before you suggest Myth - Myth won't work for me - I have DirecTV and HD. DirecTV has already massivly compressed the shows, I've got 2 tuners in one box, and there is no full rate HD input card in my price range)
I'm with you. Try getting a large DVD changer (300-400 discs) for under $1000. Guess what - Sony's the only one. And it's better than one of the $2000 machines out there. I hate Sony as much as the next guy, but damnit - the least the other manufacturers could do is step up to the plate and make better products.
I'll up the ante and say that my DVDs (the well produced ones) look excellent on a 51" high quality RPTV. The best produced DVDs are between good and very good, even on a 119" screen (my previous setup) through a HD FP.
IMHO, there are relatively few things which look significantly better at high definition, and most of those would benefit from full 1080p, and a system which can provide that resolution. Team sports played on large fields is one of them (like football - both types).
I own about 250 movies on DVD, and I really don't plan on re-buying 95% of them. There are a few lousy transfers I'll probably get, though I'd be happy with a better produced DVD (Thomas Crown Affair, Titanic come to mind). Most of my discs are about the story, not fantastic resolution. Will Animal House get better in HD? Waking Ned Devine? Of course not.
Sadly, the new formats are aimed at better picture and sound, but are limited largely by the environment, in addition to the cost of the setup. Heck, I'm picky about my audio, but I still rip to 128kb for the MP3 discs I put in my car because - lets face it - you can't tell the difference with wind noise at 70MPH.
How did you get around your number being sent as your cell number when you dialed someone from your cell? I generally don't give out mine, and if you call my office number, after three rings it forwards to my cell. Then if I'm still not there, you get my cell voicemail. For the long time when I was a one-person office, it was great, becuase I could be on my office phone, and any incoming calls would hot-roll to my cell, and then to voicemail. It was like having an extra line (or two) at my office.
The only problem is if I happen to call somebody from my cell, and they store that number in their phone. Then some people would call my cell directly (which I find annoying if I'm in the office). I normally won't answer direct-cell calls in my office, and that usually discourages people, but I'd really like to have the cid on my cell point to the office.
Yeah, pretty cool until you find out that there are environmental consequnces to dramatically altering a river basin. Not that the drawbacks always outweigh the benefits, but it's not exactly the "free energy and waterskiing nirvana" that the tour promoters would like you to see. Remember - it's in their financial interest to build hydroelectric plants, there's a conflict of interest.
Oh, and if anyone wants to decide to build a dam near me, just make sure that you give me the heads up so that I can buy a few thousand acres of future waterfront before the prices go way up. (Hey, for the kind of money we're talking, I'll play the game, too!)
Your search woes are because unscrupulous website makers are working as hard as they can to skew their website rankings. When Google was now, they didn't have to worry about people working the system because Google wan't big enough to care about. Anybody who puts out a search engine based on all new criteria (that works, of course) will have a temporary grace period where their searches will be more pristine. Then the ad hogs and meta pages will move in and shit all over that search engines results, too.
Google isn't getting worse because the engine is flawed, it just gets harder to keep up with the assholes.
That's sort of the point - if your house is on fire, the first thing you do is get out. You don't grab anything or make a phone call. You call from next door or on your cell.
I think this is a poor example. They are taking a boring task and adding value to the time. It's a function of the enviroment, not the training, per se. You don't see people doing these things when engaged in the actual activity (cycling/jogging outside).
Actually, in this case, I would argue that they are adding their exercise to their normal routine, not the other way around. If they were planning on being competitive atheletes, they would probably pay better attention to the training since that would be their first goal. Most of these folks just want to be able to climb a flight of stairs, get into the next smaller dress size, or have sex without being winded.
You are right to question the value of many meetings/lectures. However, if you don't find them valuable enough to warrant your full attention, don't attend.
You're willing to take a dead end job (since you don't want the option to go all the way to the top) - realize that your earning potential will be limited to a fraction of the value you add to the company.
You're IT job will pay far less than other "non-skilled" jobs because it is a desirable profession with some respectibility and a comfortable working environment (all gross generalizations as viewed from the perspective of Joe Public, you must understand).
If you want to make real money, go learn to be a welder, or a plumber, or a loader operator (backhoe/bulldozer/front-end loader). Most loader opertors I know charge between $75 and $90/hr. Sure they own their machine, but what were you going to do with that money anyway, give it to a University? See, the problem is that you want a cushy, indoor job with steady pay and good benefits. So do a lot of other people.
Everyone else is complaining, just like the IT folks, that the salaries just aren't up to snuff, or there isn't enough advancement opportunity, or whatever, to get the young kids into their profession. Engineers, Doctors, Teachers - all people who do real "professional" work every day to keep the basic functions of society, but who don't get their hands dirty. They're being beaten down, and beaten out for jobs/salaries by the industries which produce little tangible benefit - Real Estate Brokers, Lawyers, Accountants, Sales/Marketing. A real estate agent will charge you 6% of the value of your property and building to sell it, and you'll pay it. If an architect offered you a contract to design your dream home for 6% of the value of just the construction, most people would complain that the price was too high. I will almost guarantee that the Architect would spend more hours, and more dollars, designing your home than a real estate agent will spend selling it. (I work with both)
So when you say you want an indoor job that isn't an "evil part of society" with decent compensation (usually meaning 2-3X the local median, i.e. enough to buy a house), you are going to have to compete with a pretty large number of folks out there in the same boat. It's just life.
I know there will be bitter mods who will mod me down, but by and large it's the truth. Exceptions will always exist. You don't want to hear it, but in todays economy - you are the ditch diggers, along with every other professional who doesn't have an ownership or directors stake in the company. If we could replace you with a machine, we would. If we can hire (insert derogatory foreigh identifier here) at half you wage, that's half of your wage that goes into the corporate profits. Once you understand this, you'll be able to see why you get paid jack shit. No, it's not "fair." But that's what capitalism is all about, and it's mostly here to stay. You need to learn to make the system work for you, and being technically good just isn't enough. Good luck (actually, I really mean it - I want people to succeed, but they need to know what they're up against. You can't defeat an well matched enemy without understanding him.)
Everybody wants to be CEO. I've got bad news for all you soon-to-be-college-grads - you're not going to find that ad in the paper, and you're not going to get promoted into it working 40 or 50 hours a week. You're not going to make your daddys current salary in the next decade.
Oh sure, there are a select few who will be in the right place at the right time. If that's the job you want, go buy a lottery ticket. Your chances are pretty even at either one.
No, the sad news is that the world needs ditch diggers, too, and you may just be one of them. Oh, you won't be literally digging ditches - you'll be babysitting server farms, or doing engineering calcs, or drafting for a large company, or running a machine, or welding, or whatever. The thing is, you'll never be CEO and retire a millionaire in most jobs you get trained for, and unless you're a lucky one (and, yes, I put lucky entrepreneurs in that bucket, too) you will never get to "the top."
Not everyone can be rich and successful. In fact, most people can't be successful. Sorry, but its true. To have a top there must be a bottom - and most of you have to be in the bottom. That's the way the world works. Now quite griping about it and get back to work, damnit. That ditch needs to be 3' deep by lunchtime. Or else.
But then everyone else (okay, my admin asst - nobody else cares) could only access my calendar when I was on the local net, and that doesn't help. And I have to run a webserver and squirrelmail, just to get my calendar. Seems kind bassackwards...and I've already got that with Outlook (the bassackwardness, that is).
Yeah, there may be writes, but how much actual data are we talking about? 100k cycles on a 32GB drive is, um, 3.2petabytes of written data. I don't know, but I think even Vista can run in that footprint for quite a while.
Slashdot Mirror
Okay, for all you folks in big markets who are claiming that $25k is what you make at burger king, let me clairify:
1) The guy wanting $50k had 20+ years of experience, and that's not uncommon for salaries for such a person in this area
2) This job does not require a college education, but an AA degree would be helpful.
3) Training someone in the software (AutoCAD, fwiw) is a fairly extensive task - not something for on-the-job training. Training someone to draft to our company standards, and to learn the ins and outs of our niche in the Architectural world is not an overwhelming task, if they know the software - maybe a month to get up to speed.
4) You folks are the same ones who bitch when I tell them that to design the simplest building from scratch will cost in the neighborhood of $3/sf. Hell, somehow, you think that the time that goes into it is done for free. You grab a book at Lowes and think that to spend $1000 on a set of house plans seems expensive, but even assuming that your custom 5000SF starter castle will take 10-12 sheets to just give you floor plans, some accurate elevations (pictures), and all the windows and doors and foundation details you'll need to build it will take about 120 hours of drafting and the same of an architect & engineer (combined). Four people for a week and a half (2 CADs, and ARch, and an Engr). Simple job, right? So, tell me, this $25/hr drafter - he'll get benefits right? And vacation? And sick leave? And he'll need software, and a modern machine, and office space, and all the other G&A overhead. So, if I keep him busy 40 hours a week I can bill him at $50/hr and make *maybe* 5-7% theoretical profit. Of course, to guarantee I can keep him busy, I'll need a comfortable backlog...which is somwhere in the 4-6 months range. Trust me, you won't want to wait until next November to get your plans - I've seen your type in my office, and you figure if you can order it online out of a plan book and get it shipped in three days, I ought to be able to get you a set of plans in a week or two (heck, I don't have to ship it, right?).
So, counting time for the arhchitects and engineers (which, I'm sure you'll agree should make more than a H.S. grad drafter - say $40-60/hr?), you're looking at a cost of
$15,000 for the most basic of sets. And that won't include any construction services or fancy stuff. And anybody making 5-7% profit is probably going to go under. The industry shoots for about 20% and he good firms will top 10% when alls said and done.
Now, a fresh out is going to get about half as much done as someone with experience, and will take a good 50-70% more arch/engr time in the process. You do the math (you took math in college, right?)
So, remind me again, how much is this drafter worth? Experienced freelancers charge $35 to $45 and hour (I don't have to pay taxes, benefits, or leave on those guys) and they don't bill when the work slows down. Remind me how much should I pay a young drafter? If you come up with more than $14/hr, I hope you never go into business for yourself, or if you do you'd better hope for another round of VCs with too much money and a big bubble - and you'd better get out early. 'Cause with attitudes like you folks have, you'll be back to mailing out 1500 resumes when you run out of money, and it won't take long.
Actually, I take that back. I hope you DO go into business for yourself, and I hope you decided to come after my market. Because, quite frankly, I'd love to have somebody to compete against who is twice as expensive as I am. That would be a very nice luxury. And when you go out of business, I can hire you at half what you thought you should be making, and you'll be happy to have a job and health insurance. And then you'll work 60 hours a week so that I can get that new boat. You know, the one I'll spend the weekends on while you're in the office finishing up that project which is just one in a 4 month backlog that keeps you employed.
You missed OMGPonies!!!Speed.
They
(a) pay too little for you to want them
(b) occur in places where you can't afford to live to the salary they'll pay you
(c) require working in a team, and you don't interview like a "team member"
(d) already know somebody (ie: the job interviews you've gone on already have a "wired" candidate)
(e) want a specific skill class that
1) you don't have and
2) probably doesn't even exist
How do I know? I spent a month looking to replace an employee, and got a whopping 2 resume's from a month of online ads and paper ads. And this was for an entry level position. All I needed was somebody fresh out that knew the software I use (the most popular in my industry, by the way) - I would train them in the in-house particulars. I got two resumes - one from a guy with no experience in the software at all, and one from a guy wanting $50k. For a $20-$25k position.
Either you and the employers in your field are looking for different things in your employee/employer relationship, or neither of you are looking in the right place.
As for your friend still looking for a job after 14 months. From the position of a hiring manager, that person is "stale." With a 14 month resume gap, I would suspect that - even if he or she looked good on paper and in person - there is something "wrong" I may not be seeing that others have seen. Dangerous to pull the trigger on that one. That's not necessarily fair (okay, it's not fair at all), but would you buy an '05 car with 2000 miles for full retail price, even if it was the color and style you wanted, when the '07 models were just about to be delivered?
Sorry for being a bummer, but I'm in the office on a Saturday, and am pusing 70 hours so far this week. And I'll be here tomorrow. I haven't taken a pay check since January 1 (all of my employees get paid on schedule, not to fear - and don't cry for me, I'm on pace to make 6 figures this year).
So...did you get the job?
Touche'
I thought they were planning on tapping James Wallace (lead council for NTP) to head up the USPTO.
So, will you have to reference Al Gore's patent on pants (he invented pants, right?)
Nope, he's got a liquid medium into which the gas is being absorbed. Thing is, I'm using it for private use. I'm guessing he'll have to sue God over this one. (Either that, or my mother. I'm not saying you can't sue an old jewish woman, but you're eventually going to spand any settlement you get on the counseling you need aftewards)
They allow Word, right? Even though its macro capability forms a known vector for viruses.
It sounds more like the "global head of strategy and engineering" is an MBA suit who has very little exposure to the technology he oversees.
Has everyone forgotton that practically eveyone in business has a universal collaboration device that predates email and vastly surpasses it in usage? It's a phone, people. And for the vast majority of the business population, communication of ideas between two or more parties occurs more rapidly via syncronous voice interaction (you know, talking).
Face to face is even better and more efficient, though clearly it has colocation issues.
Hey, unless there's a clause that says they get a fixed value per unit sold, there's no foul in the content industry. Those with enough clout to get gross points will still get their share, those with profit points will continue to get screwed, just like in every other format. Why should this be different? Price this format at little more than a rental or two, and it just might take off.
/.ers that saw these things priced at DVD levels (in my case, in a Best Buy newspaper circular) and immediately started counting the days 'til its demise.
BTW - count me among the host of
It's hacked, so I suck the shows off that I like and recode (actually, just re-parse - no recoding required, but sans extra fluff sections) to mpeg2. That gets stored on my Firewire hard drive tower. Some get burned for on-the-road use. Some go onto my MiVX box. Others are just stored for future reference.
(BTW, before you suggest Myth - Myth won't work for me - I have DirecTV and HD. DirecTV has already massivly compressed the shows, I've got 2 tuners in one box, and there is no full rate HD input card in my price range)
I'm with you. Try getting a large DVD changer (300-400 discs) for under $1000. Guess what - Sony's the only one. And it's better than one of the $2000 machines out there. I hate Sony as much as the next guy, but damnit - the least the other manufacturers could do is step up to the plate and make better products.
I'll up the ante and say that my DVDs (the well produced ones) look excellent on a 51" high quality RPTV. The best produced DVDs are between good and very good, even on a 119" screen (my previous setup) through a HD FP.
IMHO, there are relatively few things which look significantly better at high definition, and most of those would benefit from full 1080p, and a system which can provide that resolution. Team sports played on large fields is one of them (like football - both types).
I own about 250 movies on DVD, and I really don't plan on re-buying 95% of them. There are a few lousy transfers I'll probably get, though I'd be happy with a better produced DVD (Thomas Crown Affair, Titanic come to mind). Most of my discs are about the story, not fantastic resolution. Will Animal House get better in HD? Waking Ned Devine? Of course not.
Sadly, the new formats are aimed at better picture and sound, but are limited largely by the environment, in addition to the cost of the setup. Heck, I'm picky about my audio, but I still rip to 128kb for the MP3 discs I put in my car because - lets face it - you can't tell the difference with wind noise at 70MPH.
How did you get around your number being sent as your cell number when you dialed someone from your cell? I generally don't give out mine, and if you call my office number, after three rings it forwards to my cell. Then if I'm still not there, you get my cell voicemail. For the long time when I was a one-person office, it was great, becuase I could be on my office phone, and any incoming calls would hot-roll to my cell, and then to voicemail. It was like having an extra line (or two) at my office.
The only problem is if I happen to call somebody from my cell, and they store that number in their phone. Then some people would call my cell directly (which I find annoying if I'm in the office). I normally won't answer direct-cell calls in my office, and that usually discourages people, but I'd really like to have the cid on my cell point to the office.
Yeah, but economies that don't make anything, but have huge guns...well, that changes the landscape a bit.
Yeah, pretty cool until you find out that there are environmental consequnces to dramatically altering a river basin. Not that the drawbacks always outweigh the benefits, but it's not exactly the "free energy and waterskiing nirvana" that the tour promoters would like you to see. Remember - it's in their financial interest to build hydroelectric plants, there's a conflict of interest.
Oh, and if anyone wants to decide to build a dam near me, just make sure that you give me the heads up so that I can buy a few thousand acres of future waterfront before the prices go way up. (Hey, for the kind of money we're talking, I'll play the game, too!)
Your search woes are because unscrupulous website makers are working as hard as they can to skew their website rankings. When Google was now, they didn't have to worry about people working the system because Google wan't big enough to care about. Anybody who puts out a search engine based on all new criteria (that works, of course) will have a temporary grace period where their searches will be more pristine. Then the ad hogs and meta pages will move in and shit all over that search engines results, too.
Google isn't getting worse because the engine is flawed, it just gets harder to keep up with the assholes.
That's sort of the point - if your house is on fire, the first thing you do is get out. You don't grab anything or make a phone call. You call from next door or on your cell.
I think this is a poor example. They are taking a boring task and adding value to the time. It's a function of the enviroment, not the training, per se. You don't see people doing these things when engaged in the actual activity (cycling/jogging outside).
Actually, in this case, I would argue that they are adding their exercise to their normal routine, not the other way around. If they were planning on being competitive atheletes, they would probably pay better attention to the training since that would be their first goal. Most of these folks just want to be able to climb a flight of stairs, get into the next smaller dress size, or have sex without being winded.
You are right to question the value of many meetings/lectures. However, if you don't find them valuable enough to warrant your full attention, don't attend.
You're willing to take a dead end job (since you don't want the option to go all the way to the top) - realize that your earning potential will be limited to a fraction of the value you add to the company.
You're IT job will pay far less than other "non-skilled" jobs because it is a desirable profession with some respectibility and a comfortable working environment (all gross generalizations as viewed from the perspective of Joe Public, you must understand).
If you want to make real money, go learn to be a welder, or a plumber, or a loader operator (backhoe/bulldozer/front-end loader). Most loader opertors I know charge between $75 and $90/hr. Sure they own their machine, but what were you going to do with that money anyway, give it to a University? See, the problem is that you want a cushy, indoor job with steady pay and good benefits. So do a lot of other people.
Everyone else is complaining, just like the IT folks, that the salaries just aren't up to snuff, or there isn't enough advancement opportunity, or whatever, to get the young kids into their profession. Engineers, Doctors, Teachers - all people who do real "professional" work every day to keep the basic functions of society, but who don't get their hands dirty. They're being beaten down, and beaten out for jobs/salaries by the industries which produce little tangible benefit - Real Estate Brokers, Lawyers, Accountants, Sales/Marketing. A real estate agent will charge you 6% of the value of your property and building to sell it, and you'll pay it. If an architect offered you a contract to design your dream home for 6% of the value of just the construction, most people would complain that the price was too high. I will almost guarantee that the Architect would spend more hours, and more dollars, designing your home than a real estate agent will spend selling it. (I work with both)
So when you say you want an indoor job that isn't an "evil part of society" with decent compensation (usually meaning 2-3X the local median, i.e. enough to buy a house), you are going to have to compete with a pretty large number of folks out there in the same boat. It's just life.
I know there will be bitter mods who will mod me down, but by and large it's the truth. Exceptions will always exist. You don't want to hear it, but in todays economy - you are the ditch diggers, along with every other professional who doesn't have an ownership or directors stake in the company. If we could replace you with a machine, we would. If we can hire (insert derogatory foreigh identifier here) at half you wage, that's half of your wage that goes into the corporate profits. Once you understand this, you'll be able to see why you get paid jack shit. No, it's not "fair." But that's what capitalism is all about, and it's mostly here to stay. You need to learn to make the system work for you, and being technically good just isn't enough. Good luck (actually, I really mean it - I want people to succeed, but they need to know what they're up against. You can't defeat an well matched enemy without understanding him.)
Everybody wants to be CEO. I've got bad news for all you soon-to-be-college-grads - you're not going to find that ad in the paper, and you're not going to get promoted into it working 40 or 50 hours a week. You're not going to make your daddys current salary in the next decade.
Oh sure, there are a select few who will be in the right place at the right time. If that's the job you want, go buy a lottery ticket. Your chances are pretty even at either one.
No, the sad news is that the world needs ditch diggers, too, and you may just be one of them. Oh, you won't be literally digging ditches - you'll be babysitting server farms, or doing engineering calcs, or drafting for a large company, or running a machine, or welding, or whatever. The thing is, you'll never be CEO and retire a millionaire in most jobs you get trained for, and unless you're a lucky one (and, yes, I put lucky entrepreneurs in that bucket, too) you will never get to "the top."
Not everyone can be rich and successful. In fact, most people can't be successful. Sorry, but its true. To have a top there must be a bottom - and most of you have to be in the bottom. That's the way the world works. Now quite griping about it and get back to work, damnit. That ditch needs to be 3' deep by lunchtime. Or else.
But then everyone else (okay, my admin asst - nobody else cares) could only access my calendar when I was on the local net, and that doesn't help. And I have to run a webserver and squirrelmail, just to get my calendar. Seems kind bassackwards...and I've already got that with Outlook (the bassackwardness, that is).
Yeah, there may be writes, but how much actual data are we talking about? 100k cycles on a 32GB drive is, um, 3.2petabytes of written data. I don't know, but I think even Vista can run in that footprint for quite a while.