[rescue] best of times/worst of times

[Skeezics Boondoggle]

On Wed, 16 Oct 2002, Michael A. Turner wrote:

>         This brought up a thought. Anyone else have a "Tie" pay rate ,
> which is what I like to call it. For example:
> 
[snip]

Hee hee.  Yeah, but I think my salary history curve goes in almost the 
opposite direction:

$0 - $20K Just out of high school and WAY too eager: Button down shirt,
tucked in, no hair dye or spikes, khakis or slacks, wingtips.  Shower and
shave daily.  60 hrs/week.  On-call all the time.  Attitude: "Can I help 
you with that?"

$21K - $30K Moving up in the world, slowly: Nice shirt, jeans with no
holes, clean sneakers, etc.  55 hrs/week.  No on-call.  Attitude: "Y'know, 
if you want me to do that there is a procedure..."

$31K - $40K Into the special hell that was the early ISP business:  
T-shirts with the occaisional raunchy slogan (glow-in-the-dark "BASTARD
OPERATOR FROM HELL" on open-house nights), jeans with some holes, shoes
(most of the time), classic "Unix guy" beard + pony tail look. 60-70
hrs/week.  Pager 24x7.  Attitude: "What the fuck do you want now?"

$41K - $55K A stint in academia:  Bankers all over town are jealous of my
hours.  Shirt.  Pants.  Shoes.  Shave sometimes.  38.5 hrs/week, call it
good.  Pager coverage 1 week every month or so (on rotation).  Attitude:
"Dude, I'll totally get to that later.  We're watching the Matrix DVD on
the big screen in the conference room in 10 minutes."

$80K - $100K "Greener pastures" in dot-com land: First day on the job, the
Onion T-shirt:  "Let the fucking begin."  Pants, well, most of the time.  
Shoes under the desk.  Shave when the mood strikes.  Work hours "from when
I show up until I leave."  (Cleaned up and wore a sharkskin suit to the
launch party and nobody recognized me.)  Beer bottles and Pepsi cans on
the desk.  80-106 hrs/week during startup phase and before new product
launch; 38-42 hrs/week otherwise.  Cell phone and pager 24x7.  Attitude:
"There's no problem your money and my time can't solve."

I'd like to think that if, in my next job, I can crack the six-figure
barrier, I'll simply work from home in my bathrobe, because my presence at
the office would simply be too disruptive. :-)

But I joked at my interview - and it apparently worked - that you should
never hire a Unix geek with a tan:  that indicates that they've seen the
real "sun", and may actually expect to have a social life.  Apparently my
unkempt, ghostly pallor and acceptance of the only office in the building
without a window was convincing.

Ah, early company meeting in three minutes!  Time for a beer... (it's 
after noon *somewhere* in the world, right?)

-- skeez