Choo choo! All aboard the Complain Train!

Gordon_4

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Verbose IT industry complaint -

It's a daily concern for me as I march through my 40s that I may at anytime be reaching technological obsolescence. My job might be described as an Access Networks Architect. A large part of my job is that company X needs to deploy a new product. Lets say DirectTV wants to be deploy an 8Gb internet service package to customers. Lets say they have literally nothing to start with.

I'm the guy who designs all of it. What is the physical hardware we will deploy from the ethernet port of the customers home router>ONT>fiber>fiber plant>hub>Core>Demarc, that includes all layers 0-7, levels, protocols, routing application integration, provisioning, firmware, all of it. For instance I spent 6 months a year or two ago in a lab building exactly that and providing proof of concept and requirements, both internal and industry, itu's specs etc.

The problem is I have zero programing skills. Literally every company I know as always said "no problem, we have script kiddies for all that, we just need you to tell us how all the legos connect together". Like I don't use Linux at all. If you asked me to create root users or change permissions I can do it, but I'd need to google some cheats.

Recently, my boss wanted me to ..lets say rename every interface description in the network. Little more complicated than that, its not just modify its api calls that need to be used and scripted use criteria. I kinda bawked and said "I'm not your guy". What ultimately happened as usual is that they handed me a script guy. I gave him the criteria, the reqs and help him debug the api calls.

It's not a big deal, but I notice as time goes on that companies keep pressuring engineers to also be developers, to save costs. They want all the cake and to eat it all at once for $5.

I'm not this guy, but I can't do "everything".

View attachment 10551

If you asked my boss the company would fall over immediately if I walked away because of my critical knowledge about how all technology works and fits together. a developer can't tell you why a software download is failing in a vacuum. I can dig around and go "your IP is wrong" or "ports closed" or "you have too much packet loss because you have shitty fidelity at the plant". I'm the guy who gives requirements and a design for the developers to make the thing go.

It's currently on my mind because I'm trying to build a vbs script for another engineer so that he can create cli backups without typing things manually in securecrt. However if I was a real developer I could just build a tool in git that wouldn't require him to login to securecrt at all. Just run the pipeline and do all the backups diffs etc.

I wish I had all those skills, but fuck I'm old, I'm busy and my brain can only hold some much...stuff. Occasionally the developers are like "Piscian you're as smart as us we can just teach you", but they don't understand the more I pack in the more I lose.

View attachment 10552

/rant
If you can design and deploy networks at the hardware level like that then you’re not going to be obsolete until they invent shit that is so idiot proof the executives can put it together and make it work.
 

Zykon TheLich

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I wish I had all those skills, but fuck I'm old, I'm busy and my brain can only hold some much...stuff. Occasionally the developers are like "Piscian you're as smart as us we can just teach you", but they don't understand the more I pack in the more I lose.
I believe there's a Simpsons gif for that...
simpsons-learn.gif
 

The Rogue Wolf

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If you can design and deploy networks at the hardware level like that then you’re not going to be obsolete until they invent shit that is so idiot proof the executives can put it together and make it work.
And considering that this sentence combines the words "executives" and "work", you have nothing to worry about!
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Occasionally the developers are like "Piscian you're as smart as us we can just teach you", but they don't understand the more I pack in the more I lose.
Just tell them, "I'm doing you a favor by not learning this, because if I start being able to do your job they'll fire you and make me do everything."
 

davidmc1158

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I've been trying to haul my sorry carcass to the gym on a regular basis. While I am working towards incremental improvements to keep from really hurting myself, my body does have a system in place to inform me when I have gone too far in a single day: muscle cramps/spasms.

Let me just say that whoever decided that it should be possible for a human being to get muscle cramps in the soles of their feet needs to be fired. I consider this a serious design flaw. Feet as built by Tesla)
 

Piscian

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I've been trying to haul my sorry carcass to the gym on a regular basis. While I am working towards incremental improvements to keep from really hurting myself, my body does have a system in place to inform me when I have gone too far in a single day: muscle cramps/spasms.

Let me just say that whoever decided that it should be possible for a human being to get muscle cramps in the soles of their feet needs to be fired. I consider this a serious design flaw. Feet as built by Tesla)
I'm on the cusp of 42. I've reached a point where if I want to do anything, even light running I really got stretch for a full 30 first or my calves and what not cramp up and get sore.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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It's been raining hard for 3 days straight, and I avoid going to the gym when it rains, so unfortunately I haven't been getting any exercise.

On an unrelated note, a recruiter from a Cryptocurrency company reached out to me to request an interview. I don't know if I should take it, just thinking about it immediately feels kind of gross and I don't know if I would be able to go the entire interview without telling them that their business is a scam.
 

Summerstorm

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I'm on the cusp of 42. I've reached a point where if I want to do anything, even light running I really got stretch for a full 30 first or my calves and what not cramp up and get sore.
Yeah, same age here too. Tried to "get back into shape" a few years back... got impatient, went on a jog even if i was to fat, and had my right knee explode (or implode i don't know) -> chronic pain. One of the many lessons to my flesh and my mind to "Never try anything, never improve! There is only suffering in trying to do something good"

Um, back to my complaining: My financial decisions are complete bullshit - i am totally out of the "rhythm". I am trading on the side for a few years now (With some pauses). I had saved up about ~8500 last year, traded it up slowly to 11,500 in the last few months of 2023. This year started with winning a thousand on the first day i traded... after that EVERYTHING i touched was a failure.

For example: I had bought a leveraged certificate in "Palantir" to ride the earnings hype, yesterday. A few seconds after that the price went way down, got me nervous because of all the failures so far. Than dropped some more, sold it out of fear. (Lost ~200Euro of 1000), less than TWO MINUTES after that it jumped back up, and climbed so make over 20% (I would have nearly tripled my money on that.) And things like this go day in and out for a month now. Of my 12500 euro, i am down to less than 7000.

My goal was to have 20.000 this year, to use it to pay off my mortgage and be "Technically" financially FREE. But i will never make it, it seems. All the saving, penny pinching for nothing. Should have bought hookers and drugs.
 
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Thaluikhain

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Yeah, same age here too. Tried to "get back into shape" a few years back... got impatient, went on a jog even if i was to fat, and had my right knee explode (or implode i don't know) -> chronic pain. One of the many lessons to my flesh and my mind to "Never try anything, never improve! There is only suffering in trying to do something good"
Huh, not just me. I'm ok with walking, but trying to do anything with my upper body and my back goes. Usually, later on, so I don't know what I did that was too much.
 

Xprimentyl

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Just had a quick 10-minute call with my new boss. He was sharing his screen showing me how to get access to a new application, and when he was done and we were about to end the call, he closed the app, and I could see his desktop wallpaper was a picture of Nokron. I said "you play Elden Ring, huh?" The call went on for another 10 minutes, but all about Elden Ring. He's got +400 hours in and has beaten it several times. He went off like an Elden Ring wiki. I couldn't keep up.
As cool as it was to unexpectedly have something in common, I'm the kind of person for whom work/life balance makes personal familiarity with co-workers uncomfortable. I don't want work in my personal life, just as I'm sure they don't want my personal life in the workplace. This dude sent me his gamertag, and asked for mine; I didn't want that shit! But I begrudgingly gave it to him. This is obviously hyperbolic and no where near an equivalence, but I actually sorta felt like Trump "grabbed me by the p*ssy," if you catch my drift. My fucking BOSS asked for something very personal, and in the moment, I just felt powerless and did as I was asked. Are we still doing #MeToo? Is it too late to tell my story?
 

McElroy

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Sometimes us Finns like to note that places on lower latitudes don't have "real" winters and that climate change has made winters here very mild too. Well, now we have a "real" winter and it's cold as fuck. I'm especially not fond of my car turning into a popsicle, because it's rather cool even after the pre-heating.
 
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Dirty Hipsters

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Just had a quick 10-minute call with my new boss. He was sharing his screen showing me how to get access to a new application, and when he was done and we were about to end the call, he closed the app, and I could see his desktop wallpaper was a picture of Nokron. I said "you play Elden Ring, huh?" The call went on for another 10 minutes, but all about Elden Ring. He's got +400 hours in and has beaten it several times. He went off like an Elden Ring wiki. I couldn't keep up.
As cool as it was to unexpectedly have something in common, I'm the kind of person for whom work/life balance makes personal familiarity with co-workers uncomfortable. I don't want work in my personal life, just as I'm sure they don't want my personal life in the workplace. This dude sent me his gamertag, and asked for mine; I didn't want that shit! But I begrudgingly gave it to him. This is obviously hyperbolic and no where near an equivalence, but I actually sorta felt like Trump "grabbed me by the p*ssy," if you catch my drift. My fucking BOSS asked for something very personal, and in the moment, I just felt powerless and did as I was asked. Are we still doing #MeToo? Is it too late to tell my story?
Sounds like your own fault for starting the Elden Ring conversation. If you don't want to be friends with your coworkers then don't bring up shared interests.

Then again, I used to work for a game company, I made friends with quite a few coworkers and we shared gamertags and play games together. We still get together almost weekly and play DnD. I'm very much not in the camp of "don't be friends with coworkers." I mean, people complain so much about not being able to meet people and make friends once they're out of college, but then also don't want to be friends with the people they spend 40+ hours a week with.
 
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Xprimentyl

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Sounds like your own fault for starting the Elden Ring conversation. If you don't want to be friends with your coworkers then don't bring up shared interests.

Then again, I used to work for a game company, I made friends with quite a few coworkers and we shared gamertags and play games together. We still get together almost weekly and play DnD. I'm very much not in the camp of "don't be friends with coworkers." I mean, people complain so much about not being able to meet people and make friends once they're out of college, but then also don't want to be friends with the people they spend 40+ hours a week with.
"Fault" is a strong word considering I simply mentioned that I recognized a shared interest, like sitting on a bench and mentioning the weather for casual conversation only to learn the other side of the conversation is a rabid meteorologist.

I'll be 44 in a month and a half; I'm done "making friends." Acquaintances? Sure, But people I feel the need to spend my free time with outside of those I already chose to so do with, I'm not pressed. Not adverse to the idea, mind you, but work is not where I'd prefer those relationships to begin. I do not like my job, and I mostly do not like my coworkers given most of them are ass-kissing corporate shills (much like my boss) who I pretty much don't respect outside of their roles. That this guy wants to be a part of my life away from the job I don't like is intrusive to me.

Work is a job I do. My life is what I do when I don't have to do my job. When those cross paths, shit gets complicated. Sure, we can summon each other and play games together, but when it comes time for a review, discipline, or accountability, I'd prefer my "friends" not have a peek at my personal life to affect their perception of our professional relationship. But that's me; if you're happy with your friends being the same people you see +40 hours a week in a separate, professional manner, more power to you, but I reminded of those who advise it's not always the best idea to shit where you eat.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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"Fault" is a strong word considering I simply mentioned that I recognized a shared interest, like sitting on a bench and mentioning the weather for casual conversation only to learn the other side of the conversation is a rabid meteorologist.

I'll be 44 in a month and a half; I'm done "making friends." Acquaintances? Sure, But people I feel the need to spend my free time with outside of those I already chose to so do with, I'm not pressed. Not adverse to the idea, mind you, but work is not where I'd prefer those relationships to begin. I do not like my job, and I mostly do not like my coworkers given most of them are ass-kissing corporate shills (much like my boss) who I pretty much don't respect outside of their roles. That this guy wants to be a part of my life away from the job I don't like is intrusive to me.

Work is a job I do. My life is what I do when I don't have to do my job. When those cross paths, shit gets complicated. Sure, we can summon each other and play games together, but when it comes time for a review, discipline, or accountability, I'd prefer my "friends" not have a peek at my personal life to affect their perception of our professional relationship. But that's me; if you're happy with your friends being the same people you see +40 hours a week in a separate, professional manner, more power to you, but I reminded of those who advise it's not always the best idea to shit where you eat.
I just got back from playing DnD with my former coworkers.

I had a great time. I'm drunk as fuck, and I live 3 miles from my friends/former coworkers that hosted.

I think the whole "don't shit where you eat" rule is bullshit, and is just a way that allows corporate to prevent people from talking about their salaries. Corporate doesn't want unity and friendships among coworkers. They want division because competition helps the bottom line and makes it easier to lay people off.
 

Gordon_4

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I think the whole "don't shit where you eat" rule is bullshit
It has its uses, but for me it mainly refers to it being unwise to find a fuck buddy in your immediate area of work. Which I say because........

and is just a way that allows corporate to prevent people from talking about their salaries. Corporate doesn't want unity and friendships among coworkers. They want division because competition helps the bottom line and makes it easier to lay people off.
This whole part here, is utterly alien to me.
 

Xprimentyl

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and is just a way that allows corporate to prevent people from talking about their salaries. Corporate doesn't want unity and friendships among coworkers. They want division because competition helps the bottom line and makes it easier to lay people off.
This whole part here, is utterly alien to me.
Because it's mostly untrue. Pretty much the exact opposite is true. "Corporate culture" is predicated on the illusion that everyone gets along with everyone else, every lame, G-rated joke that is told is laughed at with enthusiasm like we're at a stand-up comedy show, happy hours on Friday are scheduled and everyone strongly encouraged to come lest they be perceived as not a part of the "team." What is true of Dirty Hipsters' sentiment is that it is the fact of "corporate reality." Any friendships are often fickle and convenient, everyone knows the jokes aren't funny, and nobody wants to get off of work on Friday just to hang out with the fickle friends they just finished pretending around for 8 hours 15 minutes before.

I just got back from playing DnD with my former coworkers.

I had a great time. I'm drunk as fuck, and I live 3 miles from my friends/former coworkers that hosted.

I think the whole "don't shit where you eat" rule is bullshit, and is just a way that allows corporate to prevent people from talking about their salaries. Corporate doesn't want unity and friendships among coworkers. They want division because competition helps the bottom line and makes it easier to lay people off.
Sounds like you found a good bunch, and good on ya', mate.

Me? Don't need it. I've seen/been a part of personal and professional relationships ruined because the two became too interwoven. I prefer now to keep the two separate. I don't lack in friends, and I am gainfully employed working with people who know of me only what they need to in a professional environment. I don't need the pressure of "I thought we were friends!" when it comes time for professional discipline or accountability, neither do I want drunken banter after a Friday night out with co-workers hanging over my head when I'm just trying to do my job on Monday.

Basically, I don't want the place where I have professional obligations to be associated with my happiness. When those two things are one in the same it makes relationships unnecessarily tenuous.
 
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Piscian

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Regarding the coworker mingling. Yeah it's tough to figure out where that divide is.
Last 5 bosses -current>descending.

  1. Work friend of my mine for around 13 years. She's a bit wacky, but very normal human. She actually dragged me to Europe for her wedding/vacation last year and we basically got drunk and partied for a week. We're cool, she considers me co-boss of our org.
  2. Crazy trailerparkbilly - The kind of boss that comes into work in Megadeath shirts and takes everyone for wing & booze parties on fridays. Bought me a NEOGEO arcade cabinet, dragged me to a slayer concert where we did molly and cocaine. First time I crowdsurfed in like 10 years. Weirdly we never had like buddy relationship, but he always did his best to protect his team and block any kind of reprimands. That was actually a problem at times because a couple of my team members were wastes of space that should have been fired.
  3. Best friend since like 2005, we get along like gangsters.
  4. Giant asshole - he's make us sit in his office every morning and shoot the shit for an hour and he would just talk about stock or his stupid remote control planes. Everything that ever went wrong was my fault even if I wasn't involved.
  5. Scumbag corporate "my daddy" stooge - Tried to have me fired and banned from the company the day he took over the team when I told him I had applied for a different position. HR laughed him and I moved on to a better life in a different org, but not before he made me work 30 days of overnight maintenance straight. He's a VP now.
It's been pretty much all uphill for me. My current team is all joe blows. Everybody gets each others jokes and it's a very chill atmosphere, aside from work stress. We are all remote though so I've never physically met anyone on my team.

I've definitely been on teams where everyones a serial killer and we all don't like each other and our Boss is a robot. I hate that feeling. I'm just too wacky for that uptight work environment, I start clawing at the walls if I can't speak my mind. My profile pic at work is literally the "this is my boomstick" scene from Army Of Darkness and nobodys complained.

Thinking on it, with remote work, work relationships are kinda moot for me now however.
 
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