New Rising Star

Last week, the movie Bee Season starring Richard Gere came out on DVD. This is a movie about a gifted child's efforts at winning the National Spelling Bee, while her parents struggle to make sense of their relationship.

The concept was a good one, and it showed great promise. The execution fell so flat, it could be slid under the tire of an SUV without being torn, or even making physical contact.

There is really only one reason to buy this movie: my daughter is in it! She's only on screen for a few seconds, and doesn't have a speaking part, but she's still there! Hey, all great actors had to start somewhere, right?! Well, this is my baby's starting point!

I've captured a frame from the movie and posted it below, with my daughter's pretty face called out for you.

Proud Papa,
The Boring Family Man

Contracting Sucks!

I am an IT professional, and have been for nearly a quarter of a century. This pretty much defines me as a geek. I am proud of my geekdom, and support most forms of geekism, and tolerance for all things geekish.

I began contracting as a web developer for a major technology company in December of 1999. The plan was to try to transition from contractor to permanent employee over the course of the contract period, with was a maximum of 18 months.

That was the first of four contracts I have worked for this company. Due to a huge lawsuit wherein a number of long-term contract employees of another tech company sued their employer for benefits and won, the company that I was contracting at implemented a "co-employment" policy, whereby contractors could work for a certain period of time and then had to go away and "cool off" for another period of time.

When I started my first contract, the durations were 18 months on, 12 months off. During that first contract, the timeframes changed to 12 on and 6 off, but since I was already on board, I was allows to complete an 18-month contract, while only having to cool off for 6.

I came back after 7 months and worked a full 12-month contract, with an additional 1-month extension due to some time-critical work I was performing. After another 6-month cooling off period, I came back and worked another 12 months, and had another 6-month cool-down.

I am now 5 weeks away from the end of my fourth contract, and have been made aware of a new change in contract durations: moving forward, in my department alone, contract durations will now be 9 months on and 9 months off.

To top this off, I had a rigorous interview for a permanent position a few weeks ago that I thought had gone extremely well. I waited a week, which I considered a respectful, professional length of time, and contacted the hiring manager (who also happens to be my current reporting manager) to inquire as to how their decision-making process was progressing. I was THEN informed that a hiring freeze had been instituted 2 days PRIOR to my interview, a fact that they did not have the courtesy or professionalism to disclose at the time.

Enough is enough.

I have broken my back for this department trying to become a permanent employee for six years now, because I believe in the company and its goals, and because I honestly feel that I add value to the department, and, as a result, to the company as a whole. I am good at what I do, and I take great pride in my work. I learn and grow with every task performed, which is something that any reputable company would want and expect of their employees.

So, what am I doing wrong? I can only think of one thing:

I'm letting them get away with it. Well, no more.

I have informed every manager that I know in the department that I am done. I MAY return to the department for a permanent position, but I will never again contract for them. Ever. I may return to contract for another department, but not this one. Other departments are hiring, while mine has a prolonged history of "unexpected" hiring freezes.

I can't take care of my family's needs by continuing this assinine circle, so I'm abandoning it. I have always hated leaving at the end of my contract, but this time, I'm actually looking forward to it. There is something very liberating in knowing that you've just made a hard decision that's setting you up for a lot of struggle, but secure in the knowledge that it was the right decision.

In 5 weeks I will walk away from a job that I love, a department full of people that I respect, and an endless cycle of bad managerial practice that has left me emotionally exhausted. I will still hate leaving, especially knowing that I will probably never be back, but I'll still do it with a clarity of purpose that I had forgotten I could experience.

I do hope to return some day, even if it's in another department, because it's a good, strong, reputable company that I believe in, but I won't be holding my breath.

Even though that might be the only way I could ever go "blue."

"It's not easy, being green." - Kermit the Frog

Welcome to the Boring Family Man's Blog!

Everybody's blogging about anything & everything under the sun, so I thought it was time that we boring people got in on the act!

I'm a happily married father of four, an ex-Marine, have been an IT professional for nearly a quarter of a century, and I believe that nothing is so important that you can't laugh about it.

I intend to post about all of the things that mean something to me, including my wife, my kids, my career, my personal interests, and anything else that moves me. Hopefully, you'll find something of interest here, and will return regularly.

I'll be posting a couple of entries this week, so please feel free to subscribe and check back!

Regards,
Ric Noell,
Boring Family Man