The Swamp

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 7:19 pm You hiring?

We have a set of beer taps in the office so it’s a pretty permissible attitude w/r/t drinking.

brian wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 3:23 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 3:18 pm I would be in the bushes if I had 3 martinis.

Well, three to ten martinis was a bit of creative license (off of the "two-martini lunch"). The point is she drinks a lot at lunch and doesn't really try to hide it.

When I was first out of school, and working at Boeing, there was an RF engineer (who had worked with my father back in the mid-50's), who was brilliant, but a lush. When someone would say "Well, I ran this by Bill, and he said it looks good", the response would always be "Did you talk to him before or after lunch?"

If anyone's interested, here's a cool article about one of the scientists and projects that I've been working on for the last few months. My part of it is writing a 'Workflow Sequencing Engine' that guides the experimenters through things and coordinates all the various processes (11 processes spread over 5 computers), stores the data, and then bundles it all up and passes it off to our Data analysis team. We ran with a real animal on the system a few days ago, and it was wild. He actually uses a 3d camera (with googles) to be able to place the probes into the targeted areas in the mouse's brain.

DIY goes in vivo

One experiment he wanted to try required stimulating a mouse’s hippocampus only during the peaks of an electrical wave recorded inside of this brain region. Other scientists had proposed that electrical waves in the hippocampus help distinguish information that is being stored from information that is being remembered. If the stimulation occurred while the mouse was exploring a maze, it could enhance the animal’s ability to store and later recall the memory of the location of a reward. This had the potential to explain how the brain differentiates newly-forming memories from those already stored. Such an experiment “would be impossible without closed-loop feedback. Stimulating the hippocampus at random times would not have allowed us to test this particular hypothesis,” says Siegle.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 10:42 am If anyone's interested, here's a cool article about one of the scientists and projects that I've been working on for the last few months. My part of it is writing a 'Workflow Sequencing Engine' that guides the experimenters through things and coordinates all the various processes (11 processes spread over 5 computers), stores the data, and then bundles it all up and passes it off to our Data analysis team. We ran with a real animal on the system a few days ago, and it was wild. He actually uses a 3d camera (with googles) to be able to place the probes into the targeted areas in the mouse's brain.

DIY goes in vivo

One experiment he wanted to try required stimulating a mouse’s hippocampus only during the peaks of an electrical wave recorded inside of this brain region. Other scientists had proposed that electrical waves in the hippocampus help distinguish information that is being stored from information that is being remembered. If the stimulation occurred while the mouse was exploring a maze, it could enhance the animal’s ability to store and later recall the memory of the location of a reward. This had the potential to explain how the brain differentiates newly-forming memories from those already stored. Such an experiment “would be impossible without closed-loop feedback. Stimulating the hippocampus at random times would not have allowed us to test this particular hypothesis,” says Siegle.

That's awesome. I'm a data analyst. I wish I could analyze fun stuff like this.

brian wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 2:39 pm Just had a pretty hysterical interaction on Slack with our office manager/HR person. I told her to cancel my seat at our company dinner for June 7 since I have to fly back to Vegas for Game 5 that day and she replied first with thanks for letting her know and then went on a expletive-filled rant about how awesome the Blackhawks are and the Knights can fuck off, etc.

Small companies are funny sometimes. (She's well-known for three to 10 martini lunches, so this isn't quite out of character.)

I flinched at the name "Slack," because so many of my investigations involve things posted on Slack. Throw in "HR Manager," and my skin is bristling.

My company started in Silicone Valley providing outsourced HR to the tech industry. Small companies with a fun environment (especially those that keep alcohol on site) that grow into larger companies and fail to adjust the fun small company vibe is my job security.

brian wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 2:39 pm She's well-known for three to 10 martini lunches

TEN martinis?

jeebus..

So for about the last 6 months, I've been totally swamped at work, and have been working a bunch of extra hours (staying late, going in on Sunday mornings) just to try to keep up. My priority list is about 7 deep right now, with stuff getting added about as fast as I can knock stuff off.

Anyways, this one group of scientists that I have done a bunch of stuff for in the past has been asking for some support, and I just haven't been able to do more then give them an hour or two here or there. So I went into work this past Sunday, spent about 6 hours, and was able to get things to where they are able to test out a new experiment workflow.

I mentioned this in my group meeting today, and my boss scolded me for it, saying 'If you are going to come in on your own time, you should be working on things that our on your priority list, not other stuff'. I was pretty much dumbfounded. It was my time...I was doing this stuff to help out a group that I like.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:05 am So for about the last 6 months, I've been totally swamped at work, and have been working a bunch of extra hours (staying late, going in on Sunday mornings) just to try to keep up. My priority list is about 7 deep right now, with stuff getting added about as fast as I can knock stuff off.

Anyways, this one group of scientists that I have done a bunch of stuff for in the past has been asking for some support, and I just haven't been able to do more then give them an hour or two here or there. So I went into work this past Sunday, spent about 6 hours, and was able to get things to where they are able to test out a new experiment workflow.

I mentioned this in my group meeting today, and my boss scolded me for it, saying 'If you are going to come in on your own time, you should be working on things that our on your priority list, not other stuff'. I was pretty much dumbfounded. It was my time...I was doing this stuff to help out a group that I like.

He's an asshole.

if it's your time, as he says it is, you get to decide what you want to do with it. good lord.

That's disrespectful. Go to his boss and say so. Say you are burnt out keeping up with 7 projects. Either get help to pay overtime.

Sounds like my product manager. He's not *really* my boss, and I am currently in a weird spot where I am moving from one role where I work literally in sight of my soon to be former boss to another role where my boss is in another state. This is a role change I really wanted. However when my product manager called me in to his office, my current boss was in the office too. I thought it would be rude to be over the top excited, and I'm pretty low key anyway, so I said something like "that's great, looking forward to getting started", etc.

Well, come to find out weeks later, my product manager decided I wasn't enthusiastic enough about getting what I wanted. I found this out from a coworker that goes out on smoke breaks with him. So I jokingly mentioned that to him at a team building event last week. Told him I didn't want to show up the guy that I was moving out from underneath and he knew how long I had been after that role. Turns out that he thought I should have immediately called my new boss and thanked him for the opportunity and not only that, he ran it up the fucking management chain that I wasn't enthusiastic about the new role.

I thought that was bad enough, but then he started giving me "career advice" about how I need to fix my perception around the office. Wait. What? Apparently he was the only one that doesn't know, despite me telling everyone around me, that I'm coaching both my boys' baseball teams. And yeah, I get changed in the locker room at work and leave at, as it turns out, the same time I leave every day. But he reads this as leaving a half hour early every day, nobody knows where I am, etc. Nobody is complaining about my work, quite the opposite actually. But he's spreading a "perception" issue around the office. Of course he says it's "not a real problem" but I have to "control my perception" because that affects raises, etc.

And of course none of this came out until I brought it up. But talking with my coworkers about it is apparently ok.

Best team building ever.

TL;DR; My product manager, who is not in my direct chain of command, is spreading bullshit about me because, in my perception, I didn't kiss his ass enough for getting the role change I wanted.

I cannot, even a little, understand people like that. They exist in every office and it just seems impossibly miserable to live that way.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:15 am I cannot, even a little, understand people like that. They exist in every office and it just seems impossibly miserable to live that way.

untalented people need a way to get ahead
you (royal you) need to get information up the management chain first

It's one of my faults as well. I'm deemed to be unenthusiastic because I just sit at my desk 8 hours a day and get shit done. It doesn't matter that I churn out great report after great report. When managers spitball about possible successors in certain areas, my name is not there. They are just happy that I am happy where I am, churning out great reports.

Cuz people have deficiencies in their personal lives that they can compensate for in an environment that they have more control over.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:18 am

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:15 am I cannot, even a little, understand people like that. They exist in every office and it just seems impossibly miserable to live that way.

untalented people need a way to get ahead
you (royal you) need to get information up the management chain first

It's one of my faults as well. I'm deemed to be unenthusiastic because I just sit at my desk 8 hours a day and get shit done. It doesn't matter that I churn out great report after great report. When managers spitball about possible successors in certain areas, my name is not there. They are just happy that I am happy where I am, churning out great reports.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but if you're doing good work, have indicated your aspirations to your managers/bosses, etc. and still aren't being considered for advancement then you need to find a new employer.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:15 am I cannot, even a little, understand people like that. They exist in every office and it just seems impossibly miserable to live that way.

Yeah, he's a miserable little prick. I know they are around every office, but for the most part I have managed to avoid most of them. Thought this guy was fairly decent until this shit came out of the blue. Completely changed how I look at this job.

brian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:26 am

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:18 am

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:15 am I cannot, even a little, understand people like that. They exist in every office and it just seems impossibly miserable to live that way.

untalented people need a way to get ahead
you (royal you) need to get information up the management chain first

It's one of my faults as well. I'm deemed to be unenthusiastic because I just sit at my desk 8 hours a day and get shit done. It doesn't matter that I churn out great report after great report. When managers spitball about possible successors in certain areas, my name is not there. They are just happy that I am happy where I am, churning out great reports.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but if you're doing good work, have indicated your aspirations to your managers/bosses, etc. and still aren't being considered for advancement then you need to find a new employer.

That's the important part. Something I'm not good at.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:34 am

brian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:26 am

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:18 am

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:15 am I cannot, even a little, understand people like that. They exist in every office and it just seems impossibly miserable to live that way.

untalented people need a way to get ahead
you (royal you) need to get information up the management chain first

It's one of my faults as well. I'm deemed to be unenthusiastic because I just sit at my desk 8 hours a day and get shit done. It doesn't matter that I churn out great report after great report. When managers spitball about possible successors in certain areas, my name is not there. They are just happy that I am happy where I am, churning out great reports.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but if you're doing good work, have indicated your aspirations to your managers/bosses, etc. and still aren't being considered for advancement then you need to find a new employer.

That's the important part. Something I'm not good at.

Well, there's lot of ways to do it somewhat organically without seeming too aggressive. Do you have semi-regular performance reviews for example? That's a pretty common question that should be coming up as far as figuring out where you see yourself in with the company in the future.

I can tell you from the other side that if we have an employee who is killing it, but frustrated with their lack of opportunities for advancement we'll do just about anything we can to keep them up to and including making up a new position with some additional responsibilities and commensurate pay increase. Especially with the job market the way it is now -- no one wants to take the chance of losing a good employee. I assume western Canada is mostly in the same boat, but workers have as much leverage as they've had in quite some time.

Again, without knowing most of the specifics of your job and your relationship with your superiors, they will almost always be happy that you expressed your feelings in a constructive way and will work on your behalf if they truly value your work.

I can't give any advice as far as making it easier for you to do something that it sounds like you struggle with, but I can tell you that unless your boss is a complete asshole, he/she will appreciate you being upfront with them about your frustrations.

Thank you very much, that is great advice.

I have posted a bit about my situation earlier in the thread. The lead position has now been posted and I'm in the process of applying for it.
The outgoing lead was/is an asshole and has a favorite person to succeed her. They are always in cahoots hiding information from the rest of the team. Even right now as we speak they are in a meeting that I orchestrated without me.

I've always been more reactive than proactive and I've worked hard to change that. When I talk to my manager, I know what I reported to the lead was not making it up the chain so I started to self-promote myself, which was difficult for me. My manager now knows where I see myself in this department and we'll see what happens when I interview.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:04 pm Thank you very much, that is great advice.

I have posted a bit about my situation earlier in the thread. The lead position has now been posted and I'm in the process of applying for it.
The outgoing lead was/is an asshole and has a favorite person to succeed her. They are always in cahoots hiding information from the rest of the team. Even right now as we speak they are in a meeting that I orchestrated without me.

I've always been more reactive than proactive and I've worked hard to change that. When I talk to my manager, I know what I reported to the lead was not making it up the chain so I started to self-promote myself, which was difficult for me. My manager now knows where I see myself in this department and we'll see what happens when I interview.

Good on you for going for it. Good luck.

So, am I completely wrong for thinking if someone asks me a favor to have my team send out an e-mail to 15000 customers and the Word doc containing the e-mail text is completely marked up with comments from his group, they should fix that and send me a clean version. And the response from them when I ask that shouldn't be "It's really easy for you to do. Let me know if you want me to show you how," right?

Also, dipshit telling me how a meeting went bad because "we didn't know it was a law firm onboarding call, we thought it was more high-level" when the fucking meeting title is "Law Firm Onboarding".

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:18 am untalented people need a way to get ahead
you (royal you) need to get information up the management chain first

It's one of my faults as well. I'm deemed to be unenthusiastic because I just sit at my desk 8 hours a day and get shit done. It doesn't matter that I churn out great report after great report. When managers spitball about possible successors in certain areas, my name is not there. They are just happy that I am happy where I am, churning out great reports.

I really think the main problem in many large-ish companies is that untalented people *do* find ways to get ahead. The ambitious dwarves who love the sounds of their own voices more often than not end up running the show, directly into the ground, while the truly hard working and brilliant producers, like yourself, are taken for granted.

Of course, the irony is that very often, the most talented people are the ones least interested in career mobility or chasing prestige. I've worked with some truly brilliant developers and engineering scientists over the years, and I've noticed that the very best of them tended to be the ones who loved exactly what they were doing, and would have run in the other direction at the mention of being promoted to upper management.

So, in the style of English Tabloids regarding Soccer Mangers...

Dave...Sacked!

Well...not exactly. But I got told a couple of days ago that my position is going away and I need to find a new gig by the middle of September. All this after working my ass off for basically the last 9 months or so.

My guess is that they've decided that me being a "Senior Software Engineer" was making too much money, so they are phasing me out and will be bringing in two less senior people instead.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:04 am So, in the style of English Tabloids regarding Soccer Mangers...

Dave...Sacked!

Well...not exactly. But I got told a couple of days ago that my position is going away and I need to find a new gig by the middle of September. All this after working my ass off for basically the last 9 months or so.

My guess is that they've decided that me being a "Senior Software Engineer" was making too much money, so they are phasing me out and will be bringing in two less senior people instead.

Sorry to hear that man. But, it sounds like you've got great credentials and you had to deal with some jerks there, so maybe this will be a great transition for you.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:04 am So, in the style of English Tabloids regarding Soccer Mangers...

Dave...Sacked!

Well...not exactly. But I got told a couple of days ago that my position is going away and I need to find a new gig by the middle of September. All this after working my ass off for basically the last 9 months or so.

My guess is that they've decided that me being a "Senior Software Engineer" was making too much money, so they are phasing me out and will be bringing in two less senior people instead.

Sorry to hear it, mate. That's why I detest the business side of...well, business.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:04 am So, in the style of English Tabloids regarding Soccer Mangers...

Dave...Sacked!

Well...not exactly. But I got told a couple of days ago that my position is going away and I need to find a new gig by the middle of September. All this after working my ass off for basically the last 9 months or so.

My guess is that they've decided that me being a "Senior Software Engineer" was making too much money, so they are phasing me out and will be bringing in two less senior people instead.

Wow, that sucks. Let me know if you think I could help you with a position at Microsoft. Obviously, I don't have the inside access I had a month or so ago, but I still know folks.

now is your chance to come to canada!

Good luck, DiS.

..Sorry DiS - Hope it leads to brighter pastures.

I'm serious, you should come here

degenerasian wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 12:40 pm I'm serious, you should come here

Make sure it's the right Springbank Arena, though.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:24 am now is your chance to come to canada!

Nope...when I told my GF about it, the first thing she asked me was 'You aren't moving to Australia again, are you?'

Should be enough programming gigs here in Seattle for me to find something.

Its been pretty interesting at work today...I started telling people about it yesterday via email. Everyone is pretty stunned and surprised.

Are you planning on staying in higher ed/research? It seems like the remote worker concept is finally becoming more of an option. For some of the isolated college campuses it's been hard to find talent willing to relocate for a position that is only funded for a few years.

testuser2 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:07 am Are you planning on staying in higher ed/research? It seems like the remote worker concept is finally becoming more of an option. For some of the isolated college campuses it's been hard to find talent willing to relocate for a position that is only funded for a few years.

I certainly would like to stay in a research type position. That's what I've done my entire career, and I don't think I would be a good fit for a 'sweatshop' type of place.

I've already been talking to a bunch of headhunters, so I'm not too worried yet about finding something. But I'm definitely surprised with how many places are looking for C++ or Java programmers. I didn't think those were still in such high demand. I know both, but its been about 7 years since I wrote either, so I'm pretty upfront telling the headhunters that it would take me a bit to refresh my knowledge.

So not to be That Guy...but why do so many Tech Recruiters hire people with seriously thick accents? I've pretty much gotten to where I just say 'I can't talk right now, email me the job description'.

Had a pretty good coffee meeting/interview with a place that make lab testing/screening equipment. Fingers crossed.

Might be a little inside baseball....

A_B wrote: ↑Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:30 pm Might be a little inside baseball....

Yeh. If a recruiting firm finds most applicants for a given field to be of a certain ethnicity, then perhaps many of the applicants to become recruiters for that field might be of a similar ethnicity?

rass wrote: ↑Thu Feb 05, 2015 12:37 pm Cross-posted from the "CUBE LIFE" thread...

rass wrote:The temp (older gentleman) covering for our normal part-time receptionist (older lady) is wearing a sweet manatee-patterned belt today.

He walked out of a bathroom stall just a bit ago, said "Hi <Rass>" to me as I stood at the urinal, turned and walked out without washing his hands. Three doors, all pull to open, on the way back to the office...

Cross-cross-posted back from the bathroom etiquette thread...

This same receptionist butchered the coffee situation this morning by (A) marrying two pots of coffee (instead of either dumping the dregs or using a third pot/burner) and then (B) deciding he had to stick his entire hand inside the coffee pot after rinsing it out in order to dry it before making a new pot of coffee.

Coffpee.

Barf.