What to do when there is nothing to do
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
Lucky swine i've been waiting 8 months nearly for a project to enter the design stage.. other than that i have only scraps of work to do I think i've had 3 weeks of actual work in that time But waiting around bites
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May be you should do something for that client who asked you to do something for free.
Hmmm, work for free, or get paid to do nothing...decisions, decisions :-D
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
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Lucky swine i've been waiting 8 months nearly for a project to enter the design stage.. other than that i have only scraps of work to do I think i've had 3 weeks of actual work in that time But waiting around bites
whale2009 wrote:
Lucky swine i've been waiting 8 months nearly for a project to enter the design stage.. other than that i have only scraps of work to do
Reminds me of the conversation I had with one of my friends over the weekend. He is working on a team which is preparing a document on how to write documents on requirements for a project for the last 4 months. Till they finalize the documents about requirements, they cannot have requirements as a result they cannot start design.
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whale2009 wrote:
Lucky swine i've been waiting 8 months nearly for a project to enter the design stage.. other than that i have only scraps of work to do
Reminds me of the conversation I had with one of my friends over the weekend. He is working on a team which is preparing a document on how to write documents on requirements for a project for the last 4 months. Till they finalize the documents about requirements, they cannot have requirements as a result they cannot start design.
That reminds me of this[^] Dilbert cartoon! (I used to have it as my desktop background) :)
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" ~ Albert Einstein "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." ~ Paul Neal "Red" Adair
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whale2009 wrote:
Lucky swine i've been waiting 8 months nearly for a project to enter the design stage.. other than that i have only scraps of work to do
Reminds me of the conversation I had with one of my friends over the weekend. He is working on a team which is preparing a document on how to write documents on requirements for a project for the last 4 months. Till they finalize the documents about requirements, they cannot have requirements as a result they cannot start design.
That is what we are waiting for 3 months after getting the instruction to start such a rewrite we get a message saying wait as an underwriter is spec'ing the system. That was September last year
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
It happens more than I care to admit. But to be honest, you will have something to show for your engagement ... an extension :p
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
I started a contract once where 2 weeks in I still had no PC. I called it quits and left. From memory I was renovating my house at the time and figured I could put my time to better use there than sitting in some god-awful office waiting for no-brainers to sort their procurement procedures out.
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
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That reminds me of this[^] Dilbert cartoon! (I used to have it as my desktop background) :)
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" ~ Albert Einstein "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." ~ Paul Neal "Red" Adair
That. And the Wally Reflector.
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
What are you moaning about? You're getting paid aren't you? That's what an old boss of mine used to say (to someone else, not me). :) Actually, right now I'd love to be in your position as opposed to being paid nothing to do nothing (i.e., I'm a "resting" contractor).
Kevin
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
It's visible on your reputation.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
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It's visible on your reputation.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
I don't get it :confused:
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
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What are you moaning about? You're getting paid aren't you? That's what an old boss of mine used to say (to someone else, not me). :) Actually, right now I'd love to be in your position as opposed to being paid nothing to do nothing (i.e., I'm a "resting" contractor).
Kevin
"resting" sucks - touch wood I have not been there for a long time but I have painful memories of "resting" periods. I must admit I like to work and finding something to occupy those periods can be irritating, in those days I was a master of the tool I was using, now days I have at least 2 technologies that I don't have the time to learn.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
Long lunches. Go find a lot of forums where people need programming help. At least it keeps your hand in. Tackle hard questions at these sites. Maybe there's a new technology you should be looking at learning? Correcting fools on the internet of their misconceived notions. Actually, that situation always sucks. I find it more stressful than a regular flow of work with encroaching deadlines. But less stressful than a crazy boss.
_____________________________ Every app cloud has a user whining.
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I don't get it :confused:
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
Sorry, my error. Your reputation makes a jump upwards, but that was two months ago not one. I was reading it as that you have more spare time.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
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I've been with the client for four weeks now and still don't have the required access to do any work. Managers get dumbfounded looks and point fingers at each other during meetings when asked why and VPs get placed on hold when calling the help desk to ask why. To make matters worse I'm 1/3 of the way through the engagement and have nothing to show for it. At least I'm catching up on my reading. :)
I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt
You are lucky... I have been at a client for close to 10 months. I have completed numerous projects at their request and not a single one has entered into production. For whatever reason as soon as I near completion on a project they come up with a reason as to why they can't implement it. Sort of reminds me of the English pilot in "Shogun"... Its a pay-check so I don't complain...
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
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You are lucky... I have been at a client for close to 10 months. I have completed numerous projects at their request and not a single one has entered into production. For whatever reason as soon as I near completion on a project they come up with a reason as to why they can't implement it. Sort of reminds me of the English pilot in "Shogun"... Its a pay-check so I don't complain...
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
I have been waiting a year for my client to finish writing the company specific documentation needed to implement a system that was booked to go live 18 months ago. Right now I am waiting for IBM to install some gpg software on the server so we can decrypt files we are getting from a supplier programmatically. They are in touch with their legal department to see if they are allowed to install a version of winpt and create 2 lines of commands to decrypt 2 files every night. The whole processes has lasted 6 months. In the mean time the client down loads the files every morning, decrypts them on his laptop and re uploads the decrypted files and runs what was supposed to be an automatic nightly batch.
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I have been waiting a year for my client to finish writing the company specific documentation needed to implement a system that was booked to go live 18 months ago. Right now I am waiting for IBM to install some gpg software on the server so we can decrypt files we are getting from a supplier programmatically. They are in touch with their legal department to see if they are allowed to install a version of winpt and create 2 lines of commands to decrypt 2 files every night. The whole processes has lasted 6 months. In the mean time the client down loads the files every morning, decrypts them on his laptop and re uploads the decrypted files and runs what was supposed to be an automatic nightly batch.
And I thought this was just me going stir-crazy... :-) I have been in the field 35+ years and it still amazes me by the level of incompetence that management displays continuously. I have produced some really good work for my client and it just sits there. So I work on my own development projects (of which I have quite a few), hoping some day that I can have my own small software business...
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
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You are lucky... I have been at a client for close to 10 months. I have completed numerous projects at their request and not a single one has entered into production. For whatever reason as soon as I near completion on a project they come up with a reason as to why they can't implement it. Sort of reminds me of the English pilot in "Shogun"... Its a pay-check so I don't complain...
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
I think there's always something to do... if isn't work then, find a hobby, play a guitar or raise a bonsai or get laid... then eat... then get laid again... Then think of something great to sell ... etc etc etc... till you die...