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True Stories

Yes, I’ve Left Normal

By on November 10, 2006

I gave my notice this week, and I’m now officially self-employed (almost). My first reaction was, “How cool is this? I’m rockin’ now!” My second reaction was, “Oh s***! What have I just done?!”

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I Just Realized How Miserable I Am

By on September 29, 2006

Recently, Alexander Kjerulf, the Chief Happiness Officer, asked, “What makes you happy or unhappy at work?” I pulled part of my answer from an old post from my LiveJournal, “Things to Make My Life Perfect.” This list of things I actually wrote in response to a writing prompt for the (now defunct) Alchera Project. At […]

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Wage Slave or Crazy Entrepreneur?

By on August 4, 2006

Eric Allam of 52 Reviews posted an interesting comment on my post “Top Ten Reasons to Remain a Wage Slave,” which is a spoof off of a couple of Steve Pavlina’s “list of 10” posts. Eric linked to a post on his blog, “BusinessPundit lays out 10 misconceptions of entrepreneurship, reveals his hypocrisy,” in which […]

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Why Geeks Should Care About Fashion

By on August 1, 2006

As a thirty-something male software engineer, one of the best things about looking for a new job is that I get to go shopping for interview clothes. And that’s what I did this weekend. If you’ve not appreciated the joy of shopping for interview clothes, you’re missing out. And if you think that this joy […]

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How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 2)

By on July 21, 2006

How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 2) (Part 1 was posted yesterday.) After four months of teamicide, Peopleware-style, I was ready to die. And when HR or my manager asked me, I told them the truth.

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How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 1)

By on July 20, 2006

Two years ago, I was enthusiastic, energized, and about to plunge into depression. I was enthusiastic and energized because I had started a new job two months before, and I was in a position where I could make choices, and I knew I could make the right choices. I was stretching myself beyond what I […]

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Refactoring the Monster

By on July 1, 2006

This is a story about my first software management success. It’s also a story about my first software management failure. It was a success, because the work got completed, and without any nasty surprises. It was a failure, because I could have made the team more efficient, and I didn’t. Both of these are good […]

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Moving Chairs, and Why It’s Cool

By on May 26, 2006

Many people think leadership is about being in charge and making a legacy and doing great things and everyone loving you because you changed their lives. But it’s not. Mostly, it’s about moving chairs and other little victories that no one notices. Leadership is like Ronny Cammareri’s love, from Moonstruck:

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My Performance Sucks, and I’m Proud of It!

By on May 19, 2006

Seriously, this week I had my annual performance review, and my manager pointed out several weak areas, and I have no plans to address these weak areas. In fact, as a professional, my answer to this performance review could even end up getting me fired.

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