Ah. News that I stumbled across earlier, but figured it was kind of paying attention to lately.
And to think that AOC made me almost empathize with him. Almost.
Got into it with someone on Twitter over the weekend about this:
Some of what the members of Congress described in that brow-beating session did focus on some of the things that the big tech companies have done that are anticompetitive, and violate antitrust law.
With the bungling of the case against Microsoft around the dot com bubble, the DOJ has been incredibly reluctant to actually pull the trigger, and break things up.
Microsoft eventually did lose out in the browser wars because they made a bad product. But Internet Explorer is wheezing along to accommodate legacy third-party products that only work inside IE.
Would things have been better if Microsoft been broken up? I don’t know. Maybe.
Flashback time….
08/03/2012 – 8/3/2012
Again, I’ve been horrible about writing and reading. What else is now?
Wednesday, I was as close to quitting a job as I’ve ever been in my life. I’d struggled, and struggled to get feedback on this thing I was working on. Very little. I incorporated most of the suggestions. I turned it in Monday night. Very late Tuesday night (we’re talking after 10pm, after I’d sent her something basically finises last Friday), I finally got some response from the person who’d tasked me on it. She said it was utter shit. I was livid. I know I make mistakes. I make lots of mistakes. I also miss things; comes with having bad eyesight. But that doesn’t mean I’m late, or what I turn in is bad.
In fact, very little of what I’d done was wrong. Most of it was actually perfect (amazing as that is!). I just hadn’t done the added, unnecessary, nonsense she felt it needed.
So I added it. And got it in late Wednesday afternoon.
I guess she, my direct supervisor, the guy who’d held the job before my supervisor, and the mumbling, stumbling idiot reviewed it. No major gripes. But it wasn’t “adding value.”
Give me a fucking break. It’s not supposed to “add value.” It’s a fucking academic exercise; CYA.
Whatever. I’m still employed. My boss understands the situation. I’ve been responsive. I haven’t undermined the mumbling, stumbling idior (yet). Life goes on.
It will be interesting to see what happens if I win this contract, and they lose theirs……..
My wife and I were discussing the logistics of the move to DC this afternoon/evening.
I’ve decided I want the following:
- Moving expenses in cash, up front.
- 80% telecommute
- A 6% raise (I’d normally expect 8%, but I’m going to trade some of it for the increased telecommute).
- Promise of twelve months’ employment after relocation. (I have zero faith in the Congress and the President to prevent shit from turning bad in January…..whoever wins the election is unimportant, really. This die is cast.)
My wife is fully marooned in Olympicdom. sigh
This one actually speaks to the attitude I had, then, and my life’s gotten a ton better since I readopted it.
I’m not going to do something out of desperation again, and I’ve gotten greater rewards from being unmovable on my demands. If you want me, you will meet my requirements, regardless of how outrageous they may look on paper.
I’m not well, physically. I’m aging. I don’t need to bend over anymore. And I won’t.
But it speaks to some of what I’ve been going through, mentally. In other areas, I’m very risk-avers, but, professionally, I just can’t get too wound up about anything at this point.
I’ve done what I need to do, and if everything comes crashing down, whatever.