There’s this slight and subtle difference between having a tiny bit of a miscommunication with the customer, and getting punched in the face by said customer while your manager is pinning your arms behind your back.

I understand how, sometimes, you can’t help but being handed a project that isn’t about to go down in history as an examplar of success. While there’s a certain superficial luxury in not having to wonder if I’ll be stuck in shit today, the alternative “what will the level of shit be today” is a bit of a letdown.

I’m starting a new job tomorrow as part of a Sharepoint implementation team. It should be interesting. This is my first Sharepoint project, so I’ll have something to learn at the least.

Even better - while I’ll be starting out in Den Bosch (not really near Amersfoort), I’ll be working from Amersfoort a little later on. In an office I can actually walk to. So … Yeah!

*compared to the avarage job in 1812

Consider this.

Would you like to lower your fee?

• No
• Yes. Amount: 0 euro

What is the difference between the two options above?

Really, the system at work is so messed up and illogical.

Edit: Apparently I missed the text that was below the options which explains the difference between “No” and “Yes“. I still stand by the fact that “if people need explanation, maybe you weren’t clear the first time”

While filling in my profile at linkedIn, I remembered working for the Union of International Associations. I was an allround IT-guy and I did some coding in a language named R-Basic and I replaced backup tapes by late afternoon.

I remember using the crappy old copier to copy CD-covers, the fashionably very long skirt of one of the employees, the very very weird monologue I got from one of the elder colleagues that somehow started about Christianity and ended in a speech on the acceptance of sexual abberations, the blond hair of the only other girl that spoke Flemish in the building and the weird almost Wozniakian stature of my boss with his beard and corduroy pants. And I remember me coding my very own text-based game, consisting of a <|> plane that flew through a canyon and that had to evade the walls as the canyon came rusing by faster and faster. Every line of canyon that went past was worth 1 point. I coded it so I would have something to do. I played it everyday. And then I would tweak it and play it again.

But what I somehow remember most vividly is the somewhat geeky girl that occupied the same office I was in, with whom I barely exchanged a “hello” and “good evening”. She cried when I told her I was leaving the office. That was 17 years ago. I can’t remember what she looked like. I only know she sobbed.

When was it that reporting no progress became progress?

I’ve got a new project to work on since Wednesday. It’s a typical project with people defending their territory while not knowing enough or all about their territory or letting patriottism blind their judgment. Nothing new. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’ve been hired for three months, to start off with. If all goes well, I might be here … for years to come.

 The only thing that sucks a little bit is the commute. Anyone commuting in and out of London or Los Angeles would be very happy with a total 3 hour commute, but in the Netherlands, it’s a bit sucky.

Yesterday was a 4.5 hour commute. 2.5 hours to get there, 2 hours to get back. Today, however, was much better (crossing my fingers here) with a 1 hour and 10 minutes commute. Yeah! But I got to wake up at six in the morning and I have a gig tonight … We’ll see how that works out.