“let the boat sync.” Sure, now you start thinking of backups.
Loathe to be "that guy" but a sync is not a backup.
The absolute worst scenario happened
411–420 of 566 posts
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
"extorted" This is pure slander The company can avoid this if they only care to maintain the documentation / wiki left behind by said person When they failed to do even just basic proper operations, it's their own fault. I'm a business owner and a consultant, and I too charge more for these kind of asshole clients, because of the extra stress. But nowadays I just try to avoid them, it's just too damaging for your own…
> This is pure slander It's libel (written) not slander (oral); "defamation" is the generic noun.
Does libel magically turn into slander if a blind person uses a screen reader? Asking for a friend. ;-)
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#413Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here in america farmers hire illegals to harvest crops, claiming that no american would do the work. This has always struck me as a really terrible excuse. I'm sorry, you can't simply break the law because you'd have to pay an american $20 / hr to do the work. Sure, it means that your tomatoes are more expensive, but also, now there's a hell of an incentive to apply automation to the problem yes? If you don't like th…
Here in america farmers hire illegals to harvest crops, claiming that no american would do the work This is a political talking point that has been repeated so often that people believe it is true. During the recession of 2008, there were stores on local TV news in many places showing unemployed Americans waiting in long lines for the opportunity do do those jobs that the politicians kept saying no American wanted to…
I don't think your points really contradict your first statement. First, people tend to drop their standards on the type of work they're willing to do and pay they'll accept when they're desperate. In 2008 a lot of people needed a job. Any job was better than no job. I'm not surprised that jobs that would normally be unpopular had lines of people applying at that time.
Your second point about farmers trying to increase legal immigration in 2010 clearly indicates most Americans won't regularly do this work for the wages being offered. Why else would farmers be looking to hire immigrant workers just 2 years after locals were lining up to get these jobs?
While it would be nice if there was a way to get enough immigrants working legally to fill those jobs that doesn't seem to have happened. Short of another large economic downturn I don't see Americans working those jobs either. That leaves people who are working in the US illegally to fill the gap.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
A "firefighting" consultancy might be fun, no? And you would give people a lot of time off!
I've thought about that before. You get the call. "It's 30 minutes away. I'll be there in 10" If anyone happens to know of a career path or company that does that sort of work I would be interested to hear about it. Bonus points if the pay is half decent.
I don't know of a company that does this sort of work, but I know of some technologies that experts in receive these types of calls. The one that comes to mind is an ERP-focused database system. It's called "Progress" by "OpenEdge". IMHO, it's awful, but this has no hindered adoption in the slightest. I wrote Progress/4gl (their query language) often enough in a prior position to have it on my resume. Every 2 or 3 months, I'll get an email/call, asking if I could be available for short-term contracting upwards of $200/hr for Progress emergencies. I have declined all of these, because I found it soul crushing to work with in the past. However, if you could enjoy that sort of thing, that's one example of a very lucrative field to dabble in.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#415Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.
Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.
I owned a small company. After selling it, and giving 2+ more years of my life for the new owners to figure out how to replace me, they didn’t. On my last day I told them that if they ever needed anything my rate is $5,000/day, non negotiable. It’s kept them at bay for now. I have no ethical qualms with my decision. It’s business.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#416Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look up what "escrow" is. When 1/4 million dollars is on the line, you don't take the company's word that they'll pay you afterward, and they don't take your word for it that you'll actually deliver the service.
1/8th of a million.
Last time I checked, $250,000 was 1/4 of one million dollars.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#417Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean... what could the other side of the story actually be? "We tried to hire back an employee to build something that we didn't train or try and figure out ourselves and a deadline forced us to pay a large lump sum to that employee". No matter how you slice it, that's really shitty planning on the businesses side. They should have spent the time and money learning how to maintain their shit. By not doing it, they…
I imagine if it came down to it they could try to pin it on him and say he didn't provide documentation he said he did, and that's why this entire 10M project now can't be delivered. Luckily for him they decided it's easier to just pay the fee.
That won't work in most reasonable countries. A company that is no longer employs someone cannot make that person work. In the situations similar to the ones that are being described, the time is not on the side of the company - they have a dead line, a former employees does not.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, they are both exploitation and they are both evil.
Which is more exploitative, working for $5/hour in agriculture in a wealthy country, 50¢/hour in an urban factory in a poor country, or $1/day in a rural peasant village somewhere or having no work at all? It’s all relative.
That's a bit like asking, "Which is worse? A shot to the head or an overdose of morphine?" Either way the person's going to die.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love this with all my heart. You did exactly the right thing at every step.
Funnily enough it made me sick to my stomach. I manage a small company and the idea of being extorted in such a blasé and psychopathic fashion terrifies me to even think about.
Sounds like your best next step is to become an exemple of software/infrastructure best practices - get everything in the best backup/recovery solution you can, document every detail any time an issue comes up, and above all treat your people like the vaaluable assets they can be.
You may be doing any of that already, since I don't know anything about you except your one comment.
But the answer to your fear of exploitation is avoid making people hate you/your environment enough to want to protect themselves from it.
Re: The absolute worst scenario happened
#420I actually don't see any issue that isn't simply a matter of money. Everything they list that's an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company. Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors. If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate. If this is truly "fix this or the business is out…
Throwaway purely so that I can comment. I've had this happen before. Years ago I left a rather awful company - I left on great terms with my boss, though I hated the company. I was the last person who knew how to release X product. While I documented everything, after I left, the wiki lost its mind, backups apparently weren't a thing, and the director of IT moved to Bermuda. Fast forward 6 months.. a contractual obli…
This is my dream. Is that bad?