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Print Story Have I mentioned that Rochester is a very small city?*
Working life
By georgeha (Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 03:07:07 PM EST) H1B, layoffs, parties, RIASC (all tags)
* if you're a middle class parent.

Plus, a team of one, mega-sweet-sixteen, no summer school, radial neuropathy and other blather.

Poll: If the government can make you buy health care, what else can it do?


A short one, nearly_eleven_year_old is at a birthday party for blonde_girl, and nearly_sixteen_year_old is shopping with Mrs. Ha. I'm alone, and spending it with you Husi.

For a little bit, then I'm going to try starting things, a fire and a bike,

The birthday party is for a new girl who started at the charter school in the middle of the year, she's the first blonde girl there in a while. She doesn't live far, and may live just over the city line, I should check when I pick her up.

The first surprise was seeing a mom of nearly_sixteen_year_old's friend, her youngest and ours are mutual friends of blonde_girl. That's neat, at the end of summer there's a huge group sixteen birthday party being planned, for nearly_sixteen_year_old, newspaper_girl, this girl and sa_girl. We told our youngest she'd meet this girl, and now she did.

The next surprise was leaving, A co-worker who was friends with the AFs showed up, his oldest daughter is friends with blonde_girl.

And next weekend is nearly_eleven_year_old's party, in the park.

In other nearly_sixteen_years news, she doesn't have to go to summer school. It was a worry for a while, and her last marking period grades are maddening. She got four As, one C and three Fs, the hallmark of a very smart but lazy person.

Work sucks. Big layoffs a week ago last Friday, my team is down to me and my manager, on the East Coast at least. There's a West coast dude, and a slew of offshore people, too. An H1B showed up last week too , he's here for six months to learn all he can from me.  I bet that will end good. He does seem eager to delve more deeply into debugging than I do, maybe I can make him a developer, though he doesn't know UNIX. What sort of developer doesn't know UNIX?

In other work news, I'm blaming my poor ergonomic desk at work for my severe neuropathy flare up of my left arm. I changed my keyboard position and it's slowly helping. I could blame Civ, too, but that's not fun,

Our street is done, wrt to curbs, now the others streets have to suffer. I'm sure I'll still be dodging the odd backhoe and dumptruck.

< The Long Divergence | Happy (early) birthday to me >
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Poll
If the government can make you buy health care, what else can it do?
- Buy a musket? 40%
- Register to be drafted? 80%
- Get drafted? 60%
- Make you serve minorities in your public restuarant? 100%
- Keep you from ingesting a nearly harmless weed? 80%
- Keep you from buying a modern fully automatic gun? 80%
- Keep you from drinking beer until you're 18? 80%
- Not let you protest in front of elected officials? 60%
- Snoop on your email? 60%
- WIPO 0%

Votes: 5
Results | Other Polls
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- georgeha's Diary
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Have I mentioned that Rochester is a very small city?* | 23 comments (23 topical, 0 hidden)
But by Herring (2.00 / 0) #2 Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 04:24:20 PM EST
The people vote for the government ergo people are the problem. If you abandon that then it's just the person with the most (inherited) money that's in charge.

You can't inspire people with facts
- Small Gods
Some of them are by lm (4.00 / 1) #6 Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 11:57:27 PM EST
Others, not so much.

For example, there is no solution to trolling.

There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]
That's not a solution by lm (2.00 / 0) #14 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 11:54:47 AM EST
Not biting is a way to minimize one's own personal damage but it doesn't solve the problem. To solve the troll problem, one would have to convince everyone not to bite.
There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]
An anology by lm (4.00 / 2) #19 Mon Jul 02, 2012 at 05:50:04 PM EST
Someone peeing in the pool is my problem. It alters my quality of life even if I can avoid the direct effects by means of choosing to not go swimming.
There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]
Nuclear weapons. by ana (2.00 / 0) #21 Mon Jul 02, 2012 at 09:14:25 PM EST
Apparently you think "our admins are armed" is a joke. It is not. 

I now know what the noise that is usually spelled "lolwhut" sounds like. --Kellnerin

[ Parent ]
But but by StackyMcRacky (2.00 / 0) #20 Mon Jul 02, 2012 at 07:13:47 PM EST
once government officials are voted in, they're immediately bought off by large corporate interests.  So, they could honestly have wanted to vote X, but enough dumptrucks of cash made them decide to vote Y.

[ Parent ]
Only when voters don't care by riceowlguy (2.00 / 0) #28 Tue Jul 03, 2012 at 03:06:49 PM EST
See http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/461/take-the-money-and-run-for-office

From the story, quoting Barney Frank:
"If the voters have a position, the votes will kick money's rear end any time. I've never met a politician-- I've been in the legislative bodies for 40 years now-- who, choosing between a significant opinion in his or her district and a number of campaign contributors, doesn't go with the district.

And I have had people tell me-- and we talk honestly to each other, we don't lie to each other very often. You don't survive if you do. As chairman of a committee, I'd be lobbying for votes. I have had members say to me, Mr. Chairman, I love you. Barney, you're right. But I can't do that politically because I'll get killed in my district. No one has ever said to me, I'm sorry, but I got a big contributor I can't offend."

However, 99% of what congress does is stuff most voters have no opinion on, so there is still a lot of leeway for influence.

[ Parent ]
Time to update the old CV by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #3 Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 06:20:51 PM EST
Hope you're able to move...

Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)
We have a very good resume expert by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #4 Sat Jun 30, 2012 at 08:06:32 PM EST
since my new corp is built on offshoring with a modest onshore component.

Based on how we're meeting the old corp's level of service agreement, we also have a very persuasive sales force. Of sure, four cheap offshore devs can provide fixes just as quickly as one experienced onshore dev.


[ Parent ]
Big layoffs a week ago last Friday by dev trash (2.00 / 0) #7 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 01:15:55 AM EST
Did you not think this was coming after the 'change?'  The H1B, that there is the writing on the wall.

--
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BALLS! ->clock
This... by Metatone (4.00 / 1) #8 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 03:20:57 AM EST
I really hope it isn't.
But for dog's sake don't be blind to what the arrival of an H1-B for you to train usually means. 

[ Parent ]
Get his H1B status revoked by anonimouse (2.00 / 0) #9 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 06:03:50 AM EST
Aren't people here on H1-B status supposed to be in the US because no equivalent skill exists?

Girls come and go but a mortgage is for 25 years -- JtL
[ Parent ]
equivalent skill at the salary point by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #12 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 10:15:09 AM EST
they had plenty of postings for Project Managers fro about half of what I make.


[ Parent ]
Well, yes and no by lm (4.00 / 1) #17 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 03:28:07 PM EST
From my understanding, the employer has to make a good faith effort to find a US worker with the required qualifications. At this point, salary is not a consideration.

But once a foreign worker is found, they have to be offered the "going rate" for someone with those qualifications.

I can't possibly imagine how such a system could be abused.

There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]
No by Oberon (4.00 / 1) #13 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 10:45:09 AM EST
Having held one, I do know the visa requires that:
  1. The work requires a university degree or equivalent (and the visa applicant has attained that).
  2. The pay is at least the local going rate for that work.
I don't think that there's any law saying that H1-B workers can't compete with existing US residents for jobs. There may well be something about displacing existing employees in same company, though.

There are skilled worker visas in other places that used to require the employer to prove that no such skill existed locally, though I seem to remember that the UK one disappeared in favour of a (very bizarre) points based system.

How now, mad spirit?
[ Parent ]
That may be true for the visa holder by lm (4.00 / 1) #15 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 12:18:55 PM EST
But the employer has other rules that they have to go by, for example making the attempt to first fill the position with a current US worker.
There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic
[ Parent ]
yeah by dev trash (4.00 / 1) #22 Mon Jul 02, 2012 at 09:33:33 PM EST
there's a shortage of workers where in some states the unemployment rate is still double digits.  Political math, I don't understand it.

--
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BALLS! ->clock
[ Parent ]
There have been plenty of H1Bs before by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #11 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 10:14:28 AM EST
and we've trained a few, but they only stay for a month or so.


[ Parent ]
a month seems low to me by dev trash (2.00 / 0) #23 Mon Jul 02, 2012 at 09:35:53 PM EST
Don't the rules say the H1B is tied to specific job, seems odd that all that expense of a job that lasts a month.

--
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BALLS! ->clock
[ Parent ]
I'm not sure of their exact status by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #26 Tue Jul 03, 2012 at 09:50:23 AM EST
maybe there's a short term guest worker visa.


[ Parent ]
I wasn't aware of Rochester's peroxide ban. by ammoniacal (2.00 / 0) #16 Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 02:13:07 PM EST

"To this day that was the most bullshit caesar salad I have every experienced..." - triggerfinger

A few corner cases by riceowlguy (2.00 / 0) #29 Thu Jul 05, 2012 at 11:36:56 AM EST
Folks who have years of specialized experience developing for very specific, one-off platforms like the space shuttle.

Hardware developers, sometimes.  They may use a Unix/Linux environment but they don't know how to develop for the platform.

Anybody who goes where the money is and specializes in Windows programming (not really a corner case).

Theoretically most people who are professional developers should have a CS or EE degree and therefore, again theoretically, should have learned in a Unix environment.  I think only about half the developers I've bumped shoulders with over the years really have that background.

Well, like I said by riceowlguy (4.00 / 0) #31 Fri Jul 06, 2012 at 10:40:39 AM EST
They're trying to make money, not Do The Right Thing.  MS is where the money is.  A lot of that is just momentum of course.  I'm sure somebody out there has studied the nature of natural monopolies in technology and has ideas on how that sort of thing is eventually broken.  Or maybe it never is.


[ Parent ]
Have I mentioned that Rochester is a very small city?* | 23 comments (23 topical, 0 hidden)

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