I'm damn envious of you retired punks!

jackderby52

Prehistoric blues knob (not newbie)
Well, my severance agreement prevents me from talking about it too much, or saying anything bad about the company since it is a public company. But it was a software package that I wrote. The first iteration that resulted in a saleable product took 3 months to develop and sold for $65,000 (future iterations of the product sold for much less). Two major software development companies had tried and failed to produce the very same product ahead of me - why, I have no idea. The product then underwent 10 more years of additional development, expansion and refinement, at which time I sold the company. Because the buyer was attempting to kill the product, there was NO further development for the next 10 years, but it is still in use at a number of locations, as many of the customers simply refused to give it up because it just plain worked. I believe it is quite unusual for any software product to have that kind of longevity with no ongoing development and minimal support, so I am pretty proud of its success. It was used in the transportation logistics industry, an area that I had absolutely no experience in prior to taking on the project. Possibly not knowing what I didn't know was an advantage in this case. :)
Cool story... And you should be proud... P.S. Where I work, we are notoriously noted for keeping software up and running well past it's intended life span.. It's actually embarrassing how conservative we are! But, here I am still collecting a paycheck.. So the joke is on me! :)
 

Al Holloway

Devizes UK
I wrote some Cobol batch programs in the mid 80's. They were not Y2K compliant. I know cos I hard coded the leap year checks to an include list that didn't go past 2000:whistle:. Yes I know early in my career and all that. But it was OK as they certainly wouldn't still be around in 15 years. Working in a different part of the same company I was checking a Y2K compliance report and came across my programs on the list of those needing changes......I guess some programs last 15 years:oops:

cheers

Al.
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
Yes, Al, it's true, some software is long lived - I always enjoy other people's stories of the early days back in the last century :)
I got started in programming when the Apple II came out (just for fun) and then it evolved into a career after the IBM PC was introduced.
Back in those days, resources were pretty limited, and so many programs "took advantage" of low level "features" of the hardware and the OS in order to get performance otherwise not possible. Back then you could program "close to the hardware", like using movmem( ) to write directly to the video memory to get lightning fast screen updates. Yes, there was a long time that I was a C snob. How come Kernigan and Ritchie never had a drink named after them??? Both hardware and software were evolving so quickly back then, many such programming techniques often resulted in programs no longer working after a time, because they were not allowed by the OS or the "more advanced" programming tools.
It was a good time though. I remember many times discovering some cool new way to do things, and then seeing the same technique documented in the next issue of Byte magazine by some other clever young nerd. :D
Ahhhh, the old days......:Beer:
Tom
 

Momantai

Red nose, red guitar
Ahhh, the old days.... Fortran, Algol, Cobol, RTLII, etc.
I even programmed Motorola 6800’s in assembly....
The good old days when a 2.5 Mbyte (yes, mega, not giga nor tera) cartridge disks costed over $100,000...
Ahhh....
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
Ahhh, the old days.... Fortran, Algol, Cobol, RTLII, etc.
I even programmed Motorola 6800’s in assembly....
The good old days when a 2.5 Mbyte (yes, mega, not giga nor tera) cartridge disks costed over $100,000...
Ahhh....
The best code I ever wrote was in assembly - for the simple reason, it HAD to be!
Hard to hide behind sloppy programming at that level. :Beer:
 

jackderby52

Prehistoric blues knob (not newbie)
Gosh, this post took a bad turn talking computers... That's why I joined this forum is to get away from work!! (my bad)...
By the way, I started out coding on punch cards... Yup, there I said it... :)
 

Grateful_Ed

Student Of The Blues
Gosh, this post took a bad turn talking computers... That's why I joined this forum is to get away from work!! (my bad)...
By the way, I started out coding on punch cards... Yup, there I said it... :)

Yeah, my first and last foray into the coding world was in the early 70s. I was poking holes via typewriter into reels of tape to program Bridgeport CNC milling machines. I'd program, set up and show the operators what to do. They made twice as much as I did.
I quit and started painting cars. After 40+ years, jury's still out on that decision.
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
I used 13 different programming languages professionally. C was my favorite, followed by C#, and Visual FoxPro. Assembler was fun. I started with 4 bit and ended up with 64 bit. BASIC was my least favorite. As long as there is a Bill Gates, there will be some version of BASIC. :( My first computer was an S-100 (8" floppy disks), followed by IBM PC's and Apple products. I remember in 1982 when I bought my first hard disk, 10 M. Everyone said to me: "What are you going to do with all that storage space"?

I knew and worked with many of the top people in technology. Some were despicable and some were outstanding human beings. As a consultant, I was treated as "a god". I solved problems quickly. As a full time employee, I was treated like a cog on a wheel. That was how people are treated here in Silicon Valley. As a full time employee at NUMMI, I solved problems that the H1B "experts" stated could not be done. If you are over 40 in this valley, you will have a difficult time finding employment. Surely, everyone over 40 has no value, nor do they have the ability to contribute anything worthwhile. Just contact the nearest HR Department of any company in my area. :ROFLMAO:

I worked at 12 different programming "houses". Several went out of business, and I left before they closed their doors in each case. One place I worked at had me create a new version of their main and only application. It was far from ready, but coming along well. The president of the company told the customer service and sales departments to tell anyone who called, to not purchase a new or upgraded program, as in six months we would be releasing a new version. Guess what happened? No sales caused the company to close. I had warned management about what happened to George Morrow, making such an announcement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

At one place we went through great pains to define what a new application would include. We had 8 programmers on the project. Management would set specific dates for "deliverables", and our SQA (Software Quality Assurance) department would test every possible element of the progress. Then at the last moment, some sales type would go to the president/owner and say he promised a customer (hospital) some features we did not have. So we kept the same delivery date, and had to add functionality by working overtime (with no compensation). Working 20 hour days, seven days a week, for months at a time is not fun, but I often did this while working as a programmer.

As I look back at SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, and so many others, I truly can say that I am happy to have retired. I often look at all my computer programming and technical books, and want to donate them to the library. It must be stated that these are collectors items, as technology changes every week. I lost my zest for keeping ahead of the crowd. It was fun, I had an absolute passion for it (hardware and software), and I was able to put our son and daughter through college, and they have good jobs. Now it is my time, and you all know where you can go, and I will gladly tell you how to get there! :eek: If you don't know what I mean, send me a PM! :):cry::ROFLMAO::rolleyes:o_O:Beer:

Tom
 

jackderby52

Prehistoric blues knob (not newbie)
I used 13 different programming languages professionally. C was my favorite, followed by C#, and Visual FoxPro. Assembler was fun. I started with 4 bit and ended up with 64 bit. BASIC was my least favorite. As long as there is a Bill Gates, there will be some version of BASIC. :( My first computer was an S-100 (8" floppy disks), followed by IBM PC's and Apple products. I remember in 1982 when I bought my first hard disk, 10 M. Everyone said to me: "What are you going to do with all that storage space"?

I knew and worked with many of the top people in technology. Some were despicable and some were outstanding human beings. As a consultant, I was treated as "a god". I solved problems quickly. As a full time employee, I was treated like a cog on a wheel. That was how people are treated here in Silicon Valley. As a full time employee at NUMMI, I solved problems that the H1B "experts" stated could not be done. If you are over 40 in this valley, you will have a difficult time finding employment. Surely, everyone over 40 has no value, nor do they have the ability to contribute anything worthwhile. Just contact the nearest HR Department of any company in my area. :ROFLMAO:

I worked at 12 different programming "houses". Several went out of business, and I left before they closed their doors in each case. One place I worked at had me create a new version of their main and only application. It was far from ready, but coming along well. The president of the company told the customer service and sales departments to tell anyone who called, to not purchase a new or upgraded program, as in six months we would be releasing a new version. Guess what happened? No sales caused the company to close. I had warned management about what happened to George Morrow, making such an announcement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

At one place we went through great pains to define what a new application would include. We had 8 programmers on the project. Management would set specific dates for "deliverables", and our SQA (Software Quality Assurance) department would test every possible element of the progress. Then at the last moment, some sales type would go to the president/owner and say he promised a customer (hospital) some features we did not have. So we kept the same delivery date, and had to add functionality by working overtime (with no compensation). Working 20 hour days, seven days a week, for months at a time is not fun, but I often did this while working as a programmer.

As I look back at SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, and so many others, I truly can say that I am happy to have retired. I often look at all my computer programming and technical books, and want to donate them to the library. It must be stated that these are collectors items, as technology changes every week. I lost my zest for keeping ahead of the crowd. It was fun, I had an absolute passion for it (hardware and software), and I was able to put our son and daughter through college, and they have good jobs. Now it is my time, and you all know where you can go, and I will gladly tell you how to get there! :eek: If you don't know what I mean, send me a PM! :):cry::ROFLMAO::rolleyes:o_O:Beer:

Tom
Tom, do you need a job?? I'm in need of a few good developers.. All you have to do is move to Buffalo NY!! :)...
 

Al Holloway

Devizes UK
If you are over 40 in this valley, you will have a difficult time finding employment. Surely, everyone over 40 has no value,
My company has this mentality. Only when I apply for redundancy apparently I am essential to the business and can't be released. I'm 54 so I think their maths went wrong somewhere:whistle:
The big issue nobody is addressing is most of the geeky young kids now leaving collage want to program i-phone apps. Nobody wants to do corporate IT with no pay rises for 10 years. The only ones left in my office are those like me on old contracts waiting for a big redundancy cheque:(

cheers

Al.
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
Our company (NUMMI) was a joint cooperation between Toyota and General Motors. The concept was that GM wanted to include quality in its products, for a change. They made a movie about the company called “Gung Ho”, staring Michael Keaton. It was set in Pennsylvania, but we were located in Fremont, California, and today the plant is known as Tesla.

You had to put in for your annual vacation (two weeks maximum regardless of how many years you worked there) 12 months in advance. It was not unusual for management to come up to you as you were going home the day before your vacation was to start, and tell you that your vacation had been canceled due to a company “emergency”. It was never an “emergency”, but just a normal day in a stressful environment. A few people had booked vacations on cruse ships and lost money.

We had one week sick leave, and you would be paid only if you had a letter from your doctor. Then the company had this brilliant concept: Take away the one week of allowed, and verified sick leave, and include it as a part of your two week vacation. If you called in sick, you no longer had to have a doctors letter. Brilliant!

We made our greatest profit in 2005, and it was decided to reduce the salaries of all exempt employees by 6%. That allowed a greater profit for that year and the future. Next, it was decided to change our Blue Cross medical plan, increase your out of pocket expenses, limit coverage, allow only generic drugs, and increase your cost for prescriptions by 400%.

The next bit of joy was a letter from top management to eliminate all employees over the age of 55. This would reduce costs for medical insurance. Many long time (over 20 years with the company) quit due to the negative pressures put on us. One lady who had been with the company for 20 years always got outstanding annual reviews. They put her (and all of us) on probation, with negative comments about our performances. This enabled them to not give us our annual Christmas bonus. The lady worked for the president of the company, who was from Toyota City, Japan, and told us what was going on. She quit and those of us that stayed went through hell.

Our company's top management was from Japan. We celebrated all Japanese holidays, and on such occasions they would bring dancers from Okinawa to entertain us at our 30 minute lunch break. We also celebrated Black History month, with local black talent. We never celebrated things like Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Saint Patrick's Day, etc. On December 7th 2007, we were at coffee break, and I suggested that we should celebrate December 7th. Being a Japanese company, we should celebrate the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

I explained that also the Japanese attacked Guam, the Philippines, and Wake Island, as well as the British held areas of Malaya, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Everyone told me to not discuss this topic, as it might aggravate “Japanese management”.

So when I retired on January 9th, 2009, I really enjoyed myself, and have done so every day since that date! :)

Tom
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
That's a sad story Tom, but I'm sure many things like that happen in many big companies.
When I graduated from college, I went to work for a very large electrical manufacturer. It was a good learning experience, and I was being groomed on their fast track to management. At one point, my boss sent me to a conference of people that were tagged as "High Pots" (people with high potential). Ya, it was shortly after the '60s too, so maybe it meant something else, I don't know...
Anyway, without going into details, it was that conference that convinced me to quit and do something else. My boss was not happy when I returned from that conference to announce I was quitting. I went to work for a smaller local company, and had a great boss who taught me a lot about how to actually run a business properly. I quickly became the Executive VP, the owner's right hand man. It was a family company with a son in the business, so the handwriting was on the wall, and after 7 years, I quit and started my own business, and remained self employed for the remainder of my working life. It was the best thing I ever did. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the only way to go IMO.
Now, both of my daughters own and run their own successful businesses, and I am very proud of them for what they do.
Tom
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
I have said for years, if you have a great boss, you can work in hell and be happy! :) You can work for the best company, and if your boss exhibits negativity and is anti human, you may as well be in hell! :(

My concept towards how to treat relationships between customers and employees is simply this: It is a fifty - fifty proposition. That is, fifty percent of your emphasis should be on the customers and fifty percent on the employees. Get your employees to recognize the importance of the companies customers, and the importance of the employees towards the success of your company.

I took the time clocks off of the wall to our department, and allowed the employees to fill in the time in/out. The plant manager went ballistic! "How can you do that"? I told him, "Treat employees like adults and they will respond accordingly"! :):Beer: Soon, he removed the time clocks for everyone in the plant! I had many people ask me if they could work for me.

I took many management courses, etc. It was interesting that our production line manager thought that the emphasis should be 90% customer, and 10% employee. I remember the day before Thanksgiving one year at coffee break, when he said: "Gee, in only five days we can come back to work"! :love:

I must point out that the days described above were when I was an electronics engineer/manager, and worked at AMPEX. Ampex laid off 16,000 of us in December of 1989. Then I had to find a new career. Such fun! Always be on your toes. You are foolish if you do not consider what your next career or job will be. Get comfortable, and enjoy the consequences! Keep that resume updated, and be ready to make a new move. :)

My grandfather raised me, and he had many different jobs. My brother and I consider grandpa to be our super hero! :) To grandpa, the most important thing was your family. Grandpa also taught us to respect and help others, which my brother and I have always done, even while in the military.

Tom
 
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