Dilbert has left the building
So, my favorite programmer moved away from the job here. It’s kind of sad now because we used to talk during the day about the market and about Java and about how much he didn’t like being here. Which is one of the reasons he left here. The other reason is the money. The contract rate for him as it turns out was roughly equivalent to the one that I’m getting, but while I’m pretty satisfied with it, he thought it was a pittance and wanted a minimum of 20% more. I’d take 20% more, but I’m more or less satiated with my rate. But that’s a good thing because it means that I’m happy with what I have right now and can probably get more later on. That’s a whole lot better than knowing I’m getting the max and feeling like I need more just to be happy!
I took him out to Peter Luger’s in Great Neck, Long Island near to where we work. I ordered the steak for 2, which I thoroughly recommend there. It costs a lot, but it’s a thick porterhouse, which is the New York strip on one side and the filet on the other. We talked about the place where I work and he used to work and basically his reason for leaving came down to a question of money and a lack of programming assignments. Most contractors I know are the same; they all want to program and be productive, which is pretty healthy overall I think. I mean there’s not a lot of slacker contractors out there that really want to sit on their asses all day long, doing nothing but just collecting.