Posted on 04/23/2006 7:49:45 AM PDT by SmithL
I did read them. likewise...you are'nt worth my time.
You have to possess competency in multiple disciplines to avoid getting dumped for limited capability. I've been in the business for almost 30 years. It doesn't matter whether the problem is DOS, Windows, QNX, UNIX (Linux, HP-UX, Solaris, AIX) or some embedded, real time OS. I write applications in assembler for Intel and Motorola processors, C, C++, C#, Java, python, JavaScript, HTML, XML, XSL/XLST. Data communications in X.25, LU6.2, TCP/IP. I've had the pleasure of programming Qualcomm chipsets to manipulate the CDMA provisioning process. Current work includes creating CAN controllers on PIC18F6585 using a Vector CAN-tech CANopen stack and pairing that with a CANopen stack that runs in Linux based on tool for port, GmbH.
Keep your skills fresh. Add new ones that look like they will be in demand soon. Be ready to offer your services in a new technology. I have a Microchip ZigBEE demo kit coming in tomorrow. I'll be using that to integrate a container tracking tag with my railcar sensors. ZigBEE is a bleeding edge wireless sensor data acquisition system based on 802.5.14. The vendor creating the tag is expanding the horizons of the technology. Search for 802.5.14 on Google to get a sense of just how "on the edge" ZigBEE is.
I'm going to take the PIC running the ZigBee stack and transceiver and connect it with a I2C link to another PIC running the Vector CANopen stack. That essentially creates a generic CANopen/ZigBee device. Some of the data will be protected with AES crypto. I hope to offload that overhead to the Linux end of the connection. Lots of extra CPU horsepower and RAM there.
Ah yes, those lazy and irresponsible people who wasted money on such frivolous things as medical care for children.
As to them being a "drain" on you, somehow I doubt it. They have paid into social security and have every reason to expect to collect what they have paid in, IF they live long enough.
Thanks for giving me the last word, it really does make me feel a lot better. Perhaps I'll go get the help you suggest, because it seems something here has turned my stomach.
Containers are the next big thing for the transnationalists, look to see efforts to streamline processing for the "global supply chain".
"Containerization was an enabler of globalization," said Lisa Schimmelpfenning, Wal-Mart's vice president for imports administration and logistics.
That's why a person over 50 (40 in some fields) can no longer get W-2 work at a 'real" job. The solution is to contract. This relieves the client of liability for health insurance. You may also have to carry your own workman's comp and E&O, depending on the field.
Congrats on coming up with the most asinine post of this thread. Please continue to make things up regarding people, and call them names when you don't like, or don't understand, what they say and think.
It's knee-jerk, emotional, people like you who make reasonable discussions of issues impossible. You'd do well on DU. They go on and on in the same manner - "you're heartless," "your just mean"..."
You guys cheer up. If things get too bad we can always be greeters at Walmart:')
After all, there is NO good reason not to have enough money set aside to cover someone's retirement and anything bad that happens to someone must be THEIR fault for not planning ahead like YOU did.
I've posted here every day since 1998 so don't try to pull that DU crap on me. You want to be egocentric, you go right ahead.
You're taking a surprising beating on this thread tonight.
Not to judge anyone else, but we've made a conscious effort to live simply. We tried for the most part to live off one income and save the other. We plowed as much savings as possible into 401K's and IRA's. Although the kids' college education pretty well drained the second income in recent years, our savings were sufficient that I was able to retire at 54. We have all the "stuff" we want, and a comfortable, paid for home. Life is good, and our future is secure. It was a well-planned choice we made while in our 20's.
That is a complicated topic. I have always approached it with the "having as much cash as possible" approach -- better "too much" than too little -- but at some point you have to stand up from the table. And "poor" is extremely relative, both to locale and experience.
If you carefully track your monthly expenses for a year, it will give you a very good baseline for how much you need, but you'll have to account for inflation, age-related increases in expenditures, and non-recurring type expenses (as often occurs around things like cars). You also have to know what you are going to do with all that extra time. One of the great ironies I've noticed in my life is that when I am busy working my butt off making money, I hardly spend any because I do not have the time. When I have time on my hands, I am far more likely to find creative ways to spend money that are not particularly constructive. I have also noticed that this is not unique to me. :-)
I have to confess that this whole notion is premised on assumptions I would question. Sure, there is some age discrimination, but with age should come the experience to pretty much define your position in the working force. I know a lot of old guys who make money hand over fist in tech, but then they never took themselves out of the game, tacitly or otherwise. Age discrimination mostly affects people who never had ambition and never built a CV (a reflection of a lack of ambition) over those decades. We've hired people in their 50's and 60's at high-tech startups, and it has worked out great; they have tons of very valuable experience that kids don't have, and the ones we hire still have that fire in their belly that allows them to take risks and blaze trails (their grandchildren notwithstanding). In practice, a lot of companies are hiring a combination of drive and experience, and not that many people have both.
The problem, as I see it, is that the business cycle continues to shrink and is becoming MORE entrepreneurial, not less. The problem is not age discrimination per se, but the fact that many people turn into clock-punchers once they get into their 40s, the working dead. There is less and less room in the economy for these kinds of people, and as an employee one can no longer afford to become one if you want to stay employable. Old employees may bring experience, but that the counterweight is that they have frequently lost their ambition and drive, which is also very valuable.
I've actually made my own opportunities more often than not, so I do not worry much about "termination" or even my future. And I'll probably be involved in some venture or another until the day I die -- it is in my blood. If we are going to sling advice here about staying employable, the one piece of advice I can give older workers is to find your drive again, even part of it. The experience is valued, but the frequent lack of drive is becoming increasingly costly to companies. Talking about age discrimination or insurance costs is really ignoring the underlying reason it is getting harder to get hired when one starts putting on the years, but most people find those reasons to be less threatening because it is not something they have control over.
Unfortunately, they collect far more than they paid in at the moment, so pretending like they are not taking money from the pockets of younger generations is disingenuous. Fortunately, this situation is only going to get worse, hopefully killing the whole thing sooner rather than later.
Everyone worried about older generations "getting theirs", ignoring that the younger generations will both pay far more and get far less if anything at all. Everyone has excuses for why they are not responsible for their own security, but very few are willing to do the minimum to take responsibility for the same. It is only going to get worse until people face up to this problem. People always have a choice, even if it is between nothing but different bad outcomes, and they should take responsibility for them.
I tried to get my 57 yr old unemployed brother-in-law to sell used books on Ebay. Just with family members he had an instant inventory of approx 5000 books. With every book he would make instant profit as everyone was willing to donate all their books to him. He wasn't interested, is just willing to do nothing at this time. Ugh... lead a horse to water.....so the local charities hit paydirt from us when I started hauling in all those books. At least they said thanks :) So when you're ready to clean out the cellar, let me know hahahaha. P.S. I think my son-in-law is in competition with you to catch the most fish ever.
Older workers should aquire new skills or start new business
You must be willing to continue to change with the company and be open to new ideas too. You can't act "old"
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