It's been a long time. Some things change. Some things do not. Since the last time I posted I've worked a few temporary positions.I started (and promptly quit) a warehouse job and security gig. I managed to pick up part time work at Enumclaw Music. That was actually an enjoyable job. The owner just couldn't afford to keep me on for more than three months.

On April 20th I began working for Amazon Fulfillment at BFI4 in Kent. The position started out well. Within a little over a month I'd moved from Stow to Problem Solving (issue assistance to Stow) to ISS (product and customer support role). At that point I assumed I was doing well enough in Stow to warrant the moves because no one who lags in Stow gets moved into these other departments.In addition to being moved and essentially promoted, I was being singled out by leads and managers for additional projects as well as sought being sought out for recommendations for increasing productivity and communicating with the labor force.

I excelled in ISS. It was an excellent fit for me as I have a habit of digging down into issues for resolution. The other factor that helped was that I would come in at the beginning of the shift and immediately start taking on tickets or consolidating product so that we could investigate or migrate. Migrating product from one PO to another involved having to scan multiple UPC & other bar code's and using proprietary software to switch to virtual locations.

Approximately 3 months into my stint there I was moved back into Stow. No explanation was given. I have since surmised that it was an issue with my manager (whom I had NEVER met) and her performance issues. Within a few weeks I'd been written up twice for quality issues. I had at no time previously had any quality issues. I was given no details of these quality incidents so I was unable to argue whether or not I was even the individual responsible. Suddenly I had over a dozen. Less than a month later I had received my final written. This one was for productivity. (I'd slowed down because I was stressing over the quality issues.) The third write up is effectively an exit. I was terminated on September 18th 2016. Yaye.

Honestly, by the time they let me go I was more than ready. I'd had enough. During my 6 month tenure I'd lost 30 pounds and had developed severe issues with my feet, ankles and hands. I took me 3 months to recover from these issues after I left. And ultimately I look on the departure as a very positive thing. I was too intelligent to work there.

At this point, being unemployed for the 2nd time over 2 years I'm determined ot move forward. As difficult to find as jobs continue to be, I'm tentatively employed by Volt as a game tester. I say tentatively because they hired me a month ago and I have yet to get a shift.

Why game testing? Why indeed. This job (if I ever actually work) is on call, part time and minimum wage. However... I'm going to be able to list "test" again on my resume after nearly two years of being sidelined and out of the industry. I'm not looking at the game test position itself to turn into anything. I am however intent on leveraging it into a better test position, first through Volt and then on to other agencies.

I've just completed reading a book entitled "Love Your Work" by Robert Dickie III. I would highly recommend it to anyone who's in a vocational transition either by choice, necessity or misfortune (my particular category).

I've just begun working on Java coding skills at Code Academy. They have free interactive courses that are excellent for practical exercise.This include skill quizzes for the instructional content. In my opinion the hands on method is superior to simply viewing video tutorials. The lessons build upon each other. There are also for fee courses which will take you further along with additional quizzes.

Another resource I discovered is Khan Academy. All content on the Khan Academy site is free. Both of these resources are listed in the aforementioned book along with other training sites and other sites that will assist in continuing education. Some options are free. Others are for fee but the author gives economic alternatives and avenues to pursue your career pathways.

Rather than simply start working on "coding" I decided to investigate Java specifically for software testing. This opened up still more options including an inexpensive course at Udemy. I've taken curriculum from Udemy before and the courses are usually excellent. Again they typically immerse the student in hands on, practical exercises as opposed to video content. (By the way... Udemy is currently having a sale on their courses. Most if not ALL course content is $15! That includes programming courses that typically run up to $199 US! (No... I am NOT an official, paid endorser or instructor for Udemy. I just happen to know that their course content typically gets great reviews from students and I have some limited experience with them and have no complaints.)

Yet another recommendation... which I have given serious though to, is a career assessment. I've done a few of these in the past. They were free online versions and the results were typically disappointing. The recommended vocations that these tools provided "based on (your) interests" were essentially dead ends. Dickie recommends Career Direct. True, this is one of his personal endeavor but two things immediately struck me:

1) The cost is extremely reasonable.

2) The results ARE personalized.

One thing I Noted from reading the book was that Dickie has worked with individuals who have faced the necessity of redirecting (or "pivoting") their careers. This includes a lot of people like myself who've reached a point where they can go no further in a vocation or industry unless they ramp up their education and skill sets. He recognizes the hurdles that we're going to encounter.

I'll leave this post as now but (provided I have time and actually remember) I'll put these links and other on the page.

Still unemployed and I have only had a handful of interviews over the last 7 and 1/2 months. Two that I had at Microsoft last summer went well but because of the 6-month break I could only hv worked until December 31st so I was passed over for those. I interviewed at amazon for a manual test position and bombed. That's not surprising as I haven't done manual testing in over four years. Also they're fairly critical. One additional interview at Microsoft and while I was extremely strong on the test methodology aspects they were also looking for an SDET... so they should probably be interviewing for two positions because according to them none of the code strong candidates had a clue about test methodology. But none of the testers were strong enough in coding.

Now another M$ opportunity has opened up. No news this week thanks to the holiday. I look more qualified for this one... according to the recruiters. (Right.) But I still need to do a bit of refresh and ramp up. So I'm hitting  Beginner SQL Tutorial and a few other sources along with some books on networking and TCP\IP. This is listed as an STE4 position but that's meaningless really. A lot of times the designation is a head count slot and not the actual job. This sounds more like an STE2 or STE3 position.

But as for the trends I mentioned last time... virtually every STE position I've seen listed now demands code. Essentially they want SDET's for STE1 or STE2 wages. So once again the question come up as to whether I want to pursue scripting and coding to enhance my testing skills or just move in another direction.

I was hoping ot get into Green River College for Winter quarter but I'm going to have to wait for another year. At least this gives me an opportunity to apply for financial aid. They have Associates and Bachelors degrees in programming and network administration... which is the direction I'm leaning. I prefer hardware for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's harder to have a hardware based job outsourced offshore. Outsourcing programming is easy especially when everything is going cloud based. God luc outsourcing cabling. Also I've had a batter head for that than I have for coding. I just haven't trained myself to think in the programmers abstract. But I also don't know how many people actually do that.

Just a quick note... I have an interview @ Microsoft Monday. I actually expected to hear on this a week ago but the recent reorg put things on hold. Different building but back with my old OSG group... if I get in.

I haven't posted in AGES...

Nope. I haven't really thought about it much over the last two years. Certainly not long or serious enough to take the time to write anything. And my last blog certainly wasn't very constructive now was it?

But I came across an interesting article from Black Swan regarding writing; http://time.com/3914538/notebook-writing-life-better/

This caused me to think about starting up again and perhaps working at being more functional this time around. So here's a quick update:

I started a new Microsoft contract back in June of 2011. Why bring this up now? (Why call it "new"?) Because I worked that v- contract for nearly four years. I was laid off on March 27th of 2015. I'd worked that contract for a long enough period that it eroded my goals of getting out of the tech industry and really side tracked me in that regard. It was also one of the first contracts where I was making more than I had been earning working private security. But it honestly ran for too long.

Now I find myself in an interesting circumstance. Microsoft announced in July of 2014 an end to the a- and v- classifications. Going forward (and I think they actually used that terminology if memory serves) there will be no such classification. All contingency staffing will be the same. Contingency staff are limited to 18 months of employment at which time they are required to take a 6-month break in service. (This equates to losing 25% of ones wages earning potential over a two year period.)

Their announced intent was to honor existing contracts until December 31st of 2015. Instead the began dropping current contingency staffers at the beginning of March. During our last two weeks of employment we trained our replacements. All replacements were H1B status hires.

Another interesting aspect of this... based on word of mouth... originally the layoffs were NOT going to be announced. Apparently managers became aware not long before the rest of us did. And we employees became aware before our staffing companies were informed. By nearly a week! One rumor was that some FTE's had leaked the information to staffers on their teams. I have reason to believe this as I heard of the plan at least two days before it became staffer gossip. By that point a few staffers had already been notified by their leads. And yet their staffing companies had not yet been informed. I am unaware whether there was push back from managers demanding the two-week window in order to train replacements. But it was clear that the replacement were already in place by the time the announcement was made. This means that they were planning it two weeks to a month before the announcement. This gives some validation to the "leaked" rumor.

There are a few related issues with all of this. I took a nearly $4k per annum pay cut when I left security to return to Microsoft. It took nearly 6 years to work my way back up to exceed the $17 per hour rate. In the last six months of this last contract I managed to move up to $46k per annum. I was earning the equivalent of about 20% of the others staffers. The majority were making less than $40k per year. Given the new 6-month break requirement and the limitation of 18 months on contract it's highly unlikely that I will again see $46k annually working there. AND ultimately that's the purpose of this move by Microsoft. To drive wages down.

Realistically, wages for contingency staff have not moved much at all over the last decade. An annual income of $40k is still considered "average" as it was when I landed my first "official" testing position back around 2000. I was hired by Volt and was making $20 per hour with minimal benefits. Now Volt offers tehe same pay rate for the same STE2 position (with experience) but offers no benefits package to contingency staffers. The most common entry point jobs (based on the last 9 years of contracting) come in between $1 and $19 per hour. Some companies pay more but have fewer positions available. The larger staffing companies tend to pay less and have more available positions. (Interesting yes? They're clearly making more income due to the larger number of spots and yet they're offering less in the way of compensation to their employees.) The list includes (but is not limited to) the usual suspects; Volt and Aditi.

Another issue is that as a general rule the H1B visa candidates are also working for less. On average about 10% to 15% less... and most often without benefits. So there is an immediate and over riding compulsion to hire these personnel. Because they are cheaper. However the majority of the group that were hired as our replacement had little if any previous experience at Microsoft and some of them lacked essential basic skills even working with Outlook and Excel. Of course the availability of these candidates is increasing (thank you Patty Murray) and so there is no shortage of bodies with which to fill head count numbers. And as we all know, if you hire enough bodies there will be sufficient to cover the gaps created by the dead wood.

I didn't mind training my replacements. All three of them. I did not begrudge those people getting those jobs. They applied for a position. That was the extent of their involvement. They aren't responsible for the business practices of Microsoft. They simply wanted a better opportunity that was offered in India or whatever other forsaken, festering 3rd World crap hole it is their desire to escape. And frankly, even earning what they are, and for only 12 to 18 months, if their frugal they can go home while waiting for H1B renewal and live pretty darned well... having made 10x the national average income of their homeland within that year.

But ultimately, when I think about myself, I MUST look upon this as an opportunity and only a temporary set back. Though it is frustrating because as I view the prospect  of 6 months of ineligibility to rehire at Microsoft I'm also dealing with the issue of being over and under qualified simultaneously.

Anyone who has spent enough time working a specific job and then had to make some kind of career adjustment or jump knows how your resume` can be your best friend and also your worst enemy. I'm getting now traction currently with warehouse or security companies. But I will not be eligible to work at Microsoft again until October and being honest... I have very little desire to return there. This is part of the price of working so many years on that same contract. One becomes comfortable. Paid just enough to keep you from leaving, it develops complacency among a host of other bad habits including abandoning the budget intended to GET YOU OUT FOR GOOD!

I may have mentioned long ago not really having a vested interest in continuing in testing. At one point... again long, long ago... I thought that this was what I wanted to do. But I believe more strongly than ever that it is honestly not the career for me. This became more evident during my last contract. So many years spent performing the same duties in the same environment was detrimental.

Related to this is how the industry overall treats human beings. The tech industry may be one of the most malevolent and destructive atmospheres for the human psyche. The level of narcissism and incompetence is unlike any I have seen in any other venue.

In July of 2014 Microsoft conducted a major layoff of FTE's (Full Time Employees). The largest in the companies history with an estimated total somewhere around 18,000 employees being given notice. While a significant percentage of these were working in foreign offices, many were from the Redmond campus. Several of these people I considered friends. One of them was my immediate test manager. An individual who had dedicated nearly 20 years ot Microsoft. and one of the "old guard" managers. An individual who understood the necessity of best practices and the need for business justifications behind processes and implementation in development. (I suspect this may be one of the reasons they got rid of him.)

The new management left me suspicious and utterly underwhelmed from the first meeting. The mannerisms, the speech, the predictable, patterned phrases... I had heard it all before any, may times. And from people who were much better ta lying to their employees. I wonder now if such behaviors and tactics are taught at some level to management or if these individuals happen to all be sociopaths and so this explains it.

Some things change. Some things remain the same. Since the class action suit back in 2000, I have sen the treatment of contingency staffers at Microsoft degrade at a steady pace. What began as the omission to product release parties and the denial of previous perks opened to all "employees" now has reached a point where managers openly refer to staffers as "dash trash". I have personally witnessed (and received myself on occasion) e-mail comments and diatribes from FTE's as high as Project Managers containing threats and foul language. Such content directed at a full time employee would have resulted in a law suit against the company and the reprimand or firing of the sender for creating a hostile work environment. But contingency staffers have no such recourse. They will receive no support from their staffing company for fear of losing favored vendor status. And the staffers themselves are fearful of losing their jobs.

Many of these comments were things one would never say to an individual who was standing in front of them. Especially another male employee. There is a distinct and recognizable lack of professionalism. It relates directly ans is inseparable from the atmosphere that has been generated by the sociopaths who occupy positions of power within that company. It's reflected accurately by the attitude of the average Internet Tough Guy who hurls insults and threats from a position of anonymity... because that individual has never been dragged to from behind their computer and giving the righteous trouncing that they deserve. Some of these people BADLY need to be walled and possibly water boarded. I'd settle for seeing them get their teeth kicked in.

But I digress. While still being eligible for another 6 months or so I really have little desire to return. And I think it highly unlikely that I will be hired for a contract at this point. Most openings list as "6 to 18 months". They're looking for personnel who can be available for a full product cycle.

While some companies consider such a long tenure at Microsoft (approximately 9 years) others do not. It could be that some companies do not want anyone who they feel would have that type of methodology embedded. It could also be that there's a question of career development and dedication in someone who has contracted for so long. But some individuals enjoy contracting. It gives some variety in an otherwise stagnant and predictable atmosphere. It also allows one to escape undesirable positions without quitting. Work a contract with idiots for a year, take some time off and find a better fit. When asked why you left... "That contract ended (thank goodness)."

My Match experience so far...

    Firstly, I'll tell you that worse than Match is Zoosk or ANY other Farcebook connected dating tool. Don't believe me? Setup up a free account with virtually ZERO personal information and see just how many "women" (or men... depending on your sexual persuasion or bent) are suddenly aware of and interested in you. Oh... you can see their (non-existent) profiles if you sign up. Then delete the account and note that these fictitious personalities are STILL miraculously interested in you... even though your profile no longer exists. This includes the new version Social Love which is the same basic scam with a different name.

    On to Match. The members are real. Though though you'll quickly notice that you get more attention the further away (and younger than you) the parties are. it would seem to the casual observer that if I were living in Florida, Texas or New York for example... I could bury myself with hot little nymphs half my age. Not an unpleasant thought mind you but I've yet to get the angle. Maybe they'll try to sell me dirty photos but there can't possibly be much money in that since you can get pretty much anything you want in the way of porn on free sites.

   I'll tell you this right now... if you are a truly decent, honest, trust worthy guy... you stand virtually NO CHANCE of getting any traction on Match. At least not anywhere near Seattle. Conduct yourself in the fashion of a festering, puss pocket and you'll likely have to manage multiple dates per night.

  Based upon the profiles, 90% of the women on Match from Western Washington are "honest", "bubbly", "fun loving", "caring" or some derivative thereof. Interestingly that percentage roughly matches up with the number of members who are divorced. Something doesn't jibe there. It's my opinion... and this is an opinion shared by MULTITUDES of men (and an awful lot of women) that females are essentially neurotic, hormone driven creatures.  If this is remotely accurate, then the women in the Pacific Northwest are a level above and miles beyond the "average" female.

    I daily see comments within profiles about how the men on Match are rude, lack class, lack manners, are vulgar. Essentially they are describing the very types of repulsive, puerile, human detritus they they are attracted to. Am I mistaken in declaring that women CONTINUALLY gravitate towards the WORST type of male stereotype? The "bad boy". The mouth breathing, ass stinking, players who pollute society and, if there was ANY justice at all would ALL eventually contract syphilis and rot to death slowly and painfully. 

    I have a news flash for the females. These are males. They are not MEN. Most annoyingly, it is the WOMEN who have helped create this unpleasant phenomenon by lowering their own standards in the name of feminism. So women become more promiscuous and men respond. Now the women are SHOCKED that men expect sex without commitment and to be free to roam about and demand gratification with the mannerisms of a fur covered primate. Of course, this behavior is instinctive and even necessary for your fur covered primate. It propagates the species. The human species needs no further propagation. If anything it needs purging.

    The women on match typically follow the same pattern as the males. Looking at the pictures and rarely reading the full profiles. So ultimately it IS about physical appearance despite our being told that women are far less influenced than males by such things. With men it tends to be physical beauty. Money is the second biggest driving interest and I suppose that this makes sense for those women who are divorced or never married) with multiple children to raise.

    Chemistry.com is an off shoot of Match and is run by the same company. Oh... but Chemistry uses "scientific" data to find matches. Funny... because I saw the same three things: Scammers like I encountered on Match, seemingly computer generated "interested" parties and contacts from women I would be interested if it was the only thing preventing the complete extinction of the human race.

    That bring up an interesting side point: Why is it that women find it completely acceptable to pair their nice (and she may indeed be VERY nice - personable) but chubby and unattractive friends upon any unsuspecting male but bring out a similar male to women and they don't want their friends going out with the guy?

    Not just sour grapes here. I am absolutely not the only male experiencing this frustration. Do some digging and read how it plays out for normal. attractive males in their 30's. The story repeats itself. I just don't believe that these systems are all that effective for "finding love".

    Lastly, if you're a guy looking for a pickup... just go out to F*ckbook or some similar site. The ladies on match.com and other sites are not looking for a booty call. Honestly if they stated this up front they'd have to deal with fewer jerks but it doesn't seem to occur to many of them. That's very unfortunate because it purtifies the pool for those of us who have (somewhat) honorable intentions.

    I know I'm no Brad Pit but I do have some standards and frankly the expectation that I would be interested in someone who is far away from my own fitness level, appearance and interests frankly blows my mind. Their matching criteria is skewed. I've even seen matings where the individuals were lookng for mates with an age difference of 10 years. How do thse two people get "matched"? And why are the match-to-Match picks not the PRIMARY ones since they seem to be the ones with the 95% to 97% compatibility ratio?

    I'm not impressed. It wasn't any less frustrating than the bar seen for me. At least sin a bar I get to see live bodies. And you won't waste weeks trying to figure out if someone is interested.





   

I finally tested for Brown 2nd Class. I've got the certificate but I still need to complete the written exam. Wow... a lot of writing involved. I thought that the 3rd Class was lengthy at over a dozen pages. This will probably be closer to 20 pages. I imagine that the 1st Class will be even more so.

Then there's the Black Belt thesis. I finally decided on a topic and have begun a VERY ROUGH outline. Strength training for self-defense: Developing explosive power. I'm not sure if that's the "official title" but that's the subject. That's also going to be somewhere around 30 pages and I'm developing a very keen interest in self-publishing it on Amazon (digital only to start) and seeing if it sells at all.

I've been VERY BUSY over the last few months doing physical training. No... really I have. Since re-dedicating myself to weight training back in April I've dropped from a snug size 40 to a very loose size 38. I think I'm actually fitting into one or two pairs of size 36. I don't have any idea what my body weight is right now but "weight" is actually irrelevant. It's the BFI (and not the ridiculous Federal standard either) that matters.

After only three months I'm noticing the difference and it's slowly beginning to show. I should look fairly good by the end of the year. I'm probably going to look INCREDIBLE by next April.

1st Class Brown will have me developing the Spontaneous Kata along with an additional 6... SIX!... attack combinations.  I really need to devote more time to this stuff because my weak point right now is correctly assigning the techniques to the appropriate belt levels. This is REQUIRED to graduate to 1st Degree Black Belt and I am NOWHERE near ready. So... can I get what I need by getting up 30-minutes early on weekdays (provided I actually do something with that time)? I'm not sure that I can because 30-minutes doesn't really leave much of a window. So it may mean getting up an hour early.... which honestly is going to SUCK! But... a goal is something that yo go after. I either do it at night or I do it in the morning.

And one more thing... I need to quit watching television. Most of teh time I'm not really watching but I'll be setting in the living room and not realy doing any work. A few nights of the week I get roped into watching the various HBO productions that one of the roommates is into. (And it's become  obvious that she enjoys my joining her because her husband won't watch them with her.)

I'm looking at moving out and will probably end up in an apartment in Fife. It's the least expensive location around and I don't think that it will add that much time ot my commute. I hate the thought of spending the extra money every month ut honestly, if I was budgeting properly it wouldn't even be an issue.

I should be testing for 2nd Class Brown sometime in the next month. I may delay until after the holiday break as I can use that time - approximately 1.5 weeks - to review. I'm in better shape as far as curriculum retention than I was for 3rd Class brown.

My written exam for 3rd Class Brown was around 10 pages. A significant portion of that covered the stick topic. I may post some of all of that exam here if I can remember to do it. Work and training tend to consume a staggering portion of my time. That and the commute.

Oh... and I'm scheduled to quit smoking on Saturday, December 22nd. It's the first day of vacation and I'm hoping that having that long break from work will make quitting easier. I've already dropped off consumption. I think I had three or four on Wednesday and only one on Thursday. I didn't really feel any physical withdrawals but it was difficult to focus at work.

I'm also trying ot figure out where t schedule EP training this spring. VDI looks to be the likely location but they don't list the SUV module in the 2013 schedule. This is disappointing as I was hoping to take the basic driving along with the SUV 1-day.