Anyway, one of the things that I’ve noticed about my current and previous employer is the very strange enterprise architecture they choose. Or, maybe I should say, the architecture they stumble upon. I’m always left with the feeling that it’s all a little haphazard.

I mean, I love writing software in Perl. And I love having job security due to dozens of core, middleware services that all do similar things. But, come on, couldn’t things be designed and thought out thoroughly before plunking down tons of dollars and time to create these monstrosities? And shouldn’t different technologies be investigated before writing a many-many-thousand-line prototype? And why does everyone have to settle on XML as a message format, and then stack that on top of something else that provides its own communications format (like XML-RPC and TIBCO’s RV messaging) that also uses XML? That’s sort of like trying to do VOIP over an old-style modem connection.

Sigh. Oh, well. I guess we as software developers get to create our own job security instead of trying to do things the best way.

So, my topic today is tasty beer. I just had a Sea Dog Blue Paw beer, which is probably the best microbrew beer I’ve had since I first discovered Pyramid Apricot. Both are flavored beers, which might make me a bit girly, but I’m okay with that if it means I like tasty beverages.

One thing that I read recently that made me feel slightly better was this article (http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis.aspx). Until I read it I had doubts that I should leave my current employer. But thinking about the Dead Sea effect, and critically thinking about whether I had moved past my “Value Apex”, I realized that regardless of internal politics and mismanagement I needed to leave. Otherwise, I risked becoming part of the Dead Sea effect.

Something all companies should pay attention to:

This point bears repeating. Indefinite retention is impossible; employees always quit. The key part is understanding why, and how to leverage this inevitability towards everyone’s advantage.

So, my first one back is going to be what not to do when you’re diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (also the implied reason I haven’t posted in 10 months):

1. Don’t quit your job 3 days prior to being diagnosed. (That one’s a toughy.)
2. Don’t expect people to have a clue how freaked out you are.
3. Profit! ….oh, wait, sorry, Underpants Gnomes.
4. If you have a blog, don’t stop writing in it during that time period. At the very least keep a journal.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
6. If you’re a guy, don’t expect everyone to catch on even when you’re bald from chemotherapy.

If anyone out there in their 20’s finds themselves in the position of having Lymphoma, feel free to contact me. I had it pretty easy, but sometimes it helps to talk about it with others who’ve gone through it.

Woohoo, it does. That’s pretty cool–maybe even worth the $35 it costs.