A developer's life... 
David Stevenson |
Musings at the end of a contract... by David Stevenson A couple of months ago, after receiving word that a contract job was ending, I felt a need to express my feelings about it to my online developer friends on the Universal Thread. Here's what flowed as I began to type. Perhaps this is your story, too... Well, it's transition time again, as my current full-time contract ends three weeks from now. It was a nice run, primarily baby-sitting and eventually burying an old billing app, with some new development thrown in to break the boredom. I signed on for 6 months and stayed for 18. The end was expected, so I didn't collapse into a sobbing heap, but still ... This one lasted long enough to build a few good in-depth relationships with co-workers, although we all knew it wasn't permanent. I'm glad I overcame the temptation to separateness and didn't use my temporary status as a cheap excuse for superficiality, but still ... There are other contracts hovering at the horizon (a short one likely to begin just as this one ends), but all seemingly distant and uncertain. There are other creative ideas floating around my brain related to web marketing, writing and music. Another customer is soon to move his business, which will produce steady work for a few weeks, but still ... I reassure myself that most previous transitions have led to exciting new challenges, and that I really am better off today than 4, 8 or 13 years ago. I can already feel the sense of adventure rising and the sky's-the-limit optimism surging, but still ... I know the routine pretty well by now, as do many of you. The next three weeks will consist of project wrap-ups, final documentation and checklists for the next sitter, clean-out of the strangely empty desk (I guess that's how I kept my foot out the door), a lunch with friends, and final goodbyes that we'll insist won't be final. I wonder if I'll find myself the last day emulating Bill Clinton, who greased the wheels of his departure by saying repeatedly throughout his last day as President, "We did a lot of good." It's time to go hunting again. I hear that web-footed foxes are on the increase these days. NEXT ISSUE'S TOPIC: How do you keep yourself healthy and sane? Some of you make up the entire workforce of your one-person development company, automatically leading to long hours working alone. Others of you work with teams of developers, but can also find yourself feeling alone when working on a project that you "own," or when dealing with the stress of deadlines. So, how do you handle the isolation and pressure? How do you keep yourself sane and healthy (assuming that you do, somehow)? That's the topic for this page in the next issue. We obviously don't have room for lengthy submissions, so try to keep your comments to a few sentences. We may not be able to print them all, but we'll try to give a good cross-section of opinions. Send your comments by June 15 to: editor@code-magazine.com |