If you haven’t pissed off at least two people before 1pm… (ChronoTech) by arkannis

you really just aren’t trying hard enough.

The point is, you can’t expect to go through life making everyone you meet happy all of the time. For one thing, even if you try it, you’re going to fail. It’s a basic tenat of the human condition. That applies in general, actually.

So, today, I managed to piss of my boss. There was this computer I was supposed to have ready by this morning, which I couldn’t get working. If I had taken the simple step of emailing him to tell him this, I probably would have come out of it looking a lot better than I did. Now granted, this wasn’t entirely my fault. The stupid thing kept blue-screening. It’s probably the shitty add-in network card. Nonetheless, that doesn’t change the fact that my failure to communicate got me in trouble.

That’s just the way life works. On the other hand, I made myself happy by going to bed at a reasonable time, thus ensuring that I didn’t spend all day as a miserable tired wreck, pissing everyone he meets off by spouting his irritating opinions on everything. That’s just a bad way to go about things.

The second person I pissed off was a girl at Satellite who happend to order almost the exact same drink that I did. I picked up her drink by accident. She gave me a dirty look, I apoligized upon realizing my mistake, and she still left in a huff. At that point, I had no chance of making her happy before she left. She just wasn’t in a mood to be receptive to any apologies. Simple as that. As a situation, it’s even less avoidable than the above mentioned scenario.

The one person I can make happy every single day is myself. Even if I don’t pull it off everyday, the potential is at least there. Most days, I do alright. Sitting in a coffee shop while writing blog posts that I can pretend people will actually read helps quite a bit with that. Especially since I got my coffee for free.

Posted in: it , stupid life crap

The romance of IT is crumbling (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

About a year ago, I wrote about my romantic view of the graveyard shift. I loved the idea of hacking at night and sleeping under my desk, since it rang back to the times of the TTY and the PDP10. The time that "real hackers" were still "real hackers" and that sleeping under your desk was still normal.

Well, no more. These days it's become more of a nuisance to me. Is this a sign that I'm getting older? Is it a sign that I'm fed up with IT? Is it a sign that I like my bed more than the couch or floor at the office? More importantly, do I care?!

No. ^_^ I've come to dislike working at night and I prefer staying in bed thankyouverymuch. *sings* The times, they are a-changing *sings*

Posted in: crumbling , desk , it , romance , sleeping

Big career changes: where do we go from here? (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Now that I'd decided to become a teacher, it left me with even more questions (duh). Which subject would I teach? At what kind of school? What kind of education do I need? Where do I study? How will this fit in with my job? Will I even be able to keep my job? OMG, will we be able to pay our mortgage and still have food on the table?! ONOZ!

Stuff like that.

Well... I quickly decided that I'd like to teach english or math at a high school level. I can wax lyrically about both subjects and both fields offer me with loads of new stuff to learn and explore.

So... How do you go from having a completely unrelated job, to being a teacher? Here's how... (mind you, all of this applies to the Netherlands).

You start out with two options:
1. You take up a part-time or full-time college education. (deeltijd or voltijd in dutch).
2. You take up a part-time teaching position and follow additional classes to become a real teacher.

This second option is called zij-instroom in dutch and really is only an option if your ambitions lie in teaching the same field you worked in. So for example, I could get a zij-instroom position teaching Comp Sci at high schools, whereas a biologist could start teaching Biology. Zij-instroom however requires you to have real and provable experience in said field, including the degrees that come with it. You will also need to take an entrance exam because they won't let just everybody start teaching. Should you be accepted for zij-instroom, then you'll get a two-year teaching permit, which is directly connected to a contract between you and the school in question.

Anywho... What with zij-instroom not being an option for my two chosen fields (I have neither a degree, nor work experience in english or math) I have to opt for the longer path. Getting into a full-time education (voltijd) really isn't an option for me anymore: I wouldn't have any income, I'd be bored stiff and I'd be in a class full of eighteen year olds. Which automatically guides me towards a part-time education.

Luckily every college in the Netherlands offers deeltijd educations for professionals looking for a career switch, or an upgrade to their knowledge. The Hogeschool Utrecht offers teachers educations that are actually reputable and it's close to my home as well! Now all that remains is to convince my employer to let me work either three or four days a week. *gulp*

Posted in: career change , career switch , education , it , sysadmin

Big career changes: finding my bearings (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

This blog post was made invisible initially. It has now been made available to the Internet at large. Sorry for breaking continuity :D

Actually... I didn't decide to go into education right from the get-go.

On the 27th of June I first had that breakdown, followed by a lot of talking with Marlijne. After that came a lot of soul searching of what I'd like to do and what I -could- do. While I wanted to do something radically different, I also needed to stay realistic.

So I started reading up on career switches, visiting the Ars Openfora and various dutch websites dedicated to the subject. And then I started to think of career options... I'd repeatedly expressed interest in becoming a craftsman, building furniture or getting into metalwork. Big, mechanical machines turn me on. I enjoy gardening and being outside. I considered becoming an office assistant. I even thought about joining the military!

And then, one evening, Marli reminded me of aspirations I'd harbored a few years ago. Back then I'd thought of getting a part-time teaching job at the local college, educating the next generation of sysadmins. This little nudge made me remember that, yes indeed, I do enjoy teaching! I love explaining stuff to people, making sure they understand all they need to and want to about the subject. This made me browse the Gathering of Tweakers fora, to search for stories about IT folks studying to become teachers. Well, I found these stories and they enticed me even more.

So the decision was made: I'll become a teacher!

Posted in: career change , career switch , education , it , sysadmin

Big career changes: prelude (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

This blog post was made invisible initially. It has now been made available to the Internet at large. Sorry for breaking continuity :D

Back in April, I felt like crap. Then, in June, it came back. Now, with the start of July I've made my decision:

I'm getting out of IT.

That day in June something snapped inside of me and I decided that I could no longer carry on working as a sysadmin. The work no longer motivates me, nor does it offer me some shine of glamour. I know that, while there are still endless, uncharted seas for me to discover, this field no longer holds a challenge for me. I know that whatever I'll need to learn, I'll be able to do so in a few days. Lather, rinse, repeat, until I grow old.

No thank you.

No longer will I be shifting bits and bytes around, being a faceless peon in a huge corporation. No longer will I be burning midnight oil at the altar of Unix.

Instead I will make difference in this world and I will be of use to the general public. I will try to educate this world's children, nudging them into directions they might otherwise ignore.

I have decided to go into education and become a high school teacher.

Posted in: career change , career switch , education , it , sysadmin