Monthly Archives: July 2010

Welcome to the company!

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Many people have asked me why, when I was an employee, I used to change jobs so often. The answer stands in between my own curiosity to take on new challenges, and the various assholes I had to deal with through the ages. Just as an example of this last case, here goes a true story, one that stands between being a candidate story for The Daily WTF, or as sample material for The No Asshole Rule book by Bob Sutton. You decide.

Prologue

A couple of years ago I found a job as a PHP + JavaScript developer in a small company in Geneva, Switzerland. I remember going to their offices two or three times, and having several interviews with various people there; one of them was the lead PHP developer of the company, the other being the CEO, a relatively well-known person in the tech area in Geneva; both shall remain nameless. The last interview I had was with the CTO, who would be my direct boss, as I was told.

They finally chose me, and very happily I signed the contract. I handed my resignation for my current job at the time, but had a couple of months of work to do before leaving (this is usual practice in Switzerland, one that I despise deeply, but that you are legally forced to follow). All in all, three months passed between me signing the contract and the first day of my new job.

The First Day

So one day, I headed to Geneva to start my new job. I arrive at around 9am to the address where the interviews had taken place, and, oh surprise… there was nothing. Stay with me: there was nothing. Not a sign in the wall indicating that the company used to be there, not a single desk, not a phone plugged on the wall. Nothing. Continue reading →

Jack Johnson – You and your Heart

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I’ll watch you when you say What you are And when you blame Everyone, you broken king

I’ll watch you change the frame I’ll watch you When you take your aim At the sum of everything

You and your heart Shouldn’t feel so far apart You can’t choose what you take Why you gotta break and Make it feel so hard

You lay there in the street Like broken glass Reflecting pieces of the sun You’re not the flame

You cut the people passing by Because you know what you don’t like It’s just so easy It’s just so easy

You and your heart Shouldn’t feel so far apart You can’t choose What you take Why you gotta break and Make it feel so hard You and your heart Shouldn’t feel so far apart You can’t choose What you take Why you gotta break and Make it feel so hard

You draw so many lines in the sand Lost the fingernails on your hands How you gonna scratch any backs Better hope the tide Will take our lines away Take all our lines and….

Hope the tide will take our lines a… Hope the tide will take our lines away Take all our lines away

Tweeting without Twitter

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During my flight to WWDC this year I could not really sleep, and the 12 hour flight was the source of memorable tweets that will never make it to Twitter. Because of timing and context, and also because of the inexcusable lack of wifi network in some major airlines.

Anyway.

I used Pages during the flight to keep track of all those insomniac, bilingual tweets, while the plane was a going through the Atlantic and Canada towards San Francisco. Some are about the flight itself, others about the Argentine film “El Secreto de sus Ojos”, and finally some about the Football World Cup. Project yourself in the situation, and enjoy the rants. I certainly did :) Continue reading →