Tales from the Trenches

During my 20-plus-year career in IT in Winnipeg, I held many roles. Programmer. Database administrator. Network administrator. System administrator. Web developer. I wore many hats and learned new skills through experience. I was a permanent employee, a term employee and a contractor.

But despite the many technical issues that came my way, nothing challenged me as much as dealing with the wide variety of colleagues and employers who I crossed paths with.

Many of those colleagues and bosses were very nice. Some, in fact, became lifelong friends. Others, not so much. Some were flakes. There were the bureaucratic empire-builders. Others were slaves to their rules. And far too many of the rest were downright obnoxious.

Like the people I crossed paths with, the employers I dealt with were also a mixed bag. Some earned my respect. Sadly, most did not. Through much hard-won experience, I learned that no one wanted to get anything done. And that BS always seemed to take precedence over real work.

Read all the sordid details in Tales from the Trenches: Diary of an Abused IT Consultant.