The crappy life of a programmer.

I have been creating web based applications for over 7 years now. Here's what it looks like:

1997-1999 : Apex 2000 Internet Services Corporation
1999-2000: Best Consultants and Placement Inc.
2000-2001: Dell Computers
2001-2002: Pervasive Software, Inc.
2002-2003: Spradlin Baker and Associates
2003-2004: Verizon
2004-present: Intelemedia

Now I feel like I need to be looking again. Some of these moves were of my own choice. When I left Dell I was on a contract and I went to Pervasive for a full-time position. I left Pervasive because I had the opportunity to move closer to my family and we had just had our first child.

But the last couple of years have been crappy. Really bad.

Spradlin Baker lied to me. I took the job with the promise that they had enough money to go for at least a year and a half, if not two years. Six months into it I was told that they were going to run out of money within the next three months! I had just bought a house, left a great job and so on.

Then I spent a year as a contractor at Verizon. What a place. A huge corporation with no guts. They offered me a "Sr. Developer" position, but their offer was low! I know tons of programmers that make more than that their first year!

So I went to Intelemedia. It is a full-time position. My project was to create voice.match.com. It was fast and furious. They were already behind schedule and had not even started designing the applications yet (there were three to be built). So with lots of overtime (as usual, the developers bear the brunt of the work) we got it done and launched on 6/3/2004.

But then a curious thing happened. Match.com did a layoff. The group that we worked with was gone!

So, now I am still employed at Intelemedia, but there won't be as much .Net work. I am really bummed about it. I really do love working with .Net so much more than other environments.

So, on goes my life. The life of career uncertainty.