2002-03-11 - 10:56 a.m.

Hmmm...it's quiet...too quiet...

Not real sure how I feel about today. A new guy is starting in our group, and he's coming in as a senior database/engineer kind of person.

I don't mind the higher level of expertise and professionalism at all, but I'm concerned that he's going to be subsuming all of the database work under his job...leaving me nothing to do with the database.

When I applied for this position, I was told that they were looking for two folks, one database guy, and one developer. Since I had no development experience in VB at all (outside Access macros and the like, which use the same verbs, but it's like comparing whiffleball to Major League baseball), I figured they were considering me for the database guy.

When I started, I was told "Well, we're looking for someone more senior to fill the other spot". Okay, I can cope with that, I acknowledge that my database experience is not up to "Senior" levels.

When they didn't find this person right off, the boss gave me some of the routine database tasks to do, and said stuff like "I know you want to develop your database skills, here's some stuff you can do", things like coordinating new tables and packages in the database, developing new sections, handling database refreshes of our test box, that sort of thing. That's what I enjoy doing (Yes, I'm sick...your point?).

I don't like coding much. VB is a pain in the neck. Yes, I can do it, and my code works pretty darned well when I'm given the correct specs to build to (a problem here, and most of everyplace else, really). I also would like to believe it's pretty well documented and runs fast.

Now this senior level guy is coming in, and I fear it's going to be like it was at Xperts.

I learned pretty much everything I know about databases at Xperts. I went from knowing next to nothing up to proposing papers for the local user's group conferences. When they were building new databases or changing the ones that were there they either asked me about it, or another self-taught guy who was also pretty darned skilled, and we got along pretty well, we bounced ideas off each other, and all was well.

Then they brought in the "Senior data engineer". All of a sudden Steve and I weren't being consulted in database issues. This new guy came in, declared that everything we had done was junk and needed to be redone. I was shipped out to a Document Control project in Norfolk, where I didn't get to do any DBA at all.

Ultimately, this "senior" guy rubbed everyone the wrong way and got laid off, but that was the beginning of the end for me at Xperts.

I just hope that this isn't what's going to be happening here as well. The market is getting better, but it's still not quite where I'd feel comfortable jumping jobs. Plus, with Gina getting ready to start here as a Claims Specialist, we really should probably lay low and just get our house back in order before I ponder jumping ship.

Dunno...we'll see how this plays out, I guess. I could be juding this guy wrong from the 30 second conversation we had.

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