Starting and Ending

I plan to write about retirement, or getting laid off, depending on that way you want to spin it; and systems analysis. Intermezzo is the music between movements. While thinking about a title for this blog I rather liked the idea that although I would write about retirement, this is not going to be about the end of my life but a transition from a work-life to something else. I’m not sure what else, yet. So intermezzo sounds appropriate, if maybe too musical.

I was getting burned out at work and thought about getting out. When I first started computer programming I had made a pact with myself that I would only do it as long it was fun. I had not planned on a career in computers, I wanted write novels and screenplays. But programming paid the bills and it was fun.

But toward the end it became not fun. I was at a point where I could seriously think about early retirement. Or at least, use an early retirement package from this company to finance winging off in a new direction. And then they fired me anyway. But, since I got the early retirement package anyway (you can tell it was a gummit agency can’t you?) it was like a kick out of the nest, but with a parachute.

So my plan is to describe what it was like to leave, write about stuff I’ve learned since.

The systems analysis mentioned earlier is a separate theme. I found I like systems analysis more than programming. For non-techies, programming is telling a computer how to do something. Analysis is figuring what that something is. Roughly, programming is like flying an airplane. Analysis is figuring out you want to fly it to Cleveland (!??!).

While it is slightly “easier” in the sense of slightly better hours, it is very different because analysis is all about communication where programming is all about telling a computer what to do. But analysis doesn’t give you the high you get while programming. But anyway, it seems like we don’t do much analysis, we try to jump straight to code. There aren’t nearly as many books teaching analysis as teaching programming. And this is alarming. For reasons I hope to get into later. I was thinking of writing a book on systems analysis. And this would be the draft version. Or maybe I’ll write a blog about it. Something.

I have a bunch of notes to convert to entries here. In the future I hope to settle down and make entries at least once a week.