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From: rickman on 20 May 2010 14:32
On May 20, 8:39 am, Greg Berchin <gberc...(a)comicast.net.invalid>
wrote:
> On Wed, 19 May 2010 19:34:23 -0700, Tim Wescott <t...(a)seemywebsite.now> wrote:
> >>> And you'll be (mostly) valued for what you can do, not (much) for who
> >>> your daddy was or where you went to school.
>
> >> Unless you move to Boston.
>
> >Only in the higher circles.  In the engineering trenches, they value merit.
>
> My experience differs.  Boston is the only place where I've ever been told that
> I was rejected for a position because I "went to school in (gasp) California."  
>
> It's also the only place where I've seen ads that say things like:
>
>         "BSEE/Computer Science (prefer MS from top engineering school)"
>
> or:
>
>         "B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering from a Top
>          10 program (MIT, CMU, UIUC, Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, Texas, etc.)
>          or an international powerhouse (Oxford, Cambridge, Technion, IIT,
>          etc.)."
>
> I don't mind them demanding high-quality people.  It's their figure of merit
> that bothers me.  Furthermore, if one demands quality, one must be willing to
> pay for quality.  I recall an interview in which I was told, "We like to hire
> top-10% performers."  Then, during discussions of salary, I was told, "We like
> to pay right at the industry mean."  When I pointed out the double standard, and
> said, "You get what you pay for -- if you pay average salaries then you get
> average people," the interview was terminated.
>
> Greg

God, reading all the rediculous stuff that happens in companies makes
me so glad I work for myself. Now if I could just land another
contract...

Rick
From: rickman on 20 May 2010 14:40
On May 19, 10:48 am, Eric Jacobsen <eric.jacob...(a)ieee.org> wrote:
> On 5/18/2010 5:52 PM, Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Rick Lyons wrote:
>
> >> Hi Guys,
> >> here's a thought for those of you who are consultants, or work for
> >> small companies doing consulting work.
> >> The next time your potential customer comments in a negative way about
> >> your consulting fee, consider saying the following to your customer:
>
> >> "Yes, professionals are expensive. However, try doing the job with
> >> amateurs."
>
> > I'd say something is not right if it comes down to that kind of whoring..
> > Normally, they don't negotiate with doctors, lawyers or consultants.
> > Either the price is set way over reasonable, or the prospect has no
> > realistic idea how much is the cost for this kind of work.
>
> > Vladimir Vassilevsky
> > DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
> >http://www.abvolt.com
>
> Actually, it's not unusual or unheard of to negotiate prices with
> doctors, lawyers, and consultants.   Especially these days.

Now you've hit a nerve. It's one thing for doctors and hospitals to
charge high prices, but when they give HUGE, and I mean seriously HUGE
discounts to insurance companies, I feel it is something that should
be dealt with by the government. Yes, I actually said that... I
don't normally want to suggest that the government get involved with
anything, but I have seen bills that were knocked down from over $100
to less than $10 because of the "negotiated" rate the insurance
company gets. If doctors and hospitals can make a profit from a $10
payment, why in the HE** do I need to pay them $100 for the same
service???!!!

So I don't.

Rick

PS Why is electricity, water and even cable TV regulated and health
care not???
From: rickman on 20 May 2010 14:44
On May 19, 10:56 am, Clay <c...(a)claysturner.com> wrote:
> On May 19, 10:48 am, Eric Jacobsen <eric.jacob...(a)ieee.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 5/18/2010 5:52 PM, Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:
>
> > > Rick Lyons wrote:
>
> > >> Hi Guys,
> > >> here's a thought for those of you who are consultants, or work for
> > >> small companies doing consulting work.
> > >> The next time your potential customer comments in a negative way about
> > >> your consulting fee, consider saying the following to your customer:
>
> > >> "Yes, professionals are expensive. However, try doing the job with
> > >> amateurs."
>
> > > I'd say something is not right if it comes down to that kind of whoring.
> > > Normally, they don't negotiate with doctors, lawyers or consultants.
> > > Either the price is set way over reasonable, or the prospect has no
> > > realistic idea how much is the cost for this kind of work.
>
> > > Vladimir Vassilevsky
> > > DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
> > >http://www.abvolt.com
>
> > Actually, it's not unusual or unheard of to negotiate prices with
> > doctors, lawyers, and consultants.   Especially these days.
>
> > One of the more disappointing things I see, unfortunately regularly, is
> > when we get turned down for being "too expensive" and then get called
> > back in later (or not) to fix some money-and-time-sucking disaster that
> > was attempted to be done with less cost.  You can't ever really say, "I
> > told you so", but it makes me cringe to see 3x the money thrown at
> > something over 3x the time it should have taken on a job we lost because
> > we were "too expensive".
>
> > --
> > Eric Jacobsen
> > Minister of Algorithms
> > Abineau Communicationshttp://www.abineau.com-Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I was discussing with a friend just last night about a contract where
> he estimated a year. The client said they don't have that long and
> went away.  Now they come back to him after screwing around their own
> for 6 months and want him to fix it in the remaining 6 months of his
> original estimate. What Fun!
>
> I like the sign in mechanic's shops that say
>
> labor $75/hour ----- $150/hour if you watch.

They have to do it that way because a three hour repair only take an
hour for most mechanics. The three hours is from the flat rate
manual.

Why do I feel like I am in the only profession in the world where I
have to actually *do* my work and get paid correspondingly?

Rick
From: Rick Lyons on 21 May 2010 06:36
On Wed, 19 May 2010 17:38:59 -0400, Jerry Avins <jya(a)ieee.org> wrote:

[Snipped by Lyons]
>>>
>>> I take it that you're familiar with the half-sandwich fallacy.
>>>
>>> Jerry
>>
>> Hi Jer,
>> What's the half-sandwich fallacy?
>
>When you're famished, nothing is better than a good four-course meal.
>Still, half a sandwich is better than nothing. Using the symbol > to
>mean "better than", we have the relation
> (half sandwich) > (nothing) > (full meal),
> ergo (half sandwich) > (full meal). QED
>
>Jerry

Ha ha. That's cute.

[-Rick-]
From: Rick Lyons on 21 May 2010 06:47
On Wed, 19 May 2010 16:39:20 -0700 (PDT), dvsarwate
<dvsarwate(a)gmail.com> wrote:

>
>Rick Lyons previously quoted:
>
>> "When I use a word, 'Humpty Dumpty said, in
> rather a scornful tone,` it means just what I
> choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
> --Humpty Dumpty in Chapter VI
> of 'Through the Looking Glass'
> by Lewis Carroll
>
>and then asked Jerry
>> �What's the half-sandwich fallacy?
>
>to which Jerry replied
>
>> When you're famished, nothing is better than a good four-course meal.
>> Still, half a sandwich is better than nothing. Using the symbol > to
>> mean "better than", we have the relation
>> � � � (half sandwich) > (nothing) > (full meal),
>> � � � ergo (half sandwich) > (full meal). QED
>
>which puts me in mind of the *next* chapter of
>"Through the Looking Glass" where we find
>
>"Who did you pass on the road?" the King went on,
>holding out his hand to the Messenger for some hay.
>
>"Nobody" said the Messenger.
>
>"Quite right" said the King: "this young lady saw him
>too. So of course Nobody walks slower than you."
>
>"I do my best" the Messenger said in a sullen tone:
>"I am sure nobody walks much faster than I do!"
>
>"He ca'n't do that" said the King: "or else he'd have
>been here first....."

Hi,
Ha ha. I hadn't see that before.

Being somewhat of a movie "nut", your post reminded
me of a fun spagetti western movie titled: My Name
is Nobody." That movie plays exactly the same kind
of word games with the word "nobody" as did the
King and the messenger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Nobody

See Ya',
[-Rick-]
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