My Life as a Programming Contractor

Gig #1 was at a place called Resonant Vibes. The staff is cool bunch of people who are very much in to their music. I was certainly the old guy there. The enthusiasm of the staff was infectious and I found myself getting into it. The contract expired and that was that.

Gig #2 is interesting in that i has helped me to understand contractors I hired previously. Now I have the hankering to bring more coffee to work. I say, "I'll do it any way you want" a lot, and have no vested interests in one approach or another. If I think one approach is better, I say so and I say why. Then I do what I am asked. Also, employees don't talk to contractors. Employees don't make a lot of eye contact with contractors. They don't ask us to join them for lunch. And I think it's awesome. How absolutely freeing it is to go to work... and just work. Immersion in the problem with no BS, no interruptions no hassles. None of the stuff that reduces the efficiency of the employees.

In addition to the beneficial detachment, I'm enjoying the constant change and challenge. There's always something new. As an example, my current boss wanted some graphics displayed from a database. But he wanted a copyright watermark placed on each one. I hadn't a clue how to do it. So I was forced to spend a pleasurable 2 hours figuring it out and implementing it.