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Journal M.C. Hampster's Journal: Decisions, Decisions... 15

Journal by M.C. Hampster

I recently switched between departments at my place of work. I used to be in a department where I would be writing reusable components that other developers would use in our distributed environment. Stuff like logging, data access, security, etc. I also was responsible for mentoring and helping other developers. Eventually, I grew tired of only working on architecture. I wanted to get back into application development. I applied with a manager that I used to work for and he was happy to pick me back up.

The only problem is, there is no one left to do this job, specifically help other developers in our distributed environment. So, a couple weeks ago, my old manager called up and asked if I could help this one developer who needs help often. I didn't used to get along with this developer, but over time I've come to see he's actually a pretty good guy who is doing the job the best to his ability. After a couple days of troubleshooting, we figured out his problem. I was invited to a meeting that took place yesterday that was titled "[Application Name] Follow-up" that included the developer I helped plus my old manager. I had never been called into that sort of meeting, so I had no idea what to expect.

Well, turns out this developer pushed for me to get a Special Recognition Award for $400. I was completely surprised by this development. I've bee with the company for almost 5 years and this is only the second time I've gotten one of these. It's not that I haven't done anything worth rewarding, it just seems like no one notices. But enough with the "woe is me" attitude.

So now the real question is, what to spend it on? Should I be responsible with it and maybe pay off some of our final credit card debt? Should I just save it? What? I've been wanting to get an XBox for the last few months, but I always feel so irresponsible since I already have a Nintendo GameCube that I really enjoy. I mean, I'm almost 30 years old now with a family and the thought of buying a second console seems... .geeky? What really interests me in the XBox is XBox Live, since I have a few friends that are already on it.

Anyway, I'm also thinking a Tivo would be pretty cool, although I don't watch a whole lot of TV. And prepare yourselves, because we don't even have cable *gasp!*.

So what do you think? Who out there has XBox Live? Is it cool? What about Tivo's? Is it worth it without cable?

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Decisions, Decisions... More

Decisions, Decisions...

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  • I found myself in opposite circumstances yesterday. We had our floor meeting where they announced employee of the year ($300) and I was in the running. I new it was a really long shot since I've given them official notice that my last day is July 15th. But I couldn't help but think about what I'd do with the cash.

    I was thinking of picking up a few different small things. I'm really leaning towards buying BlackAdder [thekompany.com]. And maybe a book to go with it-- though it comes with a lot of documentation. But

    • Yeah, the only reason I think of Tivo is because A) We do have basic, basic cable that includes pretty much just the local stations plus TBS and WGN. We get it for free with our high speed internet from Cox. So we get great reception on our local channels. And B) We tape a lot of shows on the VCR, either due to the fact we want to watch them after the kids go to bed, or there might be too many shows on one night and we want to spread out our TV over time, rather than spending a bunch of time in one even

      • I forgot about Amazing Race so I missed the first few minutes or so-- but I caught a lot of it. It was really cool. I had as much fun watching it as I do with Survivor.

        I love watching the challenges on Survivor but I am at a loss as to why Ulong sucks so bad. I mean I can think of a few little reasons-- but none of them seem sufficient to explain the whole thing. Maybe they just all add up. I don't know. My wife has completely flipped from rooting against Ulong to cheering for them since they've had
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I got a series 1 Tivo for free and have been using it for the past 4 months on OTA channels. It basically works like a glorified VCR. If you have the TiVo service, it does give you channel info and show selections and TiVi suggestions, you are just subject to how good your reception is anyway. I'm rather happy with mine. Note: the Series 2 TiVos (what you'll get now in stores) apparently don't even let you manually set up recordings if you don't have the TiVo service.

      Regarding the money - $50 on dinner, $3
  • And you gave it all up, for what?!? Application programming.

    Our company is pretty small right now (but growing steadily), so we don't really have a team setup to be "architecture" yet. We all pretty much do application development, and the code base shows it too. As such I'd rather spend time working on refactoring to get the system running smoother and getting a certain amount of architecture built into the system. I could care less about the customer (well, other than the fact the customer pays the b

    • I had a good time working on architecture, but at the same time I felt like I never really saw the fruits of that labor. Working in application development, I get to work with clients again and solve their problems. I want to see something I do directly result in an improvement for the business.

  • My personal belief is that you should never buy a new toy when you owe money. So I'd pay off the credit card first. But if you have to get a toy, I'd get the Xbox. I'm not on Live yet. (I still have the free subscription that comes with Halo 2, but I haven't activated it yet. I will soon I think.)
  • I have Xbox Live and I think it is great. Once you find a good group of people to play with Live can be a lot of fun.

    That being said. I recommend you pay off your debt :) The new Xbox system will be coming out in less than a year. You have waited this long for the Live experience, and I'm sure you could wait a little bit longer.

    If you do decide to pick up an Xbox be sure to buy Burnout 3. My wife loves that game.
    • I agree about the XBox Live.

      Really great, and Halo 2 online kicks all kinds of ass.

      But paying down debt is probably the better idea, then again depending on the last time a toy was purchased.
  • Xbox live is pretty good. I've been playing Halo 2 on it for a while. Prior to that I played other games (like RTCW, Amped 2, etc.) It's great if you are playing with people you know. With Halo 2, it doesn't really matter who you are playing with- it still rocks :) It's definitely worth the $$ in my opinion.
  • I feel for you because I am in the same situation for a different reason - I have just left my job for another one, and at my good-bye lunch my co-workers handed me a gift card for the local electronics superstore. Of course I have to spend it there, so I can't use it for my debts, but I am definitely having trouble deciding what to use it for.

    I definitely think you need to buy a toy - this is, after all, an unexpected bonus that came about becuase of your good work. If you blasted it all at the debts, the
  • There is absolutely no decision making process that should be involved. Pay off your credit card. If you are an intelligent software engineer (you must be; you got a $400 bonus for it), surely you are able to do some simple interest calculations.

    Even if you insist on being frivilous with your money and irresponsible with your debt, if you put the $400 to your credit card, then go out and spend $400 next month on the same card, you will still have saved yourself a bit of money.
  • I really enjoy xbox live. If you have a Sam's membership you can save over $20 by getting the one year xbox kit there with the headset and the free game. I'd go for that if you decide to pick up xbox and xbox live. I would probably buy an xbox some place other than Sam's though unless you want the stuff they sell with it.

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