Question Lo! I have returned!
- CrazyMinh
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Topic Author
- null0trooper
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- CrazyMinh
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Topic Author
- CrazyMinh
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Topic Author
Kettlekorn wrote: Well, the good news is that if you're willing to mad-science it up, livers do regenerate (sorta). Theoretically you could take a clipping from a healthy part of yours and use it to grow a bunch of replacement livers, though I don't know how difficult it is to keep livers alive and growing outside the body, and finding a doctor willing to play ball is probably nontrivial. Probably lots of room for world firsts and Nobel Prizes!
The other good news is that while there doesn't seem to be a proper prosthetic liver yet (just short-term measures to buy time while waiting on transplants), that means the market is ripe for the picking if you harness this new source of motivation and invent one.
*hums a certain song *
(More seriously though, hopefully they just switch you to some gentler meds and the problem goes away.)
Well, I could try inventing a prosthetic liver...but considering my degree is in mechatronics (with a major in robotics and intelligent systems), and not biomedical engineering...I wouldn't know the first thing about that. Well, maybe the second or third. But not the first
Gentler meds might be a option IF I actually do have liver damage. There are alternatives to the drugs I'm taking thankfully.
You can find my stories at Fanfiction.net here .
You can also check out my fanfiction guest riffs at Library of the Dammed
- Kristin Darken
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- CrazyMinh
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Topic Author
- Mister D
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CrazyMinh wrote: The next thing that happened was me landing a job at Hind Robotics. Which is nice, since it pays a whole lot better than my job at the local video games outlet, and it also pays better than the intern-level pay I got working at the ACFR. FTWDK, Hind manufactures robot control systems, primarily the Masso CNC controller. I now have the "lofty" job of a Hardware/Software interface engineer...on a part-time basis. So, yeah. Technically all I'm doing is filling in the shoes of a junior team member who left on maternal leave for two years, and on a probationary basis at that. So, here's to job security! Or lack thereof.
Now for the bad news. Which is inevitable, as I've learned the past two 1/2 years. I finally got my gaming rig assembled...before it crapped out due to a hardware fault, and fried $2500 US worth of components, and very nearly started a fire. There are two upsides to this though. Thankfully, I now keep fire extinguishers near anything that could possibly cause a fire, and thankfully the smoke alarm didn't go off and activate the sprinklers. Which probably would have wrecked a whole lot more than just 2.5 thousand dollars of hardware.
Then comes the real kicker! Because I've been on such a high dosage of drugs meant to handle my mental issues, and have been on around the same dosage since I was diagnosed with ADHD and Aspergers Syndrome when I was around 8- which mind you is nearly 11 years now- I may have liver damage! Which is great! I'm definitely not being sarcastic right now, am I? In all honesty, that's quite literally yesterday's news. Here's to hoping that I'm not going to die of blood poisoning cause my liver crapped out at age 28!
It's not just people who are transitioning who have this sort of problem.
I sympathise, as the level of medication i am on for the epilepsy that i developed as a side-effect of brain-surgery means that there is a possibility that my kidneys will dissolve.
This also means that my ADHD is also completely un-medicatable due to the incompatibility with my epilepsy meds. I was getting some help from an ADHD therapist based in the UK. Mostly we communicated via Skype, so it may be possible for you. DM me and i'll pass the contact details on.
But, back to your good news.
Congratz on the new gig.
I'd like to pass on some advice that i was given by one senior engineer in a quiet, after-working-hours, conversation. He received it in a similar manner from one of his mentors.
Congratulations on starting your new job.
Now you are in a great position to work on finding your next job. Remember it is always easier to find a new job, when you already have a job.
One thing that i would recommend, before you start rocking the boat, is to look at everything that your new company does, and read/learn as much as possible while you are there.
This will mean that you will have to rein in your enthusiasm, and focus on the practical work.
Every company will have a "House Style" and learning this will help you in your new job. Sometimes this can be as simple as using the "Company Dialect", ie. the phrases that the company prefers to use in their PR/literature/documentation.
Each company will describe the same things differently. There will be a favoured vocabulary. By using that vocabulary, rather than the academic language, you will present yourself as a "better fit" for the job within that specific company.
Use these languages in your CV when you are applying for jobs within other companies, so you will present yourself as a better fit.
Yes, this will mean that you have to re-write your CV for every different company, but this just means that you can target your CV properly, which will give you a better success rate, as it makes it easier to get past the HR department, and get interviews with the engineering staff that you will be working alongside.
Secondly, congratulations on your first step on the new treadmill.
Just as every technology has a lifespan within the marketplace, every engineer has a lifespan within the job market.
Now you have found a job, you need to start looking for the next one.
NO! I am not advocating that you should start dissing your current job.
I am saying that you need to be realistic about what you want to do next.
While you are gaining experience in the technology attached to your new job, you will need to understand how that technology fits in with the rest of the ecology of all the other technologies that can be used to accomplish those same tasks.
This will be a constant personal task. Whether you continue at your current job, or you move to the next job. You will need to assess whether the tech that you are currently working on will be viable, or whether it's something that will be obsolete in two years time.
That way, you know when it's a good time to jump ship before everyone else does.
This will also let you know whether it's a good job to go for, or whether it's an offer to politely refuse, as the managers may be misguided, or, insane, or just betting on the wrong horse.
Thirdly, when you are looking at the new technologies that are out there, you will have to assess what you think the Next-Big-Thing will be.
If you come across a new tech that seems viable in the marketplace, then get a job in that field, so you can be paid to learn.
If you guess wrong, then it's no biggie, as you will be earning an average engineers salary, and you can keep looking for the new Next-Big-Thing.
If you guess right, then that's the point where you can start to earn the serious bucks.
If you have the skills when very few people have them, you can charge 18-24 months at a top-market-rate, then another two years at a still high salary, but at a slightly lower rate, then you'll be back to the average salary.
This will also mean that in 15-20 years time, you'll have the chance to bid for legacy-systems contracts, especially if you are working on infrastructure systems.
This will mean that you will end up working like a dog for a few years, but as long as you are careful about managing your finances, then you can make hay while the sun shines.
One other important piece of advice: Pay all your debts off first.
Don't waste your money on any New'N'Shiny toys, until you are free and clear.
It costs a large amount of energy to service your debts, so the sooner that you get rid of them, the better it will be for you in the long-term.
(This was a lesson that i should have learned earlier, but it is one where i speak from personal experience. It works.)
The engineer that gave me this advice ended up working like a dog for two years when he got a job with one major media company, but because he had the skills when no-one else had them, he then spent two and a half years doing the same thing for banks in Hong Kong, another two years working for banks in Germany, and then he retired.
When he was 35 years old.
Yes, he made the wrong bets a few times, which is why he was 35 when he got off the treadmill, rather than 30, but he paid off his mortgage on his home in London, bought a flat in Amsterdam, and now he gets to choose what he works on.
Also, you will have to knock the gaming on the head for a few years.
You don't have the time.
There is a large amount of age-discrimination within the tech industries, so you need to be prepared for that.
If you can get out before that starts to hit you, then you will be able to avoid that hassle.
Hope that this helps you.
Measure Twice
