Rantings of a Black Polemicist

Code Envy

Thursday, May 12th, 2005 | Personal

My contract ended with that Fortune 500 company and I got a new gig at a smaller company at an even better hourly rate. The developers here are actually competent, which took some getting used to. Everything is pretty stress-free for the most part. I never got to take a vacation in between gigs, but things are so easy here that I feel like I’m almost on a working vacation.

In fact, things are a little too easy. I’m basically a code monkey again. Create this screen, add this report, etc. I’m not doing any architecture or design, just coding what’s been laid out for me.

It’s pretty damn boring.

It’s a small group; there are 4 developers and a “lead” developer. The other guys are the ones who have done most of the design already. Over my cubicle walls, I can hear them working out other interesting design issues. I’m starting to get “code envy”.

In a typical day, I do actual work for 3 hours and goof off for the other 5. I’m still far ahead of schedule. What’s up next for me? More of the same. In fact, the stuff I’m working on now is the “hard part”.

It doesn’t make sense. Why are they paying me an ungodly amount of money to use only 40% of my brain?

I guess it’s time to master the art of looking busy. A challenge, especially when your back is facing everyone who walks past your cube.

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