I do not try to hide that I mostly try to work together with other experts. Working with someone on a similar skill level has somewhat relieving. And finally when you have taken the first two or three challenges together, working with them often turns out into some pleasure.

All the info and little hints you need and require for a successful and winning work and result are there! Given instantly without the need to ask  and communication in general is reducing to a necessary minimum.

My personal indicator for reaching such a level is the moment when you start to carry on second more personal conversation besides. Over all stress work is coming with, the easy chatting besides helps to deal with stress and timelines … at least for me it does!

Now since a while the audience you met when overtaking new projects has changed dramatically. Folks you know from earlier and value for their thoughtful cooperation once, today are often lost within specialities or suffering like you under a big workload not being able to help anymore.

So there more and more a new generation is coming to act. New "green" folks and so called Application Owner mostly not having any background about the underlaying system and techniques and often only being trained within their application, it’s business requirement and the general dealing and working with it

As a result out of that I often get a requests in a way … Can you do that and that for me please? Best at night when I’m at home!

Grrrr … I really hate these mindless emails! What do they think? … Nothing I guess?!

But the more I hate that their emails mostly even miss all necessary details like server, account and login details and so on.
Or best! Sometimes and even better appear like a new written bible containing 20 or so forwarded email by people which does not really more have to say …. forcing to to read through all just to figure out about you still NEED to know.

Oh damned! Give my back my loved professionals I really enjoy working with please!

Yesterday I had a customer asking me about my different rates. Sorry he said, but I really can’t understand why you offer especially application maintenance as your most expensive task to order …. When things are settled, it should be easy to do the one or other maintenance tweak later on?!

Sure I said … But try see it through my eyes please. When you order database maintenance or application developing with me, I’m able to work with things I’m already familiar with. Or at least with things I personally think about as usefully for me to know or learn about.

Especially speaking about application maintenance - Given the situation that you can come to me telingl me about some commercial appication you bought and want me to install and take care about it…. For me this glorious software might be something totally new then, forcing me to spend hours or days learning about it first. This is time, you certainly will not like to pay me for.

And the most worst point for me could be, that I only learn for you not being able to use my knew knowledge later on for any other customer except you.

Reaching this point he smiled and said: Now I start to understand you. So you want me to come to you first, telling you about my needs? …. Now I smiled and said: Yeah! You got me now!!

I have to confess that I like such customers

I know that I scratch a difficult topic today and that the front between the different parties are very strict enforced - Just  … who cares?!

Whenever a discussion between Mac and PC users comparing there system starts, it ends up in a big discussion comparing all the benefits - depending on which side they are - they believe to have!

I personal never saw it really that polarized.

For sure I’m a major Windows User working with PC’s since the very first IBM XT I touched. But I also have a long and old history working with other Operating Systems  like VMS and Open VMS, Ultrix , TrueUnix 64 nearly all other available UNIX Distributions someone thought about to implement once.

So I guess it just didn’t happend to me, being seriously forced to work with some Macintosh Computer before.

Nevertheless by staying in contact with quiet a lot of folks being confirmed Mac Users by own word, I know a lot about Mac’s and OSX. And I really would lie in case I would try to hide that since a while I’m sneaking around those systems again and again recognising more and more things I like about them.

For example one of those things I really like about Mac OSX is the Dock application it comes with! Some really cool and neat application launcher always just one click away to start some needed application.

Now recently a friend made me aware about some “Dock” clone for Windows which I downloaded and installed.

It is called RocketDock and can be downloaded for free. Try it, and I’m sure you will immediately like it as much as I do!!