Month: September 2024

This one time at band practice …

We’re the best band in a three block radius.

It has been almost three years since a jam session between Shawn Burgwald and I prompted the founding of the “Rubber Band”. I think we tried to play “Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC. Almost three years later and I’m still learning the damn solo. 

The band has changed a little. Shawn now primarily plays electric guitar rather than drums. Colin Young has taken up the drums in his place. Mike Jock, our original bassist, has decided to pursue other things. John Hatcher has replaced him on bass, and has introduced a banjo into some of our covers. Kenn Matthews maintains his role as lead vocalist. My brother, Todd Vandervort, and I bring up the rear on our respective guitar.

Aside from playing guitar I’ve started singing a little, too, lending backup vocals for Kenn as well as the occasional song. I joke with the guys that I have exactly two octaves to play with, but I’ll leverage them to the hilt if they’ll let me. The shower is now my studio and my family, the unfortunate audience. As for guitar, I find myself mostly playing acoustic. At band practice, surrounded by amplified electric guitars, it can be like bringing a knife to a gunfight, but I manage. 

I started writing songs, too. I’ve had a lot of fun garnishing my illustrations with poetry, so songwriting seemed like a natural progression. Time will tell if they ever see the light of day and the drums of ears ( other than mine ).

As far as the future of The Rubber Band? We’re trying to get out of the garage and start playing live more. It’s tough, though. We’re all Dads with families, jobs, and responsibilities vying for our attention. It’s hard enough to find time to practice alone, let alone as a group. But, we manage. And the good news? We’re getting better, too.

Maybe someday we’ll be the best band in a four block radius.

The Rubber Band and their merry group of band aids.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

– Scott

#therubberband #garageband #music #guitar #musician #rock #beatmaker #drums #garagebandmusic #newmusic #beat #bass #cover #rockband #comic #illustration #drawnandcoded

Crazy Train

To my (old) team at UPS : Thank you for helping me keep the ol’ train on the rails for the last couple of years.

This is my station ( time to get off ) …

I resigned from my job as an Application Development Manager at UPS. While I enjoyed working with my team, I found myself increasingly at odds with my supervisor, a rigid back-to-office policy, an incredibly stale technology stack, an almost criminal lack of respect for working conditions, and an-out-of-touch CEO.

I have started interviewing, but it has been rough. I am finding myself overqualified for the software development positions that I enjoyed during the first two decades of my career. In Corporate America you are two things : a number and a salary. When either of those tips the scale you either need to adapt, or risk sliding off of the scale altogether. I’m trying to adapt, but as a software engineer ( also known as an “Individual Contributor”), I am finding myself competing with younger and/or cheaper talent than me.

That leaves management, which, at least at UPS, became an increasingly tough pill to swallow. As a manager I felt like my primary function was to find ways to manipulate people to do the greatest amount of work possible in the least amount of time against increasingly impossible deadlines. As a manager I never felt like I was helping people grow or learn. Aside from the paycheck, it was not a rewarding experience.

As I have gotten older and dealt with some pretty significant life changes, I find myself wanting to make a difference – wanting to help people. Yes, I am probably naive in the assumption that such a meaningful position exists for me, but I am not going to give up hope.

One last thing …

Interviewing can suck hard

One company I interviewed at had a final three hour interview, the first hour of which was a slideshow presentation. The recruiter suggested I “tell a story” to engage my audience. Taking him too literally, I drew a bunch of quick sketches to illustrate my take on managing a software development team ( the position was for a Software Development Manager ). After my presentation concluded I was met with blank stares and silence, like I farted loudly in an empty concert hall. The hiring manager just said, flatly, “Did you even read the instructions?” Needless to say I didn’t end up getting the job.

  • Are we there yet? There are many obstacles before you can deploy to production.
  • Always break up projects into manageable pieces that can fit into a 2-week sprint.
  • The client is just one of many stakeholders.
  • Licensing is a constraint to successful projects.
  • As an incoming manager, don’t rock the boat until you first determine how it’s floating.
  • There are lots of different sources of information an onboarded team member can learn from.
  • It’s not always a technical problem. Sometimes, it’s morale.
  • I thought it was a technical problem …
  • Always keep offshore teams engaged.
  • Keep the [ sprint ] board clean.
  • Sometimes it’s a legacy [ software ] problem.
  • Make first contact with the product owner and manager as soon as possible.
  • Meet regularly and see how you can help.
  • Only rock the boat after you’ve had a chance to study it first; you’ll get more support from your team.
  • The product manager liked chasing squirrels….
  • Throwing stuff over the fence at offshore teams.
    Throwing stuff over the fence at offshore teams.

Wish me luck!

– Scott

#jobsearch #technicalprojectmanager #projectmanager #careerchange #jobsearching #careeropportunities #careerdevelopment #itcareer #drawnandcoded #illustration