Profunksticated

What’s up? I’m about to go on something of a rant.

Is it too much to ask for a response to a phone call or e-mail, even within the subsequent seven days? I know you’re fighting fires like you’re in Santa Ana wind-whipped southern California, but damn, could a brother just get a quick phone call, or a “Hey, I got your e-mail, still working on it” ? It ain’t like I’m a bill collector or something like that. Sheesh!!

Why do I feel like most of what I do or say or write at work is second-guessed by either or both my supervisors? How did I end up as a glorified administrative assistant (not to disrespect AAs out there, but I’m not sure that a 50-year-old African-American male is well-suited for such work)? Hell, I’m the one that needs an assistant!

I’ve recently gotten in touch with the fact that I have serious passive aggressive issues. But then I read that is a great survival tactic for black men in corporate America.

As of this writing, I’m no closer to ending this Philly area-to-DMV commute, which is now an every week thing due to the FMLA leave. Tolls for one month alone are $80. I haven’t computed the cost of fuel. I’d probably gag.

I contemplated for a few seconds dropping out of the master’s program in which I’m currently enrolled and learning a trade such as carpentry, plumbing or electrical work. I read where preparing folk to work in corporate America is like being readying them for subjugation to a form of gentle fascism – an apt comparison – and that perhaps trades should be get a greater emphasis in the public schools.

Profunksticated interviewed with a couple of firms this week. The phone screen was with a water utility in southern New Jersey. The second, in-person meeting was at an environmental firm in northern NJ.

The environmental firm looks promising, thanks to an internal reference, a guy who I worked with when I was let go from the other environmental firm in 2007. The vice president I met with seemed like he was trying to sell me on the firm. Also, he mentioned that an offer could be coming this week.

The nice thing was that the VP didn’t ask my salary requirements. He said he’d come up with a number and we could go from there. There’s also the possibility I’d work in a company office much closer to my NJ home.

How refreshing that the VP is willing to provide a salary figure. I say that because every recruiter that’s called me about gigs in the DMV always ask me my current salary. They say that the first party to provide a number always at a disadvantage in negotiations. The question irritates me because I feel like my current salary isn’t relevant. I’ve made the mistake of giving my current salary, and based on that, the recruiter would say I shouldn’t get more than $10,000 more than what I’m making. I really want and need $20,000 more per year to make this now two-year-long, bi-regional commute and living arrangement worth the time and travel.

At that point, I’ve ended the discussion. I know I can provide a lot more value for a lot more. What should my current salary have to do with anything?

I’ve put the question to my HR buddy and he had this simple solution: Lie. Yup, he advised inflating my salary upward to get the bump I wanted. I’ve been a leery of that approach, wondering if a prospective employer can call my current employer for that information. He said they probably won’t. He also said, “They’re probably figuring you’re inflating your salary anyway.”

Would any of you out there lie about, er, spin, er, inflate your current salaries to get what you really want and deserve in the next gig?

Hello, you all. Sorry it’s been a few weeks. Some random thoughts from old Profunksticated, the Supergroovalistic One:

It takes suffering through a nasty upper respiratory infection to realize that a person should never, ever take for granted the ability to swallow food or liquids without intense throat pain.

The 2008 and 2009 Philadelphia Phillies are the best baseball teams this historically hapless franchise has ever fielded.

This commute between the DMV and the Philly-South Jersey may be coming to an end as I seek employment in New Jersey. It cannot come too soon. Just one recent morning, I found myself stuck in traffic along southbound Interstate 95 for an hour north of Baltimore due to a multi-vehicle accident that involved an auto transporter. And to top things off, the computer that controls the traffic signals in Montgomery County, Maryland crashed. Someone’s gonna have to re-write that code or consult a library.

I do like having these long weekends under FMLA. I don’t like not getting paid for when I’m not at work. Why does life have to have tradeoffs? I want it all.

I finished a master’s course called Software Frameworks, all about reusing code in web-based applications. It kicked my azz. A major problem was the software packages we were required to download and work with were flawed. After getting a string of “A’s,” I escaped this Dante’s Inferno of a course with a “C.”

I voted for a third-party candidate in the New Jersey election for governor. I was proud of myself for helping this guy get 5% of the vote. President Obama notwithstanding, I’m about sick and tired watching the donkeys and the elephants practice their shenanigans. The electorate needs to get bolder and support more of these folks, who aren’t backed by big money and who aren’t bought (at least not yet).

Thank God for my son’s Playstation 3. He told me it plays Blu-Ray discs. Until then, I was contemplating getting a Blu-Ray player to go along with the newly-bought 42-inch LCD high-definition television. I love watching that thing.