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Six barrels, six shots, six hits?
If a coffee machine isn't involved, I can believe that.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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'I am not a number...I am (about to be) a free man!'  Now I'll have that song/album stuck in my head!...I know what I'm listening to later!  Up the irons!!!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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kmoorevs wrote: I know what I'm listening to later!
Me too! 
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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Woe to us!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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Me Three!!
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I remember you play bass. Steve Harris was a huge influence for me. Geddy too.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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Good ol' Steve foot on the monitor, P-Bass & Hair!!! 
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Geddy may have been a good bass player but his singing was awful.
Paul was the best at both bass and singing.
Old guys rule! (for a reason).
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"therefore not giving a definite number to the beast"
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668 - The Neighbour of The Beast.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain
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As a DoD contractor employee, I have a requirwement to get a CSSLP certification by July 1.
My PM told me in March that his DoD boss wants a study plan with daily updates, along with my planned test date. At that point, I told him what I planned to do, and that if they wanted "daily updates", he was free to make up whatever bullsh|t he thought would placate them, because I wasn't going to supply them.
Last week, all of my GS teammates were provided a free 1-week class for this cert, and I was specifically not invited to attend. I was okay with that.
Starting today, the group started holding 1-hour twice-per-week study groups. I was invited to attend.
After today's study session, I was told by our head GS person that I could not attend the study session unless I used my lunch hour to do so, and that this strategy was mandated by the very people that were so concernwed about my study habits. Furthermore, they're not reimbursing me for the time I spend studying or training materials. They will only reimburse test fees when I pass the test. At $700 a pop, this could get expensive (and it's far from being an easy test).
After thinking about it for a couple of hours, I fired off an angry email to my contractor PM, and reminded him that
0) the contract currently has a vacant seat (of the two seats they are required to fill) and that the seat has been vacant for two months with no prospects for filling it, which obviates that...
1) qualified devs are difficult to find (as evidenced by item 0) in San Antonio, even without considering the onerous certification requirements, indicating...
2) they would still have to find a prospective (and otherwise qualified) dev that would be willing to accept the CSSLP requirement, noting that...
3) considering the three previous items, they can't afford to piss off the one and only developer they already have on the contract, because...
4) I could easily find other work that doesn't involve getting a CSSLP cert, nor the absurd security measures that almost prevent me from doing what I was hired to do in the first damn place.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
modified 25-Apr-19 15:37pm.
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Certifications...pfft! [rolls eyes]
Well, this isn't your first rodeo. Truth is, you're in the enviable position, not them, so I'm not going to bore you with the usual platitudes.
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Been there, lived through that, told 'em to F*** off.
I know precisely the anger and frustration you're feeling now -- especially when you add in that it's not "the perfect job".
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Knowing your value is priceless
and from time to time is so satisfactory...
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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They have the CISSP as a requirement here. It has ZERO to do with any of our jobs, but what the heck - they paid for the useless class (getting me out of the office for a week), paid for the test (which is passable without any sort of studying, if one has had any sort of long-term experience), and the annual "continuing education" requirment is satisfied by the assorted mandatory training they subject us to every year.
I got a cool certificate and a card for my wallet and a pin, though. That totaly made it worth it.
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I have mentioned this to you in the past years, numerous times - you need to stop working for the federal govt.
I know your concerns with that but non-government contract work is out there (remote work that is).
Good luck. I know these are trying times for you right now, but you will be fine in the end.
As a side: why are yo adverse to getting the cert? Just curious.
modified 26-Apr-19 2:42am.
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Slacker007 wrote: As a side: why are yo adverse to getting the cert?
0) Certs in general aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
1) The CSSLP cert in particular is targeted at managers, NOT developers.
2) DoD mandated certs are a scam perpetrated on the government by the cert companies and the DoD personnel responsible for foisting the requirement on the government (I'm positive there's an ex-general somewhere that is making millions off the fact that everyone in the gov involved in the software dev process is required to get this cert. Every three years.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Thanks for explaining. I did not know this cert program you are talking about here was even a thing. Interesting.
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Yeah, the DoD evidently mandated it sometime last year for "all personnel involved in the software development process".
I took a 175-question practice exam last night, and made 52% correct answers. Without any prep at all. I suppose that's reasonable, considering I rushed through it because it was BORING, and I had some coding I wanted to do. The hardest questions to answer are the "check all that apply" kind.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Hang on, if I understand correctly you are a contractor. That means that you are self-employed and your work is governed by an agreed contract. So, was the CSSLP part of the contract requirement both sides signed? If yes, go get it. If not, tell them to go forth and multiply (although you presumably won't be renewing the contact if so).
The way you describe this place it sounds like a cross between a full employment and school!
Is this really how the US federal government does things? If they want people on these terms, why do theu hire contractors instead of full time employees.
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I'm in a shop of 10 devs. I'm the only contractor in the group.
Yes, it's a requirement. My beef is that they want me to get this cert, but they want me to use my lunch time to attend a study group in order to get the required cert.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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> Yes, it's a requirement.
Ah well, in that case if it's a requirement to which you agreed in contract then fair enough: You've got to get (because you agreed to do so).
Also, since you're a self-employed contractor, training and certification is something you would normally have to pay for yourself, isn't it. It's not like being an employee where you could reasonably expect your employer to pay for it.
This is why contractors' daily rates are so much higher than salaried employees; contractors have substantially higher costs since they are a self-employed business.
Overall it seems to me: Why complain? You'll be getting a tick box skill that will increase your daily rate for the next contract.
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I *am* an employee of the contracting company. I am not self employed
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Ah sorry, I misunderstood and thought from what you said that you were a self-employed contractor. In that case then I agree, they are way out of line expecting you to study in your own time for a requirement that they are imposing on you.
(It would have been different if it was a contract term that you had explicitly agreed to, which would only have been the case if you were a self-employed contractor).
All the same, it could be a resumé-enhancing skill. Certainly the kind of thing that would be useful if you do want to move on. 
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