You have arrived

[BetterCallSaul]

Years ago, when your salary hit six figures, it usually signaled you had arrived in life. Your career was soaring, you could buy just about anything you wanted, had a hot woman or two.

These days, the six figure salary thing isn't what it used to be. Hell in some major metro areas if you're just breaking six figures you're just barely scraping by.

Anyway, back in December I had finally learned what my annual raise would be which is not just a cost-of-living adjustment but is merit based. Damn is all I can say. I didn't think my work was THAT great, but apparently some people up top are keeping an eye on me. I tend to just keep quiet in my corner office and generally avoid the higher ups.

So moving along after I was figuring up what taxes would be owed in the coming I was running some rough numbers and figured I had enough i wanted to treat myself a bit. I decided on a couple of new suits. I needed some new ones anyway, so I figured I may as well do it. I then later decided, f*ck it, these suits are gonna be power suits I can use for work.

I've already tried on the rough constructed ones they usually have on display in some stores, they've got my measurements now and are tailoring them and should (I hope) be ready by next week. I went straight napolese italian with Brioni and Isaia. Oh f*ck me...trying those babies on was undescribably amazing. I've had tailored suits before so that's nothing new, but these two brands are among the best of the best. They're light, they accentuate a man's body in all the right places just right without excess. I'm not much of a wordsmith so it's a little hard for me to properly do it justice typing out what it felt like but every man should experience this at least once in his life. I was a bit concerned with the amount of money I was spending...nope, after trying them on all doubt was removed. I cannot wait to see the final results soon.

That, to me, tells me I have arrived.

 

[PrettyBoyAJ]

What type of work are you in?

How much were the suits?

 

[BetterCallSaul]

I do IT management work.

The two of them set me back around $10k.

 

[PrettyBoyAJ]

Really, two suits for 10k. What brand was it?

 

[Bible_Belt]

Congratulations on your raise.

I was figuring up what taxes would be owed

I'm thinking tax shelter. Farms are great at losing money. Two out of every five years you are allowed to deduct farm loss against the income tax you pay at your job. Two years of taxes is like $100K for someone with your income.

 

[logicallefty]

I do IT management work.

The two of them set me back around $10k.

Good to see a competent male in IT Management and making pay he deserves. At least it happens somewhere. In my neck of the woods, IT workers are primary male and IT Managers are primarily female. These aren't just any women, these are women who couldn't hack it in the technical trenches. Women who don't even know the difference between a server and a workstation, or between a router and a firewall. Total incompetence!! But rather than fire them, they get promoted somehow. Likely by beta white night men who want their d|ckie d|ckies wet in return. It's the dumbest most logic defying thing I have ever seen in my life. But it's common place around here. I work in both IT and law enforcement and I want out of IT so bad.

 

[speed dawg]

Good to see a competent male in IT Management and making pay he deserves. At least it happens somewhere. In my neck of the woods, IT workers are primary male and IT Managers are primarily female. These aren't just any women, these are women who couldn't hack it in the technical trenches. Women who don't even know the difference between a server and a workstation, or between a router and a firewall. Total incompetence!! But rather than fire them, they get promoted somehow. Likely by beta white night men who want their d|ckie d|ckies wet in return. It's the dumbest most logic defying thing I have ever seen in my life. But it's common place around here. I work in both IT and law enforcement and I want out of IT so bad.

I keep telling myself that the 'skill' will never be replaced. Corporate America really seems to value 'management', however. Seems to me, if sh*t ever hit the fan, it's the skilled workers who would prosper. I am constantly beyond amazed that 'project management' is really even a skill to be developed, because it sure seems that's a corporate term. But, the higher up you go, the more money you make.

 

[logicallefty]

I keep telling myself that the 'skill' will never be replaced. Corporate America really seems to value 'management', however. Seems to me, if sh*t ever hit the fan, it's the skilled workers who would prosper. I am constantly beyond amazed that 'project management' is really even a skill to be developed, because it sure seems that's a corporate term. But, the higher up you go, the more money you make.

One of the female IT Managers I can not stand actually has said "I am the only one in this department with any kind of Project Management skills". I think that's her way of trying to justify herself. She will make 5 x spreadsheets for any given project, none of which help anybody doing the actual work. But she thinks it does. People like this make me sick. You are right though, when the sh|t hits the fan the only thing the "project management" experts will be able to do is pick up the phone and call someone with some real technical skills.

 

[speed dawg]

One of the female IT Managers I can not stand actually has said "I am the only one in this department with any kind of Project Management skills". I think that's her way of trying to justify herself. She will make 5 x spreadsheets for any given project, none of which help anybody doing the actual work. But she thinks it does. People like this make me sick. You are right though, when the sh|t hits the fan the only thing the "project management" experts will be able to do is pick up the phone and call someone with some real technical skills.

In my line of work you don't get to be a project manager until you are very successful at designing projects. So in other words, you know that side of it in and out. I am technically one myself, and it pains me to use spreadsheets and make schedules and figure out work-flow and all that sh*t. But if I don't do it, I can't move up.

But yes, professional project managers who've never done any work can drive you crazy. I've thought about getting into another field, but I don't want to be that PM like you said, that everybody hates.

 

[BetterCallSaul]

Good to see a competent male in IT Management and making pay he deserves. At least it happens somewhere. In my neck of the woods, IT workers are primary male and IT Managers are primarily female. These aren't just any women, these are women who couldn't hack it in the technical trenches. Women who don't even know the difference between a server and a workstation, or between a router and a firewall. Total incompetence!! But rather than fire them, they get promoted somehow. Likely by beta white night men who want their d|ckie d|ckies wet in return. It's the dumbest most logic defying thing I have ever seen in my life. But it's common place around here. I work in both IT and law enforcement and I want out of IT so bad.

I know exactly what you mean, but thankfully where I work it's mostly men in charge. Many of them are still pretty incompetent though, so I can't blame women for that. Meh, I've heard that same argument though my entire career that upper management doesn't understand/appreciate us or that they'd be screwed if they lost us. It's the same anywhere and with just about every profession. I am trying to keep my eye on the longer term goals of a successful retirement and prioritizing other things in my life like home improvement projects and trying to raise decent kids.

 

[BetterCallSaul]

I keep telling myself that the 'skill' will never be replaced. Corporate America really seems to value 'management', however. Seems to me, if sh*t ever hit the fan, it's the skilled workers who would prosper. I am constantly beyond amazed that 'project management' is really even a skill to be developed, because it sure seems that's a corporate term. But, the higher up you go, the more money you make.

I, along with a number of other colleagues in the IT industry, agree that we have never once come across a project manager that actually added value to anything. What's really pathetic to me is how the title 'project manager' these days is so damn synonymous to IT project management. No, if you have PMP certification, technically you should be an accomplished PM in any sector. You should technically be able to handle project management work for a construction company or an architectural firm. But no, damn near everyone just slides right into IT? Why? I think it's because a lot of these people are the same ones who tried transitioning into IT back during the mid-90s when anyone with a Microsoft certification got a big raise by switching careers; doesn't mean they actually knew anything about the work. People with project management skills just see high $$ signs these days in IT and so they slide right in there. The real problem is upper management at many of these places continue to hire these people.