Writer's block

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

> markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
>> The worst part is when you have things you want to get too, but you need
>> to complete the task at hand in order to move on. But you can't move on
>> because your brain sits quietly sucking it's thumb, refusing to
>> cooperate
>> on any level, or worse yet like a small child screaming "no no no" in a
>> quiet restaurant to the chagrin of it's parents.
>
> I think you need to find a new job ;-).
But the pay is good :)

> I've actually never had a problem completing software. I have always
> enjoyed all the aspects of being a software developer. I am presented
> with a problem, and I create something to overcome that problem (yeah,
> yeah, I know: 'It's not a "problem", it's a "challenge"').

Well, I'm not sure how old you are or how long you've been writing
software, but it has been my experience after a while, and certainly with
the indistry as non-innovative as it currently is, you start seeing the
software you write for hire as completely unimportant.

I've been writing software for about 20 years now, not as many as some,
but a respectable number of years. The stuff that I've loved writing can
still be compiled. The stuff I've hated writing, while writetn well, and
being well recieved by customers, has a life of about 3-5 years. After
which the product is replaced or the company is bought or failed.

IMHO Business software to good software engineers is like portraits of
royalty for painters. A good way to make money, but a terrible waste of
talent.

Oh, man I think I need a vacation.

>
> I guess I really enjoy it because alot of the stuff that I write has
> never been done before (in a functionality sense, not a coding sense).
> It allows me to do it fresh, and I really like all of the challenges of
> making it fast, concise, robust, AND user-friendly. When you can get a
> fellow programmer to say "wow, that's pretty cool", and get an end-user
> to say "wow, that's pretty cool", that can really make it all worth it.
> Grant M
>

I've had a few jobs that I've simply loved the code I was working on. My
first was "Denning Mobile Robotics." Most recently it was a dotBomb music
site, where I developed a number of cool technologies. Not evey job is a
gem, unfortunately.

Right now, I have been attempting to restart a personal robotic
project/hobby, but I have some ideas that I might be able to sell, if I
can get to it. I want to spend some time and implement a "mouse based"
motion control system we talked about on this list.