Just a Little FYI...

Hello and welcome to my world (Otherwise known as hell...).

A brief introduction: my name is John Becker and I am a former electrical engineer and computer hardware designer as well as a part time programmer/app writer. (I have one game in the Apple App Store…yeah!...) I am 59 years old and have Bachelor degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics as well as a Masters in Computer Information Services with 25 years of active hardware design or verification experience across more than two dozen products. 

In the Beginning...

...there was the reckless, greedy, super ambitious type who didn't care what it took or who it hurt in their pursuit of corporate gain or often just as important, to keep from sliding backward...you know -- your asshole boss.

My story begins - believe or not - 26 years ago. It is germane to the story but I hope to speed things up to more contemporary times. 

Two Years Off; Looking for a Vision Cure and Maybe A Safe Drive to Work...

I spent the better part of the next two years looking for a cure for my awful, surgically mangled vision (I went to places like the Mayo Clinic and even had additional surgeries…no good news there) while intermittently looking for a decent job, one preferably with a nice, close, easy drive to my home. 

A New Beginning (or so I thought...)

1998 — Roger from Storage Tek in Colorado hires me. I told Roger before he agreed to hire me I had a “history” with my previous company and that’s why I wasn’t working for the last two years…he says it’s okay — we all have bad days at work. (The real reason I wasn’t working was mostly because I was looking for solutions for my mutilated eyes, but I hate telling that to people and then have to watch their quizzical expressions as the try to understand it, though some of the time was spent looking for a new job.) Good, I think, I’m on my way again.

It ain't even near over yet, the best of bad behavior is yet to come...

Later that that week, I had one last last Friday co-worker lunch with my former co-workers. Found out from them that “Fuggin’ Chuck” had been demoted. No psychological response at all from me, though I believe I was supposed to feel some sort of justice-has-been-served feeling at the news, but I felt nothing. I also remember when “Little Girl” wanted us all to stay in touch -- for me to join them on Fridays for the usual co-worker lunch -- so I looked at my former co-worker douche bags and waited for a response. They didn’t even look up from there freaking bacon cheeseburgers, just like the time I tried to explain to them about that one occasion where the managers were writing fake and slanted profiles for each of us. They knew what was going on, how I was being railroaded by the inept and cheating management, and how the were all given good to fantastic career breaks by the same fucking managers that falsely ruined my career. 

Hey Shifty, can we talk??

Hey "Shifty Cliffy"!

How you doin? Still working? Did you know I've only worked one year out of the last eleven due almost entirely to your persistent interference...ehr...guidance? And you are still applying your influence even today! TODAY! When you lay someone off, could you please not interfere...ahhh...ehrrr...participate in their job search anymore? YOU know what I'm talking about, you f**cking pig.

Letter to my local politician.

Dear Sir,

I’d like to draw your attention to something that is happening in the corporate world, especially in the world of technology. It’s called blacklisting. Here is my (long) story as I best can tell it:

Late 2005 Sun Microsystems bought the company where I was employed as a senior computer hardware designer/engineer. Shortly afterwards, it was announced we would be redesigning our old and quickly aging product. This was welcome news to all of us as it had been more than six or seven years since we had last done a full design cycle for this product and it was getting to be about time for us to go and do it again.