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Confusion.
Dec. 13th, 2005 05:58 pmGah. I feel like a backstabbing bastard.
Today, I met with Mike, the man who cut me loose from my last job just as soon as he bought the company, and Steve, the man who was my last boss until he sold the company to Mike. The meeting was ostensibly so I could report on the project that I'm working for them.
This project is to convert a FileMaker 6 solution to a FileMaker 8 solution. I had three goals: 1) convert the four files to FileMaker 8, 2) consolidate the four files into one, and 3) fix a situation that required the operator to mess with field definitions every time they used the solution. This project was expected to take three weeks.
First, the good news. I have accomplished two out of three goals. I've got the files converted and I've got a fix that means the operator need never redefine fields again. Then Mike said that the file consolidation may not be necessary; the guy who built this solution and who has contracted us is being forced out of the company at the end of January. According to Mike, the guy just wants this solution to be in working order before he leaves.
So I've been working on this for a week, and I may be done. Yay, me.
Then Steve and Travis, one of the regular employees, split, leaving Mike and I to finish up. We talked a few more minutes about the project, then he offered me a job with a $50K salary. Apparently, there's a shortage of qualified FileMaker developers in the area. He's got jobs waiting because he doesn't have anyone to work on them.
I told him that he had my interest, but that I felt that I should notify Robyn, my current boss, before we talked further. I said this because my company is just Robyn and I. If I leave, he's got to pick up the pieces himself. And Robyn and I have always been frank about what's going on between us. When I was considering looking for a job a few months back, he knew it. Oh, Robyn and Steve are old friends. Friends since high school. That's an important point.
After I left Mike, I gave Robyn a call. I reported on the meeting and the project progress, then I told him that Mike had offered me a job and that I wanted to meet with him to discuss it. I felt like I had kicked him in the balls, and I bet he felt that way too. We made plans to talk tomorrow and rang off. I packed up my things and went home.
So now I'm home, and I just got off the phone with Robyn. He tried to chase down Steve to ask him what's going on, and Steve said that Robyn needed to talk with me first. So, much as I would have liked to have talked this out face-to-face, we talked about it over the phone.
Of course, Robyn agrees that it's a good job and that I should pursue it. However, he's angry at the thought that Mike and Steve are trying to steal me away from him. He knows that I wasn't looking for a job.
Then there's the work that Robyn has put in to make sure that I've got work so I can get paid. He's signed a couple of jobs in the past week, in fact.
But I'm tired of just squeaking by each month, wondering when my paycheck is going to show up. My parents are paying for my plane ticket to Florida for the second year in a row. I haven't been to a square dance convention since 2002, which used to be the one event I looked forward to each year. (My eyes actually got hot when I thought about being able to go to convention next year.) I had $15K in the bank when I left my non-profit job. Now I have less than $600.
It's easy to say "it's just business", but it's not.
Today, I met with Mike, the man who cut me loose from my last job just as soon as he bought the company, and Steve, the man who was my last boss until he sold the company to Mike. The meeting was ostensibly so I could report on the project that I'm working for them.
This project is to convert a FileMaker 6 solution to a FileMaker 8 solution. I had three goals: 1) convert the four files to FileMaker 8, 2) consolidate the four files into one, and 3) fix a situation that required the operator to mess with field definitions every time they used the solution. This project was expected to take three weeks.
First, the good news. I have accomplished two out of three goals. I've got the files converted and I've got a fix that means the operator need never redefine fields again. Then Mike said that the file consolidation may not be necessary; the guy who built this solution and who has contracted us is being forced out of the company at the end of January. According to Mike, the guy just wants this solution to be in working order before he leaves.
So I've been working on this for a week, and I may be done. Yay, me.
Then Steve and Travis, one of the regular employees, split, leaving Mike and I to finish up. We talked a few more minutes about the project, then he offered me a job with a $50K salary. Apparently, there's a shortage of qualified FileMaker developers in the area. He's got jobs waiting because he doesn't have anyone to work on them.
I told him that he had my interest, but that I felt that I should notify Robyn, my current boss, before we talked further. I said this because my company is just Robyn and I. If I leave, he's got to pick up the pieces himself. And Robyn and I have always been frank about what's going on between us. When I was considering looking for a job a few months back, he knew it. Oh, Robyn and Steve are old friends. Friends since high school. That's an important point.
After I left Mike, I gave Robyn a call. I reported on the meeting and the project progress, then I told him that Mike had offered me a job and that I wanted to meet with him to discuss it. I felt like I had kicked him in the balls, and I bet he felt that way too. We made plans to talk tomorrow and rang off. I packed up my things and went home.
So now I'm home, and I just got off the phone with Robyn. He tried to chase down Steve to ask him what's going on, and Steve said that Robyn needed to talk with me first. So, much as I would have liked to have talked this out face-to-face, we talked about it over the phone.
Of course, Robyn agrees that it's a good job and that I should pursue it. However, he's angry at the thought that Mike and Steve are trying to steal me away from him. He knows that I wasn't looking for a job.
Then there's the work that Robyn has put in to make sure that I've got work so I can get paid. He's signed a couple of jobs in the past week, in fact.
But I'm tired of just squeaking by each month, wondering when my paycheck is going to show up. My parents are paying for my plane ticket to Florida for the second year in a row. I haven't been to a square dance convention since 2002, which used to be the one event I looked forward to each year. (My eyes actually got hot when I thought about being able to go to convention next year.) I had $15K in the bank when I left my non-profit job. Now I have less than $600.
It's easy to say "it's just business", but it's not.
