My name is Marion Boulden, aka, “GoalGirl”. This blog is a log of my journey being a wage slave who has not nearly enough time left over from work to completely enjoy my beautiful four year old daughter, or to properly take care of myself, and who has gotten frustrated with not being paid according to my level of effort… I get the same paycheck whether I’ve barely made my 40 hours (rare), or stayed up half the night 4-5 times a week on database and server maintenance, after working a full eight hour day (very much the norm).
I entered the IT world in 1998, when I had accepted a position as Director of Environmental Data Management at McNeese State University. I inherited an EPA grant which included a maximum of $20,000 for a database administrator. I could not even get anyone to come for the interview, and had to learn how to do it myself. Upon discovering that a greenhorn dba, still wet behind the ears could make double what I was pulling down as a program director, I went to work for Oracle Corporation in 2000, where I worked for about five years. I left Oracle when their requirements became incompatible with being a good and present parent. In 2006, I went to work for a company that develops and maintains the transaction processing software behind a number of toll roads, bridges and ferries. I like the work, and the people I work with, but the hours and the stress is really killing me.
So please join me as I, to quote John Chow, escape the 9 to 5 jail.
If you like this post, please buy me a cup of coffee!
