On Good Questions

Now that we are on the topic, I would like to voice a perpetual question that I have had in my mind (for some years now).

I see most of the people who respond to questions are practicing experts. Their job/consultancy/business is in the domain of the forum where we post questions.

(Without being rude and with no other intention) How do you people have the time?

Sometimes I post a question and I have to make a (strong) mental note of going back and checking-in on the replies. (Besides the fact that I take time to digest all the replies that come in. I am still digesting the responses that came in on my Class D Commutation of SCRs post!) While I don't seem to find the time to check back on replies that are actually helping me, I always wonder how you experts have the time to keep on serving these forums.

My guesses are as follows:

a. The experts are so damn expert that what takes me an hour could take a minute for the expert. Thus, they are able to "serve" and they can do so in about fraction of the time.

b. The experts are in between two consultancy contracts and they don't mind tickling their fancy with newbie questions.

c. Some of them are in semi-retirement. (No, no, no, I don't want to be rude.)

Once again, thank you so much for being the lifeline of these forums, Anand

I think that happens a fair amount. I generally don't spend much time on an answer, although sometimes that shows. ;)

That's me, too, although that has actually led to me spending less time here.

Well, that and Facebook. ;)

Even when I was working full time comp.dsp has always been a nice distraction for me, as well as informative and educational.

Eric Jacobsen Anchor Hill Communications

I am one who has been in the Systems Engineering game (from humble Electronics Tech through to becoming a Consultant) for over 40 years (started in 1969). So I have amassed a great deal of knowledge. I like helping out and it is good to help the less experienced.

I am operating three different contract threads at present so there is no in-between for me. Checking Usenet is easy for me as my newsreader is within the same organisational package as my email. I use Kontact which gives me the scheduling, task-lists, email, Usenet, RSS feeds and journaling facilities under one banner. I can scan all over breakfast but I will be using Kontact at several ponts during the day and so it is always running for me. It just becomes part of my breakfast routine to read Usenet.

I am also in semi-retirement but so far running my own consultancy is occupying slightly more hours than my previous full-time position. The only difference is that what I am doing now is more fun and more rewarding. I think those who remain passionate about engineering in general will probably never fully retire.

Glad to help where we can.

You forgot (d): they do it instead of watching television.

I try to spend no more than a few minutes on each response. Sometimes someone will be doing something that is interesting, or that will need some research that pertains to a current project, and then I'll dig a bit deeper.

My only problem is that I think that I can give decent answers before I've had breakfast (which implies that I'm also not yet caffeinated for the day). This means that I tend to be grumpier and less accurate.

But hey -- all my responses are worth at least what the OP paid, and very often more!

[Snipped by Lyons]

Hi, It was with the guys on comp.dsp in mind that I wrote the following Dedication in my second DSP book:

This book is dedicated to all the signal processing engineers who struggle to learn their craft, and willingly share that knowledge with their engineering brethren--people of whom the English poet Chaucer would say, "Gladly would he learn and gladly teach."

[-Rick-]

Well, it's the version that's in the book (which I have).

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Partly. Once you've fallen into a pothole, you remember it next time. There's a lot of breadth to electronics, but not so much depth--each individual bit is usually pretty simple when you've seen it before. It isn't like doing philosophy, say, or even nontrivial computer programming, where you have to keep 50 things in your head at once.

Nope. Doesn't happen too often round my shop.

Nope again. Although you're correct that there are a lot of retired folks on SED, as there will be on Facebook in 30 years for the same reason. I expect to be fully employed for the next 15 years or so, and maybe a bit longer than that.

I mostly work by myself, so SED is sort of a virtual watercooler and white board. The two things I miss about Corporate America, as I said a day or two ago, are (1) colleagues, and (2) vacations. I need a bit of goofing-off time in the average day, and most other folks do, too.

I generally manage to stay out of the flame wars, except when one goes on too long and I start teasing the parties involved. That sometimes helps people redirect the energy. I'm actually pretty fond of some of the folks who post here, and have met a few of them in person, and collaborated with one or two.

It also turns out that posting on SED is a decent search engine optimization strategy for consultants. Stuff that gets posted here winds up high in the search engine results, along of course with the name of the person who posted it. (I discovered this after having been a regular for some years.) Thus even my goofing-off time is productive, you see. Devilish clever, these consultants. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

----------------------------------------------------^^^ or, "were". Don't discount retirees, etc.

For folks in their own business, you have control over your own time. No PHB to "force" a 9-5 on you. E.g., I can work as little or as much as I want on any given day, EVERY day. I'm answerable to myself only.

In the US, I've seen figures claiming as much as 2 hrs per day is "wasted" at the typical job -- answering email, surfing the web, chatting on the phone, chatting by the water cooler, etc. (all "personal" tasks unrelated to work)

[I know this seems excessive! But, every time I've looked into it, the figure remains uncontested! :< ]

For that hypothetical worker, this represents "distraction time"; their desire to escape what they SHOULD be doing. How does that differ from an engineer wanting to distract himself with something engineering-related... yet NOT (necessarily) germane to his "current workload"?

Or, they may have already *done* what you are asking -- or, something close enough that they can easily offer guidance/opinion.

Even on "down" time, you're not sitting around twiddling your thumbs! Preparing proposals, maintaining/purchasing equipment/software, "cleaning up" after previous project(s), investigating other fields of interest/technologies, etc.

But, again, your time is your own. Perhaps reading/posting something here helps you prepare that proposal. Or, gives you an idea as to a new tool/equipment investment. Or, allows you to peek into other folks' past experiences to glean a bit of info about a new technology that you want to explore, etc.

Or *real* retirement! :> But, that doesn't mean they can't still be spending as many weekly hours applying their skills to other projects -- for pay, investment or otherwise!

One thing I've been surprised to learn (though find it "obvious" in hindsight!) is how long it takes to disengage yourself from your "formal" career as you retire from a consultancy. For a 9-to-5, you just *retire* -- on a particular day and at a particular time. The "business" persists without you. The *business* has obligations to its customers, shareholders, etc. -- those obligations don't translate to being *your* obligations!

Not so in a consultancy, etc. Its a lot harder to "disentangle" yourself from clients and customers that have been *your* clients and customers -- without feeling like you are leaving them with a "problem" (finding a replacement for your services). The 9-to-5 scenario skips over that! "It's not my problem..."

IME it is growing to an even higher percentage.

That is part of why i am here.

In my current job i am an internal consultant (a subject matter expert) for a lot of the electronic things done at my current employer. This gives me an obvious path to exploit when i retire and go consulting instead.

?-)

[attrs elided]

I think for folks with narrow application domains or "niche" skillsets, there isn't as much appeal, here. Chances are, they may already know a good deal of what needs to be known in that narrow field.

OTOH, if you (like me) are "all over the place" withthe variety of problems you are called on to (or interested in!) address, then the variety, here, is an asset. Particularly if you are good at abstract thought -- being able to *imagine* how a particular technology can be exploited in a different manner to address a problem in which you have an interest. (sadly, many people seem incapable of this level of abstract thought: "Why do you want to do that?" being their response to your queries)

For me, retirement is choosing my *own* projects/problems to solve; not waiting for someone to be willing to pay me to solve one of

*theirs* (in which I may/maynot have an interest). I.e., taking the skills others have *paid* me to learn/refine and appying those to problems that *I* find interesting!

:), or should I mean ":("

Yes too true, but I hadn't thought of it in those terms. I'll remember that!

...

Tim, i will peak at some of the responses, but i don't have time to read all 50 or so. so someone else may have already pointed this out (lemme know):

sometimes, getting the question formed into a "Good question", is nearly sufficient to get the OP to answer the question. the answer becomes evident. that's sometimes where it is legit to ask poorly-formed questions and get help by straightening out the question into a well-formed question that them "experts" (whoever they are) will have enough to know when each unanswered element of the question is actually answered.

i've found use in reading (usually regarding communications engineering, which i am not really involved in) responses to not-well-defined questions that forced the OP to refine the question to a state where it actually means something tangible and specific. so, even though these OPs don't make our life easy by asking such questions, sometimes others just as dumb as the OP (like me) can learn something seeing these specific elements emerge in the nascent "good question".

i'm gonna select some answers (Eric et.al.) and if i miss a good subthread of this thread, someone lemme know please.

I honestly can't understand a mindset that sticks to one skillset, application domain, etc. for an entire career. To me, it would be like "digging ditches" -- regardless of the pay level and/or proficiency attained, it's just "the same thing, over and over" ("Oooo! The soil here has a high concentration of loam -- instead of clay!" )

How many power supplies do you design before you say, "Um, I'm pretty sure I've got this skill 'down'..." and ache to move onto something new? How many different sort() routines? User interfaces? Math packages, etc.?

Similarly, there's a point at which it gets harder and harder to find folks who are willing to pay you to learn something "new" (to you). At that point, it's inevitable that you become a "ditch-digger" (though you now have a larger variety of "ditches" to choose between).

So, if you want continued variety and challenge, you have to resort to your own imagination: "Gee, wouldn't it be great if...".

Of course, deciding when you can "afford" to do that is a matter of personal comfort: how well you've saved/invested, how comfortable you are in your assessment of your own future need$, life expectancy, number and types of folks who "depend" on you and the extent of your commitment to them, physical/mental condition and prognosis, etc.

On the flip side, how much capacity to undertake new ideas and concepts do you expect to have as you get older? Given that you don't *already* have something under your belt, are you confident that you'll have the mental and physical skills to "pick it up" when you're 60? 65? 70? What recourse will you have if the above proves NOT to be the case? (blindness, tremor, stroke, fatigue, respiratory problems, memory, hearing, dexterity, strength, etc.)

[Dunno about you, but I find the things that I want to learn get more taxing -- perhaps because they *are* more complex! -- to pick up as I get older! E.g., the idea of learning another foreign language at my age would be far too frustrating! It's a challenge for me just to resolve the subtle differences among the sounds of English speech in order to understand fine differences in pronunciation rules at my current "state of decay"^H^H^H age! :> ]

(sigh) Off to deliver some goodies...

Counterexample, probably apocryphal, but who cares...

A newly minted maths graduate got a job assembling vacuum cleaners. After a few months they realised he was capable of more, and repeatedly gently tried to get him to move into management etc. Eventually they asked him why not.

He replied that he deliberately got a job that he could learn in 30mins and thereafter do mindlessly. Why? Because while he was ostensibly assembling vacuum cleaners, actually he was indulging in his passion: playing games of chess.

I've always admired someone that can work out what's /really/ important to them, and then find a way to achieve it.

Exactly! I'm not advocating folks follow *my* approach to life, career, etc. Rather, indicating what I, early on, realized was "really important to me" and how I went about getting that out of my life, career, etc.

E.g., I have stubbornly resisted management roles beyond "project management". And, even there, have limited my "touch" to ensuring everyone on the team has what they need to do their job (*my* view of a manager's true role!) instead of "playing policeman".

I've a friend who was essentially "set for life" in his

20's. He's moved on -- but to more expensive versions of what he was doing "back then". From my perspective, a "waste of talent" -- as he was immensely capable of doing anything he set his mind to! *But*, he is apparently happy (and very $ucce$$ful!) doing it. [*I* would rather trade potential $$ for the ability to reclaim *my* time on the planet]

So, what "works" for one may not for another.

Well, yes. I had a coworker once who's professed ambition was to recharge his unemployment and then start gently pissing off the boss until he was laid off (the boss never fired anyone -- he laid them off, and then hired a replacement. Anyone who's employed people knows how kosher that is). Then when his unemployment ran out, he'd apply for work again.

Yeah, I hired a guy like that once. He gradually damaged more and more expensive equipment and tools until he was laid off. Serially unemployed.

--sp

OK, my guy just went up in my estimation. He never damaged equipment, just mouthed off and got slower and slower until he was let go.

A friend "periodically" sent his wife back to work... just long enough to get through the probationary period. Wages were immaterial. What he wanted was access to the health insurance policy (through COBRA -- as her time working wouldn't cover the costs of day-care for the kids). Then, convert to COBRA for 102% and 18months later repeat the process.