From: Spike Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Date: Tue Oct 17 2000 - 00:22:09 MDT
Adrian Tymes wrote:
> > I won't embellish my question any further because you can see where I'm
> > going. I mean it isn't exactly rocket sci...well, er,... I guess,
> > actually, it is.
>
> So, what do rocket scientists call their not-as-tough-as-one-would-think
> problems?
I have lost track of the number of times I have heard jokes related
to the term "rocket scientist." Maaaany cubicles have the famous
Far Side cartoons with the rocket scientists clowning. When something
really does stump us, some yahoo will say "I guess this *is* exactly
rocket science."
Rocket science one of those exceptions to Ray Charles' rule: its
hard even after you know how to do it. And it gets harder all the time
in a sense: we have a steady stream of people leaving the field for
more money elsewhere. It takes maaaany years to get any good
at satellite building, so this business is one of the very few left where
the grey beards get true respect. That is why salary grade compression
is such a problem in this field: if the old timers leave, we are ruined.
We lose smart young PhD types all the time, no big deal. But the
smart old technicians that have been doing this stuff for 30 years
are irreplaceable. spike
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