Sorry Phil :-(

This is probably something that is better suited for a shrink, however I feel it best to express to my peers.



I am getting a little older now and I have been in this line of work for a little over 12 years. Sitting on my deck a couple of weeks ago, I realized how much I love my job and how much I incredibly hate it. I have been obsessed with automation since my first job working as an electrician / contractor and had the opportunity to talk with a programmer about plc’s. I knew from that day on, that plc work is what I wanted to do for the rest of my working career. What that gentleman failed to mention is the incredible stress and responsibility that goes hand in hand with this work.



Some would say that life is grand because you learn something new every day, however my learning experiences have been those with a gun pointed to my head. Technology is changing so fast, and it is difficult to keep up day to day with advances in the automation industry. It seems that every project I am given it is using some new software, or processor or whatever. Of course all of these projects have to be done yesterday, and there is not enough time to fully process what you are actually doing. I have found that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It is not just the company I work for, but each and every company that I have come across.



My head hurts and it is spinning from cramming all of this into it every day all day. Why is it that I constantly feel incompetent or bad at my job because every thing I work on is new to me. (What you have never used processors “X” well you must not have any experience.) Some would call it growth, but I ask you this. How much better off am I than the landscaper or the garbage man. Don’t get me wrong as I am not minimizing their jobs, however these people can make a great living pushing a lawnmower around all day in the sun and make as much as I do. In this part of the country I am at the upper end of the pay scale but I just don’t feel like it is worth it any more. This is not a rant about money because I am getting to the point where it wouldn’t make any difference how much money I would make.



Most field situations that I am involved in are crisis situations where something is broke and they want it fixed now or the planet will explode. When things are going good, you are the main man in the house but when things fall apart, the garbage man throws you in his truck. Customers and Employers are getting increasingly demanding and machinery and processes are getting increasingly difficult.



People on the outside of this world just don’t understand why there is such a high stress level when all I am doing is sitting behind a computer. You could sit there and explain to someone all day long what you do and why things can be so difficult, but each time I get the dear in the headlights look. I cant find stress relief because I find myself standing in the river fishing thinking about how to code some damn machine. I lay down at night and think about different parts of process. Turn it off you say, well exactly how far behind would you like me to get? There is no down time in automation, there is always that uncertainty of when the big one is going to come.



It is always a question of knowledge. Oh you haven’t used brand so in so before, well you must not have much experience. WTF? How can one person keep up with it all? Life used to be so much simpler, and people survived and enjoyed life. The world didn’t stop because that pneumatic actuator couldn’t be programmed to do back flips. We are growing in leaps and bounds in our world but I cant help but feel that we as humans are suffering because of it. We spend more time working at home for free because we don’t want to look stupid at work, and more time at work stressing about home life because we keep working. When do we draw the line that says, you know what? Its just GOOD ENOUGH! We have enough technology, we have enough factories, we have invaded enough countries. Let it go, go back to your roots and look at the smaller things in life that used to give you so much joy.



Go outside tonight and listen to the wind blowing through the leaves of a tree. I am sure that like myself, some of you haven’t heard it in awhile.



Thanks for reading….

Amen

I have been in this field for about 2 years now and can relate so much I think I must have just wrote what you posted. I feel like I will never know enough or cannot keep up. It is alot of work for the pay considering like you said painter can make the same or more and do not go through all the stressful learning curves.
Should have been a history teacher then I guess.

If it wasn't for your signature (i've been doing this for about 16 years now, oh yeah, for me it's the frog pond instead of the wind) on the bottom of that I would thought that I wrote it...

It's like that everywhere in the technical fields, not just automation. Engineers designing the latest cell phone or iPod are having it pretty rough. We are a global world now, with stiff competition from developing countries. "Good enough" is exactly what managers are having to settle for these days. There isn't enough time or money (overtime pay) to do any more.
Just roll with the punches, and don't try to do too much. They get an hour or 2 of home time out of me, but that's it.
Continuous learning is still the name of the game, but nobody can know everything. That was true yesterday and today.
I'm not afraid to say "I don't know". I say it more these days.
Just continue to do your best, and leave it at that.
Your skills and experience are just as valuable today as they were yesterday. You just have more manuals laying around while you're working, but nobody else is going to do it better than you.
More work, less money, and more reading.
We are transitioning from guys who know a lot, to guys who know where to look it up.
I thank God for giving me the ability to make a good wage, without having to sweat. It's quite hot in Texas in the summer, and I feel sorry for people that have to cut lawns or do construction (there's no A/C while a house is being built).
Watch those guys laying down an Asphalt road, and you'll love your job again! I don't mean to sound condesending. Every job has it's good and bad points.
Watch Dirty Jobs on Discovery. You'll feel better in no time!

keithkyll said:

We are transitioning from guys who know a lot, to guys who know where to look it up.

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My thought exactly. That is the attitude that gets me through it alot of the time

keithkyll said:

I'm not afraid to say "I don't know". I say it more these days.

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That is something that I have found to be very difficult for many people that I have worked with, and I admire those who can. It has sometimes been as if I was involved in a constant struggle for intellectual domination... whoever could demonstrate omnisciece was top dog and got respect. I have always tried to discourage that line of discourse... I feel much more comfortable around those who can admit when they don't know the answer. One of the things I like best about my work is the process of discovering the answer to such questions/problems, either on my own or through collaboration. I have finally found such an environment, luckily, but that doesn't mean that I can't relate to the topic here... life seems to have obstacles abundant.

I always say 'don't be afraid to admit when you don't know the answer, as long as you follow it with 'but I can definately find out''. I'd rather hear that than have to decide whether the person really does know or is just trying to make me think he/she does. I can't stand that and it is a waste of time for everyone.

I too have wondered whether I would be happier in a job where gratification is almost immediate (you see the results of your work quickly) and you could pretty much put your mind on autopilot (like mowing the lawn or something like that).
I have found, however, that the intellectual stimulation that comes with Engineering is something I would not be able to live without... my sense of purpose would diminish and that could lead to depression or worse. Not mention the satisfaction when complicated systems actually behave as they are supposed to.

I don't have a real answer in this case... merely input. I think you (jnelson) summed up what a lot of us are thinking and are definately not alone.

-nR

Onct upon a time I got written up and sent home for 3 days because I said "I do not know" when asked what was wrong with a machine. At the time I was doing maintenance in a 24/7 plant working 10 hours, or more, a day, 7 days a week. I took the vacation with pleasure.

When I got back the machine was still not running, the manager again asked me if I knew what could be wrong, again I replied "I do not know" but if you want I can find out and fix it; which I did right after leaving his office.

I got called back to the manager's office and this time his boss (who was there that morning) asked me why I did not say what was wrong instead of answering "I do not know." I told him that I said it because at the time I did not know, if I had known what it was then I may have prevented it from happening. I had to have time to isolate the problem(s) before I can state what is wrong and most importantly what can be done to fix it. I was also a little tired so the 3 days off, paid or unpaid, were looking good to me.

They called me back again, this time they told me they removed the write up and were giving me 8 hrs pay for the 3 days I was off.

Noone can learn everything, you just have to use what you have learned to find the info that is needed for whatever you are doing now.

keithkyll said:

you.
I thank God for giving me the ability to make a good wage, without having to sweat. It's quite hot in Texas in the summer, and I feel sorry for people that have to cut lawns or do construction (there's no A/C while a house is being built).
Watch those guys laying down an Asphalt road, and you'll love your job again! I don't mean to sound condesending. Every job has it's good and bad points.
Watch Dirty Jobs on Discovery. You'll feel better in no time!

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I only wish that the hardest part of my day was worrying about how to stay cool.

Once you learn to cut a lawn what is there to learn? Once you learn to pave a road, what is there to learn? These jobs are paying the same amount and the technical aspects are non existant.

Like I said earlier, I dont want this to turn into a discussion about money, because that is not the point.

As far as someone developing a new ipod? How many people do you think apple has working on that? Do you think that that whole entire project rests on one persons shoulders? How many programming jobs are written by multiple programmers? Honestly, how many people can say "I just want to program the alarming part of this program" Joe can do the inputs and Frank can do the outputs?

Keith, do you honestly think that 1 or 2 hours a night with your family is good enough? How much of that time do you spend thinking about work? Think about that before you answer, honestly think about it. The old iron workers addadge is "One hand for the company and one hand for me". Why are the "Technical" fields different in that we devote so much of our time and effort to the company but very little to our self.

Thanks for the input so far..

I suggest watching the movie "Network" (1976). It's a great story about one man standing up to people who pay more attention to the bottom line than the people who produce the bottom line. It always makes me feel better after watching.

Then, go to the window and yell, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."

When do we draw the line that says, you know what? Its just GOOD ENOUGH!

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That, I think, is the key.

Good programmers are more rare than you might expect. Personally, I think ANYONE should be able to do my job, but I'm finding that's just not true.

I think it takes a perfectionist or a tinkerer to really be good at this stuff. You have to be the kind of person who's always looking for the weak points and trying to weed them out.

On the other hand, you need to be able to cut it off or you're going to drive yourself crazy. One of our young engineers told me that he woke up in the middle of the night and caught himself trying to write notes on his pillow! That's taking things way too personally. We can't be superhuman, no matter how much we'd like to try.

I haven't got that problem. When I take work home with me there's an objective. I don't just do it to get more done. I do it because there's something I personally feel I need to accomplish. It's like taking home a puzzle to work on. Usually it's something that will make my job easier in the long run, like creating a spreadsheet to automate my work for the next week.

It also helps that I enjoy what I do enough that it really doesn't feel like work. Ask my girlfriend if I've ever had a bad day. I don't think I've ever told her that I don't like my job. I suppose I'm lucky to have been blessed with the ability to keep pace with a project. I can shift gears from lean times to sixteen hour days without too much trouble. I don't always mind the political struggles either. Sometimes they're a welcome diversion, especially when I know I'm right and I can make someone else have a bad day.

AK

Like you, John, I am getting a little long in the tooth.

I have come to the conclusion that I do what I do because I can't help myself. The stimulation and the learning and passing on my "war stories" to bring young guys along really does offset the stress and the aggravation.

However, as with you, it is a love/hate relationship. I don't get fed up with the technical problems, but I sure get mad with the knuckleheads that get in the way of my fixing them. The aspect of the job that makes me weary is dealing more and more with people that don't understand that at some point in time it comes down to slicing pickles or purifying water or something useful. The specs and standards and so on are supposed to be a means to an end, not an end in themselves. I loose patience with the gutless overpaid unimaginative bureaucrats that fail to understand that.

So, I try to not let the **** get to me, and when it does get to me I try to blow up at the guy that has it coming so his blood pressure goes up and mine comes down. Not totally effective, but it helps.

And, in the final analysis, I keep doing it because at least once in a while it is fun.

is it late to become priest...?
just one book and it hardly changed in 2000 years...

I have the exact opposite problem.
I work in a plant that could take huge strides forward in automation yet is full of people afraid to take a chance with technology that is less than 50 years old.
I work with people who think that to repair a machine every week for ten years makes you a great worker but to make the machine smarter or easier to run is a waste of time.
My stress comes from wanting to do what you do. Get in there and make improvements. I've had enough of the mindless part of my job.
Maybe we can switch.
I'm not trying to belittle your situation, just trying to show there are people like me on the other side of the fence.

Good Luck, keep your chin up, I'll sit out and listen to the leaves in the trees tonight.

Brian.

When trying to communicate my job to the uninitiated, I find allegories helpful - and fun (just remember to take the audience into account.)

"Asking me to change that code is like me telling you, 'yes, it's good, yes, it does what I ask, but can you move it three feet to the left and paint it yellow?'"

"Saying 'ladder is ladder' is like saying 'english is english'. Read some Shakespeare, and you'll get a sense of what you're asking."

"The cheapest solution is not always the best answer. A bicycle is cheaper than a car, unless you need to be in Sarasota tomorrow morning."

"Ever write a book? My book could kill somebody. I'll let you know when it's finished."

I have come to the conclusion that I do what I do because I can't help myself

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Lovely words Tom - bang on the mark for me.

Example, today I was called to a factory that has their own maintenance electricians, to a machine that I retro fitted some plc controls to.
They said it was tripping this....blowing that etc. I hadnt seen this machine for 5 years, not since I did the job.
Their electricians had tried their best, infact were still working on it.

Within 10 mins I had resolved the problem, or at least discovered what it was. The 3ph rectifier inside the invertor was shorted out and needed changing.

I could have left it at that, they had 3 electricians. I could have pointed at the rectifier and said get that changed and all will be well. It was Friday afternoon, I wanted to go home.
Nope, I got the RS book out found the part ordered it and fitted it after someone went to fetch it. I even put all the covers back on everything even though I had not taken them off. (while all the time being watched by the sparkies)

It wasnt PLC work - although they did think the magic box had something to do with it.

and why did I do all that - cos I cant help myself