>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Out of curiousity, what would the salary range be?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>$8-12/hour (depending on experience) plus a 10% off coupon to McDonalds.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I was recently out-bidded on a contract. The project consisted of two enhancements and two bugs. The application sound like it was home-grown, so there would be a bit of learning the application and the source code. The final bit accepted was a total of $100.00. If the whole thing is completed within a single day, the rate you quoted would correct. I never believed that I would be reduced to bidding minimum wage for development jobs, but here we are. BTW, the bidder is overseas somewhere. I hope he gets what he paying for.
>>>>>
>>>>>Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth and I was independantly contracting, I charged $40/hr and had a fewl prospective clients inform me that 'they could get people to do this for $10/hr', to which I replied "Then do so, and you'll have an ad in the paper in 6 months looking for someone to clean up after them". Amazingly, one of them DID call me back within 6 months to 'finish' what the other guy started - and they were now willing to pay $25/hr.
>>>>>
>>>>>I laughed.
>>>>>
>>>>>And no, that attitude isn't what killed my contracting - what killed my contracting was having ALL (including mainframe COBOL contracts) dry up and blow away in the early 90's in Houston.
>>>>
>>>>COBOL... You're that old Dorris ;-)
>>>
>>>Honey, I spent 14 years working for the State of Texas keeping them from knowing just how much COBOL I knew ;-)
>>>
>>>And yes, yes I am. While I'm not as old as some, I do go back to FORTRAN WATFOR/WATFIVE (Fortran, what for? why not?)
>>
>>Punched cards, jobpacks, tape drives. Ever used a hand punch to punch cards.
>never had to use a hand punch, but yeah, I remember searching for the one punch machine that still had a decent ribbon in it before I learned to 'read' the punch cards
>
>I also learned - never piss off the operator lest he shuffle your deck before giving it back
> - always keep the lid on your card box, and always keep the card box full
> - and when the dumb terminal starts talking back, it's time to go home


My first job the computers where in a different part of the country. Working day was in the morning pick up your results from the previous nights compilation/ program run. Work out what had gone wrong/right. Punch up a new pack and drop it off for the van to the computer centre. Go to pub.