#engineering

"Guardian Angel" by Alex

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I have often felt the same thoughts. When I was 25, I actually believed that I would never find a woman who would love me and want to spend her life with me, so I literally stopped looking and decided to complete my University studies and live my life doing the things I enjoy i.e. engineering, music and golf. Yes, I was prepared to live my life alone; however, as destiny would have it, I inadvertently crossed paths with an angel who not only cared for me, but loved me while somehow convincing God to allow her to form a lifetime connection with me and to walk with me until our earthly life ends. This type of affection, loyalty and unconditional love is something I had never experienced before, and so I am grateful for having God's blessing to have had this angel as part of my life for so many years.

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I am acutely aware that there are many people who search their entire lives looking for that special someone who will fight to remain by their side through good times and bad times and who will comfort them and love them no matter what obstacles life throws at them. Occasionally, God will temporarily send someone into our life to teach us an important lesson about life. Typically these moments involve critical decisions that have the potential to literally destroy us both physically, emotionally and spiritually. So God will send an angel to work with us and to guide us until such time that that angel is convinced we can survive independently and make healthy decisions.

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Those who have benefited from such an experience often fall in love with this spiritual presence and they never want to let go. I understand this need and appreciate those feelings and yet, letting go is not an option. Letting go is necessary and is in our own best interest. Expressing unconditional love is one of God's greatest blessings. The other blessing is being grateful for your life, which is the essential lesson my guardian angel taught me.

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It depends what zone you are talking about. Let's take a look at a few "zones."
1. Creative Zone- for me this involves writing and performing music and improvising. My favorite time to write is at night when I cannot sleep and an idea pops into my head. The words just flow onto the paper like magic. With music, once I walk onto the stage and we get into the first song for about 30 seconds and I can hear that all of the gear is functioning properly and I can hear the mix where the vocals and instruments are blended properly and everyone is in tune and the rhythm is precise, then my confidence increases and I am willing to take risks that sometimes are not possible when the sound is not right. Unfortunately, when the sound and performance is not right, I quickly lose interest in playing and if I could, I would walk off the stage in disgust and go home. When I show up to play, I want to play without any excuses or if's and's or but's. Ah, but such is life and many times the sound isn't right.
2. Athletic Zone - When I was younger I ran competitively in 5k road races. After about one mile is when I would zone out and find my groove. Now I play golf and the groove is found in my swing. The movement of the club, arms, hips must be synchronized in order to transfer maximum energy from the body through the golf club and into the golf ball. So the backswing and follow through, must be executed like a well timed ballet or symphony.
3. Anger Zone - this one I like the least and I prefer to not get into this zone because my ability to use logic and reason is cancelled by my emotions. Mostly I am able to organize my life and schedule to avoid toxic and dysfunctional people who trigger my emotions. However, this is not always possible especially when I am online and just want to write, but have to contend with the hatred and abuse from stalkers who are deeply offended by my writing and thought process. They make these absurd and false claims, as if I give a crap. Luckily these individuals have been identified an a case has been opened with askfm to address the issue of fixing the blocking function.

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I have many years working as a Network Engineer and I have spoken with several engineers at askfm and explained how blocking should function and what they need to do to fix it. Once blocking has been fixed, stalkers, when blocked, will no longer be able to see your account or any of your followers. To be honest, I have a major problem when my stalkers start attacking my followers and friends on askfm. This is not just unethical, but it is potentially dangerous as one of my online friends rightly pointed out. I have expressed all of my concerns to engineering and management at askfm and they are fully aware of the situation and are monitoring the affected/offending accounts.

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Will askfm do anything to fix the blocking problem? Time will tell. If they do not address the problem within 30 days, I will be disabling this account.

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There are many factors that I consider. I will list a few considerations below:
1. Job Description - does the job fit my skill set and provide opportunities to learn, acquire new skills while assuming greater responsibility?
2. Travel - how much travel is involved?
3. Commute - how many miles and how much time is consumed commuting each day?
4. Relocate - do I need to relocate?
5. Mission Statement - is the corporate mission statement ethical and does it square with my personal set of values and beliefs?
6. Management - are the managers tyrants or do they listen to their employee's and solicit ideas and advice? Also, are the managers knowledgeable about the products and services the corporation provides or are they simply well educated talking heads and group followers who are not able to think outside the box, solve problems and think critically and with common sense?
7. Customer Service - does management understand the importance of customer service and providing products and services that are high quality, reliable and that function as advertised?
8. Manufacturing - are the quality standards 6 sigma and does the corporation reinvest in manufacturing technology, parts and materials to ensure products are design to specifications and meet or exceed reliability and quality standards i.e. MTBF, MTTR, etc.
9. Research and Development - do the engineering management team understand the customer needs and are they designing products to meet or exceed these customer requirements/needs i.e. form, fit, functionality & features, speed, ease of use, serviceability, cost vs performance, energy consumption, heat generation and dissipation, etc.
10. Marketing - does the corporation invest in marketing? It does no good to have the best product and the best price point if nobody knows about it. Is the sales force knowledgeable and inspired? Do they believe in the product being sold? Are the sales engineers knowledgeable and able to take complicated topics and simplify them so the customer can understand what the product is and how the product will benefit them while saving them money, increase productivity, and improve reliability and security?
11. Teamwork - is teamwork encouraged or is it simply a theory that is never practiced or implemented. Ask the hiring manager to provide examples of teamwork that help the corporation design and manufacture a product on time and under budget? Find out how teamwork and management supports the group and position that you are applying for or will you be expected to perform without any guidance or support?
12. Compensation - Negotiate a fair wage. Inquire about incentive programs such as bonuses, paid leave, education reimbursement, health care costs, vacation, sick time, pensions, 401k corporate matching, relocation expenses, per diem, signing bonus and allowances.

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These are just a few considerations. And remember, not only is the company interviewing you, but you need to interview them as well.

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An associates degree is valuable for several reasons:
1. Work - depending what you study (in my case electronic engineering) you can find employment upon graduation and then work full time and attend night school where your employer pays for your bachelors degree.
2. Location - often times 2 year colleges (community colleges) are located locally and are small so the student can live at home and save money on living expenses.
3. Less Stress - some high school graduates are not prepared for a large university experience because they are shy or introverts and would prefer to leave home later in life. This gives the student a few more years to mature and work while deciding on their career and life goals.

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In my daughters case, Florida has a college tuition program where you can save college tuition money each month at a fixed rate determined at the time you enroll into the tuition savings program. By the time your child graduates from high school they can attend any 2 year or 4 year state run Florida college or university with 100% tuition paid in full. In our daughters case she will attend SPC which is offers associate and bachelor degrees. Since she will live at home we can minimize college expenses and upon graduating from college she will have no college loan to pay. Also we will apply for several scholarships so books and miscellaneous expenses will be paid for.

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With proper planning and preparation you can, if you live in Florida, send your child to college and graduate without any college loans. The belief that many Americans have that you must take out a $200k college loan is not true, although many families mistakenly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars sending their children to universities only to have them return home indoctrinated in the Marxist ideology and rejecting Faith, Family, Freedom, God and Country.
NOT a good investment at all.

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Yes. Big Time!
When I attended college we did not study: gender studies, black history, feminism, equity and inclusion, etc. I studied composition, arranging, harmony, counterpoint, improvisation, music history, conducting, ear training, guitar, piano, bass guitar, digital systems, analog systems, power supplies, electricity, physics, calculus, English Literature, US History, Ancient History, Fine Arts, Public Speaking, Psychology, Philosophy, Network engineering, machine language, basic programming, pascal programming, C Programming, IP addressing, Subnet masking, OSPF, BGP, RIP, WAN, LAN, Routers, Switches, Firewalls, OSI Model, Access Lists, etc

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And after acquiring all of this knowledge I worked hard to apply what I had learned. In the case of music, I performed in bands and practiced to continuously improve. In the case of engineering I became a Cisco Certified and Baynetworks Certified Network Engineer and worked for many organizations over a 40 year career i.e. Motorola, Nortel, Cabletron, Bay Networks, Cisco, State of New Hampshire, Vital Networks, Bloomin Brands and Tech Data.

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Whenever possible, I studied subjects that interested me and that I knew would allow me to earn money and provide for my family. I also studied music, not for the money, but because I love Music and that has always been my dream to earn a degree from Berklee College of Music. Some people say, so what? Who cares? Here is the thing, when we are moments away from death and we reflect upon the life we have lived, what will we think? Will we regret our life because we only did those things that made us money? Or will we have a more balanced appreciation that we utilized our time to not only provide for our family but that we also achieved our dream and thus satisfied our soul? The choice is ours to make and only we, as individuals, can make those choices and be honest enough to own whatever choice we make, and refrain from blaming other people or society, and thus become "victims."

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My father once told me the following: "son you've made your bed, and now you must lie in it." Which translated, means that we are responsible for the decisions we make and the consequences of those decisions whether good or bad. Said differently, we must take responsibility for what we think, say and do.

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I lived with my parents until I was 24 years old and when I finally moved out in 1978 and rented an apartment, I was broke and could not even afford a full size bed, so my wife and I slept on a single size mattress for about 6 months until we could afford a full size mattress. And to add insult to injury, my wife and I both had bachelor degree's from reputable colleges and we owed about $100k in student debit. Yet, we persisted and never lost our faith or hope.

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My wife was pregnant with our first child and I enrolled in an engineering degree program while working as a janitor on 3rd shift for Motorola/Codex which was a high tech modem manufacturer. After 2 years I worked my way into a technician position earning about $18k/yr. Slowly I climbed my way up becoming a technical instructor and eventually a network engineer earning $120k/yr.

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I am now retired, but work 30 hours/wk as a janitor in our local high school to help pay the bills, and I am 70 years old.
Looking back at my career, I smile thinking that I started out as a janitor and in the twilight of my years, I am still working as a janitor. Talk about irony, right?

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The point I want to make is that we are not victims. You and I have the ability to reason and to set goals for ourselves that are both reasonable and achievable. However, our goals can only be attained with blood, sweat and tears. I am not going to say too much about my life except that I never lost my faith in God, my family or my own innate abilities.
For example, when my wife and I got married, nobody thought we would last 5 years and 42 years later we are still in love. My wife earned 3 degrees (a bachelor and 2 masters degrees) and I earned a degree in music and another degree in engineering. And during my life, not once did I blame my family or society for what I did not have.
Why? Because my father taught me: "son, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to achieve as long as you are willing to work for it and put forth the effort, you will eventually succeed." My father was 100% correct.

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Not only did my wife and I procure and excellent education and pay for it with our own money, but we raised 3 children and over the years built 4 houses and renovated 3 homes to earn extra money, plus we were active in our church music ministry and my wife competed in swim meets while I performed music on weekends in various bands.

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Remember, we only live for approximately 70 - 90 years, which in the grand scheme of things is but a brief moment in time. And so we really do not have time to waste worrying about people or things that we have no control over, right? So it seems to me to be common sense to concern ourselves with the one thing we have 100% control over.... our own thoughts, behaviors and actions. And since thoughts precede actions, if we are unhappy with an outcome or our current position in life, then we must alter our thought process and establish realistic goals and objectives.

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CTO/CIO Rp 1,1 miliar - Rp 1,9 miliar per tahun (per bulan mulai Rp 91 juta)
Project Director Rp 700 juta - Rp 1,4 miliar (per bulan mulai Rp 58 juta)
Head of IT Rp 750 juta - Rp 1,5 miliar (per bulan mulai Rp 62 juta)
Head of Engineering Rp 700 juta - Rp 1,2 miliar (per bulan mulai Rp 58 juta)
Head of Data Rp Rp 700 juta Rp 1,3 miliar (per bulan mulai Rp 58 juta)
Head of Infrastructure Rp 500 juta - Rp 900 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 41 juta)
IT Manager Rp 450 juta - Rp 800 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 37 juta)
Engineering Manager Rp 300 juta - 750 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 25 juta)
Infrastructure Manager Rp 350 juta - Rp 650 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 29 juta)
Program Manager Rp 550 juta - Rp 1,2 miliar (per bulan mulai Rp 45 juta)
Project Manager Rp 450 juta - Rp 800 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 37,5 juta)
Business Intelligence Manager Rp 400 juta - Rp 750 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 33 juta)
Lead Architect Rp 700 juta - Rp 1,2 miliar (per bulan mulai Rp 58 juta)
Software Developer Rp 300 juta - Rp 650 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 25 juta)
Systems Engineer Rp 200 juta - Rp 400 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 16 juta)
Business Analyst Rp 250 juta - Rp 500 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 20,8 juta)
Data Scientist Rp 200 juta - Rp 750 juta (per bulan mulai Rp 16 juta)

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Sc:https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20200211102924-4-136868/deretan-pekerjaan-di-indonesia-bergaji-mulai-rp-20-juta-nih

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Changing careers is difficult because it takes honest soul searching and the willpower and self discipline to create realistic goals, define objectives and then execute your plan. I can only answer this question based upon my own experience.

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When I was a teenager I decided to be a full time musician and so I took guitar lessons, practiced, formed a band and graduated from Berklee College of Music. To survive, I lived at home with my parents, taught guitar lessons, performed in bands and worked part time jobs for extra money.

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In 1979 I rented an apartment, got married and we had our first child. It was at this point that I realized that being a full time musician would NOT pay the bills. So I started reading some self help books and came across a writer/speaker named Zig Ziglar who taught me how to create realistic goals and to prioritize what is important to me. So I created two lists: one list consisted of the careers I was interested in and the other list contained careers I was not interested in. One career that stood out was Electrical Engineering. I was always interested in electricity and electronic devices. My father would fix televisions and radios in the basement and I would frequently watch him and ask him questions.

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However, the obstacle I had to confront was both financial and time related. Since I had a family and had recently graduated from Berklee but also needed decent employment, I had some difficult decisions to make. And so I found a two year Electronic Engineering program nearby where I could earn my ASEE within a few years and I enrolled. Next, I found employment at a high tech company working 3rd shift as a janitor. Within 2 years I was working 1st shift as a janitor and was cleaning and emptying trash for the CEO and the Vice Presidents. During this time period an electronic technician job became available and I mentioned my interest and my background to senior management. They promised me they would "look into it." Within one week, I had a job interview and was immediately hired to setup, configure and troubleshoot computer/networking equipment in their world wide technical training department. And from there I became a Product Support Engineer and ultimately a Senior Network Engineer with Certifications from Codex, Motorola, Nortel, BayNetworks, Cisco and Cabletron, to name a few. My career lasted 40+ years until retirement 4 years ago.

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I hope this information helps you with your own career choice. Remember, it is not easy... but, it is worth the time and effort. Most importantly, NEVER give up!

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