Mood swings

[The_Doc_Man]

is this standard practice for developers or not?

Two answers, depending on circumstances.

Before I worked for the Navy, I worked for a private company that fabricated ocean-going ship engine room control consoles that were contemporary in appearance (for the 1970s) but that were driven by digital, not mechanical or analog controls. I.e. the consoles were a lot of empty space and bunch of bundled electrical cables, instead of the hydraulic and pneumatic tubing, solenoids, pumps, and other devices used by earlier ship builders.

In that context, we LOVED to get change orders and no, we didn't charge an arm and a leg for them. We were content with their first-born children. Change orders are the icing on the cake for companies that produce a physical product, as we did. And no, you don't make it impossible for the customer to make the decision. You just assure that any "corners" you cut in lowering the cost to win the original contract are filled in nicely by the "design retrofit" charges.

BUT... and this is a big BUT (which makes it sort of like MY big butt)...

If you are in a SERVICE contract, which I was when I was working as a Navy Systems Admin person, the contract will probably include two "gotcha" clauses. First, they will require you to comply with all regulations that may apply regarding the work being done, and that means that if Congress changes regulations (or just the U.S. Dept. of Defense does it), that is an "included" change order. Second, there is usually an "and other work as deemed reasonable and appropriate consistent with the stated goals etc. etc." So you don't HAVE to run backups. You don't HAVE to do O/S patching. You don't HAVE to force users to change passwords. But if you don't, your performance looks like crap (as a system admin) and you will be out of the door at next contract renewal time.

So when you are working service contracts, just remember - you are being paid by the HOUR (about 95% of the time) and if what they request is going to take days - or WEEKS - just be prepared to justify that level of effort. You'd be surprised what you can do when you tell someone his change just required you to void the operating system warranty on his powerful computer. THEN is when the spirit of compromise comes out.

So in summary, change orders are inevitable. How you respond to them depends on what you are serving up to the customer. Remember, you work to make money. Making money to be able to live and play and look to your future is the goal. Right?

My advice is to ALWAYS see change orders as a business opportunity to make money, but be COMPLETELY prepared to justify a high price or a long lead time when you are faced with change orders. Then, the final rule of business... charge them all that the situation will bear. MILK that cash cow.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Galaxiom]

I thought it was strange that you called it geometry. We just call it Maths (with the "s" at the end) in Australia, and geometry and trig are always two separate units, despite being related in terms of practical application.

When I was at high school in the early to mid 1970s, they were combined.

There was a module called "Trigonometry and Analytical Geometry". I did very well in it and to this day I consider it the most practically useful all the Maths I did.

 

[Leo_Coroneos]

Two answers, depending on circumstances.

Before I worked for the Navy, I worked for a private company that fabricated ocean-going ship engine room control consoles that were contemporary in appearance (for the 1970s) but that were driven by digital, not mechanical or analog controls. I.e. the consoles were a lot of empty space and bunch of bundled electrical cables, instead of the hydraulic and pneumatic tubing, solenoids, pumps, and other devices used by earlier ship builders.

In that context, we LOVED to get change orders and no, we didn't charge an arm and a leg for them. We were content with their first-born children. Change orders are the icing on the cake for companies that produce a physical product, as we did. And no, you don't make it impossible for the customer to make the decision. You just assure that any "corners" you cut in lowering the cost to win the original contract are filled in nicely by the "design retrofit" charges.

BUT... and this is a big BUT (which makes it sort of like MY big butt)...

If you are in a SERVICE contract, which I was when I was working as a Navy Systems Admin person, the contract will probably include two "gotcha" clauses. First, they will require you to comply with all regulations that may apply regarding the work being done, and that means that if Congress changes regulations (or just the U.S. Dept. of Defense does it), that is an "included" change order. Second, there is usually an "and other work as deemed reasonable and appropriate consistent with the stated goals etc. etc." So you don't HAVE to run backups. You don't HAVE to do O/S patching. You don't HAVE to force users to change passwords. But if you don't, your performance looks like crap (as a system admin) and you will be out of the door at next contract renewal time.

So when you are working service contracts, just remember - you are being paid by the HOUR (about 95% of the time) and if what they request is going to take days - or WEEKS - just be prepared to justify that level of effort. You'd be surprised what you can do when you tell someone his change just required you to void the operating system warranty on his powerful computer. THEN is when the spirit of compromise comes out.

So in summary, change orders are inevitable. How you respond to them depends on what you are serving up to the customer. Remember, you work to make money. Making money to be able to live and play and look to your future is the goal. Right?

My advice is to ALWAYS see change orders as a business opportunity to make money, but be COMPLETELY prepared to justify a high price or a long lead time when you are faced with change orders. Then, the final rule of business... charge them all that the situation will bear. MILK that cash cow.

Hope that makes sense.

It does make a lot of sense. I'm going to pin my inflated list of expenses on my client and make him pay for my new domain name, web hosting and AU$200 in IT books I've bought since the outset of this project. I think that AU$400 or so is quite reasonable, considering how much work I've put into it. There was no deadline for it, thankfully, so he'll have to be content to wait until after Christmas before it's deployed.

You have some great stories. Keep 'em coming and Merry Xmas/Yule!

 

[Leo_Coroneos]

When I was at high school in the early to mid 1970s, they were combined.

There was a module called "Trigonometry and Analytical Geometry". I did very well in it and to this day I consider it the most practically useful all the Maths I did.

That's interesting. Yes, I liked my trig, especially within the context of the calculus. In what ways have you utilised this field of Maths in database design, if any?

 

[Galaxiom]

In what ways have you utilised this field of Maths in database design, if any?

None in databases. But I worked for a few years in a wind turbine project in the late 1990s. One of my tasks was designing a centrifugally tripped automatic over-speed brake and a lattice tower. Plenty of geometry there.

I also worked on the electricals where one does use what is essentially trig in the AC phase diagrams. The machine used a capacitor excited induction generator and employed multi-secondary transformers with flux shunts to load the generator on a speed/torque curve that matched the turbine characteristics, automatically loading the turbine into a stall as it approached full power. (The transformers worked on similar principles to the current limiting in a choke welder but far more sophisticated.) However that part of the design was handled by another engineer. I just had to build the transformers and electronics to the specs provided.

Lately my trig has been used in the design of my home's landscaping where I have multiple intersecting octagons implemented in the retaining walls. I'm also working on a design to add rooms under the house and have employed octagons there too. Building design work often employs a considerable amount of trigonometry.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Leo

Merry Xmas/Yule!

And the same to you and yours. With the time to the big day counting down, my wife is filling the house with cooking smells. This year, we will have Cajun-style stuffing, which is based on stuffing (of course) but with ground pork spiced with typical Cajun additives to "perk it up" a bit. Plus of course, the turkey.

Hint for those of you have never tried this: Cook the turkey breast-side down for not less than half of its cooking time. Makes the juices stay with the breast instead of the legs or thighs. And my sweetie learned from her brother (who is ALSO a helluva cook) that if you turn the oven down a bit and cook it longer, then when it is time to take the bird out of the oven, there is no carving. There is only picking the nearly dangling meat from the bones. It literally falls apart when you do it that way. Left-over turkey sandwiches, here I come!