atw: Re: meltdowns, inspiration and motivation

It's well known that Steve and I are hardly 'mates' but I DO sympathise with him.
It's disappointing that someone with his experience and abilities can reach a point in their career where they realise the futility of it all and move on. As Christine said, the computer issue was just the final straw and is irrelevant to the underlying problem.
Personally, I wish him well and hope he returns to the fray after cooling off but either way, it's not up to others who have never walked in his shoes to offer criticism in any way.
For those new to the industry, re-read Steve's email (I attached it to the bottom of this email for reference). He hints at some of the issues confronting you as you go forward. His comments ARE reflective of the 'industry' at the current time and Steve has left unsaid the mass volume of adverse experiences that went into those last few sentences of his.
As Steve said: "I could rant more, but couldn't be stuffed. Wasted too much time on that as it is". That probably says it all! 

Anyway, have a good break everyone. We deserve it. :)

Cheers,

Bruce Ashley









Christine Kent wrote:

Your time will come.
If you had bothered to re-read his mail you would see that the computer failure was just the trigger for the meltdown, not the cause. Go back over it and see if you can work out what the problem really was. It was quite clear to me and a few other "oldies" - that point at which we realise that our superhuman effort has all been in vain. Christine 
---SNIP

STEVE's EMAIL:
Blown a few fuses. I have been documenting crappy business processes for too long. After 15 years I still dont have a stable desktop, despite buying the best of everything from the supposed world's best suppliers. Computers can go f___ themselves. I am selling all my IT stuff and going offline. Recently when the whole system went belly up and I had NO OS, my suppliers informed me they werent concerned about my petty problems. I have no computer, contracts outsanding, and customers on the phone, and it is just a petty problem. Sweet. No more such problems and no more purchases from me.
I wont be answering any more emails after this is sent out, the whole lot is about to be shut down and shipped off. If you need any of my skills and can afford to pay for them, my mobile phone is 04 22233044. I dont expect any phone calls, which is why I am leaving tech writing altogether. Too many people wanting too much for free. "But its just writing"... Yeah? Well do it yerself then.
Its a tiny industry of people who by and large don't seem to give too much of a damn about their own profession. Tech writers are treated like the scum of the IT world, last in, first out, and considered an expensive fringe neccesity at best.
I could rant more, but couldnt be stuffed. Wasted too much time on that as it is. 

Farewell and good lucks to you.
**************************************************
To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to 
austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
"subscribe" in the Subject field.

To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
"unsubscribe" in the Subject field.

To search the austechwriter archives, go to 
www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter

To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************

Other related posts: