MacG

I work on Geographic Information Systems. Currently that means updating and creating the databases that eventually get put into vehicle navigation systems, MapQuest, personal gps units etc. Nice mix of office work and field data collection. Basically it's a paid detailed field trip through all the places you fly by on the freeway. The South is my regional area, and let me tell you, there is no shortage of interesting/scary/unbelievable things that go on in the backwoods of a rural Mississippi trailer park. From my travels, I hope to create a coffee table book of the real America.

tdekeyser

I am a computer person specializing is SAP security for a very large cell phone company

Scotty

Systems admin, and I can see we have a few. Solaris UNIX is the main stuff I like. I do PC and Mac stuff too (own them all too). Linux, a little bit of most everything. I used VMS for a long time too. I feel like I have been doing this my whole life, and got a computer at 13, so maybe that is the deal.
I work in a small company now (20 people, maybe), but worked the Boeing thing for 8 years, that was fun for a time. The design work on the 777 was the most interesting, especially watching it from initial design to actually watching them build the section/group I was dealing with (section 41).
The support I do now most helps people though, and that is why i stay. I am the only computer support person (except the smart-guy programmers here, which we have three).
My wife is an Oracle DBA, who is having fun programming Java, so we are an entire geek relationship.

Boy, can I type a lot in a short time, spelling errors and all.

-Scott

Ohio_Infidel

I'm going into the Mechanical Engineering program at Ohio University this coming fall.

Manta

Do you deal with folks in South Carolina? I've got a friend that deals with GIS mapping stuff...

-K

Ab_Normal

Hey nerds,
Is there any way to be a nerd and work for a company that isn't selling something? I just had to suffer through 45 minutes of beginning of year rah-rah to get the sales critters stoked. Mad props for everybody but IT, of course. And everybody else in the building gets some sort of performance based bonus, except for us. We don't sell things, so we don't count.

To answer my own question, I once worked for an educational institution, and it was nicely lowkey. Alas, funding went away, and I switched to an evil evil sales organization. Sigh.

Scotty

I have to admit, I had this same type of problem for many years. There isn't much you can do except have the entire department (in this case me), take a week off and don't tell anybody what to do to fix the problems. Your bonus or retirement will follow.
At this time, my employers are pretty good at acknowledging my contributions, and everybody got a bonus this year.
If you have a big group, get your managers involved, if not, well...
-Scott

Maverick

I am a telecommunications designer and project manager. Basically I design the physical infrastructure behind computer and phone networks - that jack that your computer or phone is plugged into along with all the wiring and associated equipment.

I also do electrical design and project management, but that's just because my company found out I could. I like the tech quotient of the telcom design quite a bit more. Not much changes in the electrical field � although I do like lighting design.

I am a college drop-out who originally thought he wanted to be an architect.
I would love to go back to school and get the degree(s) necessary to teach middle school or high school science. I just can't afford the paycut .

Maverick

Ab_Normal

If I just didn't have that darn mortgage, I'd be so tempted...

Hmmm, where's that jealous smilie?

Alas, our team (including manager) is four people. We just don't have much clout. The only attention we get is when shit's broke. And then it's the elbow-jostling kind. "Is it fixed yet?" "Yeah, I fixed it half an hour ago, I just thought you guys might want more time off." (I actually said that to the general manager once at a previous evil evil job.)

MacG

Manta,
Our Atlanta office takes care of South Carolina and the surrounding regions...haven't been there myself, there's enough crap to deal with in Texas alone!
Cheers,
MacG