About

This is my little home on the web to rant, rave, and otherwise discuss the technology tribulations and triumphs I face on a daily basis in the world of High Tech Start-up companies.

When I was 15, never having actually touched a computer, I decided that I was going to go to college and study Computer Programming after High School.  I’ve never looked back.  I learned that Accounting is deadly dull and Operations Research is a blast. I also learned to program in Fortran, which I will readily admit to, and in Cobol, which I frequently deny.  I also learned that there are very few women in Software/IT that stay technical.  How many women CTO’s do you see out there?

For the first 10 years of my career, I worked for a research organization. I  programmed telescope control systems and even wrote software for Rocket Scientists!  Then I ventured out into private industry, bounced around the dot-com world, did a bit of consulting, and dabbled in Product Management (I’m Pragmatic Certified).  However, I seem to be continually funnelled into roles where I am managing technical teams (IT staff and developers)  and projects, because I have a knack for it and the geeks can’t bullshit me.

I really wanted to call this blog “IT on a shoestring” but the domain was taken.  I wear multiple hats and roll up my sleeves.  Much of what I do is to try and make a small company run like an enterprise, without the enterprise budget.

I’m convinced that the best partner for a geek is another geek, and my spouse is an Enterprise Architect at a large Crown Corporation.  We are similar in that we are both sponges for learning new technologies and techniques, and different in that he has had precisely TWO jobs in his entire career (which is only marginally shorter than mine) at very large organizations, whereas I have had TEN, not counting consulting gigs, mostly at smaller privately held companies.   He and I deal with similar kinds of issues, but his are on a much larger scale.  He also doesn’t have to deal with users who all have Administrative rights on their desktops.  That being said, it gives us lots to talk about, and nobody’s eyes glaze over during “how was your day” conversations.  And I delight in seeing his reaction when I get a hotter, faster computer than he has.  With the right prodding, I am hoping to get him to guest-post here, and share his considerable wisdom and “laws” with the rest of the universe…

So where did the blog title come from?  “Multiply by Pi” is what we both believe you should do in order to get a realistic value when given an estimate from any member of an IT or development team. It’s the fudge factor you put in when a consultant tells you he can name that tune in 3 notes. And it’s the amount by which I must increase the value of my investments before I can afford to retire…