[penguicon-general] A couple of thoughts about programming

[Catherine Olanich Raymond]

On Saturday 28 April 2007 6:10 pm, Tracy Worcester wrote:
> On 4/26/07, Catherine Olanich Raymond <cathy at thyrsus.com> wrote:
> > > Who can we get to tell us about
> > > something they're excited about?  Heck, get Tracy to talk about her
> > > nursing degree...)

Actually, the above line was a Rob Landley suggestion.  :-)
>
> Heh.
>
> Just a few ideas off the top of my head.
>
> *   "Please Tell Me I'm Not Too Old to Get a Better Job" panel:  get four
> of five people who've gone back for degrees, have them talk about the life
> hacks they had to do to make it happen.

My boss did that.  He has a PhD in English Literature, and was actually 
teaching.  (Don't know if he had tenure, but he had the PhD so he might 
have.)  But he decided sometime in his late... 30's, I think, that he hated 
what he was doing, so he chucked it all and went to law school.  He's been a 
successful trial lawyer for the past 20 or so years.

One thing I know he will tell you is to be prepared for a certain amount of 
financial hardship if you do this, and that it helps if your spouse/SO is 
able to support you and any dependents y'all may have for awhile.


> *  "Ask a Nurse" panel (I'd need internet access)

The Troy Hilton has free wireless.  I believe it extends throughout the hotel, 
though I can't personally verifiy that it works anywhere other than in the 
room we had and the Con Suite.

> *  "I'm Underemployed/Unemployed/Self-Employed!  How Do I Get Insurance?"
>
> I suspect there will be panels eventually on specific health topics, such
> as type II diabetes, STDs, how to eat health(ier) at con and home.  I just
> don't know if they'll happen this year, since I've talked to Gerald about
> being Volunteer Wrangler.

Worth talking about, anyway.


-- 
Cathy Raymond <cathy at thyrsus.com>

"You've got to have the proper amount of disrespect for what you do."  
-- George Mabry