Dilbert vu

Dilbert vu, n.
An illusory feeling of having previously experienced a situation parodied in a Dilbert comic strip

Every once in a while, but more often in the last eight or ten weeks, I think to myself that jwz had the right idea: throw in the towel and go do something more interesting. I read his essay a couple of times this evening while pre-composing this entry and recognized a lot more similarities than I thought I would.

What would I do? One, or both, of two options: music and the web. I think the former—specifically, producing and promoting concerts—would be the most enjoyable, and it certainly holds the most interest, but it’s the one in which I have no experience whatsoever. (Despite my attempts to make things otherwise.) The latter is something in which I have an interest and a modicum of talent in certain respects, but not enough of either (to my way of thinking, at least) to make a go of it on my own.

What’s gotten me pondering more than anything, I think, is that my friend Nancy recently completed her Ph.D. in a subject area that’s too complex to explain here, except to say that it will help save lives and improve the quality of life. The best result I can hope for from my current job is that it will make more people watch TeeVee longer. That’s not to say that either of the options above has the potential to have as wide-ranging and positive an effect as Nancy’s chosen profession; from what she’s told me about the technology she works with, applying the quality assurance experience I’ve gained in the last decade to some of her tools would be of much greater significance. Still, either choice would be a step in the right direction.

Considering options for the future despite there being no real chance of doing anything to change the status quo. Yup, that’s Dilbert vu.

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