Here's Scott's Half Rule of Consulting:
You get half of the pay.
This rule is applied iteratively.
Let me illustrate.
Half the time, you actually have a client
who wants work done.
Half the time spent on a client is billable.
Half the time, the client doesn't pay.
Half of what they do pay goes to the government.
Half of what's left goes to critical expenses like replacing worn out keyboards.
And so on.
That's not a proof, mind you, just an
illustration of the rule in action.
Unlike recursive rules (that have no
termination case), this one is merely
iterative.
The number of iterations is variable.
Some of us will be subjected to the half rule
only two or three times; others will be
subjected to it hundreds of times.
Quite often, pay will be measured in pennies before the "half of what's left goes to critical expenses like replacing worn out keyboards"
point comes about, and you can't even
afford to keep critical infrastructure working.
Then you start to feel like you're a
programmer in a 3rd world country.
-scott
P.S.: I have a history of berating people
who comment on my blog entries, so if you don't
wish to be berated, don't comment
(but I promise to be nice if you don't completely
miss the point of what I'm saying).
