[percept]

Essentially, managers put out fires.

Whenever I start feeling underemployed and unappreciated as a programmer, I look at what they do all day and feel thankful that I get paid to listen to some tunes, crank out a few lines of code and go home (where the real work begins).

The senior technical contact at my day job is a very experienced and accomplished programmer; however his entire day is spent traveling from one location to the next in meeting after meeting (a familiar story for many, I'm sure).

He dabbles in our project from time to time, and I think that's his only release from the mutual appreciation rituals he endures every day.

[bkovitz]

I always thought management looked like a job I'd hate. Now I'm completely sure.