Spin
On 17 April 2000 I started working for SPIN company in Katowice. The next day was my birthday. I soon found out that the firm functioned according to so called "software house" division of work. The employees in each individual department work over different specific application.
Witold Cichoń represented the highest level of knowledge about IBM AS/4000 servers. At the beginning I started working on the project Managing AS/400 using a mobile telephone (GSM), which was my idea. The trial period was shortened for me and on 1 July I signed my employment contract for unspecified period on the post of OS/400 System Engineer. My desk was by the window overlooking the city centre. In the beginning my work in the Specialist Servicing Department consisted in constant learning as there was not any possibility to gain AS/400 knowledge during studies unless you pay yourselves for special IBM training. By July 2000 I had planned and finally modernised the servers room in the company. The photography shows the effects of my work. I ordered the tangle of wires that previously lay on the floor in total disorder(I mounted so called troughs on the wall). I bought two bookshelves one for servers AS/400, power supply adapters UPS and modems and another one for the rest of servers: Windows, Linux, Unix, router CISCO, hub and switch for console and UPSs. I was delegated to deal with the clients in various Polish towns: Wrocław, Łódź, Lublin, Koszalin, Warszawa, Łomża, Białystok, modernising AS/400 or configuring new servers and external devices. In April, after a year of working for Spin I earned 3900 złotych per month. In May I was delegated for a week training to the IBM International Education Center in La Hulpe, Belgium. In this time I lived in the Tulip Inn Hotel in the centre of Brussels. Every day a special IBM bus took us to La Hulpe (about 20 km), where the training took place. Once I was engaged doing something much longer than others and I returned to Brussels by bicycle which I borrowed in the reception desk of IEC IBM. To make my ride comfortable I also borrowed a pair of sport shoes in my size. With a dozen best-equipped rooms, perfect organisation, bright and enthusiastic lecturers, evening garden parties Conference Welcome Drink, Barbecue and all appearing motto Work Harder, Think Smarter - in this way IBM was making an unique and unforgettable atmosphere. On the third day I get acquainted with two Dutch IBM specialists working for PANTHEON AUTOMATISERING. The next day I was walking to the bus station when they stopped in their car and offered to give me a lift to Brussels. I agreed. At the end of the training I passed AS/400 exam and received a certificate from IBM and entitlements of AS/400 System Operator.

In 2001 I was given to understand that the company wanted me to lead the AS/400 specialists team on the system side and this obviously involved my taking part in meetings of the Board of Directors. I proposed to the Chairman that due to the extra responsibility I deserved a pay rise so I should earn 4500 PLN. In the Silesian IT labour market it is rather a standard salary and taking into account my IBM AS/400 specialisation and a management position, it was hardly an exorbitant sum of money. It happens that not very bright gentlemen kick the ball earning many times more, regardless of how really well they do it... The Chairman refused so in the end of 2001 I said goodbye to Spin. On leaving I asked them to list my duties in the business. It must be admitted that in return for relatively small pay the firm did offer other benefits to its employees like a few days trip to the mountains every autumn called "Sheep".