Thanks for the advice! That all sounds very reasonable. I thought I read that 20% time had gone away; regardless, I'm sure I'll have so much to learn on my first project that diverting any time away from it would be counterproductive.
Regarding good managers: I'll probably need to stay on my first project for at least one to two years. If my manager turns out to not be so great, what's the best strategy? Find out who the good managers are and work towards transferring to their team? Is it better to move horizontally based on the nature of the project or based on the team?
Thanks for your response. Your 1 in 4 figure seems plausible, but I'd be curious to see a source (perhaps it's in your mind map? I read that article of yours and immediately downloaded FreeMind; I'm looking forward to trying it out!). I agree that basic knowledge about drugs can go a long way in terms of harms reduction, like knowing why it's bad to take excessive prescription opioids that contain APAP.
I noticed at the bottom of the article it mentions that "Amazon affiliate links benefit Erowid". I think Erowid is a magnificent resource and I'm a big fan. What motivated your decision to support that site?
I should clarify: I attended a US university, so we didn't partake in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer. Rather, we participated in a similar ceremony for an organization called the Order of the Engineer. The Wikipedia entry on the Order of the Engineer alludes to what you're saying though; it mentions that they tried to bring the Canadian ritual to the US but experienced legal troubles including some related to copyright.
I also got a BS in MechE, then got a job as a software engineer, so now my girlfriend wears my ethics ring. I guess we're exempt from programming morally!