Do your job

man sitting on black leather padded chair

Photo by Jason Appleton on Pexels.com

The job I have is to help people with the software they use every day. I help them extract data from the software and help then fix issues when it doesn’t work correctly.

What I don’t like doing is their jobs for them.

We often get requests that are a are a regular function of their job, something they should know how to do after years of working at the job. Yes, there are those who are new to the position so I can understand asking for help at that point.

However, there are lots of people who call us on a regular basis to help them get data from the system they should have learned how to do by now. They just refuse to figure it out.

“Oh, it’s just easier if you do it.” 

“I know it is accurate when you do it.” Um, no, not necessarily. It’s your data. We don’t know if it is accurate. We just tell you what we see.

“It takes too much time to learn this stuff.”

Good grief…just freaking do your job.


Anyone else out there tired of doing someone else’s job? What is it and why do you do it?

Voluntold

photography of a person pointing on something

Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

I think there is a little bit of this in everyone.

You have something planned for the day, either at work or in your personal life. You have things ready to go and then all of the sudden you find your plans have changed.

Not because you want them too, but because you have been “voluntold.” Maybe you have heard of it. Maybe you have been the unwilling victim.

The boss. The wife. The parents. Maybe you missed a meeting. Maybe you were selected because of your “qualifications.” Maybe you’re just unlucky.

I am sure you have run into it at least once.

No one likes it.

And yet, we all have maybe done it to someone at the same time. Ah, sweet revenge…

 

A little uneasy

brown and white bear plush toy

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I didn’t sleep well last night.

You know that feeling like something just doesn’t feel right in your stomach? Yeah, I had that. All night I felt like something was going to happen at one end of the body (TMI?). I would fall asleep and then wake up a short time later, always on the verge of something but nothing really happening.

Except lack of sleep. It was a rough night for getting good sleep.

I woke up this morning with less of the uneasy feeling but it is lingering. Still seems to be a battle between whether the day will end up with a “tossing of the cookies” or the “squirts”.

Good think my cube is close to the bathrooms at work. I will be splitting time between the two, I think.

Ugh

 

photo of a boy near leaves

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

It’s meeting time again and I just don’t wanna go.

‘nuf said.

Perhaps I can hide on the toilet like I do at home when I don’t want to do something.

 

We meet again

It’s Friday and it’s meeting time.

Again.

I know I have complained and whined about this before. Just so we’re clear, I am doing it again and will continue to do it in the future too.

That’s how serious I am about not having meetings on Friday mornings.

Like really serious.

Apparently the memo I sent out (and by memo I mean this blog) hasn’t been read by everyone. So, please spread the word.

Did you hear that?

man using smartphone while sitting at the table

Photo by bruce mars on Pexels.com

Did you hear that? I am surprised if you didn’t.

It was loud.

Or maybe it was just loud because it was in my confined space.

What what is?

It was the sound of my head hitting my desk.

No, I wasn’t under it looking for the Cheez-it I dropped.

It was my head hitting the desk out of boredom.

I say boredom, but really I have a ton of things to do. I have a ton of things to do, but this particular task of software testing and verification is tedious and boring. Staring at the screens all day and very little movement has left me rather sleepy.

I have other tasks that would be much more interesting and stimulating. However, this particular task I have put off longer than I should so I am plowing my way through it. I am only about half way done. Ugh!

I have a feeling my head will have a few extra lumps on it when I am done. How many bounces will my noggin take off the desk? Care to take any bets?


Do you have a task at work that is tedious, boring, and positively mind-numbing?

Again, traffic…

accident action auto automobile

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Well, I am late again today. I guess maybe I need to do a better job planning ahead and get some blog posts ready on the weekend.

Anyway, there was a huge accident on the highway this morning and blocked all southbound lanes. Unfortunately, I found out about it too late and ended up getting on the highway at a stretch behind the backup where there was no way to get off the highway for about miles…so traffic crawled for an hour before I could exit and go around.

It looked pretty bad. Heard there was one fatality.

People were impatient and even blocking the shoulder this morning, making it tough for emergency vehicles to get to the scene.

Come on people. Drive safely and stop being stupid. It really isn’t worth it.

Sound the alarm!

red carlton alarm clock

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Everything is behind today. Everything, including this blog.

Alarm missed.

Backup alarm resounded.

Rush, rush rush.

Can we start over?

I woke up an hour and fifteen minutes late this morning. I generally don’t miss my alarm but I guess I must have been tired. I used the silent, vibrating alarm on my Fitbit and it usually is enough. As a back up, I have a DEAD AWAKE alarm set for “just in case” times. It got used this morning.

I was up about an hour and a half before the alarm was supposed to go off because the dog needed to pee. I went back to bed with the knowledge that there was still a decent amount of time for some sleep. Apparently, I needed more than a decent amount.

I got to work on time. Traffic and all.

 

System malfunction

computer content control data

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I work in software support. I am an analyst. I solve problems. I train people on the software. I make suggestions for improvement.

Yesterday, I discovered a major issue with the new product that could potentially put the brakes on software migration from the old version to the new version. It won’t stop it, but it has the potential to slow the process drastically until it is fixed (which could take months).

Needless to say, I am not on everyone’s “happy list” today.

I love my job.

 

Let’s hit pause

dark darkness loneliness mystery

Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

Anyone want to hit pause for the day? Like just take a break from everything and just be?

Julia Roberts, as Vivian, said they could “lay like broccoli” in Pretty Woman.  Adam Sandler had a movie called “Click” where he could just pause everything.

I am sure there are books out there about this. I am sure they could be helpful, if you wanted to read while you took a pause.

A deserted island. Maybe that would work. Preferably some place warm but not hot.

Maybe a day in an isolation pod would be good.

I just need a pause.