team | Piss and Moan

Suddenly sucks

Posted on February 2, 2022 by backuphill

Work.

There is too much of it, so I write a blog post about it instead.

Seems fair.

I am actually procrastinating because I don’t really want to dive into the overwhelming list of things that needs to get done. It seems the list continues to grow every day and I am not taking many things off of it.

Work suddenly sucks. I never really thought it would get this way. Don’t get me wrong, I still like what I do and the people I work with, but there is generally a feeling of dread each morning before I go to work…and I am exhausted when I am done with it.

Our normal team of 17 is down to 14. Well, 14 and a quarter.

I say a quarter because we recently hired someone to replace a co-worker that left back in October. But, he thing with this hire is that the management went with someone who has no background, no history, no knowledge of the software at all. The new hire has a lot of technical skill from their time in the military, but no skills that actually help the team at the moment, and likely won’t really contribute to the team in a meaningful sense for probably a year. The new hire will be great once up to speed, but in the meantime it will be painful for the rest of us.

The reason we are so far behind in hiring is that we had two co-workers leave to go to other jobs in the same field at about the same time. One of those people had 18 years of experience and knowledge go with them and the other had about two years of direct knowledge and many years of ancillary knowledge go with them. We have only replaced one of them.

We also had a co-worker die recently from an extended battle with lung cancer. Again, there was many years of experience and knowledge lost as a result. We all felt this loss in different ways and we are all trying to pick up the slack since it happened. The co-worker had actually been working all the way up to two weeks before their death.

So, if you are keeping track, we are down two (basically three) positions and there is also an impending retirement coming up in the next several months. Then we will be down three (basically four) positions. They have just posted the position for one of the jobs…and we’re all hoping for some really outstanding, qualified, and experience candidates. The problem is that they are only going to be replacing one at this point.

I’m just tired. And overwhelmed.

It has to get better soon.

Cheaters

Posted on January 16, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Anastasia Zhenina on Pexels.com

I love baseball. I always have.

I hate cheaters.

Sadly, the sport I love has been spoiled by cheaters. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time and that makes me really sad. Maybe sad isn’t the right word. It definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Houston = cheaters. It seems very likely that Boston will also = cheaters. Possibly the New York Yankees and New York Mets will be found to = cheaters. How far does this really go? Will we ever really know?

This whole thing about stealing signs isn’t really a new thing, per se, but it’s how they did it. Secret cameras, analysis, and then relaying that information to batters is really underhanded.

There have been cheating scandals before. Steroids. Corked bats. Pine tar. “Foreign substances” on pitcher’s uniforms. It’s all been done before. But, in most cases, those were really done by individual players and often (we assume) not at the approval of management or others on the team.

That’s why this is different. This was organized, and systematic. It may have been “player driven,” but management approved it and implemented it.

I am headed to spring training in Arizona at the end of February for the first time. It’s been a goal of mine since I was little. I am looking forward to the trip because of the people I’ll be with and for the baseball, because I love the game.

But, I have to admit there is a little bit of me that thinks the pop of the glove, the smell of the grass, and the crack of the bat just don’t have quite the same appeal as they did before.

What do you think about the whole thing? Is it a big deal or not?

Team should be spelled with an “i”

Posted on November 19, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by LN Dangol on Pexels.com

You know that whole cliche saying about there being no “i” in team?

How many of you have experienced a situation where if there were no “i” in team nothing would get done? I think I see at least a few hands raised…

I know as a teacher I saw it happen all the time in the classroom for group projects. Students are assigned or grouped together to work on a project together and produce something for a grade. Inevitably, I could watch as the groups worked that at least one group wasn’t really functioning and the work would fall on one or two of the students in the group.

Now in the work “regular” work world, I see it happen too and those feelings for people who get stuck doing all the work come back to me. I saw it in the classroom and it would appear that some people never actually grew out of that behavior. Not the one where someone takes over when everyone is trying to work together, but the one where there is always someone in the group that is perfectly happy allowing someone else to bear the load.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the “i” in team most of the time isn’t a good thing. We should be working together and lightening the load for all. However, as adults in our professional settings we have all experienced the times where it is just easier if team was spelled with an “i”. Teim. Or teIm. Whatever, however you want to spell it.

If you want it done right, I am going to have to do it myself. Another cliche saying, but oh so true.