scott wrote:
>> A normal IT guy working for an international company would presumably 

> 
> And would presumably be meant to be working for almost 100% of the time, 
> and not moaning whenever he actually had to do some real IT work :-)

And where in this thread have I complained about having to do IT work?

I complained about Acrobat not performing its intended function. I 
complained about Live Meeting not working properly. I complained about 
having to deal with people who can't speak English and can't work 
computers. But I don't recall at any point complaining because I had to 
do something other than just surfing the net.

>> I would also *hope* that such a person wouldn't be considered utterly 
>> incompetent every single time any kind of minor technical glitch occurs.
> 
> Surely you've demonstrated how you can solve all the minor technical 
> glitches though?  Surely not everyone in your company is that dumb that 
> they all think you're totally incompetent?

Are you kidding?

If somebody decides to move a PC from one place to another and they drop 
it on their foot, that's *my* fault. I should make the PCs less heavy. 
And have rounded corners.

If it takes 20 minutes to download a file, that's *my* fault. I should 
make the Internet faster. (The minor detail that upgrading our Internet 
connection would cost tens of thousands of pounds PER YEAR and I don't 
write the cheques is lost on most people...)

Our passwords now have to meet complexity requirements. And that's *my* 
fault. (Even though it wasn't my idea, I didn't turn the setting on, and 
I couldn't turn it off even if I wanted to.)

If anything computer-related goes wrong, this is by definition *my* 
fault. No matter how unreasonable that may be...

> Did you ever try to work pro-actively? I mean by suggesting things to 
> your boss that you think you should be doing (in order to improve the 
> company's IT), rather than just waiting to be told things to do?  It 
> might make them think more of you as a valued employee contributing to 
> the company rather than "just" an IT worker who fixes stuff when asks.

I gave up trying years ago. Nobody takes the slightest bit of notice 
what I say. Everybody seems to assume I just don't know what I'm talking 
about. And nobody consults me about anything either. They just *do* it, 
and then expect me to be able to work with it.

(Like when we leased that extra room, and Fathead had some contractors 
come in and lay a fiber-optic link between the two comms cabinets. We 
don't actually *have* any equipment which can interface with 
fiber-optics. But hey, who asked me? Fathead just comes to me one day 
and says "so all the comms are live in that room now, right?")

>> (That's rhetorical of course. I wouldn't travel to a foreign country 
>> if you paid me.)
> 
> Well clearly you have travelled to a foreign country, when you actually 
> paid yourself to go, albeit for a holiday.  Are you really telling me 
> that if paid enough you still wouldn't travel abroad to work for a few 
> days?  How about to go to a conference?  OOC why not?

Well, my skiing trip was kind of different. I didn't have to go by 
myself, I didn't have to find where I was going, I didn't have to speak 
to anybody or pay for anything. Plus the sheer awesomness of the prize 
at the other end kind of made up for the misery of travelling and the 
being in a hostile environment, etc.

Considering how badly this company treats me, they'd have to pay me A 
LOT to make me go through all that only to get walked on by a different 
set of people.

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