On 29-6-2009 23:26, Darren New wrote:
> Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>> Hmm. I don't want to know why you know that...
> 
> Because my wife is chinese?
> 
I think it would have been more fun to keep Andy in suspense for a few 
more days.

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> A normal IT guy working for an international company would presumably be 


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 :-)

> 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?

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.

> (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?

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>> Want to swap?
>
> I was thinking something similar, but unlike you, I can't go into details
> about what last week held for me.

Sometimes I think to myself about just giving up this stuff and going to 
work selling drinks on the beach somewhere hot :-)  Is it really worth 
having so much more responsibility and stress for your whole life just to 
get a bigger house or faster car or whatever?  Are you really going to be 
happier in the end?

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Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> > But we do, and we know why you don't. ;)
>
> Hmm. I wonder what else you people know?
>

There are more things in heaven and earth, Andrew,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Stephen

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"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> >> Want to swap?
> >
> > I was thinking something similar, but unlike you, I can't go into details
> > about what last week held for me.
>
> Sometimes I think to myself about just giving up this stuff and going to
> work selling drinks on the beach somewhere hot :-)  Is it really worth
> having so much more responsibility and stress for your whole life just to
> get a bigger house or faster car or whatever?  Are you really going to be
> happier in the end?


The trick is, finding a job that you actually enjoy.


born at the right time. I did not need a degree to operate the photocopier the
way my wife did.




Stephen

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>>> Hmm. I don't want to know why you know that...
>>
>> Because my wife is chinese?
>>
> I think it would have been more fun to keep Andy in suspense for a few 
> more days.

Yes, because I...don't...*want*...to know...? Hmm...

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> The trick is, finding a job that you actually enjoy.

Hmm, maybe I don't enjoy my job as much as I think I do, if I am always 
thinking it would be more fun to stay at home and do other stuff.

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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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"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> > The trick is, finding a job that you actually enjoy.
>
> Hmm, maybe I don't enjoy my job as much as I think I do, if I am always
> thinking it would be more fun to stay at home and do other stuff.


off but if you really mean always then maybe it is time to look for something
else. Having said that, the world economy and job markets are not at their best
ATM. Sometimes you have to grin and bear it.

Stephen

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> 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.

All of those seem like completely normal things that an IT person should 
have to handle in the course of their day.  Software not working as it 
should, dealing with people who can't use computers, having to do "IT 
things" for people, all seems reasonable to me.

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

Did you try explaining your thoughts to these people?

> 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.

Why do you think that is?

> (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?")

And what happened then after you explained to him the situation? And what 
did he reply when you asked him why nobody consulted you first?

> 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.

On business trips you don't have to pay for anything, and when you get there 
either someone will pick you up or just simply tell a taxi driver the 
address of your hotel.  It's a lot easier and comfortable when you don't 
have to consider how to save money continuously while you are travelling.

The other cool thing is that most companies will allow you to take some 
holiday either before or after your trip to spend some leisure time wherever 
you are going, in some cases this longer stay even makes the plane ticket 
cheaper for them, so you can negotiate them to pay for your holiday 
accommodation too :-)

But then if you're not interested in the slightest of visiting foreign 
countries, then I guess that doesn't appeal to you at all.

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