> I used to be quite proactive - trying to fix things before they broke, 
> etc. But now so much of our infrastructure isn't actually under my control 
> anyway, it seems every time something breaks all I can actually do is call 
> America and ask them to fix it. Which just makes it look like I'm 
> incapable of doing my job without help.

I'm in a similar situation, working for what seems like quite a small 
company, but actually is part of a huge company.  You get the worst of both 
worlds, in that you can't really do anything without telling 674 people 
about it and then getting 53 people to agree with it and sign it off, yet 
you still get the disadvantages of working for a small company in that admin 
and IT are useless at anything big because there's only 1 or 2 of them here 
and there's really no career opportunities because you're the only 
Engineer...

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On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:58:59 +0200, scott 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?

Back before Y2K, a friend of mine and I made a (not really serious) pact 
to go into truck driving if the technological world ended because of Y2K.

I know for me that in general the job is very rewarding and fulfilling - 
but all jobs have their down days, and unless you're a company of one, 
you're going to have politics to deal with.

I have to say, though, selling drinks on the beach sounds better than 
truck driving. :-)

Jim

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On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:19:43 +0200, scott 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.

Well, one upside, though, is that if your job isn't your hobby (it almost 
always has been for me), then you can walk away from it.  I worked in a 
factory when I was in college (building paint sprayers) and to this day I 
envy some of the people I worked with because at 3:30 when the shift 
ended, they could go home and not think about work.  Many of them did - 
there was outstanding pay and benefits for the full-time employees (many 
with 15-20 years on the job), so it wasn't uncommon for them to have 
cabins, boats, etc so they could enjoy their time away from the office.

Additional benefit:  You go on vacation, and when you come back there's 
no work that's piled up - the assembly line doesn't stop just because the 
guy who assembles the coil for the armature goes on vacation.  Someone 
else fills in until he gets back.

Jim

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scott wrote:
>> 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?

Or, better, say "You're so funny sometimes."  Really, you get worked up 
because you're taking it seriously. It isn't *your* computer that's broken, 
it's the company's.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Insanity is a small city on the western
   border of the State of Mind.

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scott wrote:
> sense that you need to speak slower and clearer, 

And pause clearly between words. One of the hardest things is figuring out 
where one word ends and the next word starts.

> Umm, "I agree completely 100% with you, I have proposed it to management 
> several times, but they said they just don't have the money".

Then add "Why don't you also suggest it, so the management understands the 
extent of the problem?"

>> Certainly the idea of being stranded all alone in a country where I 
>> can't even tell what people are saying to me is rather intimidating.
> 
> "Sorry I don't understand" let's them know the situation, 

You're in the UK. The brits conquered 90% of the world. The only place I've 
ever been where nobody spoke English is China.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Insanity is a small city on the western
   border of the State of Mind.

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Invisible wrote:
> Nobody will bother. They'll log a call, see that nothing happens 
> instantly, and never bother again.

Then your job gets real easy, because you say "did you log it for me?" 
"No."  "Please log it, and I'll get to it in the order it was logged."

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Insanity is a small city on the western
   border of the State of Mind.

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On 30-6-2009 10:11, Invisible 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.
> 
> Yes, because I...don't...*want*...to know...? Hmm...

Well, at least we would have had the opportunity to remind you in a 
subtle way that it is sort of conventional to remember what people have 
told you. I am not so good at these things, my wife is better but she is 
a woman, so that does not really count. We all know that you are not 
only not good but actually terrible at it, so that is why I said that we 
knew why you didn't know. You should also know yourself by now good 
enough to know that it is not your strongest point.
If I may suggest a simple system: index cards. Unconventional in face to 
face communication, but here on the internet nobody will notice except 
for a sudden apparent increase in social skills.
If you want us to help, we could pool some random facts about ourselves 
that have been mentioned over the years in and quiz you.

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andrel wrote:
> subtle way that it is sort of conventional to remember what people have 
> told you. 

I'm much less bothered by people who don't bother to remember things than 
people who say "I don't want to know why." :-)

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Insanity is a small city on the western
   border of the State of Mind.

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Invisible wrote:
> Of course, you can obtain Acrobat Reader for free. (What good is an
> authoring tool without a ubiquitous platform to deploy for?) But the
> full Acrobat package, last time I looked, is about £400.
> 
> But what the hell do you actually *get* for your money?
> 
> Of course you get the ability to generate PDF files. But you know what?
> Any number of freeware tools can do this also.

Similarly, there are tons of freeware readers, not just Acrobat.

Acrobat Reader is like Internet Explorer: many people think it's the only
way, but it's actually the one with the most proprietary features and
security holes, and there are alternatives.

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> You're in the UK. The brits conquered 90% of the world. The only place 
> I've ever been where nobody spoke English is China.

Really? I was in China and some people spoke English :-)

A lot of places I've been you only have to travel a little bit outside of 
the cities and then hardly anyone speaks English.  I was just in Italy a few 
weeks back, Italian or German was fine, but English? No chance.

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