Wednesday 23 May 2007

Stress.

I don’t know what is in the air but most of the people I know, both friends and people I work with, are stressed at the moment. To protect those innocents I shall not divulge any circumstances involved. I can of course talk about Wifey & I.

My job is middle to senior management level but I do not have any direct staffs as all those I am responsible for are contractors or consultants. There is only the big boss above me. I have the power to change many things but equally do not have the power to change some incredibly minor things. I also do not have the power to change the culture of the organisation. I truly want to help and to do what’s best but find it demoralising and a little stressful when I am overruled.

That said, for the most part I like my job. I just think I could be doing much better.

Wifey is stressed as her new IT system is not quite there yet. It’s much closer following a trip to the centre of operations by B-i-L last night. However, BT have a problem with the broadband, a problem that is going over the heads of their support guys and is now being referred to the techies. Also a vital piece of software is not yet installed and there are still a couple of compatibility issues and some ‘OK this is a new system, what do we do with it?’ issues.

Her being stressed stresses me. I am powerless to help yet I get the grief because I am the one that she can actually moan, snap and shout at. It’s difficult for me to accept but she has to vent her anger and stress on someone and that someone is me.

So I say to me friends and work associates “Here’s looking forward to everyone calming down and becoming a little happier before the end of June.” *raises large glass of wine, pauses and then takes a rather large gulp*

Monday 21 May 2007

Mind the Gap

Mind the gap. The one you step over when you leave work and start your commute home. That gap that you drop all you work stresses, worries and other daily accumulated baggage in to and pick up your home joys, troubles and other accoutrements.

Do any of you have any troubles with avoiding the gap and taking work stuff home and home stuff to work? I am guilty of this and if Wifey had a gap between her office and home then the house would fall down, what with working from home and the like.

Work is bound to impact on your personal life. Without work you wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage (with the exception of a few). What would you fill your day with? What worth would you put on yourself? Having been out of work for a year once and an emotional wreck there came a point were I took the first job available to me. I worked in a laundry, which as it happened suited my needs down to the ground and I stayed there for two years.

Are you doing well enough in your career? Am I earning enough? Are our friends more successful than us? Do our bosses think we do a good job? Are we valued by our colleagues? Did I make the right decisions last ---------? (fill in the blank as appropriate)

Wifey works for herself and her success, income and value changes on a monthly basis. All of these factors lead to the stress and strain of everyday living. I know I am a nicer person when I’m on holiday and, just like The Boy over at Boy on Top, when I’m leaving a job. That great time when your responsibility diminishes in your old job and you’re in your honeymoon period in your new job. A time when all the stress can wash straight over you. As I said folks; Mind the Gap, Mind the Gap

Wednesday 16 May 2007

Wifey & the Server

Wifey is not a happy girl. For the past two weeks she has had a cold, the baby has been demanding, the server has been/being slightly problematic, she has two bad debts and an insurance company who can’t decide if she’s properly qualified for her to work on their insured’s legal case.

AFC 30K is keeping his head below the parapet.

Someone let me know when it’s safe to come out.

Tuesday 15 May 2007

The IT Man Cometh II

In fact he didn’t leave until nearly 11pm on Sunday. I’m sure he just stopped for Wifey’s cooking. The server is working and so is the desk top. The laptop and the PDA don’t work with the server just yet. Oh, and the back up isn’t quite there but I have a theory on why that’s not working.

I could help Wifey with the IT (just the very basics you understand) however she glowers at me with the unsaid acknowledgement that I screwed up her PC in the first place. To be fair to me I was only trying to defragment the hard drive as it had quite a bit of stuff on it. The problem arose when the hard drive died and the back ups set up by her ‘IT consultant’ (not B-i-L) had stopped working 6 months previously.

After watching B-i-L for most of the weekend I now realise that there is no way on God’s earth that I would have been able to install the server… I’ve only just learnt about static IP addresses.

Anyway, if you’re reading B-i-L, thanks a lot for giving up your entire weekend to help out your little sister!

Saturday 12 May 2007

The IT Man Cometh

IT. You think by me having a blog and everything I’d know a thing about IT. I Don’t*. I know less than Jack Shit. Yet today the house is being networked. I now have a shiny new server. It’s not actually shiny, more of a matt black, but it is new and it is a server. It’s powerful, really powerful.

I now you’re thinking ‘if he knows nothing about IT what’s he doing with a server?’ Well, Wifey needs it for her business so she roped her brother to sort it all out. Now he does now a think or two about IT but it’s nearly 10pm and he’s been at it since 11am. I mean, honestly people, how long does it take to install a server and rebuild two pc’s…

* The design of the blog should tell have told you something….

Friday 11 May 2007

That Was the Week That Was.

Well what a week. Last weekend was our son’s christening. This roughly translates in to a mad frantic house clean and tidy (It took a whole day this time(we’re not that dirty it’s just we’ve only been in the house 6 months)) and get together with lots of friends and family and just for good measure a little dose of stress.

I really loved the baptism. Junior when to sleep straight after he’d been dunked in the font and didn’t grumble one little bit. The house looks a lot better too. There’s nothing like ‘a bit of a do’ to spur Wifey and I on to actually doing stuff to the house.

The fattened calf was procured for the bbq after the baptism which meant we had to have another bbq on Monday to made some headway in to the mountain of food Wifey and the Mother-in-law had laid on.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on site. This is a rare treat for me these days as I don’t often see anything beyond my computer screen. I locked horns with a couple people on site and enjoyed it (it was purely business and absolutely nothing personal, in fact I have a great respect for both guys). It got the blood flowing, cleared some cobwebs and it was back amongst the ‘muck & bullets’. It reminded me that I do actually build stuff for a living. I fact it showed me just how much influence I have on a project these days. It also showed me whose fault it is if you miss details. There were some details missed but I count theme as learning experiences and I’ll pay closer attention to these areas in the future.

I took Thursday off to help Wifey with her business in the morning and went with her to her mothers meeting. I call them the Coven as they are always plotting something, I’m sure mainly against the men in their lives! Fortunately one of the other fathers works odd shifts so at least there was other male company.

As for today, as soon as I got to the office I was summoned in to head office in central London. So by the time I got there, there was time for a quick meeting, some lunch and a continuation of the meeting and then back home. Made some calls, reworked a spreadsheet and wrote this post.

I blinked and the week was over!

Have a good weekend and I’ll be back on Monday.

Thursday 3 May 2007

A challenge.

I get bored very easily and I need to be challenged in my professional life. Whilst I am a middle manager I’m not yet at the top of my profession. I’m not often heard saying this, but, I’m not perfect. This means I need a structure in which to work and I need to be managed effectively to bring out the best in me. Whilst financial recompense is important in a job it isn’t the be all and end all I need someone, once in a while, to pat me on the back and say “good job”.

In my current position I don’t feel challenged I have no rules. I can, more or less, do what I want, when I want, as long as I deliver the goods. No one ever tells me I’ve done a good job, but they are quick to jump in and tell me when I’ve done something wrong. This leads me to be quite despondent at times; the crux is that I do actually like my job

Today I’ve been bored and it’s not been an inspiring day. It has made me want to move jobs again. I tend to move jobs every 2 or 3 years but I’ve only been here 7 months and moving now would look feckless on my part. But there is still something in my head querying where my career is going “stop languishing in this place and find something fresh”. But, job hunting for me is tortuous is there are two contradicting elements within me, one that tells me I’m great at my job and I could do this job standing on my head. There other element sits on my shoulder and tells me that I’m useless and I just blag my way out of difficult situations and why would anyone want to employ me.

But remember I really like my job and the people I work with.

Still, tomorrow’s Friday and it’s a bank holiday weekend. I shall share a drink with friends, toast absent friends and spend time with my family. Summer is starting, our first summer as more than a couple.

Tuesday 1 May 2007

Frustration

There are many things in ones life that can lead a chap to be frustrated. For instance; your team loosing at home, friends who are more successful than us, rejection when chatting up a girl, however;

There is nothing quite like spending quality time with your partner, spending a nice evening together, a cuddle and a smooch on the sofa, some nice pillow talk and then the imminent promise of sweet intimacy* only to have your ardour dashed by your partner coming out in an allergic rash and then proceed to itch not stop for the next hour whilst saying “you don’t mind if I’m not in the mood now, do you?”…. No, no of course not**, I hope you feel better soon, night love.

*If I said sex in stead of intimacy do you think I'll get loads of traffic like those sex bloggers. If I do then I may have to start a sex blog, write a book, and pay off the mortgage.

**Yes I bloody well do mind and you’ll have to forgive me if I’m now a bit grumpy….