Drinking from the Hydrant

You know it's going to hurt, but you are thirsty.  I get thirsty.  I need the paycheck.  I work in IT -- in a school. 

Grayson (my right hand man & tech support specialist) were talking about the analogy that this job (especially at year-end -- like right now in June) is much like toilet repair.  We used to call it plumbing, but it's just not that nice.  It's making sure the toilets and the pipes connecting them all work like users expect them to.  No one wants a smelly, dirty, clogged toilet -- and no one wants an old, once white, but now yellowing, iBook that smells like bad BO when it gets warmed up and connects to the internet about as fast as a commode plugged up by a youngster who just discovered how to use toilet paper on his own.

The days I plan to do something are the worst.   I think I'm going to work on that New Faculty Handbook due this week, and then my workshop I'm leading next week, and then I'll get the email server in a more reliable state, and finally answer all those parent concerns about student email.  Nope.

Summer sessions start tomorrow and we need all these computers moved from over here to over there.  The air conditioner went out again and half the servers are down.  Because the servers went down, one database won't come back up and the database developer who might be able to help restore it is headed with the family to their summer location out on Martha's Vineyard. 


But no one cares.  No one cares unless things are working.  They say they do, but really, honestly, who cares if the 30mb fiber is about 15X faster than last year's connection to the internet?  When is the last time I called and said thanks to our tech support team at Digital Back Office?  {Hey, if you are reading this, really, Thanks Guys!}

Anyway.... I'm thirsty, time to go get a drink.

Big differences

I wonder why the audience rating is so far from the paid reviewers on this one?

How do you know?

How do you know when people you work with really respect your opinion?  How can we create a team of people who respect each other?  How can we work through opposition and come to an agreement, get past the negative feelings arising out of the opposition, and get to the place we really want to be?  I hope my summer readings (Switch and A Whole New Mind) will help me sort these out.  One of my top three goals for the year is to remind myself often (which hopefully drives me to act on those reminders) that the best place is here, the best time is now, and the best people are those present here and now ~~~ be here now.

Switch

Do people really eat more popcorn (stale popcorn) simply because they were given a bigger bucket?
Is it because of the mindlessness of eating and watching a movie at the same time? Would the same happen in a restaurant? Free dessert? Slightly stale cake?


Read on...

http://www.heathbrothers.com/switch/chapterone.php

Helping Help

Our tech support specialist / help desk expert is on well deserved break today. I'm filling in. I'm reminded that the worst thing to do when you are the primary person on call is to have any expectations about how I'll spend the day.