This week:
- Half of the company relocated into the never-been-used wing, freshly remodeled
- 2/3 of the company came to work Monday to brand-new computers I set up over the weekend
- 2/3 of the company discovered they now had MS Office 2007 and panicked
- Daylight savings time took place
- Quickbooks updated until it couldn’t talk to the check writing software anymore
- MS Exchange Server filled up our server’s harddrive with log files. Without room, the server crashed
- All the normal “My computer scares me because I didn’t pay attention” issues
- The sky fell
I spent time over the weekend setting up and playtesting computers. I stole everyone’s documents, recent documents, Outlook settings, desktop shortcuts, and applied them to the new computers, so they wouldn’t be entirely in alien environments. I clawed a gig of space on the HD, and Monday morning had discovered the solution to removing the log files; it required downtime, so I manufactured a way to log into the server after hours, and cleaned it up overnight. I found, downloaded, set up, playtested, and instructed the use of new check writing software. I wrote three procedures for future crises. I discovered two catastrophes waiting to happen, defanged them, and wrote another procedure.
The stampede of crisis is still thundering on, and I am standing on the back of the lead mare, pulling on her mane to steer her and baring my teeth into the wind. I have never been so on top of my game without having a clue about what I am doing — beyond an understanding of the computer users, allowing me to anticipate the panicks, and an understanding of the computer consultants, allowing me to anticipate the lazy thinking.
*thunders off*
EDIT: I have been asked twice about my “I seem to be able to do the job” comment. I’ve had what Kirby calls “Impostor Syndrome”; I know real IT people, and they can perform amazing feats and know astonishing things and can probably reprogram by telepathy. I ain’t one of those. All I brought to this job was a hatful of confidence, office experience with computers, and what Aberdeen would enjoy me calling “a knowledge of the psychology of the individual”.
I guess that I’m just astonished that those are all it takes to be successful at this job, at this level.
That Kirby, he’s one smart cookie.
After you fake it for long enough, though, you’ll find that you actually have a large number of the skills too. Sort of Aristotilean virtue, applied.
In fact, that Kirby is a clever, clever boy, and fun to play with, as well.
Ah, that’s where you’ve been.
It is. Who’dat?
Maybe your boss? That would be funny.
In fact, it would be. Irony is, frequently, the color of my actions….