It's starting to look serious

I guess The 'B is actually moving this weekend. No more delays. It starts tomorrow the 28th, and runs over the weekend. Theoretically we should be able to "hit the ground running" on Monday, but I'm sure there will be some snags. Hell, I can't even move myself without some snags; an entire company of 100+ people surely can't go as smoothly as all would like.

There are moving crates all around the building. Mostly all filled as I type this. I have two myself. One is filled up and ready to go. The other is on hold. Here's one potential snag already. The rest of the company has been asked to be packed and ready, and to leave the building by noon tomorrow. However, due to the fact that the new phone systems won't be up in the new building until at least Monday, TSC will be here in Westwood for the rest of Friday, Saturday, and potentially some of next week. If we can't answer the phones, for the most part we can't work. So that's a bit of an issue for us: we don't really know where we're going to be working on Monday yet. It has also been mentioned that we could potentially work out of our Data Center in Needham, but that seems unlikely as one of our phone lines doesn't work there, as well as the pesky fact that we don't have access to get in.

There's also a chance that we could be asked to work on Saturday in the Braintree office. We may be asked to help with getting the office ready. Which is to say, probably largely just going in and setting up people's computers. I actually don't mind if we do get asked, (especially if I can possibly sleep in and go in a little later), because the OT would be nice. Also the fact that I have not seen the new building yet, so it would be cool to get in there and see what's what.

However, speaking of the new building, the most recent pictures I've seen (which were from the 26th) shows that it still seems to need a LOT of work. It doesn't quite look ready for habitation. The TSC office, for example, doesn't even have desk surfaces set up yet. (Note: I just rechecked and there are new pictures from this morning; while we still don't have desk surfaces, we do now have the cubicle walls up.)

Also regarding the new building, we need new badges. We don't have those yet. So...how are we getting in?

The kitchen here at Westwood closed last Friday. They've been providing some free muffins/bagels/etc. but they are no longer cooking anything. As a side note, I was thinking this morning about how this, and based on what the deal is with the new cafeteria in the Braintree building, may actually mean a change in my diet. For example, I'm relatively assured that the new caf will not be as cheap as the one here in Westwood was, so I'd be less likely to use it for that fact. Not to mention, I don't even know what their menu or quality will be like. So, I could be brown bagging it more often. That would mean simpler breakfasts (fruit or maybe instant oatmeals or such), and to keep it from geting boring, maybe a little more variety for lunch than just sandwiches. For instance, last night I whipped up a batch of Imperial Chicken (a Cuban chicken and rice casserole, the recipe for which I got from my brother-in-law's mother via my sister) and not only am I eating it for lunch today, but I have enough leftover to carry me well into next week. I forsee perhaps some new stews and chilis in my future as well. Perhaps salads? And anything else that can be tuperwared.

I'm sure it'll also be a little strange being in a shared building as well. As long as I've worked here, we've always had an entire building for ourselves. Now we have "roommates".

That's pretty much all I have right now. I'll probably have more to report after the weekend.

Caution: Work Related Content

It's still slow around here. No change there. The holidays are just a slow time in general though, so that's not really much of a surprise.

However, a conversation at our daily morning meeting got me thinking.

There are five people that work here at the Help Desk. For broad generalization purposes, I'll put them into two groups: Level 1 and Level 2. Level 1 are the newer people here, that maybe haven't yet developed the full range of skills. There are two of those. Level 2 are those people that have been here longer, have more knowledge, and are likely Subject Matter Experts in something. There are three of those, including myself.

(Note: my subject matter expertise comes in the form of the 'B's WEB-Direct, which is our XML-related application. At the time I was assigned by my manager to start working with this application, I thought I was getting gipped. One of the other Level 2s was working with much bigger products at the time, and the other was working with the IT group. I thought I was getting the dregs. A couple of years later, and I'm the point person at the Help Desk for what is probably the best thing to be the subject matter expert in. It's probably the most technical of our applications. I've got a little coding chops under my belt. And we currently in the midst of a major project with that application for whom I'm pretty much the big cheese in my department. So it turned out OK.)

Anyway, the other two Level 2s have long since had company cell phones, and the ability to connect remotely from home. I never had either thing until recently. (I just recently got a new laptop that I can connect from home with.) And, for the most part, I did not much care. While I don't hate my job (unless it's a bad day), I'm also not particularly super-motivated to "climb the corporate ladder". That left me out of the contact chain for weekend calls. However, this morning at the meeting, the subject came up of upgrading the two people with the cell phones to Blackberries. And then, maybe as a result, giving the cell phones to myself and one other guy.

Now, our manager wouldn't force us to take the cell phones and get in that contact chain. But I considered this for a while. And although I'm probably shooting myself in the foot here, I went and told my manager that if anyone at all was getting upgraded to Blackberries, that I wanted in.

The cons to this are of course that I might now be required to be on call for things.

The pros, however, are better. With our move, and new PCs, and new phone systems coming in, the possibiltiy for the Help Desk folks to telecommute goes up a lot. Of course I'd want in on that. Esecpially after my four and half hour commute home through the snow last week.

However, the real issue, if I'm going to be honest, is the perception. I feel that I am on par, and in some case above, the other Level 2s in terms of ability. I'm not saying this to be haughty; they are both on par, and in some cases above, me in terms of ability as well. The point being that, rightly or wrongly, I realize there is a perception attached to what people are able to do here. They can take escalated calls and sign in from home, so they must be the creme de la creme of the department.

Well I'm here to say: Motherfucker, I'm creme too.

So, it looks like if anyone in the department gets a Blackberry, I'm getting one too. Which, is actually cool on a more basic level: New gadgets!

Bored and Blegh

It must be that time of year. When winter really starts hitting, I just start feeling blegh about everything. If I were to self-diagnose, perhaps it's a touch of the Seasonal Affective Disorder? Which is basically a multisyllabic way of saying, "when it gets crappy out, people feel crappy."

But, whatever you want to call it, it always seems to hit me, so I'm thinking there must be some validity behind it. Once it starts getting colder, drearier, etc. I just seem less motivated to do anything. Getting out of bed in the morning is harder when you know that you'll have to take an extra few minutes geting all those layers on and you'll have to scrape ice off your windshield. I'm not hopeful that this winter will be as mild as last, and I'm sure I'll once again be daydreaming of a life in warmer, more temparate climes.

Work is pretty dull right now. The work is pretty much about the same, and not too terrible. It's just really slow here at this time of year. Lots of sitting around. We've got our move coming up, but that doesn't even seem real. It's already been postponed by two weeks once, and if the picutres of the new building progress are any indication I wouldn't be surprised to have it postponed again. In the meanwhile, all the other buildings around us are being torn down. I predict that 15 minutes after the last person has left the 'B here in Westwood, the wrecking ball will be in the parking lot.

Not much going on in the homefront either. Just kind of chilling; it almost feels like I'm just....waiting. Waiting to see what happens next.

Yep, just no motivation right now.

Boo to winter.