Entries Tagged 'Work' ↓

Orange sticks in people’s minds. Our new CE has been on board about 3 weeks and is slowly getting to know staff – except for me (he’s come to know who I am very quickly) as I’ve subjected him to orange very early on by sending my boss up for her introductory meeting with some material for him printed on orange paper. Just a few moments ago he made a special visit to the 5th floor, and a special visit to my desk to say that he’d seen a piece in the Wellingtonian last night about fashion and that orange was ‘in’. So – can’t say I have the attention of the CE because of nepotism any more!!!

Had a bit of a ‘passionate’ discussion with the new IT Manager yesterday. He’s out canvassing knowledge on work systems and processes and generally finding out what type of ‘IT’ resources are lurking in the organisation. Apparently several people had pointed him towards me, describing me with phrases such as ‘provides support for the whole floor’ (55 people!), ‘always follows up on everything’, ‘great at finding solutions’ … felt a bit embarrassed really!

Anyway, we talked about a range of things from what Business Analyst in the context of this organisation and my role means, to where I’d worked and what I’d been doing before coming here, to what I’d do if I was in charge of our website. He also asked probative questions like ‘what really pisses you off about any IT system or process right now?’, ‘do you think steering groups really work’ and ‘why are people here so reluctant to make decisions?’ Perhaps after being on jury service I found my voice because I had lots of constructive replies to his questions!

Afterwards he thanked me for the time taken to meet with him – he said he’s found it very valuable and “I like the whole orange thing you’ve got going, it’s really a statement. Also it’s great to finally talk to someone who’s not afraid to be honest and say what no-one else will say and someone’s who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and take part.”

The whole thing left me in a bit of an adrenaline rush so I had to go out and get a coffee.

It was a good work day.

Been a bit tardy with my blog over the last 18 hours due to being moved into the corner spot at work … my computer was delayed a day and was stuck right out in the open with no privacy … quite the opposite now 🙂

It’s incredibly rare that I would read an entire newspaper article, especially one online, but I just got distracted while doing some press release-related research for work, by this hilarious tongue-in-cheek article on the ridiculous extremes health and safety could be taken to.

Actually chuckled out loud in a few places  – from the NZ Herald December 2003 (which incidentally does not have such obnoxious jumping adverts thereby making it much easier to concentrate on the article longer than the first two lines).

Umm. Yes.

I love summer stone-fruit: nectarines, apricots, plums… although things get rather tricky at work. I don’t mean squirty juice – I’m quite good with that anyway. I mean the bits that get stuck in your teeth. I have started a routine of having to rush to the bathroom immediately after eating to check my teeth. Lucky I checked just before … post Black Doris plum … it looked like I’d just recently ripped someone’s heart out and eaten it! Roll on apple season…

Found myself in a very unusual situation today when someone came to ask me where a document was that I’m preparing, and when would I be done with it as people were asking for it! God it felt strange. My heart rate went up and I feel very guilty! However it’s a functional spec I am writing for another department on top of my regular job so I have permission from up on high for the preparation of the document to be slow and in my own time.  Nevertheless I felt terrible and hunkered down and finished it this afternoon instead of getting out there and enjoying the sun now that the endless fog seems to have finally lifted. I’m sure it’s widely known that being white and pasty in the summer is fashionable …

Nothing like coming back to work after lovely lazy days over Christmas to face a New Year and a new desk! Makes for an excellent fresh start. I have yet to fully orangeise the space but voila, my new cubby. Far less exciting view, but far more space.

Well, the person down the way has finally become a grandparent. I’m very troubled though by grandparent pride. Is there nothing in the world that a person’s child can do to make them more proud than having a child themselves? I’m not talking about cluckiness and the fact that there’s another baby in their lives (in an indirect way), and the miracle of watching that child grow. I’m talking about the ultimate achievement that seems to round off a person’s life, only making their life a true ‘success’ when they have a child. Makes you wonder, if you don’t have a child, if your achievements in life are rated at all by your parents. Well, I’m sure they are, but they’re not on the universal life-defining scale.

Maybe I’m in the wrong job. Ever since I left IT to work in the environmental sector I’ve been unsure if that feeling in the pit of my stomach has been an ongoing tug to get back into IT work.

Yesterday I was asked to devote some time to writing a functional specification for some enhancements to a system I project managed a year ago. Back then I was in heaven – I’d only been in my environmental job 2 months when I was asked to work on this development project. That work ended 8 months ago.

However, today I’ve begun writing the function specification for the enhancements. Oh how energised I feel. How I love reading the screeds of text that flow from my fingers which almost comes as second nature when you know a system, know what you’re writing about and why, and feel confident that what you’re doing is what’s expected and is going to be absolutely critical to a successful solution. In 3.5 hours I feel like I have achieved more than I have done in the last 8 months.

Is IT my true calling?