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Not getting much done, but lots happening
- Thread starter Gadget Girl
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- life stuff
Well, I did it. I made it through my first half week at my new job (started on Wednesday). A little sadly, I've decided this job is probably just going to be a stepping stone for me, meaning although there's a lot for me to learn, and it will be good for my resume, I don't see myself staying long term. I might be judging things a little harshly, but my gut tells me overtime the people I'm working with (specifically the other IT people) will drive me crazy. They aren't terrible people or anything, they are however stereotypical parodies of IT people.
To begin with I think I lost nerd points with them because I was not as obsessed with May the 4th as they were (which by the way, just saw the awesome Start Wars images that many of you posted, and those are amazing). See, I totally get using May the 4th as an excuse/inspiration to make some Star Wars art. But just going around all day saying "It's Star Wars day," is kind of boring. And they weren't even talking about the movies or anything, just walking around the office telling everyone it was Star Wars day (they did set the movies to play in the lunchroom).
The reason I say this lost me nerd points, is because yesterday a conversation started between two of my co-workers. I share a desk with one of them, and another one came up and they began talking comic book movies, something I love (along with comic books, although I don't actively collect/read them anymore, but I did for about 10 years as an adult). So I tried to join in the conversation, but sort of felt awkwardly on the edge of it. And then one who was visiting my desk said to the other one, "Do you want to know a spoiler for the end of Guardian's of the Galaxy 2?" I immediately said no. The other guy didn't really respond, and the first guy asked again, and again I said no, and he went ahead and said it anyway. Now to be fair, it wasn't any kind of big spoiler, and it might not even be real because it was something he found online, he hadn't seen the movie yet, but it's the principle of the thing.
On the other hand, I'll probably get along great with the people we are supporting. The other IT people seem to have an 'us vs. them' attitude towards the rest of the company (which is an ad agency). I was working with one guy as I'm learning the ins and outs of how their e-mail/calendar system is setup run, and we were trying to help a user with a shared calendar issue. What she wanted to do wasn't quite possible because of how the system is setup, but instead of helping her figure out how best to accomplish what her team needs, the guy I was working with said "I think you're overusing your calendar." Um okay? She's trying to use the calendar so everyone on her team knowns what's happening when. What's a calendar system on a computer for if not that?
But there's a lot to learn, which is good, and who knows, maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe this will end up being wonderful because I'll be the favorite IT person who actually cares about helping people, vs. the others who make it seem like it's always the user's fault, like it's their job to understand how the e-mail servers work. It's not as fast paced as I thought it would be, so once I have the internal systems down, I'm totally okay if everyone comes to me because it will give me something to do, because it's pretty slow. And if suddenly it gets busy, I do know how to prioritize and get people helped faster. But if I'm doing nothing else, why not spend extra time with someone?
To begin with I think I lost nerd points with them because I was not as obsessed with May the 4th as they were (which by the way, just saw the awesome Start Wars images that many of you posted, and those are amazing). See, I totally get using May the 4th as an excuse/inspiration to make some Star Wars art. But just going around all day saying "It's Star Wars day," is kind of boring. And they weren't even talking about the movies or anything, just walking around the office telling everyone it was Star Wars day (they did set the movies to play in the lunchroom).
The reason I say this lost me nerd points, is because yesterday a conversation started between two of my co-workers. I share a desk with one of them, and another one came up and they began talking comic book movies, something I love (along with comic books, although I don't actively collect/read them anymore, but I did for about 10 years as an adult). So I tried to join in the conversation, but sort of felt awkwardly on the edge of it. And then one who was visiting my desk said to the other one, "Do you want to know a spoiler for the end of Guardian's of the Galaxy 2?" I immediately said no. The other guy didn't really respond, and the first guy asked again, and again I said no, and he went ahead and said it anyway. Now to be fair, it wasn't any kind of big spoiler, and it might not even be real because it was something he found online, he hadn't seen the movie yet, but it's the principle of the thing.
On the other hand, I'll probably get along great with the people we are supporting. The other IT people seem to have an 'us vs. them' attitude towards the rest of the company (which is an ad agency). I was working with one guy as I'm learning the ins and outs of how their e-mail/calendar system is setup run, and we were trying to help a user with a shared calendar issue. What she wanted to do wasn't quite possible because of how the system is setup, but instead of helping her figure out how best to accomplish what her team needs, the guy I was working with said "I think you're overusing your calendar." Um okay? She's trying to use the calendar so everyone on her team knowns what's happening when. What's a calendar system on a computer for if not that?
But there's a lot to learn, which is good, and who knows, maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe this will end up being wonderful because I'll be the favorite IT person who actually cares about helping people, vs. the others who make it seem like it's always the user's fault, like it's their job to understand how the e-mail servers work. It's not as fast paced as I thought it would be, so once I have the internal systems down, I'm totally okay if everyone comes to me because it will give me something to do, because it's pretty slow. And if suddenly it gets busy, I do know how to prioritize and get people helped faster. But if I'm doing nothing else, why not spend extra time with someone?
Not to demean anything you mentioned about your nerdy co-workers, I happen to be watching the Star Wars marathon on TV as I write this. Not sure why I am, as I own all 6 of the movies, but there's nothing else on TV, so I figured why not.
As far as the "spoiler", if you said no, why was the question asked again, or was that because your desk-mate didn't respond the first time? Personally, I'm not fond of anyone who doesn't take "no" for an answer.
Meanwhile, learn all you can, and help all the folks you can, and see how it goes down the road. It may turn out you actually like working there once you've settled in.
As far as the "spoiler", if you said no, why was the question asked again, or was that because your desk-mate didn't respond the first time? Personally, I'm not fond of anyone who doesn't take "no" for an answer.
Meanwhile, learn all you can, and help all the folks you can, and see how it goes down the road. It may turn out you actually like working there once you've settled in.
McGyver
Energetic
Sorry to hear that the new job is just more of a stepping stone....
But you know what they say about stepping stones...
"Not only do they elevate you from the muck below, and provide a convenient path to better things... But you can always pull them out and throw them at people who annoy you."
Realistically nobody says that except me and I pretty much just made that up, but it's a valid concept worth exploring...
Sorta...
I hear you about the "nerd points"...
Which is weird because I'm reading this and I have no idea what your voice sounds like, so I'm just gonna chalk that up to the old helmet that fell off the shelf before and landed on my head...
Which is sort of ironic because I've been told they are supposed to prevent head injuries...
But yeah, don't worry about scoring nerd points
For some reason, I've never gotten any nerd points from any nerds...
Even though I know a lot about and both like and appreciate science fiction and fantasy, I don't go bonkers over it...
Maybe it's the merchandising, maybe it's that the whole of time and space and rest of the real universe is far weirder and stupider than science fiction and fantasy can even imagine or it's people doing stuff like naming their kid "Skeletor"...
I dunno...
And you never know how to please a Nerdian...
Sorry, Fan...
That's too broad a net for nerds, and besides, Nerdians are nomadic six limbed herbivores from Nerda in the Shidoos system...
Nice people if you can get past the constant release of methane and the persistent ammonia smell.
Fans will see a movie and either hate it or love it.... They'll love Marvel, but god forbid they didn't find Thor's portrayal believable in the latest film...
Well, God forbid you weren't mortified by it and you said "it was a fun movie"...
It's like you farted loudly at a funeral, then jumped up on the coffin wearing a neon pink sombrero and started doing a jig...
Or worse yet, you said "I liked it" when they loved it... Thats like being interviewed at the Metropolitan Opera and being asked what you thought of the recent opening of Cyrano de Bergerac, and saying "It was neat... I liked it"....
Instead of, "I'm ecstatic that the sheer brilliance of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play has survived intact in Henri Cain’s libretto, and that both leads poured so much heart and intelligence into their performances that I left humbled and grateful for the experience."
I personally would've made that last part "I left so humbled and grateful I peed my pants... And I'm talking a lot... You really might want to send someone over there with a shop vac... Quick too, because I ate some asparagus earlier and... Ah, just hurry..."
I give terrible interviews...
Just think of how elite high class intellectual society would be all atwitter with your philistine commentary...
Never mind mine...
It's not much different with fans...
You have to name your daughter Anakin and have pictures of her dressed in a Wookie onesie or else you are science fiction philistine...
I probably prickled up a few fans, because I said Anakin as a girls name and Wookie onesie, and they were like "Anakin was the chosen one and he was a guy, and why would you dress someone named Anakin as a Wookie instead of Darth Vader... Philistine!
I like doing stuff like that to fans when I know better... It more fun than peeing on the upholstery at the Met...
They won't let me in there anymore.
If you ever go there, in back of the guy at the ticket booth, there is a picture of me...
In the 90s I was known as the "Phantom Piddler of the Opera"...
As far as you fitting in... It's only a week and nobody has obviously tried to murder you, so that's a good sign...
Let me tell you it's hard to go a week without at least on person trying to off you...
Well, me... But I'm assuming other people have that problem too.
They probably all like you and are too proud or dumb to make it noticeable.
Give it a few weeks and study their behavior, their likes and dislikes...
Just don't use one of those big magnifying glasses while you are doing it, that's a big giveaway that you are studying someone, and they often become suspicious...
Once you get used to them and their funny smells you'll probably like them and they you...
I'm betting in another week they'll offer to let you do a ceremonial territory marking.
If you are lucky, at least one of them will have built a secret love shrine to you in the broom closet by the bathroom...
It's always nice when that happens.
Creepy, but nice.
As far as the rest of the team having the "us VS them" mentality, I'm sure you've come across that before in IT... Most people tend to be impatient or unaware of what IT does and they ruin the relationship between the groups...
But that's with many professions...
As an industrial model maker, I'd often get caught between the designers and the engineers... Both of whom think the other is killing their groove... When the truth is they are both big pains in the ass who don't want to compromise...
Don't worry about that sort of stuff... Be you.
Unless there is something frightening you haven't told us, you seem like a nice person and will probably be likable by both side... Maybe not the accounting department because I hear they are a bunch of evil ferrets, but you should do fine otherwise.
There is a lot to be said for just being you... I'm pretty sure it's why nobody invites me to barbecues or birthday parties anymore, but the good feeling you get get knowing you weren't being a phony is priceless.
Unless it ruins your life in which case, I suppose there is some quantifiable price that can be assigned to it...
Whatever...
Just take it one day at a time... Assuming you don't own a time machine, in which case you should just shoot forward a couple of months and see how you are doing and try and not wreck the timeline again.
I'm not saying you did last time, but have you read the news lately?
Seriously stop using that thing or step on less butterflies.
Now the Ray Bradbury fans are pissed that I'm using that reference, while the Johann Gottlieb Fichte fans are sighing because he noted the basic concept first and the Edward Lornez fans are shouting that this is all poorly misinterpreted.
Fans...
Either way, it'll be a stepping stone that you can wield as a skull crushing implement of justice, or a fun place to work until something better comes along.
I hope.
Have fun.
EDITED TO ADD... About the spoiler dude... I find squirting mustard into the eyes of a person violating the no spoilers rules an appropriate deterrent for future spoilerifications...
But use that at you your discretion.
But you know what they say about stepping stones...
"Not only do they elevate you from the muck below, and provide a convenient path to better things... But you can always pull them out and throw them at people who annoy you."
Realistically nobody says that except me and I pretty much just made that up, but it's a valid concept worth exploring...
Sorta...
I hear you about the "nerd points"...
Which is weird because I'm reading this and I have no idea what your voice sounds like, so I'm just gonna chalk that up to the old helmet that fell off the shelf before and landed on my head...
Which is sort of ironic because I've been told they are supposed to prevent head injuries...
But yeah, don't worry about scoring nerd points
For some reason, I've never gotten any nerd points from any nerds...
Even though I know a lot about and both like and appreciate science fiction and fantasy, I don't go bonkers over it...
Maybe it's the merchandising, maybe it's that the whole of time and space and rest of the real universe is far weirder and stupider than science fiction and fantasy can even imagine or it's people doing stuff like naming their kid "Skeletor"...
I dunno...
And you never know how to please a Nerdian...
Sorry, Fan...
That's too broad a net for nerds, and besides, Nerdians are nomadic six limbed herbivores from Nerda in the Shidoos system...
Nice people if you can get past the constant release of methane and the persistent ammonia smell.
Fans will see a movie and either hate it or love it.... They'll love Marvel, but god forbid they didn't find Thor's portrayal believable in the latest film...
Well, God forbid you weren't mortified by it and you said "it was a fun movie"...
It's like you farted loudly at a funeral, then jumped up on the coffin wearing a neon pink sombrero and started doing a jig...
Or worse yet, you said "I liked it" when they loved it... Thats like being interviewed at the Metropolitan Opera and being asked what you thought of the recent opening of Cyrano de Bergerac, and saying "It was neat... I liked it"....
Instead of, "I'm ecstatic that the sheer brilliance of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play has survived intact in Henri Cain’s libretto, and that both leads poured so much heart and intelligence into their performances that I left humbled and grateful for the experience."
I personally would've made that last part "I left so humbled and grateful I peed my pants... And I'm talking a lot... You really might want to send someone over there with a shop vac... Quick too, because I ate some asparagus earlier and... Ah, just hurry..."
I give terrible interviews...
Just think of how elite high class intellectual society would be all atwitter with your philistine commentary...
Never mind mine...
It's not much different with fans...
You have to name your daughter Anakin and have pictures of her dressed in a Wookie onesie or else you are science fiction philistine...
I probably prickled up a few fans, because I said Anakin as a girls name and Wookie onesie, and they were like "Anakin was the chosen one and he was a guy, and why would you dress someone named Anakin as a Wookie instead of Darth Vader... Philistine!
I like doing stuff like that to fans when I know better... It more fun than peeing on the upholstery at the Met...
They won't let me in there anymore.
If you ever go there, in back of the guy at the ticket booth, there is a picture of me...
In the 90s I was known as the "Phantom Piddler of the Opera"...
As far as you fitting in... It's only a week and nobody has obviously tried to murder you, so that's a good sign...
Let me tell you it's hard to go a week without at least on person trying to off you...
Well, me... But I'm assuming other people have that problem too.
They probably all like you and are too proud or dumb to make it noticeable.
Give it a few weeks and study their behavior, their likes and dislikes...
Just don't use one of those big magnifying glasses while you are doing it, that's a big giveaway that you are studying someone, and they often become suspicious...
Once you get used to them and their funny smells you'll probably like them and they you...
I'm betting in another week they'll offer to let you do a ceremonial territory marking.
If you are lucky, at least one of them will have built a secret love shrine to you in the broom closet by the bathroom...
It's always nice when that happens.
Creepy, but nice.
As far as the rest of the team having the "us VS them" mentality, I'm sure you've come across that before in IT... Most people tend to be impatient or unaware of what IT does and they ruin the relationship between the groups...
But that's with many professions...
As an industrial model maker, I'd often get caught between the designers and the engineers... Both of whom think the other is killing their groove... When the truth is they are both big pains in the ass who don't want to compromise...
Don't worry about that sort of stuff... Be you.
Unless there is something frightening you haven't told us, you seem like a nice person and will probably be likable by both side... Maybe not the accounting department because I hear they are a bunch of evil ferrets, but you should do fine otherwise.
There is a lot to be said for just being you... I'm pretty sure it's why nobody invites me to barbecues or birthday parties anymore, but the good feeling you get get knowing you weren't being a phony is priceless.
Unless it ruins your life in which case, I suppose there is some quantifiable price that can be assigned to it...
Whatever...
Just take it one day at a time... Assuming you don't own a time machine, in which case you should just shoot forward a couple of months and see how you are doing and try and not wreck the timeline again.
I'm not saying you did last time, but have you read the news lately?
Seriously stop using that thing or step on less butterflies.
Now the Ray Bradbury fans are pissed that I'm using that reference, while the Johann Gottlieb Fichte fans are sighing because he noted the basic concept first and the Edward Lornez fans are shouting that this is all poorly misinterpreted.
Fans...
Either way, it'll be a stepping stone that you can wield as a skull crushing implement of justice, or a fun place to work until something better comes along.
I hope.
Have fun.
EDITED TO ADD... About the spoiler dude... I find squirting mustard into the eyes of a person violating the no spoilers rules an appropriate deterrent for future spoilerifications...
But use that at you your discretion.
I definitely intend to learn a lot. I've also found that when I'm talking to them one on one, I like them better, but I'm definitely on the outside when it's a group.
Oh I love Star Wars. Remember before any of the new movies came out and the re-released the originals in theaters. Well a theatre where I lived had all three playing. My last day before I went to Boot Camp, I bought tickets to all three movies and watched them in order in the theaters. So I love Star Wars, and I loved some of the recent fan art I saw. I just get bored by saying May the Fourth all the time.
Funny thing, the two guys were talking about how they would indoctrinate their children into being nerds and the various Star Wars costumes they already had for their children. Not that I find anything wrong with that. My niece and I had been talking earlier in the year about going to our local Comic Con and the costumes we might do. We were thinking that I would go as Melesandra, she would be Margery Tyrell, and she was talking about making costumes for her daughters as well so the youngest one who's still in the hard core princess phase could be Sansa, and the older one whose happy to be a tough girl could be Arya. Of course she doesn't let her young children watch Game of Thrones. . . so I'm not sure what they would think of those costumes but still had we gotten our acts together it would have been fun.
How did you know that? I mean sure on day one I made sure I knew how to tap into the surveillance feeds, and added a few 'discreet' cameras of my own, but how did you log in?
Also funny story. I'm too short to get out of the server room. I'm not sure why the only way to leave the server room is to trigger a motion detector, but if I don't wave my arms widely above my head before I try to open the door I got locked in.
Yeah, sorry about that. I really just couldn't wait for the new season of Game of Thrones. In retrospect though, still worth it. You won't believe what happens.
McGyver
Energetic
Ah, short people are great...
Sure they can only press the elevator buttons for the lowest and highest floors for you if your hands are full, but who will notice the hungry alligator under the table first?
I don't think tall people who don't fall down a lot can say that...
And judging from your mention of boot camp, which I'm guessing was not a wilderness footwear adventure, you probably know not being tall can save your life...
Too many thing to take your head off in that game if you don't notice them coming at you, and if you are shorter, you have a better chance of only getting your hair messed up as opposed to having to find and reattach your head.
I like short people... My wife and her family are short and it gives me endless comic material... mostly at my expense, examples include parking or moving my father in law's car without changing the seats from the hobbit setting and banging my head, or getting stuck... Having to bend down to look in a mirror... Smashing my head into stuff they mount at my forehead level... Shower heads, cabinet doors, clothes racks... Fun stuff.
I once worked at a med lab where there were these two doors, one was a storage room and the other was an empty office, and for some reason which nobody knew, the doorknobs were at shoulder height... I saw that and was like, "What the hell... You guys hate short people?"...
The funny part was both rooms were pretty much empty and unused, but space was always needed, yet they didn't use the rooms because of the doorknob height...
I commented "You know those things come off and can be replaced... Right?"
But nobody wanted to bother dealing with the maintenance guy whose job it was to fix stuff like that.
Maybe at one time they had a gnome problem or they wanted to keep Danny Devito out of those rooms, but it was just weird...
Well, sort of... There is some Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode where they notice the same thing in the background.
I guess it's a thing for some reason.
But anyway, if its a real big problem tripping those sensors, you could start wearing stovepipe hats... I've been trying to get them back in fashion lately, but nobody's buying that... Come, didn't Abraham Lincoln look cool back in his vampire hunting days?
Other options are... a witch hat, really big 80s hair, a pet weasel that stands on your head, devil horn prosthetics, a cone head hat... Or a stick... And sticks are fairly cheap and great for whacking stuff or people who get in your way.
Next time someone (besides me) makes a short comment, just tell them, "Hey... Short is the new tall".
Or whack them with the sensor stick...
Sure they can only press the elevator buttons for the lowest and highest floors for you if your hands are full, but who will notice the hungry alligator under the table first?
I don't think tall people who don't fall down a lot can say that...
And judging from your mention of boot camp, which I'm guessing was not a wilderness footwear adventure, you probably know not being tall can save your life...
Too many thing to take your head off in that game if you don't notice them coming at you, and if you are shorter, you have a better chance of only getting your hair messed up as opposed to having to find and reattach your head.
I like short people... My wife and her family are short and it gives me endless comic material... mostly at my expense, examples include parking or moving my father in law's car without changing the seats from the hobbit setting and banging my head, or getting stuck... Having to bend down to look in a mirror... Smashing my head into stuff they mount at my forehead level... Shower heads, cabinet doors, clothes racks... Fun stuff.
I once worked at a med lab where there were these two doors, one was a storage room and the other was an empty office, and for some reason which nobody knew, the doorknobs were at shoulder height... I saw that and was like, "What the hell... You guys hate short people?"...
The funny part was both rooms were pretty much empty and unused, but space was always needed, yet they didn't use the rooms because of the doorknob height...
I commented "You know those things come off and can be replaced... Right?"
But nobody wanted to bother dealing with the maintenance guy whose job it was to fix stuff like that.
Maybe at one time they had a gnome problem or they wanted to keep Danny Devito out of those rooms, but it was just weird...
Well, sort of... There is some Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode where they notice the same thing in the background.
I guess it's a thing for some reason.
But anyway, if its a real big problem tripping those sensors, you could start wearing stovepipe hats... I've been trying to get them back in fashion lately, but nobody's buying that... Come, didn't Abraham Lincoln look cool back in his vampire hunting days?
Other options are... a witch hat, really big 80s hair, a pet weasel that stands on your head, devil horn prosthetics, a cone head hat... Or a stick... And sticks are fairly cheap and great for whacking stuff or people who get in your way.
Next time someone (besides me) makes a short comment, just tell them, "Hey... Short is the new tall".
Or whack them with the sensor stick...