Work pet peeve

Nothing irritates me more than being copied on emails that are only very slightly related to me. Why waste my time when the topic barely touches on my work and I would therefore, not really care about what transpires in the message exchange. I barely care about the stuff I should care about so that should be an indication on how much I really don't care if there is nothing required of me.

Boredom returns!

Well, I am back to writing posts here so that can only mean one thing. Yep, you guessed it. Boredom has returned to my work life. For the past many months work has been fullfilling busy and I have not had time to spend jotting down the insignificance of my life. That has changed again, perhaps only for a short time, but as long as I don't let the boredom numb my mind I will write again.

I'm having a movie kinda day

Coworker talking to someone else: I don't like today
I quielty mumbled a phrase from Empire Records: What's with today, today?
Then chuckled.

Reading someone's last name, Hancock, my mind went right to a Tommy Boy quote.
Can't recal who said this: Mr Callahan, I need your John Hancock on these reports.
Tommy Boy replies: John Hancock. It's Herbie Hancock...

And it continues. Given that there are lots of inconsistencies and lack of direction given to me to perform my job I like to be remain annonymous to as many coworkers as I can. Today someone came to a co-worker and was directed to me. I almost responded to my co-worker that I am and want to remain like the great Oz, unseen.

Yes I am quickly losing my sanity here.

The wait is over

Tuesday the wait finally came to an end as the new system began. Yesterday was busy with testing and today and tomorrow should be more of the same as I we make sure the system functions correctly and I try to set the basic framework for managing the data. It is good to finally get to work on a new system so it is kind of unfortunate my last days are here. Hopefully I have enough time to get the basics done or they are gonna be screwed when I leave. It will be tough enough even with the basics in place.

The waiting continues

Until Tuesday. I have one more day of extreme boredom to get through before I get something to do. On the bright side, I can count my days left on one hand.

More things I am not going to miss

Since I have time on my hands, here are some things I am not going to miss while I am off work. Driving to the GO station and hoping the train is on time; the constant pounding of elbows and bags into my side, arms and legs while riding the train; the other annoyances public transit offers, i.e. smells, loud obnoxious people...; getting to work and having nothing to do; working with idiots; taking the train home and hoping it is on time; taking the train home and hoping I actually get home; and those inconsiderate drivers at the GO parking lots.

So in general, I am not going to miss a damn thing about my work / commute while I am off. This is not to say I am going to thoroughly enjoy the five months with screaming kids and never wish I was at work. Nope, I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying I am not going to miss coming to this workplace.

Playing the waiting game

Got to work today in hopes of starting implementing this new system but as of yet there is no news on this project. I really can't take another day of doing nothing so I really hope this project is ready for me today. Guess I just have to wait and see.

Another day wasted

For a second day in a row I have spent almost the entire day online. Still waiting for this new system to be up and running so I will have work to do but so far nothing. I can't wait to get outta here not just for the day but for my 5 month leave. Another 6 days to go! Hopefully they are a lot easier than the past two.

How quickly a day can turn

The ride in to work was not much fun today so I got to work in a rather foul mood. But then I notice the attendance board is showing all my bosses are away and my mood picks up. I am outta here early. Ten minutes later one of my bosses actually shows up. So much for my leaving early and my good mood. Now I am going to have to pretend to do work today because I really don't have anything to do. This is going to be an excruciatingly long day.

Not much spirit here

Apparently it is St Patrick's Day but one would not know it to look around here. Looking at the people in my little office space here one wouldn't know it was a green day at all. From the 20 or so people here, only myself and one other person is wearing green today. Come to think of it I didn't notice much green on the train ride in either but most people were still had their jackets on (if that would even make a difference).

Where has our spirit gone? Are we so wrapped up in our own little, insignificant lives that we cannot break out of our shell for just one day. Can we not come together in the middle of a work week and celebrate one nation of people, a nation who enjoys the occasional drink, fisticuffs, music, dancing and just life in general? Can we not enjoy one day where we can act silly, dress in any shade of green, drink beer dyed the same colour and hope to share in the Irish luck.

I am not one to go out and act silly but I will definitely get behind a nation of people whose stereotype, whether true or not, is to have fun and enjoy life, even if only for a day. So get out and enjoy the green beer, you might actually have a good time and perhaps you will experience a bit of the Irish luck on this magical day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The calm before the storm

As I await the new system going live, I have very little to do. So little that today I went through my desk taking inventory of anything that belongs to me (and there isn't much, most of which is just going to be tossed when I leave) and then did some filing. Boring as it was it helped the morning not feel overly long. Another ninety minutes and I am off for lunch.

This has to be the calm before the storm as once the new system is up and running then chaos will likely ensue. My boss is so nervous about this one area of my work (for which the new system has been developed) that she is constantly bugging me about parts of it that are really insignificant. With the effort that has been put forth by the person taking over for me while I am away, I can totally understand her nervousness. It will be an interesting 3.5 weeks.

Should be starting now

This is about the time my countdown to freedom chaos and dirty diapers should be starting; however, I am already into my fifth week of counting down. After today I will have 105 actual working hours left. That translates into 15 days or just under 4 weeks. Although I am really looking forward to not coming into work, I am starting to get worried about the taking care of kids part. With some upgraded software being implemented at work soon, my next few weeks should be busy enough at work that time won't seem so painfully long as the first four plus weeks have.

I am not going to miss...

Leaving the house at 6:35 AM and arriving work at 9:20 AM.

This may be the first instalment of many for what I am not going to miss while I am off tending to my kids. May I never need the GO train again after my leave ends.

Way too early

Just as I had thought, I started my countdown way too early. I am struggling to get through a 3 day week. Perhaps next week won't be so hard to get by knowing it is a full week, my first of five full weeks in a row.

252 to go!

252 hours of work to go until I am off and the long weekend is here for me. Monday is Family day so get out to your local CHL rink to catch some cheap hockey fun with the family. Monday is also Canada's flag day so wave those flags proudly. Oh yeah, the Olympics are a day away. Go Canada!

The countdown is on!!!

A few months ago our second child was born and my wife started her maternity leave. Just like with our first child I will be once again sharing the parental leave portion. My leave has recently been approved at work making April 9th my last day.

With nothing else to really look forward to I have already begun my countdown. As of 11 AM today I will have just under 38 actual working days; 263 hours; or 15,780 minutes of ‘actual’ work left until my leave. With plenty of vacation time still to use my actual time here will be far less.

So what if I am a little too excited about leaving this place. Five months off work starting prior to the start of spring and lasting to just before summer officially ends. What a perfect time to not have to work. Even better than not working is not having to take the GO train at all for 5 months. I think I have reason to be this excited. The only downfall: with my countdown starting so early, the last 38 days are going to seem excruciatingly long.

Need more food I think

Fifteen minutes into my lunch and my food is gone. I guess I need to bring more then just a bowl of cereal to eat in the future. If only I could foregolunch to get out of work an hour earlier.....

Be careful what you wish

For the past, oh, let's say three years, I've been wasting my days away at work. Between the rare busy times I would do whatever I could to avoid becoming bored. I would wander around and disturb others who were actually doing work; I would surf the web; and when I was really desperate, I would play around on excel so it sounded like I was working. Of course, I kept a lot of paper scattered on my desk as well to give the illusion I was busy.

At first not being very busy was fun. I was getting paid for nothing. Well, I figured it was work enough just dragging my ass outta bed before the sun crept into view every morning and suffered through the daily commute via the GO train. The past couple years I began to be more vocal about not having much to do and I even began asking others for work. Finally a slow trickle of work began to come my way.

Then we had a change in supervisors and things changed: I was starting to get more work. I received some training that will, or at least should, make moving out of this place easier. Things were starting to look up, or so I thought. With my increased workload also came a constant shadowing by my supervisor. Everyday she seems to be at my desk as soon as I get in and starts bugging me about some sort of work that I really don't care about and really is important enough that it couldn't wait until I got settled. I need time to acclimatize myself to the office every morning. She then returns a few times throughout the day as if checking up on me. Seriously, am I 2 or something?

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the increased work. My clock watching has stopped and my days are not dragging into oblivion like they once did, at least for the most part. I just wish the work came without an annoying shadow. Ah well, I wasted an hour of today so perhaps it is time to get something done.

Question for the day

What's the difference between me and a trained monkey?

Answer:
People would pay to see a trained monkey do the work I do.

I was thinking...

...not very hard mind you, if I messed around with the contrast on the display for the copier most people I work with probably wouldn't know how to correct it and would spend far too long trying to figure it out.