Friday, May 27, 2005

For My Next Trick

A posting at last, and well overdue. How has work been? Each week appears to blend into the next. The working week has never passed by so quickly, and it is not as if the job is repetitive in any sense. Weekly tasks can be rather tedious but they do not bother me. Work is the one constant that consumes all my energy at the moment and I remain focused to the cause. If I keep plugging away, I may eventually get the breakthrough that I have long for. Until then, it is simply a case of binding my time and meeting each challenge with unnerved ambitious dedication.

My next test is as soon as Tuesday next week. Four days covering the help desk on my own. While this should not pose a major problem for a man of my ability, there are many things to consider. Firstly this is my first official opportunity to prove myself. In early January, I had to work two consecutive days on my own, due to the ill health of my colleagues, but that was more of a case of playing on my ignorance as a new member of staff. This time around the goalposts have moved, drastically. While measures have been put in place to help me cope during the busier periods of the day, I sense that the job will, for the first time become almost unbearable. What I fear the most is not being able to deal with all the calls I receive. The burden of expectations falls heavily upon my shoulders, as does, for once the responsibility.

I hear Ron Grainer's original theme tune to Tales of the Unexpected playing in the background as I write this. I may not know what Tuesday will bring but I will be sure to report back everything in seven days time. There is nothing more to say, apart from wish me luck. Not sure if I can seriously pull this one out of the hat! Even I have limits to my powers!

Monday, May 16, 2005

Manic Monday

Coming into the office, there is the realisation that yet another long working day and week lie ahead. The first thing I do is switch on my PC. Taking a few seconds to boot, I usually login and within a few minutes am catching up on e-mail, looking at my call backlog and putting on my headset. This morning was different, for I was confronted with this screen.

Never before had I seen any PC boot up, with Wingdings font to replace the standard system font, Tahoma. After a discussion with IT and my Manager, I finally got my PC working. Rebooting did not work, and attempting to switch the regional settings did not appear to work either. By going into the Control Panel and viewing the Fonts folder, legible text started to reappear. A final shut down and cold start did the job. Otherwise, I saw the patience of my colleague really being tested with me not helping out answering the phone. Online and oncall, I was back, as I should have been some fifteen minutes before. Later, I would have to get to the bottom of this problem, but that can wait until later in the week. For now, a quick spyware check with Adaware will suffice.

Mondays in their very nature are hectic. Even though I come into the office at a regular office hour, there is always an atmosphere of strong dedication around me. Fingers tapping away on keyboards and the phone being answered in a overtly heavy tone, with the caller trying to disguise the frustration in their voice. The Support mailbox had twelve unread messages waiting, yet there was also the tedious administrative tasks that involves creating various reports and charts. This morning felt as if it would last forever. Problems and major issues to resolve did not help ease the burden of the day. Thankfully, I had a special weapon to get me through the day. Firstly there were some e-mails bounced back and forth between myself and Nazma. Busy day, friends got me through. Then later in the morning, an e-mail from HP. I had been thinking of when she would find the time to reply to message, if ever. So, therefore was presently surprised to hear from her. Then, the early afternoon period after lunch, when you do tend to find yourself slacking, I catch up with another friend on MSN. Then again, perhaps I should not be admitting, some of my misdemeanors within the workplace, in such a public domain, even if I tend to disagree with some of the figures. Please give me some credit for my questionable work ethic.