Menu

work

COVID Diaries Pt. 21

/ , , / , , , , / 0 Comments

Actual normalcy?

Sorry, it’s been a while since I wrote.   I think that might be a good thing because I didn’t have any major things implode in the world to comment on.  That said, there are still a few.

Since the last post, Chauvin was found guilty in the murder trial of George Floyd.  Thank Cthulhu that happened.  If he had gotten off the consequences could have been dire.

Next, I had mentioned mass shootings in the last post.  Nothing has changed there.  No exaggeration, there have been shootings nearly every single day.  The gun culture of this country is just nuts to me.  I don’t mind guns, but the fact that they are so easy to get, even for dangerous people makes no sense.  I won’t get into that now, but I don’t like living in a world where mass shootings are common and no one seems to give a shit.

On the COVID front, 60% of adults have received a vaccine, which is great, but we still have a ways to go.  Before, it was extremely hard to get an appointment, but now it’s relatively easy and many people are just refusing to get it.  Hell, states are even giving away things like money, and yes, even guns as a reward.  The reward should be that you don’t die from a horrible disease, but hey I guess for some people that’s just not enough.  Sigh.

The CDC has come out and said vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks in most situations.   They still urge non-vaccinated people to wear them.  This has given way to tons of maskless people out in the wild.

I used to get mad about the selfishness of people who refused to wear them, now I’m past that.  If they want to refuse the vaccine and go maskless, that’s on them.   If they get COVID I honestly don’t give a shit now.  Reap what you sow.

My whole family is vaccinated and we all wear masks when it makes sense.  If a business wants it, no problem.  If a friend feels more comfortable meeting with masks, so be it.  But it does feel nice knowing that we don’t have to in most situations.

Which leads me to this last weekend.  My good friend Ron hosts a golf outing every Memorial Day weekend.  It’s the one time I play golf a year.  It was so nice to gather with those 40 guys again.  No one had masks, there were handshakes and hugs, and to be honest, it was the first normal thing I had done in well over a year.  That normal feeling was absolutely overwhelming. 

Work is starting to pick up again, and I was reinstated to full salary, which is a huge help.  The past year was so uncertain, and we drained our savings, so it’s nice to build things back up finally.  I’m still fairly burned out, but it will get better.

The IT work never stopped.  We still had to maintain all the systems, make sure all the users could work remotely, and we did it with a fraction of the staff we had before COVID.  My team has been slammed the entire pandemic, and now it’s ramping up even more.  I look forward to when I can hire some more people so the staff that’s still here can get back to their normal.  I tell them, but I really hope that they know I’m sincere when I thank them and tell them how appreciative I am.  I have a killer team, and I’m proud to have worked with them through this.

I haven’t talked much about my mental health through this pandemic, but let’s just say it hasn’t been good.  I’ll write about it at some point, but I’ve had some of my lowest moments the last couple of months.  I have to thank my wife for keeping me somewhat sane, but we even had the worst fight of our lives not too long ago.   We worked through it, but it was a terrible low point for me.

My two best friends have been a big help too.  We’ve been a group chat and keep in touch every day, and we are helping each other through this, but it’s been rough on all of our families.

Please check on your friends and family, even ones that seem okay.  Because I’ll guarantee you that most people are decidedly not okay.

Lastly, today happens to be my 26th wedding anniversary.  I could not ask for a better partner than my wife.  She was the person who looked after the whole family during COVID and I owe her everything.  I’m not sure what any of us would have done without her, and I am eternally grateful.  Happy Anniversary babe, I love you.

On that note, be kind to people, be safe, get vaccinated and let’s truly get back to some semblance of normal.

On Appreciation

/ , / , , / 0 Comments

My pointy hair and I have been thinking about this topic a lot over the last six months and it was finally time to sit down at a keyboard and get it out.appreciation

There are a lot of things that determine job satisfaction in this world.  Money, benefits, being challenged and not bored, work/life balance, commute time and more.  To me however, one of the most important things is simple appreciation for the work that you do.

Now I work in IT.  And in IT you have to have pretty thick skin as generally the only time people tend to talk to, or about IT, is if something is malfunctioning.  Joe Blow can’t get his email or Jane Doe can’t get to her files.  When everything is running smoothly and all systems are at 100% we simply don’t exist.

No one tends to realize how much work goes into maintaining networks, servers, laptops, desktops, tablets, software stacks, phone systems, mobility options, printers, wireless connectivity, software development, security and everything else that a typical IT team deals with.

In addition, we, as IT Professionals, would never fathom that we could do the job of a carpenter, accountant, or a mechanic better than those experts in their fields.  Yet, anyone with a smart phone seems to think they know how to run an IT organization.  It’s frustrating, but it comes with the territory, and most of us in IT have grown to understand this phenomenon and deal with it accordingly.

We have grown to accept the fact that folks rarely show us any appreciation.  It’s kind of a sad reality, but one I know every IT person reading this can relate to in some form.

Now in my role as an IT leader, I try hard to let my team know how much I appreciate the work they do.  I thank them often, and let them know that the work they do matters TO ME.  That I appreciate what they do, and how hard they work, and all the long hours they put in when issues rear their ugly heads.

Now sometimes even within an IT organization, teammates will bicker about each other, and still focus on the bad stuff some people do, without ever considering all the good things a person brings.  This is also detrimental.  Situations aren’t always ideal, and you need to look at the good as well as the bad traits someone may exhibit.   There’s always a tipping point mind you, and bad employees do have to be dealt with, but if no one ever has an appreciation for what others bring to the table, how can they expect to be appreciated themselves?

There’s not much worse than knowing you’ve sweat and bled for something you’ve done and no one gives you any sort of credit for it.

So if you manage a staff, let them know how much their hard work means to you.  And mean it, don’t just say it.  If you work with others, let them know.  Thank them and let them know that their work hasn’t gone unnoticed.  And even random people you deal with, thank them and let them know that you recognize how hard they work.

Simple appreciation that someone works hard to be good at what they do (no matter what it is) goes a very long way.

I like to think I’m a decent manager, and I hope I’ve been good at telling my staff that I really couldn’t do my job without them.  I’ve worn the pointy hair in my current gig for nearly 8 years now, and I am insanely proud of all we’ve accomplished with so little.

I know what we’ve done, and I know how hard everyone worked to get to where we are.  I’m full of gratitude and appreciate for that.  And I try to let them know as much as possible.

How about you?