Office Christmas Party

We had our office Christmas party held last December 14 and I think our HR did a great job with organizing the whole thing. In my years of working for the company, it has been different every time. Last year, it was a show type environment wherein there was Elvis impersonator entertaining us with his rendition of Elvis songs while we were eating lunch from the buffet. Afterwards, there was a hypnotist that did a splendid show of "mind-controlling" a bunch of my colleagues. That was fun.

This year, the theme was Candy Land. HR transformed the office lobby into a candy decorated venue. They said it took about 4000 pieces of edible chocolates and candies to do so on top of the candied apples stren all over the place. Now, that's too much sugar for me. But it was nice. There was no entertainment around but lunch was also good. They had set up the lunch to be in a family type environment wherein everything was on your own table shared with 7 other colleagues.

After lunch, everyone went to the lobby to enjoy the sweets. I only got one piece of chocolate and that was it for me. I guess seeing all those sweet things out there just made me feel full. I wanted to indulge some more but the little man on my shoulder cautioned against it.

We have our own team Christmas Party coming up but that's another tale to tell.

And Again....

It happened again. The same people that caused the issues to our database environment for the last couple of months did the same mistakes again. Not just for this week but for last week as well. And it's only now that I found out just because some user asked some questions. It's really bad if the questions are raised from the users themselves but they're the best indicator of what's going on. It's their data.

But as I said, the same folks who had caused me and the user community a lot of grief the last couple of months did the same thing all over again at the start of this month. I raised the question to them if this is going to be an ongoing thing every month since there has been no real break for me since the first time it happened. Of course I was being sarcastic but someone just had to voice something out.

The sad part is that management is shielding this group from the enduser community and I'm the one being pounded day in and day out by the users. Like I'm the one to be blamed for the whole mess. Right now, I feel numb on that. Two months of pounding can't really hurt anymore after awhile.

I get an email from Monster.com on job openings everyday and I have to say it's been looking really tempting as the days go by. I hate to start the job hunting process though since I know that I will follow through the whole thing if I start it. Maybe I'll just wait a few more poundings.

I guess you can call me a masochist.

I Spoke Too Soon

I spoke too soon. Just when the dust started settling down at the office, another "scheduled" change was implemented over the weekend which had me on the phone last Sunday as I try to provide direction on what needs to be done to what. At least this time, another team has been affected with the change and they are up to their necks holding their fort. Now they know what I have been feeling the last 3 months.

It's the middle of the week and everything seemed to be panning out nicely for me. I have the occasional issues here and there but nothing that I can't handle. Most of these are overflows from the other team and most of what I have to do is to verify that the flow is going in as it should. Unlike before where I had to check the whole process.

The sad part is that this whole exercise will be done again this weekend. The good news is I have a list of those things that I have to watch out for. The only problem now is that if there will be any undocumented issues popping up. I can feel goosebumps on me already.

And they have the Christmas party scheduled next week.

2 Months

I can't believe it's been that long since I've updated my blog. Not because of laziness mind you but because I was swamped at work. I shouldn't offer any excuse because the bottom line is that I failed to update my blog and that's that. But that's going to change moving forward.

So much has happened since my last entry. There had been a lot of world affair related news, freakish weather, tabloid gossips but there were also good news abound. For me, that's well and good but I'm more focused on what has transpired during my day to day activities since then.

Something major happened in the office that required a lot of my attention and that's an understatement. I was close to resigning after a month but had to hold back and try to see it through considering there was no one else that would be able to manage the issues. I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to leave the company when they needed me. Not to sound like the company really needed me since the company will still exist even if I'm not around. They'll be having a hard time but they will continue to exist.

The bad part was that these issues were caused by another group but I had to do the fix for them. The second month came in and there were still issues abound. Now, it's the third month and I'm beginning to breathe easy. As they say, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Unfortunately, they were headlights of oncoming traffic.

All Is Quiet

At least in my blogsite it is. It's been a full week and I haven't written anything new. Not for the lack of material anyway. I have tons of things I want to say out here but am keeping it as clean as possible. I know if I let loose, it won't be a pretty sight. And I don't want to lose what's littler of my readers out there.

It has just been a busy week for me since I'm on secondary on-call. That means I'm supporting my on-call collegue. Come Monday, I'm primary and that would mean a lot more busier than this week. I don't really mind it though. It just mean that I wont be able to work on any outstanding project on my plate. Everything I'd be doing will be mostly support.

It's not pure job security since I know a lot of people out there have the capability to do my job. That's why I don't complain. It's part of the job and it pays my bills and brings food to the table. And I got a good secondary on-call to boot. Everything just looks fine and dandy.

I'm hoping to get some vacation time though. The boss told me last week I need to get some time off. I couldn't agree more. Besides, work will still be there when I get back. The only problem though is that she can't let me go for more than two successive days. So until that opportunity arise, I will take one day leaves whenever I can.

If only I could get the approval to do so.

What A Week...

Yes, it was a week but it felt like a year. It was that busy that I didn't get the chance to update my blog until today. And to top it all, I had something in mind that I wanted to write down but just didn't get the chance to do so. Not even at nights.

Until tonight anyway. I'm just glad the workweek is done though I know it would pretty much be the same scenario next week. I know because I saw my load for next week. But it's okay though. I can deal with that. By the week after next, I'd be on-call again so that means my load would be limited more on issues and not on projects. That's a lot better. (knock on wood)

I was supposed to be in another city this week but that got cancelled. I heard my boss saying the schedule has been moved next week. I don't really mind the travel. At least it gets me out of the office even if it's just for a day. A change of scenery is always a welcome change.

I think I'm going to just stay in bed tomorrow. A couple of hours of sleep is also a welcome respite. Then maybe I'd go for a run for an hour. There's much to do tomorrow. Maybe some grocery shopping too.

I guess I better get some sleep now.

Big City

I was assigned to work at one of our corporate offices in the big city for about a week. That means suitcase living again. At least the hotel was in a good part of the city. That allowed me the luxury of doing my nightly runs out in the streets. Sure, I can run in the threadmill at the hotel's gym but what fun would that be? I do say that soaking in the jacuzzi afterwards just takes away my body's ill.

Meal times are always the issue with me. I just can't seem to get myself to eat if I'm by myself. The good news was that my boss was with me the whole time so the decision on where and when to eat does not fall on my shoulders. Two of the places we frequent is the Genghis Grill and the other is the BJ's Restaurant/Warehouse.

Genghis Grill is a place where you pick your meat (raw), vegetables, sauce, and additional spices from the buffet table and bing it to the kitchen corner where a bunch of cooks work on your meal. Once everything is ready, they bring it back to you so you can enjoy your meal at one of their tables. Personally, I like this place a lot. And that's because I get to prepare what I want to eat. Makes it feel like homecooking without having to stay in front of the stove.

BJ's Restaurant/Brewhouse is another story. It's typically a burger/grill joint where you order off the menu. Since it is a microbrewery, you can order beer from the tap freshly brewed. Most of my collegues love this place for the beer. Me, I don't really drink beer that much so I can't really comment on that. I do know that they have a killer rib plate. Now, that's something I know I won't be able to say no to.

As much as I enjoy big city assignments every now and then, I prefer being back at the home office. Each time I get travelling assignments, all my other projects suffer. And I have to play catch up when I get back. That's the other part that I don't really like.

As they say, you can't serve two masters at the same time.

Murphy's Law

One of Murphy's Law states the following "If you are feeling good, don't worry as you'll get over it". And I have to agree with that. I talked about feeling good in my last blog and just a day afterwards, I was brought back to earth. Just like that.

I have been working on a project that has been trying my patience for awhile now and there's no one else in the company I can turn for assistance. They guy that used to work on this particular project had been terminated a couple of months back and he had marked this project complete even though it is not.

Now the endusers are asking for the finished product and we don't have anything to show for it. There's not even a code I can use to decipher or reverse engineer. All the knowledge has been lost. So I have to start from scratch on this one.

Since the project has been marked closed, I have ended up working on this as a special interest project with hours being charged to maintenance. I don't like it any better than the next guy but I have to have some time bucket I can log my time to. Otherwise, there'll be a lot of other questions raised.

Talked about cloud nine and the seven gates of hell.

I Feel Good

I wanted to say that today. Actually, I wanted to sing the song that James Brown had made popular. That's because I had my mid-year evaluation review with my manager yesterday and it was great. But then again, I have always been blessed with great reviews all my life when it comes to my job. Except for that time I had this crazy boss when I worked in Singapore.

A boss is someone who wants to come out as the head honcho and take credit for everything. A manger is someone who will direct traffic and make their constituents take the credit at the end of the day. Big difference there. Although I do call my managers boss anyway. Except for the guy in Singapore. I call him James Wang.

What made this review different from the previous years was that my manager actually wrote something in there that caught my eye just because it wasn't placed on the top portion or in the middle portion. It was hidden from clear sight but you won't miss it before you sign off. And it was about appreciation that came not only from the boss but from some of the other folks in my team as well as the user community.

I came out of the review on cloud nine. At least I feel that my contributions are finally being recognized. I don't really go much for awards though a voucher for a dinner in one of those nice places would be great. A simple pat on the back always hit the spot for me.

That's why I feel good.

You Can't Fix Stupid

Okay, I'm not talking about Ron White's show but I would like to borrow his phrase. And that's because I want to talk about someone I work with in the office. Management decided to hire this guy even though he doesn't seem to reflect the right mentality for what he's suppose to be doing plus the fact that he showed some signs that he's going to be a character to work with.

Being a corporate pawn for some time now in the company, I can't say I'm a model employee but I do try to follow corporate policy and enforce company standards on new hires considering I've always been one of the mentors. But this new guy just seem to not get it. He comes in and wants to start changing the world even going to the extent of wanting the company to purchase some software for him. I say that's just too gutsy.

A few weeks have passed now and he's not showing any sign of trying to fit in but rather wants the whole company to fit to his needs. I'm not sure what the company will do but I hope they do something. Feedbacks from almost everyone on the group regarding this person has been bordering on the bad to worse. Hopefully management see the same things being observed by everyone else.

I have the misfortune of banging heads with this guy and he just doesn't seem to get it when the other person is frustrated. It seemed like he wakes up every morning and decides he wants to be stupid to everyone. And he's doing a great job at it too.

You really can't fix stupid. No matter how hard you try.

When The Blind Leads The Blind....

I was tasked to check on an application for one ofour endusers. It's public knowledge that this so-called application is considered orphan since it has never been approved by the company, most of the functions does not really work, and lastly, the person who created it left with all the source codes. All the elements of disaster attached to it yet somehow, this application still end up being place in a semi-production environment and is used by a lot of folks.

Don't get me wrong. The application does work to a certain level. And the comfort level of the people using this application is really high. That's why we have to provide support to it even though there's no documentation nor do we have the ability to maintain it. The logic that's in place for this application was the same as it was when it was built 5 years ago. So much have change then and I think these endusers are just putting band-aids around it so they can still use this application.

A couple of weeks ago, a project was opened to make changes to the application requiring a different data source. This opened up a can of worms. I was able to get the required data in an extract file but loading it to this orphan application is another thing. It's so proprietary that I can't even create a test environment for it. The only way to test and validate the new data source is to load directly to a production environment.

After talking with the enduser on my concerns, we ended up agreeing that we will simulate a one day production update with the new data to authenticate its integrity. If it doesn't look right, we restore the last clean run from the night before. At least we have a plan in place. But it's really uncomfortable delaying the inevitable. One day, a new application will have to be created to replace this one. At least that's what I suggested the first time. For now, we have to work with what we have.

I say, if the blind leads the blind, get out of their way.

Hewlett-Packard Suck!

I have always avoided HP products until about 5 years ago when I have to get an All-In-One Printer. Against my better judgment, I purchased an OfficeJet G85 printer and have used the product without any issues until a couple of weeks ago where the scanner component started malfunctioning. Turns out that the only 'fix' HP has was to re-install the drivers. Using the HP supplied uninstaller, I was able to uninstall successfully without any hitches but re-installing was another story.

When I tried re-installing the software/driver, the process always end up with a message saying that the software/driver has already been installed yet the whole OfficeJet G85 does not work in any capacity at all. So back to the HP Support website I went and it told me that I need to get the latest driver for the Product from their website. And based on the document they have, I also needed to uninstall any previous software/driver I had in my PC. HP also provided a force uninstaller on their website so I used this to clean up any traces of HP related application/drivers in my PC.

Imagine my shock when the uninstaller not only clean up all HP related applications/software but also half of my hard drive totally unrelated to he problem. Luckily I have all my data in another drive and all my other softwares' installation CDs saved safely away. I can use that to rebuild my PC if ever. So I continued to install the HP application/driver and guess what? The damn printer still wont work.

I decided to give HP support a call to see what's going on and after being passed around among their 'elite' technicians, I was told that basically they cannot provide me a free phone support due to my product being obsolete. Support could still be given though provided that I pay them $30/hour to answer my questions but they won't guarantee that it will fix whatever was going on with my printer.

Now this gets me riled up considering that it was the application from their website that deleted half the contents of my hard drive and it was their instructions that I followed. I would have been willing to pay the support cost if they can guarantee me their product will work which they can't. To top it all, the support person has the audacity to instruct me to trade in the OfficeJet G85 which I paid $245 five years ago for $5 applicable to any new HP printer they have.

What makes them think I'm getting another HP product?

Another Day

It all started out the same way as any ordinary weekday. I got up, showered, shaved, dressed up and went to work. Same ritual every weekday. There were not that many cars in the parking lot when I got in so I got to park in a very good location. I don't normally park close to the door though. I like that early morning walk. The cold wind helps in waking me up some more before I get inside the office.

My desk looks exactly the same way when I left it the day before and it will look the same way again tomorrow. Just one of my peculiarities I guess. I have this clean desk policy I institute on myself that I need to do at least 5 minutes before I leave for the day. It helps me organize and structure how I want to tackle the next day.

First thing I do when I get in is check my emails. That way I can categorize which needs more attention and which ones I can hold off until the later part of the day. So far, that practice has always worked for me. As I said, it all started out the same way as the other days.

But then again, that's how it always does. Only, the middle part of the day changes a lot as well as the end of the day. Schedules are re-made and priorities are re-arranged. Not that I'm complaining. I've gotten so much used to that. Though for once, I would like to keep a steady rhythm on things.

I guess change is always constant.

Recognition

I got my first company related award today. After 18 months in the company, I finally have something tangible that says that I'm doing a great job. It's a welcome treat and it feels good to be recognized for doing something I'm being paid to do anyway. That's a sign of a good company.

A company that values its employees is rare. Sure, a lot of companies say that their best assets are their people but do they take care of them? Most of you will find out sooner or later that companies that truly care for their employees are rare. And if you are in one of them, I heavily suggest you stay there. There's about a million to one odds that you'll find such a company.

But there are a lot of things to consider when one looks for a company to work for. In the long run, a decision has to be made and it all boils down to one question.. are you happy with what you are doing? That's because, you may be paid six digit figures and all the amenities but if you dread waking up each morning and have to drag yourself to get to your job, then it becomes pointless. You are basically torturing yourself. It's better to have an average paying job in a company you love working for than getting a high paying salary working for a job you hate.

I love my job right now. Having a great company is an extended bonus. I can actually see myself with this company for a really long time and that's a good thing.

That's because my take home pay can actually take me home.

A Busy Week

I had a busy week at the office. Actually, it was not just last week but also the week before and the week before that. I guess it stems from the fact that we have 3 more positions to fill in our team and we just can't seem to get the talent we need. Add to that the fact that not everyone pitches in to help out cut the slack. But that's okay, you can't really force anyone. Things like these have to be voluntary otherwise it will create resentment in their part.

I just wish they would volunteer though. Some of us could really use the help. I know I could. I still have 5 vacation days left for this year and even though I can take it anytime, I'm up to my neck with projects to finish. I know I could leave them and just pick them up when I get back but then, I'll also have other things added to my plate. The pile would just keep on getting higher.

With that, I'd rather spend time getting my plate clean and then take some 1 day vacations as I see fit. That way, I'd get to spend and enjoy my vacation without having had to worry about upcoming projects. That makes the relaxation period really relaxing. Of course I know I'll have to be back the next day to the office to do more work.

I call that job security.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

I went to eat at Taco Bell the other day. Normally, I won't just because there's a bunch of real Mexican restaurants nearby. But everyone in my group at the office wanted to get something from there. Just because it's cheap and fast. I think they wanted to just grab something and bring it back to the office.

I compromised telling them I'll jon them as long as we eat in there. They relent. I guess y point is that it doesn't matter where we eat as long as it's not in the office. We stay cooped up in our cubes for more than 8 hours a day. A 30 minute break is always a welcome treat.

Anyway, we ended up staying for an hour. The conversation revolved around office stuff. Mostly about projects being worked on. In some ways, it was like an impromptu meeting with a lot of brainstorming. It defeats the purpose of enjoying lunch.

Maybe I should have count those lunch minutes as part of my regular daily shift.

Back And Ready For Business

Sort of anyway. I finally had my office PC back in my desk and basically, it has been stripped off of many of the applications I have put in place for the last 18 months. Not to mention that I have to go back in and re-configure everything to work as close to how it should have been before it was pulled out.

The PC technical services found a trojan in my PC. McAfee didn't even detect it as it encroach itself on my hard drive. Everything just happened so fast. I was working on a report when all of a sudden, everything just started crawling. Even my mouse pointer took a bit longer to move from point A to point B. Task Manager can't even be invoked.

At first, everyone thought something was wrong with my profile. Until a few virus definitions updates later, they found the trojan. And it was something that can not be removed safely. the only recourse was to format my hard drive. Since it's a 60 Gb harddrive, tech services doesn't have the ability to save it for Ghost puposes. So it's back to square one for me.

Like I have all the time in the world.

Christmas Mug

So I walked into the break room this morning to get my daily dosage of caffeine and trodding behind me was James who was also getting his own fix. When I turned around, I saw him holding the same exact mug that I have. This mug can easily accomodate 3 cups full of liquid so between him and me, we easily used up the coffee in the breakroom.

The thing about the mugs we were holding though is that we got this last Christmas from the same person. Not that we're complaining since the mugs have proven to be a timesaver not just for me but also for my other teammates. The only drawback is the Christmas design boldly emblazoned around it. And some people keeps reminding us it's not Christmas anymore.

Personally, I don't care. Either way, I still need my coffee fix and I'd rather use a big mug than a small cup. Gives me time to actually work than traverse the hallways to the breakroom. Besides, only 4 more months and it's going to be Christmas once again.

Now, if I can only find my Valentine decored pen so I can bring that to my meetings.

Crash and Burn

My PC at the office crashed last week. I'm currently working with a loaner for now until the technical support people fix my PC and I'm hoping they get it done this week. I'm actually getting antsy waiting. Call it comfort zone. I call it necessity.

I have a ton of projects lined up and most of these are those that needs to get done as soon as possible. I have been in the company for awhile and all those time, I have configured my PC with all the tools I would need for my trade. Some of the applications in there are not company standard so I may have to get those back in place.

Based on experience, it'll probably take me a full week working fulltime to get my PC back to the same level I want it to be. Right now, I just have to make do with the loaner. I can work with it but I won't be able to do some projects with this machine since I lack the applications for it. I could intall those applications here but by the time I get it up to speed, my real PC may be ready. So it will just wasted effort.

Besides, I have to reconfigure my PC back to the way it was.

Pressure

I used to work for a software development company. My old boss then has always referred to me as one of the coolers. A cooler is someone who gets thrown to irate customers to try to pacify them and hopefully get them to continue dealing with the company. We always call this the pressure cooker just because of the volatility of the situation.

I used to not get it. I've been known to lose my cool on personal situations but I've always maintained professionalism on company situations. It felt horrible knowing I was maintaining two standards on dealing with these issues. At least I have made the change to handle things the same way.

Now, I am more subtle though I still do have my episodes every now and then. And I don't have to deal with a pressure cooker situation anymore. I still get thrown on sensitive projects though and I wouldn't want it any other way.

What can I say.. I thrive under pressure. Besides, I always tell my boss that pressure means nothing to me.

He gives me pressure, I give him nothing.