Project Work

I don’t work in a software development group. I work in a customer service group. Every now and then though the programmers in my group are asked to pitch in and help Development hit a deadline, or take on a project when Dev doesn’t have enough staff to go around at that moment.

We recently took on two projects that were pieces of a much larger collection of projects. We were hoping to get the first project done by April or May, and then immediately start on the second project. Instead we brought in another programmer and worked on both of them concurrently with a goal for completion by mid-June.

Today is June 15th. Literally the middle of June.

As of about an hour ago, both of our projects are complete.

In the immortal words of a beer commercial from back in the 80’s…

It’s Miller time.

Awesome job, guys.

Bullet Dodged

We made a mistake at work last week and today we had a call with the affected customer. I had no idea how they were going to react, but I was prepared for a grade A verbal beat down. If I owned a helmet, I would have worn a helmet.

Nope. They were understanding and accepted our apology and dove right into reviewing the data as if everything went off according to plan.

May you all receive such generous kindness when you screw up. More importantly, would the grudge holding, temper tantrum throwing red head writing this post be more inclined to do the same for others.

Bullet dodged, dudes. Bullet dodged.

It Survived

When I work at my parents house I am sitting at the dining room table using a massive desk setup that belongs to my brother. Three monitors and the switcher that lets you use them with a single USB C plug, wireless keyboard and mouse, and a USB hub. Lots and lots of stuff. I’m using it every time I work here, but I have not contributed anything to the work space.

Until today.

It survived the trip. I think I am going to leave it here because it’s pretty delicate and I don’t know how many trips back and forth in a backpack it has in it. Still, this little five speed USB sucker is my new favorite desk swag.

Almost Midnight

It’s almost midnight. I’m still awake. I’m about to curl up on the love seat in my parents living room and try to get some sleep.

The Bruins won tonight. The Red Sox won too. Nice. I didn’t watch either of them. I watched a couple of episodes of Supergirl. I’m not feeling that show anymore. Didn’t last season either. Probably a good thing it’s ending.

I should probably wrap it up and go to sleep. My iPad’s battery is down to 28%. There’s a part of me that wants to stay up until it gets to zero, but I’ve got a busy day tomorrow and should really get some rest.

Okay, going to bed. G’night, all.

Good Morning

Good morning, everyone. How’s your Tuesday going. Hope you’re off to a good start.

I’m at my parents house. My brother is here and he’s working at his desk. He expects to be wrapping up soon so I can hijack his monitors again. I feel like a squatter but it’s okay.

Jen just called me. She’s off work this morning and went out for some errands. One of them was getting the Kia inspected. She had to go into the shop. Pre-Covid that would have been nothing. Now? That’s a huge accomplishment. I’m very proud of her. My wife has some serious guts.

She also set something up for tomorrow that I don’t want to talk about yet that literally took the weight of the world off my shoulders. The relief is so great it’s like a physical thing. Thank you, my love.

Okay, off to work. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Half Day

I’m at my parents’ house in Tewksbury. About a 17 minute drive from my house. I logged into work about 30 minutes early and now I’m on my lunch break, roughly halfway through the business day.

Any thoughts?

I have a mask that includes a neck strap. I love it. It’s always there. I never have to stop and think about where I put it the last time I took it off. It was around my neck but not on my face when I logged in to my group’s daily meeting. My staff thought it was a bib. It kinda looks like a bib.

I’ve decided that a three monitor setup might be too much for me. I’m not sold on that yet, but I think that might be the case. At home I have a single monitor but it is gigantic. Hijacking my brother’s workspace, his three monitors definitely have more screen real estate than my single monitor, but not nearly as much as you’d think. I initially put my schedule on the left monitor, my email on the right monitor, and then worked on the middle. In theory that is perfect, but in practice I was missing emails because the screen requires me to actually move my head to see it. I moved the email back to the middle and adjusted the windows I was working on so that I could do it in front. Basically reproducing my single monitor from home. I like this.

My mother came over and talked to me as I was waiting for a meeting to start. I was on Zoom with about 10 other people. They asked me if I was trying to talk to them while I was on mute. Nope, just talking to Mom. I don’t know if she gets the telecommuting concept. She seems to, but maybe she just forgot when I told her I was on a meeting. Later, when I wasn’t on a meeting, she walked over and passed me a note. Okay, maybe she does get it. Cool. Thanks, Mom!

There is one thing that I need that I don’t have today and that is a haircut. Soon, my long, flowing red locks. Soon.

Commute?

I am about to head to my parents’ house for the work day. I’m still telecommuting but I also sort of have a commute for the next week. I sort of forget how that works.

A morning commute? In Covid-Land? Does not compute.

Anyway, here’s hoping the traffic is okay.

My brain is Mush

The last two days rank high on the list of most insane days I’ve had at work over the last 16 years. Just nuts.

Today is my father’s birthday. He had surgery. It went well. Happy Birthday, Dad!

I need a drink*.

*I don’t drink

In the Office

March 13, 2020 was the last time I was in the office.

Until today.

A month or so ago my company announced that the building my desk lives in was being sold. Another company made an offer we couldn’t refuse. We needed to clear out all of our stuff. They put together a schedule for all of us to go in and do our thing. My turn came today.

I drove to Waltham, took my temperature, double masked, and went for it. It was exceedingly uncomfortable.