We take safety for granted, everyone does really and it's easy to develop a sense of complacency when you work in an office. What can possibly go wrong in an office setting? Actually, quite a bit if you're not paying attention and I'll return to my previous mention of a sense of complacency. A paper cut? These actually hurt and I've seen employees in a really bad mood because of a paper cut. It's same sort of mood you get into when you're dealing with a stubborn hangnail or a long meeting with a group of people you don't like. Lighting, lighting has been a problem for some people because we used to work in a darker room. Some of these folks have been relocated to a windowed cube and they hate it, they're not as productive anymore.
My job is to perform a safety stand-down, now that we're moved in. I have to identify the safety hazzards of working in an office. Especially making sure that ergonomics is being comfortably observed. I also have to look for earthquake hazzards in case the big one slaps us. We've been hearing about the "the big one" for as long as I can remember. I think some people get a kick out of predicting doom but not really preparing for it. I was in in the NOrthridge earthquake, they're not fun and people were REALLY scared.
Tomorrow, Cherryl and I will walk through our four department's floor and inspect every office, officle and cube for lethal working conditions. We'll record every complaint from lighting to unregistered odors to loud phone talkers to just about, everything that's hazzardous in an office setting.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
O+1
O+1. President elect, Barack Obama won the 2008 election by a huge margin last night. The victory is bitter-sweet in some ways because in my opinion, if there's anyone out there that understands what it's like to fight for this country and to publicly serve its people, it is John McCain. But JM seems to be one of those guys that's just hounded by bad timing or forces beyond his control. The GOP seems to be the spanking-child and JM got lined up to take a spanking a long with all GOP members. He should have have won the primary eight years ago but for some reason, he didn't--this, I'll never understand.
Nobody talked about this at work because we don't usually mix politics or religion at work unless you know exactly that who you're talking to won't be offended by your views. We have a good environment at work and most of us know how we all stand or at least, have a good understanding.
Blake did ask me to bring some Obama victory cookies so I complied. Amy makes really good cookies and I like it when people compliment her culinary skills--they're honed and I'm too happy to enjoy every meal she makes.
Nobody talked about this at work because we don't usually mix politics or religion at work unless you know exactly that who you're talking to won't be offended by your views. We have a good environment at work and most of us know how we all stand or at least, have a good understanding.
Blake did ask me to bring some Obama victory cookies so I complied. Amy makes really good cookies and I like it when people compliment her culinary skills--they're honed and I'm too happy to enjoy every meal she makes.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
All moved in.
It's Tuesday and I'm moved in to my new cube--UNIT 2122. My cube, everyone has a cube now, they're nice cubes. Some people are happy in their new cubes, others are not. But you can't make everyone happy so... Still, my new cube is very nice. It's more quiet than where I used to be in SP2 (Building 2). I used to sit next a meeting room and it was obnoxious how people would mill about and compare smart-phones. Then was the occasional idiot who would step out of the meeting and subject the entire floor to his Nextel powered conversation. I say Nextel because he would use the walkie-talkie feature "DEE-DLE-EEEE!!". Someone finally had to step up and tell him that we were trying to work and to please step outside. Actually, he had to be told twice because his initial response was, "it'll only be a minute...". His minute conversations felt like an hour, the guy was just rude. But there is no Nextel guy here in SP3.
Some people in our department found themselves in cubes next to a window. Some complained stating that they were too bright. I guess they'd never heard of blinds, which all of those cubes have. But I go back to what I was saying before about some people not being happy.
Everything is great but the bathroom situation is interesting. The men's rooms are being renovated because too many employees complained that they had become nearly dysfunctional, the towel dispensers were falling apart or just wouldn't work anymore, maybe it had something to do with the dents on the sides. I'm not sure how anyone was able to complain because I usually found the towel dispensers empty, banging on them didn't encourage more towels to dispense either. The soap dispensers didn't work either and the counter tops were chipping and falling apart at the edges from staying wet all the time or it could be because there was always spewed liquid hand-soap all over the counter-top near the dispenser pump. The urinals seemed permanently stained and I won't go into describing what that looked like but it made you want to squat instead of stand. Lord knows what goblins were going to spring out of those urinals and offend you. So! All this had to go. Building management had converted one of the lady's rooms into a temporary men's room. Wow, what an experience. You walk into the ladies room and it's like you're staying a nice hotel, so clean, so neat, no chipped counter-tops, the towel dispensers looked brand new. It was disconcerting when I first walked in, where do I pee? Not in those toilets, those are too clean to pee in? And look! There are little cute hospitality dispensers everywhere. Everything's purple, pink and Easter Sunday-yellow unlike the stained navajo-white and tortured peach colored urinals we had in the men's room. In the ladies room, you want to sit in there are talk about other guys you work with, football, politics. It's no longer just a bathroom, it's a sanctuary or relaxation, a little order in the chaos that is work. It's no wonder women go in to their little sanctuaries two or three at a time. I imagine it's like going to a sports bar and having a beer.
Ok, you can tell that I was impressed by the ladies room. There's a rumor going around that the management is going to play on joke on everyone and convert the bathrooms back to what they used to be simply to see how many people they can confuse. I dont't think they will but it wold be fun to watch and listen to the occasional shrieks.
I'll document later how my time is going sitting in cube 2122 at SP3. So far it's pretty cool.
Some people in our department found themselves in cubes next to a window. Some complained stating that they were too bright. I guess they'd never heard of blinds, which all of those cubes have. But I go back to what I was saying before about some people not being happy.
Everything is great but the bathroom situation is interesting. The men's rooms are being renovated because too many employees complained that they had become nearly dysfunctional, the towel dispensers were falling apart or just wouldn't work anymore, maybe it had something to do with the dents on the sides. I'm not sure how anyone was able to complain because I usually found the towel dispensers empty, banging on them didn't encourage more towels to dispense either. The soap dispensers didn't work either and the counter tops were chipping and falling apart at the edges from staying wet all the time or it could be because there was always spewed liquid hand-soap all over the counter-top near the dispenser pump. The urinals seemed permanently stained and I won't go into describing what that looked like but it made you want to squat instead of stand. Lord knows what goblins were going to spring out of those urinals and offend you. So! All this had to go. Building management had converted one of the lady's rooms into a temporary men's room. Wow, what an experience. You walk into the ladies room and it's like you're staying a nice hotel, so clean, so neat, no chipped counter-tops, the towel dispensers looked brand new. It was disconcerting when I first walked in, where do I pee? Not in those toilets, those are too clean to pee in? And look! There are little cute hospitality dispensers everywhere. Everything's purple, pink and Easter Sunday-yellow unlike the stained navajo-white and tortured peach colored urinals we had in the men's room. In the ladies room, you want to sit in there are talk about other guys you work with, football, politics. It's no longer just a bathroom, it's a sanctuary or relaxation, a little order in the chaos that is work. It's no wonder women go in to their little sanctuaries two or three at a time. I imagine it's like going to a sports bar and having a beer.
Ok, you can tell that I was impressed by the ladies room. There's a rumor going around that the management is going to play on joke on everyone and convert the bathrooms back to what they used to be simply to see how many people they can confuse. I dont't think they will but it wold be fun to watch and listen to the occasional shrieks.
I'll document later how my time is going sitting in cube 2122 at SP3. So far it's pretty cool.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
We're moving.
Max is 13 months old now. He occupies most of my thoughts at work and it'd distracting. He does something new every day, I spend the following day thinking about it and replaying the previous nights events. I can't imagine what he will do next, he's an amazing little kid. But see? this is exactly what I'm talking about. I'd like to write something indicative of the company I work for, my job. But instead, I start talking about Max--this is what it's like at work, it's MAX, MAX, MAX... I can't concentrate because I'm trying to figure out what other toys I can get for him or make. Ok, and much like how I refocus at work, here it goes.
My job. I'm still working for the infrastructure group at code 238. I'm doing better with things now and I like my job more. I'm starting to understand the "Solar" corporate philosophy now. It's a great company as it's a little old fashioned and extremely conservative.
I look back at when I started there and admit that I was a little scared of some of the folks. They seemed a little too Jesus-happy and that always frightens me as typically, those god-loving folks tend to be a little closed minded to my unique style of thought. But that's all in the past now. Once again, Max, changed all that. Somehow, as soon as I found out about Max in December of 06, I accepted God and Jesus into my life, it was actually pretty profound and felt like I was having a flurry of epiphanies. I don't think that Amy experienced the sort of spiritual shift that I did, I'm sure that she went through some changes of her own through the "max" experience. But back to my job.
I'm taking much better care of supplier data issues and I feel like I'm playing nice-nice with everyone more. But I think as people get to know me more, most of the employees seem a little more relaxed around me. It was scaring me not to hear some light swearing. Now I get the occasional "shit! Damn-it! but very rarely the "F" word. It's ok, I work better in an environment where there is some light swearing. We all know who to swear around and who not to so It's all good.
We're moving to the building next door, building three. The office should be better for our lungs and I expect that we won't have as many health related issues as I've heard that people have. I've had a few but I don't think that I can blame them on the building. I have a little germ factory at home so I think that's my problem. Still, it should be good. I'm still lacking the level of interest in some of the things that we do that Donna seems to be fascinated with. There are just some things that I can't get into like she does. I'm sure it will show on my review but I hope not too negatively.
I'm trying to find other possible places where I can go within the company. I can do many things as I consider myself fairly talented. I'm less arrogant than I used to be so that will work in my favor. So... It's all good, I'm tired of writing. I'll blog how things go after the move.
I have faith that it will all be good as it usually is. Now, I have faith.
My job. I'm still working for the infrastructure group at code 238. I'm doing better with things now and I like my job more. I'm starting to understand the "Solar" corporate philosophy now. It's a great company as it's a little old fashioned and extremely conservative.
I look back at when I started there and admit that I was a little scared of some of the folks. They seemed a little too Jesus-happy and that always frightens me as typically, those god-loving folks tend to be a little closed minded to my unique style of thought. But that's all in the past now. Once again, Max, changed all that. Somehow, as soon as I found out about Max in December of 06, I accepted God and Jesus into my life, it was actually pretty profound and felt like I was having a flurry of epiphanies. I don't think that Amy experienced the sort of spiritual shift that I did, I'm sure that she went through some changes of her own through the "max" experience. But back to my job.
I'm taking much better care of supplier data issues and I feel like I'm playing nice-nice with everyone more. But I think as people get to know me more, most of the employees seem a little more relaxed around me. It was scaring me not to hear some light swearing. Now I get the occasional "shit! Damn-it! but very rarely the "F" word. It's ok, I work better in an environment where there is some light swearing. We all know who to swear around and who not to so It's all good.
We're moving to the building next door, building three. The office should be better for our lungs and I expect that we won't have as many health related issues as I've heard that people have. I've had a few but I don't think that I can blame them on the building. I have a little germ factory at home so I think that's my problem. Still, it should be good. I'm still lacking the level of interest in some of the things that we do that Donna seems to be fascinated with. There are just some things that I can't get into like she does. I'm sure it will show on my review but I hope not too negatively.
I'm trying to find other possible places where I can go within the company. I can do many things as I consider myself fairly talented. I'm less arrogant than I used to be so that will work in my favor. So... It's all good, I'm tired of writing. I'll blog how things go after the move.
I have faith that it will all be good as it usually is. Now, I have faith.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Developin new interests.
Work is going well and I'm getting more used to it. I work with really good people and my job affords me the priviledge of a good health insurance--for my family. Hey! what better can ask for, right? Right. I persist, however, in that I'm rather demanding of life. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for everything that I have and the wonderful people that are around me daily. Not to mention, the love and affection of my wife. But what's wrong with wanting a little more out of life? Or out of your job?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
gettin' into it...
I think I'm finally getting into my job--finally. I was in denial because what I do for a living is not what brings me the greatest joy. The thing is, I'm not really sure what I want to do, yet. You'd think I'd know. Despite my confusion, the universe has seen fit that I work in the most secure environment possible while I make up my mind as to what I want to do. I'm protected and I know it, I have nothing to worry about.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
it's been seven months...
It's been seven months since Max was born, seven more months working at Solar Turbines for their infrastructure team. In fact, I'm one of the infrastructurers--man, I just made up that word. Technically, I'm employed as a technical writer which is interesting because I'm now realizing that this job is the culmination of what I set out to do two years ago. I was hell-bent on working as a technical writer because it looked something that I thought I could do.
Well, I have the title and I can tell everyone that it's what I do but that's not really what I'm doing. I'm more of a data organizer and occasional production problem solver. If there is a problem with part of our production process, I write something in Perl that fixes it. Or, I figure out a way to wrap Excel around a solution. There are still quite a few things that I'm working on mostly because I'm still not that familiar with Perl--it's a very difficult language to master.
Regardless, the quality of my working relationships has improved dramatically and is making up for the fact that I'm not really crazy about what I do. It's ok for now and it provides me with medical insurance--me and my family. But I usually go home thinking about some problem that I couldn't solve at work. In fact, that happens almost daily.
So there are few things that I set out to do two years ago and have manifested. Here they are...
now I'm not sure where else to take things. I'm not sure what goals I should set. I talk myself out of so many things and I don't trust life as much as I used to. I'm more fearful and yet have more faith in God--I don't get it. It wasn't supposed to work this way.
It's time to reclaim the throne and I don't mean the toilet. It's time I take charge and get things done that I was supposed to get done both at work and at home.
Well, I have the title and I can tell everyone that it's what I do but that's not really what I'm doing. I'm more of a data organizer and occasional production problem solver. If there is a problem with part of our production process, I write something in Perl that fixes it. Or, I figure out a way to wrap Excel around a solution. There are still quite a few things that I'm working on mostly because I'm still not that familiar with Perl--it's a very difficult language to master.
Regardless, the quality of my working relationships has improved dramatically and is making up for the fact that I'm not really crazy about what I do. It's ok for now and it provides me with medical insurance--me and my family. But I usually go home thinking about some problem that I couldn't solve at work. In fact, that happens almost daily.
So there are few things that I set out to do two years ago and have manifested. Here they are...
- get married again
- get a baby - Max
- become a Technical Writer
now I'm not sure where else to take things. I'm not sure what goals I should set. I talk myself out of so many things and I don't trust life as much as I used to. I'm more fearful and yet have more faith in God--I don't get it. It wasn't supposed to work this way.
It's time to reclaim the throne and I don't mean the toilet. It's time I take charge and get things done that I was supposed to get done both at work and at home.
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