Why Do We Do It?

Ok, maybe it wasn’t as bad as all that, but today was one of those days at work where it felt like it. The amazing thing is that here it is, 7:30 PM and the problem was resolved 2 hours ago. We can all enjoy our weekends. That’s not always the case in systems, as anyone who works in this industry knows all too well. We’ve all done all nighters at least once if not numerous times. And we’ve all been called in the middle of the night when a system goes down.

And if we’ve been in systems long enough, we’ve been the one to take down the system inadvertently. We just have to brush off our egos and get back to work. Well, let me restate that, we just have to brush off our egos and get the hell back to work and get the system back online (and try not to beat ourselves up too badly the whole time).

The best part about being a systems admin for a large enterprise, for me, is that I don’t work alone. The bureaucratic crapola drives me nuts most of the time, but I know it’s there for a reason. We’re going through an enormous reorganization, creating new processes and teams and you name it.

I’ve said it before in other posts and I’ll say it again. I have the best team I could ask for. They’re not perfect, I’m not perfect, we have our days, but we get the job done and we communicate pretty well. Especially considering we’re spread all over the west coast, including Hawaii. And especially considering we’re working in a high-stress pressure cooker with other jobs and responsibilities.

I continue to look forward to the day in the not too distant future, that I will be doing something completely different which will not involve machines. Well, indirectly it will, but I won’t be responsible for them. I guess there’s not much we do anymore that doesn’t rely on machines somewhere down the chain, is there?

To get through the rough days, it helps to laugh and remember to be grateful for what we have that gives us pleasure. And, always, remember to breathe. Oooommmmmmmm.