Ok .. here's my gripe of the day... get ready.
First, let me prelude this by emphasizing how terrible of a couple of weeks that I've been having. My sister, Jen, has been in the hospital for a week now so I've been visiting her every night about 4 hours or longer. I've been working my tail off on these two projects and it's wearing me down quickly. I haven't been getting any sleep because of the two above and I'm sadly, slowly adjusting to life on little sleep, which does not feel good. I've been working through lunch most days just trying to make room for everything in my life, so I haven't been eating as much or as often, and with the lack of sleep it's making me eat even less; that is killing me because that is the LAST goal I have in life and it's completely defeating the purpose of me going to the gym trying to build muscle and tone up. Then, as far as work goes, we have a 'leash' on our computers that I HATE WITH THE PASSION!! I need things and can do so much more but I have to ask permission, when I am supposed to be a working professional... OMG is that a BAD subject to bring up with me, especially after you read my latest tragedy below.
Ok ... so I work primarily on a hydraulic modeling project. We're updating the existing model, and at the same time we're converting it from a program called XPSWMM, through GIS, and into a program called InfoWorks. It sounds all complicated and that's probably because it is. Sooo many things that we have to do, and we've barely started it seems. Anyway ... in the process we have a coworker digitize for us these drainage areas, which are as they read, areas that are drawn throughout the county that are assumed to collect drainage towards a centralized point. Anyway, unimportant details. So, he draws them in, thousands of them, and assigns to them the data that we ask him to that he knows enough about to do. After that, I've been sitting here off and on for days now going through his work, making sure it all adds up, and if not, I'm fixing it and where data is missing, I'm filling it in.
Easy enough, right?
Ok .. so this 'genius' knows that I'm working / editting this shapefile, and I have been for days now. But, he decides that he's going to work on the project and he's going to edit the file as well, without asking us and without even telling us. So, he opens up an instance of it, before I start editting it, and he's making changes all day long. Remember that he did not bother to tell us what he was doing.
So .. I leave at 4 so I can go home and let the dogs out before going to the gym. After 4, he, of course, saves the file ..... completely overwrites the 8 hours worth of work that I just did. Since this happened in the middle of a work day retrieving a back up is of course not an option.
Lucky for him he called in sick yesterday because I wanted to kill him. I still want to kick him real real real real real real real real hard .. you get the point there but man I got caught up in the moment writing those out! But I resist and instead I have been sitting here, holding it in, trying to do the right thing and not let it get to me. So far so good because most people are completely unaware, but that's also why I'm having to write this now so I get it off my chest for the fifteenth time.
So anyway, after he completely wasted my time I've been since looking for a solution where I can basically put a childproof container on what he can 'screw up' in the future. Having a program called ArcInfo I 'would' have the ability to give user permissions through a virtual server, but this is where it gets even more annoying .. I don't have permission on my work computer to install this FREE Microsoft program. So, what NEEDS to happen ASAP, won't. WTF?
Here's my thing .. when the company loses money because they wouldn't give me the resources to protect the integrity of our data, whose fault is it going to be? Sure as heck not mine... but still, I care too much about my job and the work I put out to not get bothered when I can't do something that is important to the work we're doing, or for that matter when I can't do my job.
Ok .. can you tell I'm having a lovely week or two, or ten?
So, until we can get this resolved, we're making backup copies as a precautionary method, and I HATE having redundant GIS files .. because one day someone grabs the wrong file and changes it, then someone else changes the other one ... Now we have two files that are both correct yet both incorrect. Then, I have to clean up the mess that I did not make to begin with .. grr!
This is where / why I get anal about duplicates, structures, procedures, documentation, you name it, because it's soooo easy to short cut things and take the easy route. However, once you've been on the receiving end, you make sure that it does not happen again because those 2 extra steps can save a huge headache down the road.
Anyway, I feel like throwing my computer out the window (or maybe at my coworker), bringing my own computer in here, and actually being able to do my job with hoop jumping all the time and asking IT permission to sneeze. I go through this installation mess all the time and it gets OLD. OLD!!!!!! It is the one and only thing that I HATE about where I work. The rest is great .. IT and their God complex, I HATE!
There are a couple of decent people in IT and I hope that one of them comes through for me and helps me do this. He's a former GIS person so he can emphasize with my drama here. If not, I don't know what we're going to do because now I can't just trust that he'll not screw it up or that he'll even use that thing they call comminication!!
So .. granted the incident from the other day made me mad .. I wish I would have known he was going to waste my time, because I would have taken advantage and just stayed home. But it's the combination of me being supremely tired, not having time to eat a 'decent meal,' being sore from going to the gym and from running so much, hating this leash on my computer, my sister being in the hospital not getting an ounce better than she was when she went in, me running around like absolute madness, etc ... you get the point. It's been a rough time for me and I am desperate for the days to increase to 36 hours .. soon! If not, I need some serious R&R .. please?!? I may cancel my entire weekend worth of running around and trying to get caught up on everything else, and instead opt to be absolutely worthless, in hopes that it will help me destress. If not, I think I'm going to be beating on my punching bag at home a bit more often because I have to get the stress out of my thoughts before it develops into physical stress and I get all moody and hostile... and actually give my work computer a toss after all!!
Ok .. I'm leaving work. I stayed late intentionally to gripe, because I don't want to take it out of the office with me either... hopefully tomorrow I will have forgotten again ... :o)
First, let me prelude this by emphasizing how terrible of a couple of weeks that I've been having. My sister, Jen, has been in the hospital for a week now so I've been visiting her every night about 4 hours or longer. I've been working my tail off on these two projects and it's wearing me down quickly. I haven't been getting any sleep because of the two above and I'm sadly, slowly adjusting to life on little sleep, which does not feel good. I've been working through lunch most days just trying to make room for everything in my life, so I haven't been eating as much or as often, and with the lack of sleep it's making me eat even less; that is killing me because that is the LAST goal I have in life and it's completely defeating the purpose of me going to the gym trying to build muscle and tone up. Then, as far as work goes, we have a 'leash' on our computers that I HATE WITH THE PASSION!! I need things and can do so much more but I have to ask permission, when I am supposed to be a working professional... OMG is that a BAD subject to bring up with me, especially after you read my latest tragedy below.
Ok ... so I work primarily on a hydraulic modeling project. We're updating the existing model, and at the same time we're converting it from a program called XPSWMM, through GIS, and into a program called InfoWorks. It sounds all complicated and that's probably because it is. Sooo many things that we have to do, and we've barely started it seems. Anyway ... in the process we have a coworker digitize for us these drainage areas, which are as they read, areas that are drawn throughout the county that are assumed to collect drainage towards a centralized point. Anyway, unimportant details. So, he draws them in, thousands of them, and assigns to them the data that we ask him to that he knows enough about to do. After that, I've been sitting here off and on for days now going through his work, making sure it all adds up, and if not, I'm fixing it and where data is missing, I'm filling it in.
Easy enough, right?
Ok .. so this 'genius' knows that I'm working / editting this shapefile, and I have been for days now. But, he decides that he's going to work on the project and he's going to edit the file as well, without asking us and without even telling us. So, he opens up an instance of it, before I start editting it, and he's making changes all day long. Remember that he did not bother to tell us what he was doing.
So .. I leave at 4 so I can go home and let the dogs out before going to the gym. After 4, he, of course, saves the file ..... completely overwrites the 8 hours worth of work that I just did. Since this happened in the middle of a work day retrieving a back up is of course not an option.
Lucky for him he called in sick yesterday because I wanted to kill him. I still want to kick him real real real real real real real real hard .. you get the point there but man I got caught up in the moment writing those out! But I resist and instead I have been sitting here, holding it in, trying to do the right thing and not let it get to me. So far so good because most people are completely unaware, but that's also why I'm having to write this now so I get it off my chest for the fifteenth time.
So anyway, after he completely wasted my time I've been since looking for a solution where I can basically put a childproof container on what he can 'screw up' in the future. Having a program called ArcInfo I 'would' have the ability to give user permissions through a virtual server, but this is where it gets even more annoying .. I don't have permission on my work computer to install this FREE Microsoft program. So, what NEEDS to happen ASAP, won't. WTF?
Here's my thing .. when the company loses money because they wouldn't give me the resources to protect the integrity of our data, whose fault is it going to be? Sure as heck not mine... but still, I care too much about my job and the work I put out to not get bothered when I can't do something that is important to the work we're doing, or for that matter when I can't do my job.
Ok .. can you tell I'm having a lovely week or two, or ten?
So, until we can get this resolved, we're making backup copies as a precautionary method, and I HATE having redundant GIS files .. because one day someone grabs the wrong file and changes it, then someone else changes the other one ... Now we have two files that are both correct yet both incorrect. Then, I have to clean up the mess that I did not make to begin with .. grr!
This is where / why I get anal about duplicates, structures, procedures, documentation, you name it, because it's soooo easy to short cut things and take the easy route. However, once you've been on the receiving end, you make sure that it does not happen again because those 2 extra steps can save a huge headache down the road.
Anyway, I feel like throwing my computer out the window (or maybe at my coworker), bringing my own computer in here, and actually being able to do my job with hoop jumping all the time and asking IT permission to sneeze. I go through this installation mess all the time and it gets OLD. OLD!!!!!! It is the one and only thing that I HATE about where I work. The rest is great .. IT and their God complex, I HATE!
There are a couple of decent people in IT and I hope that one of them comes through for me and helps me do this. He's a former GIS person so he can emphasize with my drama here. If not, I don't know what we're going to do because now I can't just trust that he'll not screw it up or that he'll even use that thing they call comminication!!
So .. granted the incident from the other day made me mad .. I wish I would have known he was going to waste my time, because I would have taken advantage and just stayed home. But it's the combination of me being supremely tired, not having time to eat a 'decent meal,' being sore from going to the gym and from running so much, hating this leash on my computer, my sister being in the hospital not getting an ounce better than she was when she went in, me running around like absolute madness, etc ... you get the point. It's been a rough time for me and I am desperate for the days to increase to 36 hours .. soon! If not, I need some serious R&R .. please?!? I may cancel my entire weekend worth of running around and trying to get caught up on everything else, and instead opt to be absolutely worthless, in hopes that it will help me destress. If not, I think I'm going to be beating on my punching bag at home a bit more often because I have to get the stress out of my thoughts before it develops into physical stress and I get all moody and hostile... and actually give my work computer a toss after all!!
Ok .. I'm leaving work. I stayed late intentionally to gripe, because I don't want to take it out of the office with me either... hopefully tomorrow I will have forgotten again ... :o)
