Still Working

Today's been a long day. It's after 9:00 pm and I'm on a marathon conference call that will likely go well into the night hours. I did leave work at 5:15 to get Holly from camp, but have been on the call all evening. The responsibility on the call has shifted focus, so I decided to write an entry. It might be an odd entry since I am in full, analytical and problem-solving mode.

This is my second long work day in a row. Yesterday was a 13 hour day and today looks like it will far exceed that. Every 8 months or so, we have a crisis situation and I get brought in to help. Jane hates these times because I pace around the house with a phone to my ear for hours on end. I've tried to do better tonight by staying upstairs in the master bedroom or in the guest room with the laptop.

I don't like having my evenings occupied by these calls, but I do like the change of pace. The pattern is very familiar and I usually sense the situation coming several days in advance. This time, I became aware last Thursday that there was an unsolvable problem that would likey result in the request of my assistance. That request came Monday night at about 8:50 PM.

I do well when there is a wealth of information from the parties involved but the information is different depending on who you talk to. Those differences are what interest me and help me find a direction to the solution. The issue I usually encounter is trying to convince others to make a change. Most lean towards very generic solutions or really big changes that they feel would make a difference; the brute force approach. I look for anomolies, which are usually minor, and lobby for changes that affect those. Since they are small, no one bites. So we spend hours circling the issue until someone else discovers the same anomoly. Once two people say something is wrong, we can make a change.

The vagueness of what I am trying to solve is purposeful. I have decided not to directly write about my place of employment or my co-workers. Jane and I talked the other day about how difficult it is to write a blog when you leave work out of the picture. 8 or more hours of each day is spent at work where stories perfect for blogging are witnessed. After reading my company's official blogging policy today, I've chosen to take the non-work blog route. The policy does not prohibit blogging but cautions against the use and image of the company. It calls for disclaimers that the blogger's views are not representative of the company. Additionally, if I was to write an entry on company equipment, the blog entry becomes the property of the company. Additionally, it is at the company's discretion to take action. Screw that. Not worth losing my job.

Over the weekend, I went to the pool twice with Holly. It's nice recognizing people at the pool. Last summer, we bought a pass for our city pool. It was nice, but we didn't know anybody there. Well, except for the woman whose office was on my floor at work. I didn't know her personally, but it was always awkward seeing each other in full office attire during the day and then in a swimming suit in the evening at the pool. Creeped me out.

This summer we switched to a new pool. Since we've become a little more embedded in the city since Holly went to public school, we see people we actually know. As Jane will attest, I seldom approach anyone in public to talk to them even if I know them. The other day at the pool I was talking to the mother of one of Holly's friends. It was fluffy talk since we don't know each other very well, but at least I was talking.

I guess that's enough for tonight. I'm still on the call and need to plug my mobile phone into the charger.