Information Technology

I seriously hate being the I.T. guy.

Hate it! And lemme tell you a few reasons why:

1. No appreciation. I never get an email or anyone coming by to say "hey, the network's running just fine! Thanks for keeping it running!" It's always "I seem to be having trouble printing." Or "I can't access $SERVERNAME." Anytime someone from the business side of the office comes by, it's because something's broken with our IT Infrastructure. Or their computers. Which brings me to my next point:

2. Stupid users. "How do I take a picture of this webpage and put it into a Word document?" It's a simple operation--how many times must I teach it to this one user? Or "My Outlook is behaving strangely..." Well if you'd actually archived your emails, rather than let a couple hundred thousand build up from the past few years, it'd probably work a whole lot better.

3. Not technically my job. I was hired as a Software Developer. I write code--it's what I went to school for. Sure, I can do these things, but that doesn't mean I want to. Didn't they promise they'd look into getting a full-time guy working I.T.? Didn't they say that my role as the I.T. guy was only temporary? If I had known that by "temporary" they actually meant "8 months and counting"...

*sigh*

And then, to top it off,

4. Not only do I do it at work, I do it at home, too. "Kent, I can't connect to the wireless network." Well sorry. You use your computer in practically one spot all the time, which happens to be right next to a switch and a second AP. There's a network cable right there. Plug it into the back of your laptop and quit complaining. It's faster and more secure, anyways.

Back in high school, when I was taking the Network Administration class and I got my Microsoft Certified Professional certifications for Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Server, and Server in the Enterprise, people told me that I could just leave school and be making $50K doing that stuff. Good thing I didn't take them too seriously, because the Dot-Com Bust was right around the corner. That, and it wasn't what I wanted to do, and it still isn't what I want to do--it was just a resume booster.

Well, seven years later I'm still haunted by it. Can do != Want to do.