work

Moments like these are why my co-workers settle in to read my trouble tickets with amusement:

There are notes in the code that specifically indicate the maintainer hasn't written all of the security-related code yet.  (Um.  WHAT?)  The integration issues wouldn't grind our server to a halt if the module actually was respecting access permissions, because then the errors would only be happening for about 3 users.  This simply isn't acceptable, so I've disabled the integration until I can get a better handle on what's going on with this module.  Or stalk the maintainer.  Whichever.

...and that's just one ticket.  It's not even 9:30 yet.  I'm thinking it's going to be a banner trouble ticket day.

I'll spare you all the gory details and give you the roundup; after round one of layoffs at the library, all full-time employees will be taking two one-week furloughs, one in second quarter 2009 and the other in Q3 2009. I'm looking at using my Q2 furlough to head west to do some Drupal work with some friends. My Q3 furlough is likely to take me to Seattle. Plans are still nebulous on the latter one, though.

Nebulous yet nefarious, I might add.

As for us, we're okay; my job has never been the main breadwinner, which helps. Some of my co-workers, though, are not so lucky. For them, I'm worried.

Might as well make the best of it; camera + time off = Tales From The Furlough.

Jeff and I have talked off and on this week about work distractions. I've been having a lot of them lately, and it didn't hit me until a couple of days ago that they had something to do with my level of frustration at work.

My job situation dictates mental agility. To handle it properly, I must be able to repeatedly switch tasks, thought processes, and often even styles of work on very short notice.  Write a press release, then debug a server configuration.  Study up on how new software works, then whip out a graphic.  Write code.  Answer phones.  Pitch in on troubleshooting calls if I know the answers and our hardware person isn't free.

The problem is that not all of these are short-attention-span projects.  I'm really there to write code, and therein lies the rub.  Libraries are not typically havens for programmers, so the mindset is foreign to anyone outside the IT department.