Computer says no
Our computers at work have been down since Thursday. Before I go any further, let me just say that I love my job, I love the people I work with, and our offices are awesome. BUT, I do not love our computers or the network we're on.
Generally speaking, the computers at work challenge everyone's patience on a daily basis. Personally, it's quite normal for me to have to restart once or twice a day after my computer freaks out. Then it takes a good 20 minutes to reboot. From what I can gather, my colleagues all suffer similar frustrations.
I'm not going to pretend for a moment that I know the first thing about computery stuff, and I'm sure it's very complicated and all that, but three days? It's gone from being inconvenient on day one, really flippin' annoying on day two, and now that we're at day three I'm ready to start throwing things.
It's a good thing we didn't have four international artists in town last week to add extra intensity to the workload. Phew.... Oh, wait, no hang on, we did.
As you can tell, not being able to get on the network to access all the files and communication we need to do our jobs has put me in a bit of a foul mood. Working with music and media means that our computers are our lifelines, and I dare say staff morale around workplace at the moment is a little on the strung-out side.
All the folks who are aimlessly wandering around our office pulling chunks of hair clean from their heads are symptomatic of large-scale problem. According to this recent article, slow computers are the second biggest annoyance in the workplace. Taking out first place is grumpy co-workers, but, as the article points out, there's every chance a major cause of the grumpiness in others may be due to their frustration with computers.
So yes, misbehaving computers are the root of much evil.
Other things that make my list of gripes around the office are milk being left on the kitchen bench to go warm, and my stapler and box cutter going wanders.
I also get annoyed when people leave ALL their lunch mess out for the cleaners to deal with. I get that the cleaners are called cleaners for a reason, but no need to take the piss - is it really necessary to leave the chopping board, knife, and end bits of fruit strewn across the bench? Could you at least wipe up the puddles of fruit juice?
Of course, aside from these little things, sometimes people at work just drive you up the wall.
Tell me about your workplace - what are the things that niggle away at you, compounding to the point where you sometimes just want to throw all your personal possessions into a box and walk out (like they do in the movies)?
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3 days of computer problems? Try three months Jane ;) Still not fixed, still not looking like it will be anytime soon. 20 times a day of logging onto a programme i use all day....*rips hair out*
do you work for telecom?
I once had a computer freeze on me, and refuse to print anything or upload the file onto a memory stick, half an hour before I had to rush off to meet the deadline for an 18,000-word essay I'd been working on for 2 weeks.
After experiencing that irrational my-life-is-over angst, I bought a new computer the following week ;-)
@ Jane Yee
I worked as a part-time cleaner for a year as I put myself through Uni.
A person can learn a LOT about other people when they work as a cleaner around their fellow students. Their body-language alone spoke volumes :-)
Bring the IT department caffeine and sugary treats. You will in turn receive better service.
wow 3 days?! That's terrible.
The thing which annoys me at my workplace is when I can't find a desk to sit at. I don't have an assigned desk and sometimes all the 'hotdesks' are taken. So not motivating to be there.
Well pretty much every website bar stuff is banned and in recent weeks the have cottoned on to and banned grab a seat and cricinfo. It will be only a matter of time until my secret posting life is blocked and I will be restricted to doing it only from home hours after convos have finished which will seriously impede any comedic timing!
Passing the buck alaso annoys me, do it once and do it properly. I will do absolutely everything possible within my capacity before seeking outside assitance that said I dont mind asking for help if I need it!
I have one more level of annoyance than that. I support some bespoke software. I'm not part of the IT department. But still it's me everyone complains too.
Could be worse though.
My work place people are nice. Sure they couldn't empty a dishwasher or clean up after themselves if their lives depended on it, but they can always be counted on to bring something home-made or at least fancy bought stuff for a food day.
Well, as I work from home, my biggest source of workplace annoyance is religious doorknockers and not noticing it's raining on my washing. (I do actually do real work too!)
But at my old workplace, I used to hate my pens with legs that would mysteriously go for a wander and never return, co-workers who would come in for a chat because "I'm bored", the network shutting down, and the IT helpdesk. The office ladies would grudgingly clean our kitchen - I tried very hard to be a tidy Kiwi but when I first started I accidentally left a soup bowl in the sink. The next day it was still there with congealed soup and a passive-aggressive note to the effect that "your mother doesn't work here". I don't like passive-aggressive notes; just leaving the bowl there would have been subtle enough.
Remembering all this has made me so, so glad I don't have a 'job' anymore! Soooo don't miss office politics :-)
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Yay! More GenY whining!!