On welcome employment
Sunday, 16 January 2005 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daSo after my first two weeks at the new job, I feel I can now say something more interesting than "I'm here, I'm busy."
I'm working at the same University as d., in a position I'd describe as "Tech Support Plus Plus". I'm supposed to be the Debian expert for the IT staff attached to the Computer Science department. Usually, my work will be "things that improve the infrastructure of the CS department" such as simplifying printing from Unix, and making users' X11 environments more friendly. I'm also responsible for the undergraduate CS Graphics Lab, which has associated professors and TAs who I'll fix problems for.
I spent a chunk of the first two weeks getting my office arranged (soon to be re-arranged, as we're all moving into a renovated, nicer space in a neighbouring building).
As I first arrived, my co-worker Phil won my everlasting esteem for finding me a disinfectant spray bottle and towels, even before I asked. My predecessor left the office in... a somewhat titchy state. (That discovery set the general tone for looking into my predecessor's work as well.)
The work so far? It hasn't been particularly challenging, as it's mostly been garden-variety system administration tasks to go with the start of the new term, but there are signs that this will change soon. There are at least four larger projects my boss wants to see me accomplish by December, and he's encouraged me to find additional useful work of my own choice. Yay.
The environment? Collegial, I suppose. I'm finding it surprisingly nice to have people stop by my office to engage me in technical conversations. This surprise probably sounds wacky to my friends besides![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mynatt (who, like me, has worked from home the last few years)... But it's a welcome change to me. I'm a more social creature than I've been letting myself believe.
I'm working at the same University as d., in a position I'd describe as "Tech Support Plus Plus". I'm supposed to be the Debian expert for the IT staff attached to the Computer Science department. Usually, my work will be "things that improve the infrastructure of the CS department" such as simplifying printing from Unix, and making users' X11 environments more friendly. I'm also responsible for the undergraduate CS Graphics Lab, which has associated professors and TAs who I'll fix problems for.
I spent a chunk of the first two weeks getting my office arranged (soon to be re-arranged, as we're all moving into a renovated, nicer space in a neighbouring building).
As I first arrived, my co-worker Phil won my everlasting esteem for finding me a disinfectant spray bottle and towels, even before I asked. My predecessor left the office in... a somewhat titchy state. (That discovery set the general tone for looking into my predecessor's work as well.)
The work so far? It hasn't been particularly challenging, as it's mostly been garden-variety system administration tasks to go with the start of the new term, but there are signs that this will change soon. There are at least four larger projects my boss wants to see me accomplish by December, and he's encouraged me to find additional useful work of my own choice. Yay.
The environment? Collegial, I suppose. I'm finding it surprisingly nice to have people stop by my office to engage me in technical conversations. This surprise probably sounds wacky to my friends besides
mynatt (who, like me, has worked from home the last few years)... But it's a welcome change to me. I'm a more social creature than I've been letting myself believe.
