I am one of 3 people in my area who are certified to work on Cisco equipment. I am currently sitting in a server room, on my 24th hour without sleep, and am ready to stab a bitch.

WHY did I answer my work phone? Why didn't I say that I had to take my migraine medication? Today is supposed to be my day off. I'm not on call. I have precious little time off this week (worked last weekend, will again this). Sometimes I despise having a work ethic.

I feel your pain.

Networking has been that way for decades. My worst was being so tired I slept on my office floor using bubble wrap for a pillow. I was installing new 3725's for an international network so that gives you an idea of how long ago.

I went into IT Infrastructure Architecture (now a dead art). There are few strategy or standards emergencies.

I feel your pain. I spent 24hrs straight at work on Sat/Sun. I moved hundreds and hundreds of floor tiles from one room to another. Had customer plug-ins going on from 7p-2a, had our fire suppression system for a suite fail, and was left as the only person on a campus of 1.9m sqft of white space from 3a-6a on Sunday.

I found out I’m on a list of four people at work that never say no when asked to come in early/stay late/etc. It just about doesn’t pay to be reliable and demonstrate that you can get things done.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I feel your pain.

Networking has been that way for decades. My worst was being so tired I slept on my office floor using bubble wrap for a pillow. I was installing new 3725's for an international network so that gives you an idea of how long ago.

I went into IT Infrastructure Architecture (now a dead art). There are few strategy or standards emergencies.

There's just 3 of us in our IT dept at work.
Coworker did the 'sleep on the floor' thing after a marathon night at our data center after a failure.
We got back to the office around 2am & his commute is 62 miles. He opted to just crash at the office.

Luckily, we have a gym & showers, so he was at least able to get a shower & keeps a change of clothes handy for when he hits the gym.

You need to learn to start saying "NO"

That's all there is to it.

Please tell me you aren't salary.

I am.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
You need to learn to start saying "NO"

That's all there is to it.

Yes. Yes, I do. They're going to run me ragged during my regular day already; this is going to burn me out too quickly.

Not only am I hourly though, we have actual call out provisions. So there's that (not so good) consolation. So, I may be falling asleep sitting on the floor in the network room, but I'm getting paid 1.5x time for it.

The site contact had his phone on do not disturb, then nobody knew where the network rack is, then my Cisco VISE engineer wouldn't answer the damned phone or even return a damned email. Small consolation: I didn't have to replace the switch or either of the fiber QSFP adapters.. It just needed a power cycle and a stern look.

Fuck that, not worth it

I could add about 40-50% more to my income working 80 hours a week. See above

Your career is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself. Make it to the finish.

I actually had a supervisor sit me down once some years ago and say something to the effect of:

"Don't try to be a hero, yes work hard but at the end of the day this place will still survive without you and if you think you're irreplaceable, think again because they will replace you in a heartbeat."

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
You need to learn to start saying "NO"

That's all there is to it.

It doesn't work that way when what you do is essential to the company's day-to-day operations, you're the only one who can do it, and you have a strong sense of responsibility.

I worked in IT for 25 years. I was on call 24x7x52. In all that time I was never more than a half day's travel from our main facility. I was never out of phone contact and very rarely without network (dial-in, pre-Internet) connectivity.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
... if you think you're irreplaceable, think again because they will replace you in a heartbeat."

Uh huh. My old bosses thought that, once-upon-a-time. Then, when I announced a firm retirement target and they set out to replace me, they found out it wasn't easy as they'd thought it would be

{sigh}
We feel your pain.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I use to come to work with a positive attitude. But lately, things has gotten worse at work. I am not the same person anymore. I still DO CARE for my patients 100%. But some of the folks who work at my unit just don't care. They come in for pay check ONLY and do bare minimum.

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
It just about doesn’t pay to be reliable and demonstrate that you can get things done.

"Sorry, I had a few drinks and hour or so ago. Otherwise I'd be more than happy to come in and help you."

Or just don't answer the phone.

Some places appreciate the workers dedication, some just dump on you.

Last place I worked my supervisor gave me 4 stars vs 5 for attendance on a review. This affected my score and thus my pay.

I reminded him that in 12 years ...

1) I had never been late to work.
2) I had never missed a day.
3) I had never left early.
4) I had never ask for overtime.
5) I had never refused an overtime request.

So why the cat fur not 5 stars????
His reply... "I don't give anyone 5 stars... ever. That would mean you have no room for improvement".

F'em.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
...they set out to replace me, they found out it wasn't easy as they'd thought it would be

But they managed to do it. It's not always easy to replace someone but everyone is replaceable.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

"Sorry, I had a few drinks and hour or so ago. Otherwise I'd be more than happy to come in and help you."

A friend of mine was chief pilot for an Orlando area company.

He did not drink, but every once in a while he wanted to make sure that he would not be called for a flight, so he would have half a glass of wine with dinner, so that if he was called, he could truthfully state that he was not legal to fly.

Some management folks do take pride in screwing their good people, for unknown reason. My then MANAGER (and now ASSISTANT NURSE EXEC) once told some of us in our unit that "I never give EXCELLENT in the reviews". And they wonder why there is a fast turn around in our unit.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
Some places appreciate the workers dedication, some just dump on you.

So why the cat fur not 5 stars????
His reply... "I don't give anyone 5 stars... ever. That would mean you have no room for improvement".

F'em.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
Some places appreciate the workers dedication, some just dump on you.

Last place I worked my supervisor gave me 4 stars vs 5 for attendance on a review. This affected my score and thus my pay.

I reminded him that in 12 years ...

1) I had never been late to work.
2) I had never missed a day.
3) I had never left early.
4) I had never ask for overtime.
5) I had never refused an overtime request.

So why the cat fur not 5 stars????
His reply... "I don't give anyone 5 stars... ever. That would mean you have no room for improvement".

F'em.

My response would be "why improve perfection?".