Well – the last couple of days have been interesting at least. Typically I don’t really talk about what I do for a living as work posts tend to get drudged up at rather random times. But I will say that as an IT professional, there’s nothing that makes things more interesting than a late night work week.
For the uninitiated, major implementations in IT are either smooth as silk or an extended stay in your office or cubicle with a sleeping bag. When you’re installing new tech or doing upgrades, the potential for problems is huge, and the need to get things going before the opening of business next day is immense pressure. This is pretty much what I’ve been going through, and the temporary zombie-fication has prevented updates.
Still, though, there’s nothing that breaks up the monotony of tech support and administration much like trying to grind away at a problem. The kinds of trials and tribulations you go through as you work on a crucial server issue or a network failure at 2am are the kinds of things that sadly, teach you some of your best lessons. If you’ve ever gone through the hardship of trying to find a solution to what seems to be a simple problem, you know what I’m talking about. There’s a sort of high associated with climbing a mountain of an issue and ultimately solving it, despite going through a ton of pain.
Geeks in particular, due to being on the cutting edge of tech, have a bit of an addiction to this kind of thing. Because the stakes are sometimes high (hundreds to thousands of users) and the technology massive, the satisfaction of identifying a problem with an installation, troubleshooting it, and fixing it is that much greater. Sure, it ultimately sucks when you can’t fix something or if you end up having to call in reinforcements, but the solution to any tech problem tends to benefit others and save them a ton of time – part of why I work in the field that I do.
Still, despite the satisfaction, the tired look that I have on my face as I post this is one I would definitely rather not have. Even geeks, who are notorious night owls, have their limits and become the walking dead after a hard night’s work of tech issues and solutions. I’m just frankly glad I learned a lot from the experience – and most people do.
Wow couldn't have said it better myself. I too am in the IT field, and I've been there done that. At 2am banging my head on the desk, wondering why the hell something isn't working right…when it should be in theory. Then as you walk to get a bottle of dew for fuel, it hits you like a lightening bolt, and all is good. You go home feeling like a God…but the high doesn't last long, usually it stops the next day when you get the call, "Yeah I forgot my password, can you reset it?"