Friday, July 27, 2012

Learning All The Time

I love my job.

Man I'm a geek. But truly, it is exciting for me to go to work the majority of the time. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't get to do and learn new things.

Concepts I have gathered more knowledge on this week:

1. VLookups in Excel
2. Financial Ratios, Income Statements, and Balance Sheets.
3. Skiing Facilities
4. Supply Chain Management for Utility Pole Manufacturing
5. MS Dynamics AX ERP system
6. Clay Brick and Concrete Block Manufacturing

For me, this diversity of topics is simply perfect. I don't have to become an expert in any one thing, but I'm continually allowed to expand my knowledge base and be challenged in new ways.

Sometimes I struggle with switching back and forth between topics, but I find I can sometimes work more productively if I do. I'll work for a bit on one projects, and then when I find myself struggling a bit to keep my focus, I switch to a second projects. I have done this with varying results - sometimes there is a definite boost to my productivity, but sometimes I just end up getting trapped in feeling like I can concentrate on *anything*.

Then at that point, I just want to surf the web for pictures of baby animals or something.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Wireless for the People But Not the Government


Recently, I spent two days at a Washington State agency down near the capital. It came as quite a shock to me that in the building (and outside in the parking lot) there was terrible coverage for both mobile reception and 3G connection. It made me wonder why any major mobile telecommunications company would fail to provide excellent coverage to key governmental locations? Or was that intentional? Were the majority of the employees on a network other than Verizon Wireless and had no such issue? Whatever the reason, it left me feeling quite disconnected from the rest of the world, as I additionally had no internet connection to use my laptop.

Arguably, it is a separate issue that there was no public or private WiFi network in the building, either – I suppose it isn’t unreasonable since the agency handles sensitive information, and perhaps it is a security concern. But even so, it makes me wonder. Some employees had Blackberries (which were scheduled to be taken back due to budget cuts), but I never saw anyone from the agency in the slew of meetings I observed bring a laptop or tablet (though smartphones were definitely present).

I am definitely a member of the constantly-connected generation. Personally, being without internet for a few hours makes me twitchy. But it is also impossible for me to get work done without an internet connection, as approximately 95% of my job is tied to having access to the world wide web. While I was on-site, I found myself writing a number of work emails on my phone through the web access email portal we have, wishing all the while for one of those magical little wireless network creating USB sticks. Tried to run my work computer off my phone's network, but was informed that I was not graced with those administration privileges. So I just had to accept my lack of internet and move on, thankful I could still take notes in Word and set reminders for myself for when I was back on the grid.

My handwriting, after all, can be pretty dire when taking speedy notes.