Saturday, May 26, 2007

It Really Doesn't Have To Be This Hard

I left work at 3:00 yesterday since it was very slow there. I still came home and logged on remotely and of course I had my cell phone on but at least I was home. My wife was taking care of an issue with Little Man at the vet (we think he may have some real medical issues) so the house was empty except for me and The Golden. The next three hours of "work" are uneventful.

My wife comes home and we ate what she had made in the crock pot and after dinner I encouraged her to tell me about what is on her mind and she did. Towards the end of the conversation, the phone rang. It was the guy who I am switching roles with. He is on call until 7:00 Saturday morning and has "an issue". He proceeded to tell me about it and in his broken/scattered way of describing things, I am completely lost. All he really wanted was the global esc mgr's phone number. I told him that the issue did not sound like something that the GEM should be involved with but the Swede insists on it. I reluctantly give it to him. The primary problem it would seem, was that the way this case was started does not fit the process and the Swede was struggling to find a solution. I offered one and he said it was good, as well as accepted by the customer, but it seems that it was never implemented (scratches head). Even more bizarre is that according to the Swede, the right team has the case and should be able to resolve it (even though the ticket has not been updated to reflect this yet)...why are we making such a big fuss about this? And even MORE bizarre is that this issue does not impact our customer, but one of their suppliers...someone we do not directly support.

Two hours later I got a call back from the Swede. He told me that nothing would be done until morning hours, Swedish time...when the GEM is available. I suddenly got another lump of ice in my stomach. While the GEM would love to be involved, it is local issue (only affecting my region) but not something worth an "escalation" per se.

My wife and I watched a little TV and went to bed. Sleep would be very welcomed at this point.

I woke up at 6:30 dreading what the day potentially held. I had planned on going to the airport to welcome home soldiers returning from Iraq, but I do not feel comfortable being away from home in case this case (or another) is handed to me.

I guess the reason I am a bit miffed at this is that the Swede I am switching with appears to be sabotaging this transition. He is not comfortable with moving into a role where he will be required to be very PC (politically correct) since he is a very "by the books" guy who demands the processes be followed. I know that all his knowledge will not be as useful in his new role as it would be in his current one, but that is not my call. We are to do what we are told.

So I sit checking e-mail, updating my blog, and monitoring stuff at work. I have nothing to go on except on ticket and a name. I by no means want to open a can of worms by calling/e-mailing/IM'ing people. I learned my lesson about that a long time ago. I can be confident that if I need to be notified, I will be...that is one thing I can be assured of. The unofficial motto seems to be, "When in doubt, call everyone you can".

Well, I think I need some bible time (and I still need to get my lesson ready for Sunday School).

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