Musings of an IT widow

Since moving to the big city of Chicago our family has faced challenges: moving, settling in, making friends, deciding where to shop. But no challenge has tested us like the IT jobs of the city.

My husband is a highly skilled Computer Administrator with many years and competency under his belt. But these are the not the values that are normed here. Oh no! Competency Shompetency! Give me passive aggressive double talk and procrastination. I'd wager a bet that if there was an Information Technology workers union this could be their slogan. Oh wait, they (the Chicago IT workers) would never be able to sustain that level of organization. So we, the forgotten IT workers family, are left wandering in the dark, tripping over our own work ethics.

When we were first married I wasn't always very good at expressing my opinion. My background and immaturity sometimes hindered the assertion of my opinions. At my husbands insisting, I grew up and became more assertive. I no longer confused my husband with my wish-washy-ho-hum-kind-of speeches. Now I feel I can give my opinion in a helpful and non-threatening way.

This morning my husband and I were trying to decide what to do for dinner. He was saying one thing and meaning another. I was so confused. Who was this? Where was my competent husband who had no time for passive aggressive poop?! The body snatchers (Corporate "Culture") have come to replace my husband with a less-than-articulate doppelgänger. *sigh*

Now my husband is job searching again and the sharks are beginning to circle. (Recruiters) What scares me the most: What if the crap he's dealing with at his current job doesn't necessarily going away when he finds a new one?

So frustrated

I've been very frustrated at work lately. More than usual, I guess. This morning, I did something to my workstation that completely hozed it up. I got it working again, but not 100%. The computer is just cheap crap and the drivers for that cheap junk don't work well.

Then one of the DBA guys emails me (and the usual gang of CC) asking, in a rather accusatory manner, a question that has been answered at least 3 times in the recent past. This sort of thing happens a lot. The group will make a decision about something, then someone will say something and the decision will be lost and the whole debate starts over. Even simple things take 3 or 4 times longer than they should because nobody can make a decision stick.

I try very hard to short-circuit this process where I can in my areas of responsibility, but too often other involved parties can't let things go and aren't willing to stick with a decision.

This morning I was so frustrated that I had to leave the office for a while to calm down.

I don't like being this frustrated.

Searching

So, as a matter of serendipity I talked to a recruiter a week or so ago. I wasn't expecting to talk to him, but it came up and the conversation was good. Following that conversation, I contacted several other people whom I had talked to back when I was doing my last job search. These conversations have gone quite good as well.

Coming out of these conversations I have concluded that I am indeed underpaid and oversubscribed in my current job.

This has all come after a particularly trying time at my current job. Unrealistic time tables and expectations have pushed my frustration level very high. On one hand, I feel compelled to meet expectations (just because that's the type of person that I am). At the same time, I know that there's no way I can actually meet these expectations. This leaves me feeling that I need to escape.