Well, the first week of the new job has come and gone, and I must say I am enjoying myself there. But while the job is going well, I must confess there's certain aspects of it that are just killing me.

Our IT department just really cheeses me off:

1) We don't have full control over our computers, so we can't customize them at all, or install software we need, without going through the chain of command.
What the heck is up with this? Don't they understand that they're losing productivity because of this? They claim that they won't let us modify anything because "they don't support it." That's a nice load of bullcrap. Seems to me they're just too lazy and they don't want to deal with any potential hassles. Not to mention that most people are competent enough to manage their own computers, and I would hope we're all adult enough to handle being responsible for our own computers. Anyway, that really rubs me the wrong way.

2) No Instant Messenger.
For those of you who know me pretty well, you know then that this is just excruciating. It's not that I spend an inappropriate amount of time chatting, it's just kills me to be out of the loop the whole day. I love being able to fire off quick little chats when i'm taking a brain break. Not to mention that it makes work more efficient when you can just IM ppl information instead of relying on email (slow), dialing them up (slower), or walking upstairs :) But then again, walking and getting out of my chair is good for me. Lord knows I spend enough time sitting down as it is. Not to mention walking and talking are a great way to kill time! Let's hear it for the no-IM policy.

3) Internet speed.
Seriously, it's worse than dialup. I can measure my downloading speed in bytes per second. Yah that's right, I get less than 1K/sec sometimes. It's like drinking through one of those coffee stirring sticks. Timeouts galore. Do they even realize that half the work of being a java developer is taking advantage of the internet as a research tool?

These things came as a really big shock to me - why is one of the nation's biggest companies so horrible in these areas? It's positively shameful. It's my hope that my site is not the norm and that other sites are better off.

But either way, I enjoy my job, pay, and benefits, which are all much, much, better than my previous job - so I guess I can't really complain.


Much.








Oh btw, I just now beat Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic. I can finally rest easy. Until tomorrow that is, when I play through the game again to get the alternate ending :) Seriously, one of the best console games i've ever played.