- An update on the old man for everyone. After a scary few days when he didn't seem to recognize us, he seems to be at least partly back and semi mobile. His right leg is still paralyzed and he has no feeling in it, but he seems to be able to use it. Left leg seems improved.The seizures continue and we have changed his medication to try to get them under control. He is waking up and calling for help in the early hours of the morning and is unable to control his bladder during a seizure.But he's responding to his name again… At least as much as the stubborn old man used to anyway. And he is being much better with Nanuq after the last few days of acting terrified of his little brother. Not out of the woods yet but we have a go forward and still hoping for the best. #stlloki #siberianhusky #huskiesofinstagram Photo taken yesterday while eating lunch at Have a Cow. - March 10, 2024
- Send good vibes for the old man Loki. #stlloki is in a bad way this week. Suffered several grand mal seizures this week with no identifiable cause and has been left paralyzed in his right leg and partially on his left. His behavior has turned extremely erratic and verging on violent. He's having trouble recognizing people and even Nanuq.Not the best pic I have of him, but one of the most recent of the old man. #siberianhusky #huskiesofinstagram - March 8, 2024
- Night walk through the Redwoods Tree walk in Rotorua… The lights are so beautiful and made for a lovely end to the evening… #newzealand #redwoodstreewalkrotorua - February 1, 2024
 You know, I feel completely un-motivated today at work 🙂
I gues that’s what happens when you’re on notice and they’re working you right up to the last minute they can. Tomorrow’s my last day here and really I find myself lacking motivation to do anything.
My reasons aren’t because I’m lazy. Quite the contrary; I would rather be busy than bored any day of the week. However, the problem remains that I can’t get too deeply into anything because with tomorrow being my last day here, anything I start I won’t be able to finish. It’s like a presidential lame duck.
Why do we work our good employees up to their last day of the two weeks notice they give? Honestly, I don’t think it makes that much sense, particularly in technology. What can you really do with those last two weeks, and in particular the second week of that two week period?
I know the theory; that the two weeks is meant to transition projects and jobs over to another member of staff, or to train a replacement. However, this seems to be missing the fundamental point that with good documentation, decent employees and sticking to industry standards there’s nothing to hand off. I’ve found that I’ve had almost nothing to hand off to my colleagues because our documentation is good enough that we don’t have to.
It also seems to me that particularly in technology, there are plenty of avenues for a soon-to-be-ex employee to “leave his mark” on a company’s systems. Say I wanted to get some side work in the future; what’s to prevent me from setting a “time-bomb” in the company systems that they have to turn to Gavin to fix because he’s the one who set up these systems in the first place? Sure, in my particular case that’s not likely; I happen to like my colleagues and wouldn’t do that to them… but I know that not everyone feels that way. Particularly if said employee feels that he’s been dumped on and forced into a corner before he quit, there’s likely to be a “going out in a blaze of glory” type event.
Yes, there are legal ramifications to that action… but anyone knowledgeable about technology can find ways to cover their tracks.
Perhaps I’m just bored and that’s what’s causing me to think like this; but really, what value am I bringing the company during these last two days of my tenure when everything’s handed off and I daren’t start into anything new because I know it’s all going to go by the wayside tomorrow no matter what?
Maybe they hope I’ll have second thoughts? Well; I have. I’ve repeatedly wondered if what I was doing was the right thing. I mean, it’s not like I’m REALLY unhappy at my current position and I think I’ve been well enough treated (if not always well utilized). But I have to weigh up the benefits versus the costs of going to this new role. It’s going back to Systems Engineering and Architecture again, but for a much smaller company than I’ve worked for in quite a while. But it’s a company that shows profit and future, even in a down market right now. It’s also a Berkshire Hathaway company, so it’s got the support and backing of Warren Buffett; the world’s richest man according to Forbes recently.
So what am I complaining about? Who knows? 🙂 I’m only human after all, and change is part of life. I hate to job-hop but in this case there was nothing for me at my current company. At least, not yet.
See? I am trying to update more frequently  🙄