In Case of Emergency..

Admin Gal would like to remind you to walk, not run, down the stair case in case of emergency.

Admin Life is Tough on the Body and Mind

Admin Gal is amused.  Very amused.  Did you know that her desk job is making her unhealthy?  MSNBC has a full article about how desk jobs are adding to the obesity problem of America.  How the sedentary life style of the working schmuck is the ruination of the nation!

Really?

Here Admin Gal thought that her job was just plain making her crazy.  If she didn't have to answer phones for perfectly capable individuals, maybe she'd have more time to get away from her desk. Perhaps, if Admin Gal didn't have to manage and manipulate the schedules of adults, because they have a difficult time assessing their own time management needs she'd have less stress.

So, perhaps the obliviot who wrote the article might have a point.  Admin Gal's desk job is ruining not only her mind, but her body too.

Copier/Printer Courtesy

If a print job looks to have multiple pages, common sense AND common courtesy says to leave it be until the job is done.  Ensuring the job will have no pages missing OR out of place for the person who must pick it up.

Unfortunately, common sense and courtesy seem to be lacking in the work place.  Bits and pieces of print jobs floating on counters like flotsam cast on the ocean.  To the person picking up the bitter pieces of this mess, this is a slap in the face.  An irksome job that demands retribution.

As an Admin, I do have some recourse.  I have an in with IT.  I'm going to get a code put on the color printer.  Limiting it only to mine and my boss's use.  We'll see how long it takes for the obliviots of the company to understand the one simple and finite rule...

YOU DON'T SCREW WITH SOMEONE ELSE'S PRINT JOB!

Just Because It's There...

doesn't mean you have to avail yourself of it.

Like most people, I have a sweet tooth.  So, I have a small candy bowl place for my convenience at my desk.  When I say convenience, I mean at the back of my desk where it is easy to reach for me.  If someone wants to partake of its contents, they seriously have to make an effort.  Which means generally tripping over me.

I don't mind the occasional, 'Ooo, do you mind?' I'm willing to share.

I DO mind the person who walks into my cubicle, climbs over my warm, working body and grabs a handful of whatever is in the bowl.  Leaving without a greet, glance or anything.

Were they raised by mutants?

I once worked in an office where the candy bowl was communal and once a week everyone contributed $3-5 and their preferred candy.  All was good in the universe.  But if the bowl is private, placed in an obviously difficult place, ask before you snatch.  It's only polite.

Horrible Sales People Hall of Fame

Dear Sales People of the Business-verse,

I recognize that you have a job to do.  Really, I do.  But lying to the admin is a poor way to start any business relationship. We always remember the first impression and are not afraid to share our view point with our bosses.

A few words of wisdom if you want to speak with my boss:

1. Just because you get the Admin doesn't mean you need to hang up.  I write the number down and remember the rudeness.
2. My job is to screen calls, directing you to the RIGHT person.  More than likely, my boss is not the person you need to speak with. If you would give me a moment of your time, I could get you to someone you'd have a chance with.
3. Breathing heavily and hanging up will only get you mocked. Really, you have no idea the amusement you provide when you do that.
4. Implying that I'm lying, lazy, stupid, or deficient in anyway WILL get you blacklisted with in my company.  I make lists and make sure they are published.  I also make calls to your company and talk to your managers, expressing my unhappiness with your conduct.
5. Politeness will open doors, kindness will get you a conversation.

I have met some genuinely delightful sales people who have listened to me, therefore getting a coveted conversation with the appropriate person in my organization.

I have also met some truly despicable people who will forever reside in the Horrible Sales People Hall of Fame.  Not a place anyone wants to be.

Sincerely,

The Admin

Helping the Helpless

Sometimes the helpless can not be helped. Being asked to call the help desk for an issue that requires permissions that I, as an admin have not been granted, is a colossal waste of time. You see, the help desk is bound by certain protocols that even the most resourceful admins have a hard time breaking through.

But I digress.

Oftentimes we, the admin, are asked to find forgotten passwords, give permissions to systems that we have no rights to, OR pose as the manager or executive in question to figure out a problem that they have described as "the computer is doing that thing that sounds like {insert an unpleasant body sound}."

Seriously?

I know we have super powers and if you were to put the admins in the governing bodies of the world, we'd have the majority of the problems fixed before lunch. But I don't know how to describe a problem to the help desk that sounds like a fart.

There are times when the management needs to suck it up and help themselves.