Work

It's been busy here on account. So this is the first chance I've gotten to write in awhile. I'm sure you were eagerly waiting for it. So since work has made me so busy I figure now is a good time to write about it.

I am officially titled the Computer Coordinator for the Gondor College of Teacher's Education. I have a few projects on the go which for the most part involve setting up the internet on campus and fixing every computer on campus. Yes, all of them. This is probably a task that I shall not finish before I leave nor is it a problem that I could finish even if I stayed here forever because the damned things keep breaking. There are three jobs I seem to have been sort of assigned sort of fallen into.

The first job I have is dealing with viruses. The people here all know that viruses make bad things happen to their computers, but this knowledge does not seem to extend to how to remove them or prevent them from showing up. A large portion of my job is carefully explaining to people the need to keep their antivirus software up-to-date, and then installing some. Viruses are rampant and I haven't found a single computer that hasn't been infected with at least an innocuous keystroke logger. I'm getting to know all sorts of viruses by name which is something I hadn't really paid much attention to. I can tell you detailed descriptions of the Brazilian Banker, Redlof, Brontokk, Timese and a number of other viruses with equally fanciful names. I could tell you, but I won't because I don't want to bore you dreadfully and if you are particularly interested you can always send me an email or wait until you next see me. I assure you though that unless you are computationally inclined the names are the most interesting part.

The second job I have is fixing computers. Most people don't really know anything about this. A computer breaks, and it's sort of put in a pile labelled broken and then they try and get a replacement. They are just starting to realize that a broken computer can be fixed. This job would be quite easy for me except that there is a monumental process to purchase any new parts. I can fix things quite quickly, but the swathes of red tape that must be cut through in order to do this take up most of my time in this regard. There are a few people who want me to train them, and I really want to train them because I won't be here forever. The problem is that I say I want to train them and they say that they want to be trained, but then when I ask them to pick a time and place they say they'll get back to me and haven't yet. I'm sure they will eventually, but I may have to crack a whip to make them pick soon.

The third job I have is the Keeper of the Internet. All of the Internet. I am supposed to fix the internet that's broken, make it faster, supervise peoples, usage setup as many computers as I can on it and pretty much do everything in my power to move the campus towards being fully online. Everyone loves the internet here and everyone wants it yesterday. This is probably the most challenging job and the most ambitious, it's something that could be worked on for years at this campus and probably will be. For the most part I'm setting up a plan to put some buildings on a "broadband" connection. (It's not really that fast only relatively).

So now you know all about my job, I'll go into more detail about it at a later date. If I don't get distracted by writing about other things, like Crambolo and Decent Pub (which I'm going to tonight!)

Jordie out