My last impressions of my job

I have come to accept my weaknesses; most of them are internal, based on my introverted nature. Yes, my friends, I am an introvert. A social one but an introvert, nonetheless.  I am a classic INFJ I operate with intuition as my 1^st line of defense. Yes, I am a person that believes that facts are much more truthful than feelings. However, it is the way I sense the world outside. 

 For that reason, I found myself dissatisfied in the position I am shortly leaving. I love what I do love it to the point that I am planning the next 15-20 years of my career. With life expectancy, the only determining factor. Or, more accurately, I plan on burning out instead of rusting out. here is the issue

In my present situation, I am dependent on individuals that, in many cases, I cannot see or contact for the performance of my systems. I find that "troubling" here is a clear example. I was placed "in charge" of a system for a departing employee. He told me on Thursday that I would be getting training on how it worked. He departed by very next Monday. And the system failed on Tuesday. I fond myself in a severe AZZ chewing session with the CIO and all the members of the team that supported that system. What we found was that security protocols were changed, and the ports ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_(computer_networking) were changed so that the system could no longer communicate with my server.  The location where that control took place was in San Diego.

Additionally, the internal wireless network was not communicating with the infusion pumps in the hospital wards( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infusion_pump). These receive updates from the formulary stored on my server. At the same time, the server was scheduled for an upgrade to windows 2016r2 and the client's upgrades to windows 10. I submitted data for the quote in April of this year that the contract has yet to compete  

 Additionally, we had no maintenance agreement with the vendor, a fact I discovered after receiving a reprimand for the problems listed above concerning that reprimand the individual instead of using straight forward language would use nuanced insult and sarcasm to get their point across. This grates against my personality and professional style. It turned a job that would be exciting to one of dread of even being present on a day to day basis. Upon receipt of said reprimand, I changed instead of being this person that cared deeply. I split myself in two. The 1^st person would help the customer base in any way possible, going out of my way to assist them any way I could. The 2^nd guy did his job, and when hit by a roadblock, not a technical one, but a faceless human problem, I would shut down and move on to a problem I could fix.  Not giving a second thought to the initial problem (but kept a note noting where we last left off) I would like to insert this point. When questioned on any issue that I had on any system, It felt just like an interrogation, having to prove my discoveries and contentions. I do not interrogate well. I am tempted to give my name rank and service number. If someone is looking for a reason to place blame, just let me know ill accept as at point I no longer cared. The last monkey on my back was an upgrade from a Windows 2008R2 server to a windows 2016 server. That issue had so many moving parts. It looked more like the difference between an abacus and an enigma machine. The good news is that the vendor was incredibly supportive of that system from the day it started. They helped me to understand a system that no significant documentation was available throughout my time there. I set a goal for myself to have that system running before my departure as I have submitted my retirement from civil service. I had begun to doubt my knowledge and proficiency of those things that I knew that I knew. (Our team, which included my mentor, the person that told me what I needed to do to become an IT technician 23 years earlier) We worked together. We got the system operational, but wait another problem arose; this problem would not have been evident without the covin19 situation. Since we are working from home, I can touch feel and operate the server system and the software remotely. But the average user could not.

I could because of my group membership as an administrator.  Once again, that process is controlled in another city and state, of San Antonio, TX. Even with that, it encompasses two different sections that are in San Antonio, TX. The Ports and protocol section and the firewall office. Remember those ports in the wiki listed above. Note (You can have a total of 65,535 TCP Ports and another 65,535 UDP ports. When a program on your computer sends or receives data over the Internet, it sends that data to an  IP address and a specific port on the remote computer, and receives the data on a usually random port on its own compute).

When the New server came online, that line of communication failed, which meant if the user's butt was not sitting in the office physically at the hospital, that user was "straight out of luck" unless a workaround was available. Luckily, one was available. We have a web interface that can operate within our network that interface. However, it had to be configured on a case by case basis. Now that game was being played in an area that I was fully capable of helping in. Using Microsoft Teams, I was able to walk people through the process of getting them online.  Bout that port firewall thing. We have sent out network configuration to that office using our internal work order system. To date, it's still not fixed I can make an inquiry as to the status which I do biweekly we will see what comes of that. I contend that the old server had an IP, and the new server had an IP  switch them, and there you go, or since I in my position can access the server over the VPN, then modify the joe user accounts just enough to be able to access the server. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network

I am embarking on a new adventure at a new hospital.  I'm nervously excited at the prospect.  I was told that whatever the area that I choose, I could be the resident expert in that area, as I will receive the information and the training necessary to accomplish it.
At this point, I would like to express my gratitude for all the assistance I received in my section. My guys helped me navigate the spaghetti bowl of system interconnection, and were ready with a kind word and a laugh I will miss them and their camaraderie. 

I look forward to that change and, if correct, a breath of fresh air after being in the service of the U.S Government for over 38 years.