Why I retired

 

"Why I retired."

 

I have struggled with how to start this essay. It is probably one of the important decisions I have made in my life. It was not an easy one, as I am built to serve. As you know, I am a retired USAF NCO after an interesting career but fell short of my expectations (that was 100% on me). I was changing careers to become an IT person by going to college and getting several certifications. Working D.O.D 1^st as a Help Desk guy then a System Administrator for 19 years. So, I will start like this." Whut happened wuz." 

After retiring from Civil service, I took that retirement in addition to my military retirement and a couple of other streams of income. I moved to Columbus, OHIO, for family reasons. I was heading to Mesa, AZ but received further orders from the COO. (Aka, The wife.) took a position at a local Hospital (mental), a couple of things immediately stood out even before setting foot outside of New Mexico.  My initial interview went well. However, there was a couple of things that (in retrospect) I should have given much more attention to.  It was a feeling more than anything else.

Something was off.  It was the 2^nd interview with the CIO that reinforced the idea that something was wrong. The CIO seemed stressed and seemed borderline irritated.  He told me what areas he needed help, and I thought those were interesting and was more than willing to help. He talked about a broken work order system (more on that later) and hinted at problems with the userbase and management at that location.  But I felt that I could overcome those things and put my best foot forward as I was more than willing to help.  Upon arrival, I was given what I now think of as the "Palm Sunday." treatment. Things like "We have waited for you for a long time," and we have heard you were coming for months." I felt like the guy riding into Jerusalem 2000 years ago to accolades only to get put on a plank a week later.  After a period of little or no training. (on local procedures and systems) I started finding stuff out.  The 1^st being I was like the 6^th or 7^th person in this position since 2016. People getting fired or just quitting several times in the previous 5-year period.  The hospital was part of a more extensive system combining several hospitals in several geographical locations in the eastern US. I am purposely vague here as (I am not the Bus driver).

 Those hospitals have administrators doing the day-to-day IT business assisting other areas when it got hectic using remote control tools, zoom meetings, and a good ole phone call to get things done or consult with each other. 50% of my training took place in this way.  I had a two-week visit from the CIO to go over how things ran from his perspective, and I was off. That was another 15%, leaving the rest to dig through the internet and read for me. (side note) I just bought a home and started planning the wiring and setup of a home network setup. (more of that in another essay), managed switches, personal email server, and VPN (home-wide), but I digress. The 1^st thing that I was warned about came to light—a broken work order system.

People would knock on my door, hijack me in the hallway, and otherwise leave me voicemails about problems and having little or no action on them would go up the chain to complain.  1^st of all, there were two systems for work orders. The 1^st was an internal one.  I had zero visibility on that system as a centralized help desk system (outsourced) was introduced to meet the demand. I found myself giving briefings to the new hires about said system weekly; however, I believe (but can't prove) that information was not reinforced at the local user level because everyone tried to bypass the work order system.

Simultaneously, the same person who is using their special position (the guy who hired me) told me that he checks the work order system to evaluate my performance. While simultaneously dropping the "I need this done by the end of the day" card. It was apparent that I check the work order system several times a day and learn that I must answer urgent work orders within 24 hours. I was a little confused.  More on this later.

Printers, there was no centralized printer management application, so I made one. I created a spreadsheet with the internet links to all the printers. I will have a ready reference to all printers' page counts and toner status in all the sections. After being called out (from home), I changed a toner cartridge on a weekend evening. There was no in-stock inventory of toners for the printers and replacement unit placed strategically on location.  So, I developed one.  I had toners on site. In a particular section and used the military concept that one is none and two is one.  If you have only one toner, you don't have any, as that one in the printer does not count.  When I saw a printer was below 20% toner, I ordered two—giving one to the section and adding one to the inventory.  This brings up another issue. After all that and several warnings (via email) to the local supervisor for about four days. That stated the location of the replacement toner cartridge.  I was told to change that toner cartridge. Upon arrival, I not only found the toner cartridge readily available. But there was a local supervisor with their back turned to have a lively discussion on something.  That gave me a couple of troubling thoughts the supervisor was unaware of or uncaring the problem.

Most importantly, my immediate supervisor did not have my back. A simple "Manny has a toner cartridge set aside for you; please install that one and tell him so he can order more.  I was angry I felt like, "this looks like a setup for making me the bad guy." There was that Palm Sunday feeling again. That started with Hosanna to the king, then Crucify him a week later.    I do not have the sins of the world on my plate. I have a Wife, Daughter, Son in law and three young men under my charge, and I report directly to my Father-in-law in Mesa, AZ.  As to their welfare, additionally, I have an oath betwixt my Pop and I, but not one to my job.   

The next to last straw was a lack of strategic planning. I was told that a section was to move from the 1^st floor to another floor in the hospital. The unit was moved but was unable to fax or print.  The correct thing would be to say, "Manny, we are planning a move. Could you look at what is needed to accomplish that, and when the action was complete, it would work immediately, and not spending the two or three weeks planning the move, it was a month fixing the problem.  This will get a little technical, and I had to refresh my memory on networking when it comes to V-lans and analog phone lines. I knew in the back of my mind that the network switch was on a different V-lan, and its new IP address is issued. When I saw the switch's IP address and the device's IP, I slapped my forehead for missing it.  So, I had to send an email to the office that controlled the switch to make the changes, but I had an idea. I changed the IP to dynamic, had the machine get a new IP, then changed it back to static, and updated the database, thinking something would work and knowing something will work are different things.  One problem fixed. Now the fax. I have worked on 66 blocks (in college, in a lab.), so I had to open a book and refresh my memory. Please note: I was imaging new computers, replacing digital phones, setting up voice mail and email accounts for new users, and the occasional broken phone for patient use (after having them forcibly removed from the wall). I eventually toned the line from the 1^st floor to the floor that had the device, so it was now able to fax and print over the network

 The last straw was my reprimand. Then the subsequent Performance Improvement Process. Remember the verbal requests.  Here it goes. I was presented with several phones for members of the staff. I never got their names and was reprimanded for not getting the phones issued. A work order with that information would know, and I would be off. But I was evaluated for the work orders completed, but for things  I was not trained or briefed to do, creating a process to accomplish that task but having no notice taken of it. I was being evaluated on a broken system of communication by one of the people that broke it.

After closing the deal on the new home, I realized that I did not need the income from that job to close on my new home, which I did last Wednesday.  I was working because I loved what I do, love serving people, and love the tech. I get plenty of Love at home, so I do not need to get it outside my own family.  I still have a profile on indeed.com; however, the need to get another job is fading fast as my last stream of income SS will be kicking in in about three weeks.  I am retired. I do not need the aggravation of others who are given the oversight of what I do who do not know how to do what I do. Finally, I can't be the scapegoat for someone else's broken process. I did not break it, and I won't be the one to fix it as it was broken before I arrived.

 

So that, my friends, is why I retired.