Stretched Thin

Things have been frightfully hectic at the office lately.

Our diminished staff is juggling an increased workload, and it's taking a notable toll on morale and overall mental health.

Yeah. That's what I was looking for: more avenues of stress.

However, I did just get another promotion, and I'm moving on up to the eastside (a.k.a, transferring out of Cube City back to the land of office-dwellers).

When I first came to work here, I had an office for several years. Granted, it wasn't a necessarily nice office -- and the furniture was nothing to incite envy. But, there were walls and a ceiling and that blessed thing we call a door.

Then, my department moved to a different building, and we landed in a newly established Cube City. While the modular units were brand new and nice (in terms of what they had to offer), it still felt like an unofficial demotion to all of us.

It'll be good to have a door, again. But, I don't know how frequently I'll get to use it. There's a lot of business travel looming. And, since I seem to exist in an environment super-saturated in meetings and pre-meeting meetings and post-meeting meetings, having my own workspace will be less of a functional issue.

I'm pleased about the promotion/office. Don't get me wrong. But, it's tainted by that frustrating realization that it's long overdue.

In fact, it all came about chiefly because I forced the issue. And wouldn't it be better to be recognized for your contributions without having to quantitatively thrust your performance in front of your management?

Currently, the projects we support are being handled by me and one other guy. He's been out sick this week. Once upon a time, there were eight of us. We've dropped from eight to two. And, though I eat enough for two, this week there's just me.

A workload such as this virtually ensures that some project (or projects) will get slighted, because there's just not enough of me to go around. (Keep your comments to yourself.)

I'm ready for some decompression.