[geeks] Lazy co-workers....

[james]

> As for the "lazy coworkers" aspect... When I was but a wee PFY, it seemed
> that the senior/head sysadmins screwed around and goofed off a lot.  In the
> years since, I've learned that once you get what needs to be done, done - 
> you have plenty of play time.  The more experienced you are, the less time
> it takes you to get things done.

I had a hard time adjusting to this aspect at Vicinity. I always felt
like I wasn't earning my keep, and my first supervisor was the lazy
co-worker and he always leaned on me to make the dept problems look like
mine.

The clue came when the head of a different department went to war with
the company to remove me and my duties from my supervisor and put them
and me under him. It was a mamoth battle that I wasn't in favor of since
I didn't trust it. In the end - it was a blessing. I got to do much more
Unixadmin and my job got more respect since I wasn't in the shadow of
the company black sheep. I was also busier with more duties.

> There's also my thought, "Being a good sysadmin isn't necessarily about knowing
> everything there is to know off the top of your head - a key skill is being 
> able to look good while you figure out the solution to a problem."

I don't know shit anymore - and I mean not a damn thing. My memory is
gone and my give-a-shitter is worn out. However, when faced with a
project, task or emergency my solutions are right on target and under
budget. Because of my memory issues I approach anything as if I'd never
seen it before, so my approach is never "because this is how we've
always done it". My mind is now busy with concepts and big-pictureisms
that allow my solutions to be secure, complete and workable.