Wontar's Ramblings

I've learned a great deal this week. I've learned that "employee intervention" means people doing work. I've learned that the goal of my current bosses is to make the IRS like that old Twilight Zone episode where the guy replaces an entire factory full of people with machines. Then he himself is replaced by a robot. I understand the concept, and I honestly have no problem replacing most of the people. Hell, some of them could be replaced by a damp sponge without any noticeable impact. But computers cannot account for the idiot factor, and oddly enough I don't mean the employees. I mean the people who can't/won't/don't read instructions when filling out important paperwork for their businesses. The computer program is built on the assumption that people are conscientious and actually read before filling out a form. And since people are, generally speaking, idiots, that doesn't happen. If it works, it will cut out a lot of the initial part of the job. But it's going to just add to the number of trained people after the fact. And that number is already painfully slim, despite efforts to the contrary.

I've also learned that my work ethic scares people. No matter what state I'm in. (That's geographical state, not mental.) The first task I was given this week was supposed to last me all week. Took me a day. The next task, another week. Took me a day. The next thing I set up for myself, because they didn't know what to do with me. Took me a day. I'm making word docs, for cryin' out loud. This is not black magic. Just type, dammit. The keys haven't moved since the 1800s. Thank you Mr. D. for teaching me how to type when I was 17 and needed a credit to round out my semester. No single class has had a greater impact on my life than a half year of typing.

Most significantly, I've learned that I really, truly, utterly and completely hate being away from Deb. You may think that two people who are married, work together in the same building, see each other day in and day out all day, and have little or no human contact apart from each other on the weekends would be sick of each other and need a little time away. Nope, you're horribly wrong. Travelling is fine when we travel together. Living out of a hotel room, being all depressed, is not my idea of fun. I can't wait to go home.