I’m going to try and get myself back into writing SOMETHING on a daily basis like I used to do. I still have absolutely NO idea how I managed to do it every day before. Apparently, I had a lot to say back then, even though I was simply writing about what transpired during the day. Maybe there’s something in that…

However, I feel like I have less to say nowadays, mostly because my job duties have shifted rather drastically. No longer am I doing desktop support, where I would spend the day out and about with users, fixing problems, and building and maintaining relationships with them. While I’m introverted at heart, I really enjoyed that human element of the job. I really loved building those connections, especially when I could connect with them on levels other than just the fixing-my-broken-computer level.

In the work-world, things for me have been picking up and moving in a better direction. The school hired a new IT director, and they have been hard at work at moving our desktop support group (which is where I live) back under the school’s leadership, and out from under the university medical center leadership, who didn’t really care to understand our hybrid environment, and how their ultra-paranoid, HIPAA-focused iron curtain reign of security didn’t work in an academic setting. Coming back to me (yep, making this all about me, LOL), I have met with the director on several occasions initially to talk about my goals and aspirations to be in a cybersecurity-focused role, either within the school, or in another company, because I was tired of the health system’s lack of leadership and interest in our group. Since then, he has been working diligently to move me into some kind of security role.

Seeing as how one doesn’t exist, it will likely involve creating one of some sort. It would involve being a kind of liaison for the school to work with the academic and health system security teams to keep up to date of what’s going on in the world of cybersecurity. I would attend meetings on both sides of the university, attend conferences as needed, and even take classes and training to keep up to date.

I’d also be working to help address research data storage and security needs for the research labs, and work with senior leadership to draft policies to reflect that, so that the school is in compliance with academic and health system policies. This would include being a sort of systems architect to help develop and secure the desktop image for our Windows and macOS clients in the school.

ANNNNNNND (yep, there’s more!) … I am being included in more and more emails, and invited to more and more meetings with the possibility of perhaps even serving in some kind of deputy director role. 😱

Personal-wise, things are about the same. The ankle is still giving me grief. If you didn’t know, back in December, I very skillfully and artfully stepped into some kind of hole while walking through a grassy patch. I had fractured my ankle, and had to wear a dreaded boot for a good three weeks. In my follow-up appointment a few weeks ago, I was given the okay to only wear the boot if I needed to, as they couldn’t see any more issues with the bones. Fast forward to today, where I am still having issues with my ankle, and the pain seems to gravitate to various areas of my foot. Being the pessimist that I am, I have the sneaking suspicion that I’ll need to have surgery, as there is probably something wrong with the ligaments/tendons/whatever-is-in-my-foot. I do have a second follow-up appointment next month, but I may try to push it up sooner.

So, there you have it. Looks like I had quite a bit to say after all! I’m still going to try and see if I can do this on a daily basis. Whether or not I post it on here, somewhere else, or everywhere daily has yet to be determined.