Taking Care of Business

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You may have noticed over the past couple of weeks that my activity on this blog has dropped off severely. There are other times throughout the year when this happens, like when I'm on vacation or when I'm at home, since I don't have internet there. This time, however, it's because of work.

Over the past several weeks, we've seen huge shakeups in staffing at work. One associate has been out sick for over a month. Another went out at the end of last week and won't return until May. Yesterday morning, another person came to my office to tell me she was headed to the doctor for a checkup and would let me know how it went. We don't know when she'll be back.

From my days in graduate school, I have been in this situation many times. I frequently carried a great deal of water for the organizations that employed me, so much that when I was sick, however infrequently, or took days off (which they asked me to avoid), it took several individuals to cover what I did for them on a daily or weekly basis, as appropriate. My boss and I are now covering everything on the campus for the science labs, and so I am busy from the time I arrive until the time I leave, and I'm quite frankly too tired at night to work on a blog article or lack time to actually take a break and pen a few lines.

I am here for the students. Eventually, something will happen that will impact the labs. Most of the teachers and administrators understand that this is a rough semester. With half our labs in remodel, we have already shifted resources to keep up our offerings to the students as much as possible. With the state budget in turmoil, most folks are worried at least about paycuts if not their other benefits or jobs in general. Tensions are high. Students are stressed. People get sick, and we're stuck in the middle between faculty and our customers.

Please remain calm. Let me know what the problem is, and as quickly as I am able, I will take care of business. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.