So here it is, my last day working at “the hospital,” and of course for some reason my mind does not want me to be lazy and sleep-in (which isn’t fun since I figured I’d sleep in, grab breakfast, show up to work around 10, take a nap, lunch at 11, second lunch at 12:30, second nap….you get the idea). Since I’m up, I might as well do something (semi) productive and write-up a blog post about my (soon to be former) co-workers. Since I have no idea if they care if I use their names, I’m keeping it to only the first letters. Besides, I think all three of them can beat the crap out of me – I better play it safe.

J – He’s the director and a seasoned veteran of ITSM and ITIL. I don’t think this guy is publicly talked about in the ITSM world, but everyone that meets J remembers him. And why wouldn’t they? He’s the epitome of cool, confident, and definitely intimidating (in a good way).  He’ll sit there and listen to a problem and you can tell he’s processing everything, and I do mean everything.  If his answer isn’t one you want to hear, he’ll say it anyway.  He’s been a great mentor and someone I could equate to as being the Obi-Wan of ITSM.  To top it all off, the stories about his life rival those of the IT Skeptic.  In the past, J mentioned I quoted him a few times on my blog without giving proper credit. Since I hate doing such things, here’s a list of the most memorable quotes I can think of at 6 AM:

  1. Stop the bleeding before you grab the mop and bucket.
  2. Everyone passes out the peanuts (in reference to Southwest Airlines and riding in the jump seat).
  3. The Service Desk should act like a pizza shop. They need to ask for the user’s name, phone number and location before they take the order.
  4. Want to know good customer service? Visit Thailand.
  5. I’m not immortal. Just indestructible (from when he told the story of getting hit by a car – the first time it happened).

E – My manager (for today) and affectionately referred to by J as his bulldog. If you worked with her, you’d know why – she’s incredibly tenacious, but is also equally nice about it. And if you ever need anyone to perform QA, she’s definitely the person for the job; she has a natural gift of being able to find anything wrong with any system (just ask our vendor of our ITSM tool). E also has a great knack for being able to find the simplest solutions that make the biggest impact. She’s also cool and calm, and never lets the job get to her. E and J have worked together for the past seven years and she’s probably the only person I know that can argue with J, and win (which is not easy).

B – My coworker and friend. B is the newest one of us to walk the road (or bumpy trail) of ITIL and ITSM, and she’s great at it. She’s smart, direct, and like E and J, tenacious. I really can’t describe B because honestly, you have to see her in action to really understand why she’s great at her job. Her personality just has no bulls**t, and it’s refreshing to work with someone like that. I’ve learned a lot from working with B; one lesson being that it’s possible to be direct with someone while also being polite (I admit it, I can be a little harsh). I would go on and on about her, but I’m hoping to bring her along with me to my new job, so I don’t want anyone else to know how good she is and offer her something better.

OK, so maybe the blog post kisses ass a little too much, but in ITSM you’re probably lucky to have one like-minded coworker. Here, I was very fortunate to have three. I’ll admit it – I’ll miss working with these people. At least with the modern marvel of IM, we’ll be able to stay in touch. That’s assuming, of course, that I haven’t pissed them off at some point and they’re happy to see me go. I honestly hadn’t thought about that until now…

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Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.