Portal

Did I mention that work is killing me?

Sometimes it's like the movie Office Space. Other times, it's like the movie Groundhog Day. Minus all of the comedic moments of course.

Bossman was promoted recently, so our team is sort of in an awkward position, with us workerbees still reporting directly to him, but now there are also a couple of first-line managers reporting to him. So he's kind of in a 'senior mgr' slot, but not quite a 'director'. BTW, I'm about 8 layers down from the company head chief, so that basically describes (a) my lowly position in the scheme of things, (b) the amount of unnecessary fat within the upper ranks. The air is thinner up there, from what I gather.

Anyways, bossman is making a pitch to his superiors to create another manager slot directly under him. Me and a coworker friend of mine are both up for promotion to this yet-to-be-created mangler position, so there's now a bit of tension between us. It's worse because we sit directly across from each other and are both vying for the same slot. It hasn't become cutthroat yet, but I've a feeling that it may get that way as the job opening firms up. We're both putting in longer hours in an unspoken game of 'face time'. It's a race to see which of us shows up earlier (I usually lose) and which of us goes home last (I usually lose). But then, I'm usually logged in from home most of the evening, catching up on stuff I never have time to do during the day. My coworker friend rarely logs in from home. (He must have some sort of life.) My little game of firing off emails at 12 midnight...sometimes bossman answers my emails. (Bossman cheats because he has a Blackberry.)

This little gamesmanship is making me a bit edgy these days. It doesn't help that the new office is walking distance to a Starbucks, a Peets, and a Tully's. I'm fully caffeinated all the time! Wheee!

So I ask myself, "self, is this what you want to do with your life, your career? If the position is offered to me, should I take it?" It wouldn't be the first time I've managed a team before, but I've always struggled with the question "remain on the technical track, or take the management track?" What to do, what to do. I figured since I'm not getting any younger nor any smarter, and with age comes patience, I may as well take this opportunity if it comes around.

We'll see how things unfold.