As the end of the year draws near its time to prepare the year-end log files and other data – including projects completed for more permanent storage. All 2007 data from the concentrating and communication device based running log files will be closed for read only and new files will take over. Most of this is simple house cleaning. Projects that are carried over – along with any work in progress and notes will remain as active files. I like to separate what I am working on from completed work, but I also want ready access in case I need to review anything. Some of the devices will have their files backed up and then room will be made for new data. It’s true that storage and memory have expanded greatly over the past few years. Memory is cheap I’m always informed, but I prefer order to chaos. You don’t want to drag your work out any longer than is necessary or prudent. I also have been looking over a lot of last year’s notes. It’s a good idea to review what has been accomplished, and prepare for new challenges. Each year should be productive. Each year should also show growth in your abilities and make you a little wiser. Get your work done, do it well and move on. I looked over some of the initial preparation notes I had jogged down for the beginning of 2007. Somehow as usual the in-house predicted workload was tripled over the course of the year. The good side of that was that somehow with only two communication testers we were able to get through it all. The biggest project of the year for us was completely replacing and reprogramming racks of data concentrators, servers, and HMIs, which do the heavy work and tying them all together for a huge SCADA system. You know you’re doing very well when nobody realizes that you have already completed the job. In some cases you may find that you’re only given part of a project to complete. In some of these situations you often find yourself at the mercy of other people’s abilities and politics. These are often circumstances out of your control. All you can do is do your part very well and hope everyone else can keep up. Try doing this while juggling quite a few other projects and day to day issues. This is why at the end of the year I like to close the books on completed work and prepare to move on to the next year’s challenges. On the field side it’s a different story. I work with some very skilled relay testers and wiremen scattered across multiple states. Without such good support and effort a lot might not have gotten done. Luckily for our part of the puzzle we get to work with some of the best troubleshooters there are. This includes our own guys, Telco specials crews, and testers from companies we work along side. You can’t do it alone so you need to have sharp people to work with. I have a lot of respect for the technicians I work with. You may run into a few people who don’t get it. You should all be working for a common goal, and you need to work at it – not coast. Don’t waste your time with people who talk, but don’t actually do. By the end of the day you should be able to say honestly that you accomplished something. By the end of the year you should have a pretty big stack of work completed. That’s what I look for at the end of the year. Whatever it is you’re working on – do it well and get it done.

http://test4scada.blogspot.com/