Does Rob do any real work…?

You might be thinking : does Rob get any real work done?  …or does he just sit at his computer and blog all day long. With most of the blog postings being non work related – you would be justified in thinking so.

I'm normally in at work just before 8am and do some blogging 1st thing. The University's internet connection starts to slow down by  around 9am and by mid morning it has normally ground to a halt.  Things start to pickup again later in the day – as staff  leave work to go home. It is for this reason that I aim to get the blogging thing out of the way 1st thing – I also aim to post at least one entry per day.

So besides blogging…???

Things can get hectic at times (PNG hectic). Although we are now between teaching semesters – there are always projects and general tasks that need to be tended to in addition to the teaching workload.

Get to the point Rob !

Well…

The Department of Business Studies now has a new Head of Department.  Professor Raymond has been with us now for  approx 2.5 months and is keeping most staff busy. Especially me. Worth noting that the Department has not had a substantive head for 10 years, always a national occupying this position in an “acting” role. I have heard that the University has a policy not to employ PNG nationals in the role of Professor or Head of Department. These senior roles can only be filled by ex-pats! One of those peculiarities about PNG and certianly an indicator of the level of confidence that they have in their own.

So what has the “old” Prof got me working on during the summer break ?  Please read on:

1) I am now responsible for the Department's web page and have been getting up to speed with a software application called Dreamweaver.

2) Before xmas I was asked to make contact with a company called Orica (paints) and try and obtain a donation of some paints so we can give the old building a long overdue and needed spruce up. Note that the University has no money for ongoing building maintenance. After setting up a meeting over lunch with the GM from Orica we have since obtained a donation of a considerable quantity of paint. The paints have arrived and workmen should start any day now.

3) Prof in his infinite wisdom brought half a container of used hardware with him. This equipment has been sitting in one of the lecture theatres for the past 2 months. I have been given the task of coordinating and liaising with our IT Department to deploy this hardware throughout the university. Worth noting is that the power plugs and voltage requirements for electrical equipment are different here in PNG to the USA (Prof's place of origin). Perhaps not such a generous gesture after all?

4) General IT Support across the department. This I try and avoid when possible and as often as possible. Don't really want to talk about it either.

5) At some stage and probably pretty soon – I will need to start preparing for the forthcoming semester. More to be revealed….

Overall the working environment is pretty relaxed. I am generally well organised and plan out my work on a daily basis. So am generally focused on the job in hand. But what about between jobs?   …this is PNG man!  Between jobs there is ample time to interact, go for a walk or head into town for some shopping. Onya PNG!!

Better leave you and do some real work !!