For me, the big 4-0 is just around the corner -- literally - (Dec 18th). Given the crazy hours I've been working (12-16 hour days, working a regular 9-5 day, then coming in at 11pm working until 4am...etc).
And this has been going on since the summertime. Remember that little annoucement in the automotive world back in June? The thing about Daimler-Chrysler splitting? Well, I work for Mercedes-Benz, USA home office, and the split meant that our datacenter more than doubled in size overnight. There were some crucial systems that we had to bring back inhouse from Chrysler.
I would just love to take this job and shove it... Actually, it is Saturday night, 11:11pm, and I'm typing this from my desk at work. We're doing a major upgrade/conversion/migration on my systems -- I'm in IT - SAN admin, and I'm the sole SAN admin in my whole company.
For the SAN guys here -- right now, I am responsible for about 170TB of SAN storage -- three IBM ESS 2105's (soon to be empty -- that's the migration I'm doing right now), one IBM DS8300 & a 4-node IBM SVC, 8 McData/Brocade directors/switches; mainframe systems (5) as well as Linux (running under z/VM), 60 UNIX servers, and 20 Windows/ESX servers. And I'm supposed to give out disk to all these systems, as well as maintain the mainframe environment. Oh yeah, I also RUN the disaster recovery tests twice a year for mainframe.
Overwhelmed? Yeah, just a little.
But I have a dream. Some of you may be familiar with the AMG Challenge program Mercedes Benz offers it's AMG customers -- it is a program similar to the Porsche Driver's Experience. But I believe it is lacking in appeal and can offer both the customers and the company so much more. So I want to see if they would be interested in revamping the program. Now THAT would be a fun and challenging role...but that's a pipe dream for now...
Anyway, back to the retirement gig -- if I could I would definately do it. But the cost of living in the Northeast prohibits me from doing so until I turn at least 85 or so...
Sorry for the rant.
-Z-man.