No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

Hiya folks, Devilham here with a brief update on why posts have been few and far between as of late.

A few months back my department was running on a skeleton crew, me being the only skeleton on that crew besides the IT director. It was acknowledged (finally) by the higher ups that we needed help, so they set out on the long and arduous process of hiring by committee of another IT person to take over some of my responsibilities and lend a hand around the office.

After a few more months, they finally picked their candidate, Felicity, and you know what? She was great. She's smart, helpful, and hard working, we got along instantly, and for the first time in a long time, it seemed like work was getting done, and not me being done in by work. But there is a twist.

Felicity was pregnant. Now that isn't the issue per se, she could perform her job just fine, and I was happy to jump in and do any heavy lifting for her (again, I like her very much, and the level of cooperation between the two of us is excellent, SOOO much better than her predecessor it's unbelievable), the issue is she knew she was preggars when she got hired (and again, I have no issues with this, it should be a non-issue), and our management is backwards and draconian when it comes to this sort of thing, which sucks.

Felicity was due in late October, three weeks ago she was taken off the job and put on bed rest due to high blood pressure. Last week she had her baby ....only two pounds and premature (obviously).

Mother and daughter are doing as well as can be expected, and I predict a full recovery for the little one, so no worries there (and that is the most important thing in my opinion). But work has suddenly become all encompassing. Sadly this event took place at a time when we are upgrading more than half the firms computers...this involves building out approximately 47 computers, a big job for two people (me and Felicity), and now it's just me. I come home from work wiped out, and while I read all my favorite blogs, and sometimes commment, I am having a hard time having the strength to post. I hope you understand.

Felicity's baby should be in the hospital for a few months, and I suspect that she will arrange something with our HR department so that she can come back to work for a few weeks while her daughter is in the hospital, and then take her maternity leave once the little one gets home, but can't say for sure.

Here's hoping that first and foremost that the little one makes it through this, secondly that my friend and co-worker does as well, and thirdly, and sadly lastly, that I get some help in the meantime.....I'm getting buried out here!!!!