On the positive side, I think I had about an hour of downtime this week since the queue was so busy. On the really positive side, I managed to figure out three different ways to search databases I had never tried in that exact way before and therefore answer the bankers' questions almost perfectly when no one else had any idea how to do so.

I love that even with 14 years of experience in this job, I am still pushing the boundaries and coming up with creative ways to approach problems. Whether I'm recognized for this ability still remains to be seen at SIB, but it can't be worse than at LIB. Knowing and doing more there was appreciated within the group, but it was never rewarded except with more work when we were already ridiculously overburdened. Despite my best efforts, I always felt like a failure when things went unanswered for 24 hours because we simply didn't have the staff to get to them. When I could get to them it was to turn things around as quickly as possible which meant sticking to what you knew and sending results knowing that at least something was better than the nothing the banker would receive otherwise. There was no time to play around, and the constant pressure also kept me so burned out that I didn't have the mental capacity to learn something new.

Now, even though the night shift is sometimes similar to the LIB pattern as I'm the only full researcher on so I have to field things incompletely to get to everyone in the queue, during the first half of my shift I can take those questions that I'm not sure about how to get the answer and figure out something new. And I can't express how happy I am about that opportunity! Even better, I know that I retain what I learn very well compared to others so I'll remember a year or two down the line where I found that answer and be able to come back to the correct place.

I never thought that my job would be the brightest spot in my life ever again, but here we are. It's good to not feel like a failure on a daily basis for not fixing an impossible situation, and the personal enrichment is just an extra plus.