My day at work started off with a flurry of activity. Before I could remove the forwarding of the hotline, I got a call from Europe (The Research and Development Help Desk - RaDHD) telling me of a problem with Clearcase at a customer site in Canada. After a little research, I found the contact info and all was well.
30 minutes later, I get an instant message (IM) from the help desk in Latin America telling me that there is a problem with an extranet web server in Dallas. The disk space is critical (less than 5% free) and more space is needed. I follow our processes and let our offshore support do what they can (even though I am sure it will bear no fruit) and at the same time contact the extranet L3 support to let them know what is going on. It seems there is a long history with this server and our customer. The use up the space they order 2x-5x faster than they expect and have the nerve to get upset when they run out of space. While this needs to be handled as an order (they want 1.5 terrabytes more HDD space), we do not add it until the order is placed and approved (we have been burned on that in the past...giving our customer things before they commit to buying them). This causes a bit of a problem because this standalone server is used by our customer as well as some of their partners. If there is any downtime, the customer can lose money.
To make a long story short, we have the hardware to give them 250 gig of HDD space and we make arrangements to have that added (add the controller card and install/configure the extra HDD's), but it is going to take 12-18 hours (a full backup needs to be performed as well). The customer agrees (reluctantly) and the process is completed. The rest of the day centers on this activity but it is just follow up.
My TL/colleague tells me I can go home early, if I want to (I did the same for him last week) and decide to leave at 3:30 PM instead of 4:00 PM. I get home and take care of the dogs, check the mail (my Kubuntu CD's came in...w00t!), eat, and wash the dishes before my wife gets home. We chat, do a devotional, watch a little TV and when the shows grow boring, I go in the office and watch a previously recorded UFC. Not as exciting as the WEC or the IFL Battleground stuff, but it has been a while since I have seen any UFC fights.
I finish watching the fights at 12:30 AM and decide to get some sleep. The issue that was being worked on had not been updated, so I decided to do that the following morning.
The next morning (July 4, Independence Day in the US), I woke to the sound of my 5 AM alarm, which my wife quickly squelched. She told me in a very loving voice to go back to sleep...she was going to take care of the dogs this morning. She is sweet.
I did just that..and slept until 7 AM. I got up and updated the threat board regarding the issue I was responsible for watching and then logged off. It is a holiday and I am not on call today. Our colleague in Mexico is working in our place. It should be slow for him since the only area he is responsible for today (and tonight) is Canada and Mexico, unless some fool in the US decided they need to work. It is the end of month/quarter/half financial close and reports will be ran from SAP, but so far, things have been reasonable. If all goes to plan, my day (and night) will be quiet. I still have to finish out the week (and weekend) but I am ready for it, at least mentally. If we get no major issues Friday or Saturday, I should be able to teach Sunday School and attend services at church. If not, then well so be it.
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