Summer is almost over. I had not actually realized that until last night while I was at dinner with Jimmy and Collette. We met at 6:30 and left the restaurant at eight-ish and it was dark. It seems like only a few weeks ago I was still light at 8:30 PM.
While at dinner, I ask J and C what the latest was on Jenny and Ron, the associate pastor and his wife. Ron has been sick with some bug that is going around and his wife...well we found out that she is dying.
Jenny has been sick with pneumonia/bronchitis for about a year and the doctors were unable to pin it down. The other day she had a battery of tests and they determined she had a terminal illness and had 3-5 years left to live. This is a huge shock to us all. I do not even know what to say to them. It only goes to show that we never really know how long we really have on this planet.
Work went well and it was slow enough that my TL returned the favor and let me go home at 3:00 PM. I had planned on mowing the grass, but it started raining so I just decided to wait. That really was a good thing since I had forgotten about meeting J and C for dinner at 6:30 PM!
Dinner went well and the only hitch was that we had to wait on my wife who was running a bit late.
We got home afterwards and walked the dogs. I was not in the mood to watch TV, so I just checked e-mail and then went to bed. I slept well until about 4 AM or so when I started having a bad dream. My wife recognized this and woke me up. I appreciated that a lot!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Blah
Man, I just cannot seem to shake off this run down feeling I have had for that past two mornings. No energy, achy joints, slightly sore throat, and a little sinus pressure make El Gee an unhappy guy. i hope I can shake this before I hit the road next week.
Yesterday, work was mostly quiet, punctuated with only two issues of note. The first was my TL having to leave early to tend to his wife who had been in an auto accident very close to their home. He did not offer much info before he left other than she told him it was her fault and she was okay. If he makes it in today I will ask him how everything is.
The other issue happened about a hour after he left. The phone rang and it was the local Incident Mgr asking to have an issue looked at with priority. We have a process for these things so I started following it. On a hunch, I gave a heads up to L3 about this (even though the process dictates we go to L1 first) because this is the third time in as many weeks that this system has needed attention. In the long run it was a good thing that I did give L3 a heads up because the help(less) desk copied the data from the old ticket into the new one, but the problem was not the same as the day before...it was much different. After IM'ing the L3 and calling the customer for verification, the issue was resolved very quickly. No, the process was not followed 100% but in this case, the fix was implemented quicker than I could have documented it properly.
On my way home my wife called and asked me if I wanted to meet for dinner, so I agreed to meet her at Jason's Deli for a spud loaded with bbq beef. I love that one! After we had each eaten half of our spud, we packed up the leftovers and went home. I was not very energetic so I watched TV until 8:00 PM or so when I decided to walk Little Man. He is beginning to act a bit more "normal" but he still zones out every now and then.
I got back and watched an older Pride MMA fight before going to bed. I was out like a light.
I woke up with my wife holding my hand in her sleep. It was strange in a good way but I needed to get up so I could get to work. I walked Little Man and let The Golden out when I got back. Once I got them fed and watered, I settled down for some bible time and a shower.
After completing my regular routine, I hit the road and headed for work. Once in the parking lot, I noticed the security guard looking at the back of his car. He has a full window advert for his new business (PC repair) to make extra money on the side. I told him I was doing the same, but my business has all been word of mouth through the church.
I got in and unforwarded the phones so I could be the guy in the hot seat...no need for the guy in Brazil to sweat too long.
The rest of the day is looking like it may be boring, but looks can often be deceiving. We shall see.
Yesterday, work was mostly quiet, punctuated with only two issues of note. The first was my TL having to leave early to tend to his wife who had been in an auto accident very close to their home. He did not offer much info before he left other than she told him it was her fault and she was okay. If he makes it in today I will ask him how everything is.
The other issue happened about a hour after he left. The phone rang and it was the local Incident Mgr asking to have an issue looked at with priority. We have a process for these things so I started following it. On a hunch, I gave a heads up to L3 about this (even though the process dictates we go to L1 first) because this is the third time in as many weeks that this system has needed attention. In the long run it was a good thing that I did give L3 a heads up because the help(less) desk copied the data from the old ticket into the new one, but the problem was not the same as the day before...it was much different. After IM'ing the L3 and calling the customer for verification, the issue was resolved very quickly. No, the process was not followed 100% but in this case, the fix was implemented quicker than I could have documented it properly.
On my way home my wife called and asked me if I wanted to meet for dinner, so I agreed to meet her at Jason's Deli for a spud loaded with bbq beef. I love that one! After we had each eaten half of our spud, we packed up the leftovers and went home. I was not very energetic so I watched TV until 8:00 PM or so when I decided to walk Little Man. He is beginning to act a bit more "normal" but he still zones out every now and then.
I got back and watched an older Pride MMA fight before going to bed. I was out like a light.
I woke up with my wife holding my hand in her sleep. It was strange in a good way but I needed to get up so I could get to work. I walked Little Man and let The Golden out when I got back. Once I got them fed and watered, I settled down for some bible time and a shower.
After completing my regular routine, I hit the road and headed for work. Once in the parking lot, I noticed the security guard looking at the back of his car. He has a full window advert for his new business (PC repair) to make extra money on the side. I told him I was doing the same, but my business has all been word of mouth through the church.
I got in and unforwarded the phones so I could be the guy in the hot seat...no need for the guy in Brazil to sweat too long.
The rest of the day is looking like it may be boring, but looks can often be deceiving. We shall see.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Back To "Normal"
Yesterday was pretty much a normal day for me at work, albeit a bit busier than I expected it to be. It seems every time I would go to the bathroom, take a break, or go to lunch, he would get a call that would linger much longer than necessary. I am sure he was drained by the time he went home.
I helped him with some of his work (I did a postmortem for him on an issue that closed the same day) while he worked on a new schedule. Believe it or not, we finally get to go to a four man rotation for on call after years of doing a two man system. My TL worked on the details in between calls yesterday and it looks like I may actually get the major holidays (Christmas and Thanksgiving) off. I guess I will have to take the Head Trustee role at church now that my time has freed up. Amazing how God will make things happen when it is for his glory.
The Esc Mgr who left in a rush the other day made it to work yesterday. He said he felt much better but had no idea what was wrong. It sounded a bit fishy, but who am I to judge. He did however let me in on a bit of good news...he is 100% out of debt. He owed $45,000 to creditors (credit cards and car loans) and was sinking fast. Then he had a rich aunt die and left him 1/2 of the estate. He used a big chunk of that to get out of debt and is using $5,000 to buy his soon to be ex wife some furniture so she can get out of his apartment and they can get their divorce underway. At least he has some good news.
I got home and took care of the dogs and was pleasantly surprised when my wife came home one hour early. She said there was NOTHING going on and she could not take it any longer. I wish I could do that :)
After a basic dinner of sandwiches, we headed of to Braum's to get some ice cream. Since we had not been out in a while it was a little treat that was deserved. The experience was not the most pleasant since the quality of the the help leaves a lot to be desired and the place was a mess. No one was trying to clean it up and there was this one guy named "Mathew" just standing there looking confused. We did not stay long.
I got home and watched a little TV. The Travel Channel had a special on barbeque and Texas was the state with the most places featured. Of course Memphis and Kansas City were, too but Texas ruled the roost last night.
After a little TV, I hooked up the hose to water the Bradford Pear tree in the front yard. It has been a couple of weeks since it has rained last so I figured the moisture sucking sapling needed it. I started the hose with a moderate trickle and walked Little Man. I got back, checked th tree and went inside...leaving the water running since the ground was very dry. Stupid me forgot and left the water running for 2 hours...a trick I have not done in 3 years. Well, tack $15 more dollars onto our water bill.
I finished up the nigh watching a few Pride fights (Pride 33 I think) and then went to bed. I slept very well, but getting up...that was a different story.
I helped him with some of his work (I did a postmortem for him on an issue that closed the same day) while he worked on a new schedule. Believe it or not, we finally get to go to a four man rotation for on call after years of doing a two man system. My TL worked on the details in between calls yesterday and it looks like I may actually get the major holidays (Christmas and Thanksgiving) off. I guess I will have to take the Head Trustee role at church now that my time has freed up. Amazing how God will make things happen when it is for his glory.
The Esc Mgr who left in a rush the other day made it to work yesterday. He said he felt much better but had no idea what was wrong. It sounded a bit fishy, but who am I to judge. He did however let me in on a bit of good news...he is 100% out of debt. He owed $45,000 to creditors (credit cards and car loans) and was sinking fast. Then he had a rich aunt die and left him 1/2 of the estate. He used a big chunk of that to get out of debt and is using $5,000 to buy his soon to be ex wife some furniture so she can get out of his apartment and they can get their divorce underway. At least he has some good news.
I got home and took care of the dogs and was pleasantly surprised when my wife came home one hour early. She said there was NOTHING going on and she could not take it any longer. I wish I could do that :)
After a basic dinner of sandwiches, we headed of to Braum's to get some ice cream. Since we had not been out in a while it was a little treat that was deserved. The experience was not the most pleasant since the quality of the the help leaves a lot to be desired and the place was a mess. No one was trying to clean it up and there was this one guy named "Mathew" just standing there looking confused. We did not stay long.
I got home and watched a little TV. The Travel Channel had a special on barbeque and Texas was the state with the most places featured. Of course Memphis and Kansas City were, too but Texas ruled the roost last night.
After a little TV, I hooked up the hose to water the Bradford Pear tree in the front yard. It has been a couple of weeks since it has rained last so I figured the moisture sucking sapling needed it. I started the hose with a moderate trickle and walked Little Man. I got back, checked th tree and went inside...leaving the water running since the ground was very dry. Stupid me forgot and left the water running for 2 hours...a trick I have not done in 3 years. Well, tack $15 more dollars onto our water bill.
I finished up the nigh watching a few Pride fights (Pride 33 I think) and then went to bed. I slept very well, but getting up...that was a different story.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Mad Monday
Wow.
Monday was a one of the most unusual work days ever. Let me try to bullet point it for you:
* We hear rumors of layoffs in November.
* HR announces that the severance program is being changed. Benefits are being cut in half to "align with other companies". As far as I can tell, our benefits are just like everyone else's. Nothing makes us stand out anymore.
* My TL gives me a run down of the weekend. He was rather busy but it was not over bearing.
* Esc Mgr (the guy who traded jobs with me) comes in, looks okay, tells me he expects a busy week.
* 45 minutes later, Esc Mgr comes into our office and tells us he is very sick and cannot stay. He looks like he is gonna hurl.
* Our boss comes in and WHILE I AM ON THE PHONE, ask's my TL if I will do Esc Mgr's job. I end my call quickly and tell my boss, "No, I am on call this week and I WILL NOT do the Esc Mgr's job and be on call."
* The next 3 hours are spent haggling over who is going on call. He tries to enlist the guys in Latin America (they have not been very dependable in the past), but keeps running into road blocks.
* My boss tells me to call our customer and tell her that I will be taking over an issue that has been ongoing, but I refuse. I tell my boss, "When we know who is on call, then I will call the customer."
* Me, my boss, and my TL spend about 30 minutes discussing the on call situation and how one week on and one week off (at the pace we work) is wearing us down.
* My boss tells us that we should be rotating with the LA guys (he keeps forgetting they ignore the phone when they are on call and he does NOTHING about it) to keep from burning out.
* Boss finally agrees to put his foot down regarding he LA team and the on call situation.
* By noon, the issue has been discussed but players have changed somewhat. One of the guys who has been on leave is coming back and will be able to assist starting Sept 10.
* The guy in Mexico is told he will be on the rotation so we have 4 guys rotating on call now. Stress level should drop. Boss thinks that now that we have 4 guys to rotate on call, I can still do the Esc Mgr's job. He is mistaken.
* I take over the Esc mgr's case that has been an ongoing issue for 2 weeks. While I could really make myself a hero by walking in and taking over, it would be suicide and I would be back to where I was before.
My boss (who is an account manager) kept pushing me to take over for the Esc Mgr. I told my boss that if he wants us to follow the process, the HE should fill in for the Esc Mgr. He was not pleased and did everything he could to get out of it. Figures.
When the day was over, we had our on call person (and it was not me), I ran the escalation for two meetings, and we all went home tired, but happy.
Once home I ate a quick dinner (homemade gumbo), washed dishes, and finished vacuuming the house. When all that was done, we walked the dogs and watched an epi of "The 4400" that we missed. Exhausted, we fell right to sleep as soon as our hit the pillows.
Monday was a one of the most unusual work days ever. Let me try to bullet point it for you:
* We hear rumors of layoffs in November.
* HR announces that the severance program is being changed. Benefits are being cut in half to "align with other companies". As far as I can tell, our benefits are just like everyone else's. Nothing makes us stand out anymore.
* My TL gives me a run down of the weekend. He was rather busy but it was not over bearing.
* Esc Mgr (the guy who traded jobs with me) comes in, looks okay, tells me he expects a busy week.
* 45 minutes later, Esc Mgr comes into our office and tells us he is very sick and cannot stay. He looks like he is gonna hurl.
* Our boss comes in and WHILE I AM ON THE PHONE, ask's my TL if I will do Esc Mgr's job. I end my call quickly and tell my boss, "No, I am on call this week and I WILL NOT do the Esc Mgr's job and be on call."
* The next 3 hours are spent haggling over who is going on call. He tries to enlist the guys in Latin America (they have not been very dependable in the past), but keeps running into road blocks.
* My boss tells me to call our customer and tell her that I will be taking over an issue that has been ongoing, but I refuse. I tell my boss, "When we know who is on call, then I will call the customer."
* Me, my boss, and my TL spend about 30 minutes discussing the on call situation and how one week on and one week off (at the pace we work) is wearing us down.
* My boss tells us that we should be rotating with the LA guys (he keeps forgetting they ignore the phone when they are on call and he does NOTHING about it) to keep from burning out.
* Boss finally agrees to put his foot down regarding he LA team and the on call situation.
* By noon, the issue has been discussed but players have changed somewhat. One of the guys who has been on leave is coming back and will be able to assist starting Sept 10.
* The guy in Mexico is told he will be on the rotation so we have 4 guys rotating on call now. Stress level should drop. Boss thinks that now that we have 4 guys to rotate on call, I can still do the Esc Mgr's job. He is mistaken.
* I take over the Esc mgr's case that has been an ongoing issue for 2 weeks. While I could really make myself a hero by walking in and taking over, it would be suicide and I would be back to where I was before.
My boss (who is an account manager) kept pushing me to take over for the Esc Mgr. I told my boss that if he wants us to follow the process, the HE should fill in for the Esc Mgr. He was not pleased and did everything he could to get out of it. Figures.
When the day was over, we had our on call person (and it was not me), I ran the escalation for two meetings, and we all went home tired, but happy.
Once home I ate a quick dinner (homemade gumbo), washed dishes, and finished vacuuming the house. When all that was done, we walked the dogs and watched an epi of "The 4400" that we missed. Exhausted, we fell right to sleep as soon as our hit the pillows.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunshine Saturday, So Long On Sunday
Before we hit the hay on Friday, we decided to get up at 6:30 AM to have coffee at the chow hall at 7:00 AM. When I woke up Saturday morning, I was a bit stiff and sore from sleeping on the less than comfortable bunk and since I had forgotten my Aleve, pain would be on the menu for next few hours.
We had our coffee sang a hymn, prayed and then we went in to have our breakfast. the food was good. It was probably the best camp food I have ever had...almost restaurant quality. The juice and milk were both premium and that really surprised me. The food alone made me forget my sore back.
After breakfast, we met in the main bunkhouse (it had a meeting room) to listen to our speaker. The message was a little light, but new Christians would have liked it. I was able to come away with one nugget of info that I was able to use a few days later...the ability to say "no".
After our speaker had finished part one, we paired up and did an exercise on desires and goals. it was pretty good, although I am not much of a fan of these types of things. I hope I can use some of the knowledge at work, since it was very secular based.
After the exercise, we we discussed our results and watched a short video. After that, we were free to enjoy lunch.
Lunch was not quite as good as breakfast, but it was not bad. It was as good as any fast food lunch, but lacked the *BAM* breakfast had. Considering the length of time between breakfast and lunch, I was going to need some of the snacks we had in reserve. Also we had planned a full day of fun things like riding a zip line, playing paint ball, swimming, and hiking. I played paint ball and rode the zip line and had a blast doing both.
The evening meal was a very nice chicken dish with black eyed peas and mashed potatoes with apple pie for dessert. The meal really hit the spot.
After the even meal we met back at the main bunkhouse to discuss the days events. Most of us agreed it was a great "fun" time but the spiritual part was lacking. One of the guys on the men's ministry initiated a deep conversation on John 12 and we carried that for a couple of hours until we were too tired to continue.
Many of us were bone tired so we hit our bunks and did not look back. I slept pretty well but I tossed and turned from 4:30 AM until I got up at 6:30 AM. I got up and cleared my head with a fresh cup of coffee while I waited for the breakfast buffet to open. Once it did, the group was enticed with a grand variety of food to choose from. After eating our fill, we went back to the bunkhouse to pack up. I was sad to have to leave, but I was hot, tired, and sweaty and I did not have any more clean clothes!
The drive back went quickly and before I knew it, I was back at the church, dropping off my passenger.
The rest of the day was spent with my wife and dogs. It was good to be back home.
We had our coffee sang a hymn, prayed and then we went in to have our breakfast. the food was good. It was probably the best camp food I have ever had...almost restaurant quality. The juice and milk were both premium and that really surprised me. The food alone made me forget my sore back.
After breakfast, we met in the main bunkhouse (it had a meeting room) to listen to our speaker. The message was a little light, but new Christians would have liked it. I was able to come away with one nugget of info that I was able to use a few days later...the ability to say "no".
After our speaker had finished part one, we paired up and did an exercise on desires and goals. it was pretty good, although I am not much of a fan of these types of things. I hope I can use some of the knowledge at work, since it was very secular based.
After the exercise, we we discussed our results and watched a short video. After that, we were free to enjoy lunch.
Lunch was not quite as good as breakfast, but it was not bad. It was as good as any fast food lunch, but lacked the *BAM* breakfast had. Considering the length of time between breakfast and lunch, I was going to need some of the snacks we had in reserve. Also we had planned a full day of fun things like riding a zip line, playing paint ball, swimming, and hiking. I played paint ball and rode the zip line and had a blast doing both.
The evening meal was a very nice chicken dish with black eyed peas and mashed potatoes with apple pie for dessert. The meal really hit the spot.
After the even meal we met back at the main bunkhouse to discuss the days events. Most of us agreed it was a great "fun" time but the spiritual part was lacking. One of the guys on the men's ministry initiated a deep conversation on John 12 and we carried that for a couple of hours until we were too tired to continue.
Many of us were bone tired so we hit our bunks and did not look back. I slept pretty well but I tossed and turned from 4:30 AM until I got up at 6:30 AM. I got up and cleared my head with a fresh cup of coffee while I waited for the breakfast buffet to open. Once it did, the group was enticed with a grand variety of food to choose from. After eating our fill, we went back to the bunkhouse to pack up. I was sad to have to leave, but I was hot, tired, and sweaty and I did not have any more clean clothes!
The drive back went quickly and before I knew it, I was back at the church, dropping off my passenger.
The rest of the day was spent with my wife and dogs. It was good to be back home.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Frantic Friday
It has been a few days and I need to catch up on a lot of things. Thankfully I was able to get most everything caught up at home and now it is time to do the same at work and on the blog.
I left work Thursday worried about how things would go for my TL since I was going to be out of the office on Friday. Things were pretty hairy most of the week and I was not sure how things would pan out.
I completed the PC cleaning for one of the families at church and it appears that all is well. There were two serious trojans on it and a plethora of minor spywares, but only a couple of viruses. Once the cleaning and sanitizing was complete, I ran a registry defrag/compress and thorough cleaning. Once I completed that and did a scandisk, the machine was humming along nicely.
I went to bed late, but I still had not packed for my weekend trip. I was tired and figured I could get packed the next morning before I left. I slept well.
I got up and packed, shaved, ate breakfast, had my coffee, and read my e-mail. I had a haircut scheduled at 9:15 AM and I needed to pick up "Kevin" so he could help me repair my sliding glass patio door after my haircut. The time was going by quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go get Kevin.
We took the door down and repaired the broken roller (after a trip to The Home Depot for parts), but were unable to replace the working (albeit older) roller due to a stripped machine screw on the door. I do not have a tap and die so we just replaced the broken one. I still have the new one just it case.
After finishing up door (it works very well now), we both cleaned up, packed up the truck and left. We stopped at CiCi's for lunch and the to Kroger for munchies for the trip. After we left Kroger we dropped of the PC I was working on and then Kevin and I were on the road.
The trip to Sky Ranch was pretty uneventful but traffic was bad in spots. We still made it in good time (we took the back roads). We were the first from our group to arrive (by several hours) and that gave us time to explore the ranch.
We explored, hiked, and played disc golf for a while then we stopped to get some water to cool off. It was in the 90's and humidity was a bit high. You would sweat but never cool down and your clothes always stayed wet. You needed A/C just to make it :)
Th group finally arrived at 7:45 PM (they had been playing golf and a few of them got lost on the way) and we unpacked the gear into the cabins. We split off into groups and walked around by the lake until we got tired of the bugs eating us. We headed back to the cabins and settled in after an hour of goofing off like kids..
I left work Thursday worried about how things would go for my TL since I was going to be out of the office on Friday. Things were pretty hairy most of the week and I was not sure how things would pan out.
I completed the PC cleaning for one of the families at church and it appears that all is well. There were two serious trojans on it and a plethora of minor spywares, but only a couple of viruses. Once the cleaning and sanitizing was complete, I ran a registry defrag/compress and thorough cleaning. Once I completed that and did a scandisk, the machine was humming along nicely.
I went to bed late, but I still had not packed for my weekend trip. I was tired and figured I could get packed the next morning before I left. I slept well.
I got up and packed, shaved, ate breakfast, had my coffee, and read my e-mail. I had a haircut scheduled at 9:15 AM and I needed to pick up "Kevin" so he could help me repair my sliding glass patio door after my haircut. The time was going by quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go get Kevin.
We took the door down and repaired the broken roller (after a trip to The Home Depot for parts), but were unable to replace the working (albeit older) roller due to a stripped machine screw on the door. I do not have a tap and die so we just replaced the broken one. I still have the new one just it case.
After finishing up door (it works very well now), we both cleaned up, packed up the truck and left. We stopped at CiCi's for lunch and the to Kroger for munchies for the trip. After we left Kroger we dropped of the PC I was working on and then Kevin and I were on the road.
The trip to Sky Ranch was pretty uneventful but traffic was bad in spots. We still made it in good time (we took the back roads). We were the first from our group to arrive (by several hours) and that gave us time to explore the ranch.
We explored, hiked, and played disc golf for a while then we stopped to get some water to cool off. It was in the 90's and humidity was a bit high. You would sweat but never cool down and your clothes always stayed wet. You needed A/C just to make it :)
Th group finally arrived at 7:45 PM (they had been playing golf and a few of them got lost on the way) and we unpacked the gear into the cabins. We split off into groups and walked around by the lake until we got tired of the bugs eating us. We headed back to the cabins and settled in after an hour of goofing off like kids..
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sneaky Pete
Work yesterday and the day before went well with the exception of the open case that will not ever seem to close. It is an intermittent problem that involves a "bolt on" application to SAP. No one has been able to resolve it yet and we have an open ticket with the vendor for resolution. We shall see.
I stopped by the house of a family who goes to our church. They asked me to look at their PC and do what was needed to get it back into good shape, up to and including re-rolling it. They stated they had backed up their data so a re-roll was okay with them.
I got it home and ran the usual virus and spyware checks. I found one virus file and four spyware/trojan/malware programs running...two which worried me. One turned off the Windows firewall and the other was a DNS redirect program. Well, I now know where the pr0n pop-ups were coming from!
After cleaning those I next removed a lot of demo/shareware programs and then cleaned out all the temp/useless files. I got about a gigabyte of junk cleared out when that was done.
I was told by the mother that one of her sons had been downloading stuff and causing all the PC issues. The had locked down all the accounts, but he still found a way to wreck havoc. What he did after mom locked out his account was hack into his dad's account (who never hardly used that PC...he had one of his own) and do his pr0n surfing from there. Once that was discovered, he started using the guest account (which had full admin access) to do his dirty deeds. That was discovered very quickly and all access to the PC was turned off to him except a very minimal amount.
After realizing this, I looked into pr0n boy and his father's profile. Both were 1.5 GIGS in size. To give you an idea of how big that is, my work PCs main profile, the PC I use 8-10 every day, is only 450 megs. Since I was given the okay to wipe the HD, I just killed those two profiles. I cleared out three gigs more of space.
After that fun job, I ran 3 different reg tools and cleared about eight megs of registry data and compacted it. I rebooted after each step and by this time the machine was easily five times faster than it was when I got it. The last two steps will be handled today. The first is a final virus/malware/trojan/spyware scan with Trend Micro's online tool. once that is done and rebooted, I will run a full defrag. That could take the rest of the night :-) .
I want to clear all this up before this weekend since we have the men's retreat then. I plan on having a good time.
I stopped by the house of a family who goes to our church. They asked me to look at their PC and do what was needed to get it back into good shape, up to and including re-rolling it. They stated they had backed up their data so a re-roll was okay with them.
I got it home and ran the usual virus and spyware checks. I found one virus file and four spyware/trojan/malware programs running...two which worried me. One turned off the Windows firewall and the other was a DNS redirect program. Well, I now know where the pr0n pop-ups were coming from!
After cleaning those I next removed a lot of demo/shareware programs and then cleaned out all the temp/useless files. I got about a gigabyte of junk cleared out when that was done.
I was told by the mother that one of her sons had been downloading stuff and causing all the PC issues. The had locked down all the accounts, but he still found a way to wreck havoc. What he did after mom locked out his account was hack into his dad's account (who never hardly used that PC...he had one of his own) and do his pr0n surfing from there. Once that was discovered, he started using the guest account (which had full admin access) to do his dirty deeds. That was discovered very quickly and all access to the PC was turned off to him except a very minimal amount.
After realizing this, I looked into pr0n boy and his father's profile. Both were 1.5 GIGS in size. To give you an idea of how big that is, my work PCs main profile, the PC I use 8-10 every day, is only 450 megs. Since I was given the okay to wipe the HD, I just killed those two profiles. I cleared out three gigs more of space.
After that fun job, I ran 3 different reg tools and cleared about eight megs of registry data and compacted it. I rebooted after each step and by this time the machine was easily five times faster than it was when I got it. The last two steps will be handled today. The first is a final virus/malware/trojan/spyware scan with Trend Micro's online tool. once that is done and rebooted, I will run a full defrag. That could take the rest of the night :-) .
I want to clear all this up before this weekend since we have the men's retreat then. I plan on having a good time.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Quick Update
Good day overall, with one exception. One of the cases I hoped would close didn't and that means more paperwork, most likely.
On the upside, I managed to close a case that had been open for almost a month, our house is clean (finally), and I made plans with Knightmare Duck to visit Audra State Park and North Bend State Park when I visit next month. I really hope Rycherox joins us. That would be killer.
On the upside, I managed to close a case that had been open for almost a month, our house is clean (finally), and I made plans with Knightmare Duck to visit Audra State Park and North Bend State Park when I visit next month. I really hope Rycherox joins us. That would be killer.
Scammer Update
I found a better vehicle for the scammer saga...Romance Scam. All updates (if any) will be there. By the way, BSOB is threatening to turn this into another project. Watch out!
Monday, August 20, 2007
Darkness Falls
I like it when a day is slow enough that you can do little things like take breaks but busy enough that you do not get bored. Today was a day like that.
Normal routine: Walk dog, have coffee, bible time, shower, dress, breakfast, head to work. I washed the breakfast dishes and took out the garbage since I am not on call this week (I had extra time) which made my wife happy and I still got to work early.
My TL came back from his vacation today and I filled him in on all the hilarity he missed (smirk). His eyes got big when I told him what all went on and that I was glad he was back. He told me about his weekend (he rented a cabin in the Oklahoma woods) but the rest of his week he just spent at home with his kids.
The phone kept us busy all day but we only had one issue we had to make a priority. The rest were just "can you tell me..." and "who do I call to..." and "El, can you send me the postmortem template...". Nothing unusual for us.
I got home after transferring the phones to my TL who is on call (nana nana boo-boo) and ate a sketchy dinner if mashed potatoes and a granola bar. I am starved but I need to cut back my calories...I eat like a horse sometimes.
After my sketchy meal, I went out to start mowing but I realized we were out of lawn bags, so I had to run get some. In the process of leaving, I hit the trash can but it is unscathed. Thank the Lord for heavy duty plastic roll away bins.
I went to Kroger (it was the closest place) to get my bags and started on the lawn once I got back. Much of the yard was very thick, not high as much as it was thick. I managed to get four full lawn bags cutting ours and our neighbors yard. It only took 2 hours, but it was dark when I finished. That is what I get for not keeping stock on hand to do my work.
After the lawn, I walked Little Man and then got cleaned up. I still have no cleaned the house yet (my wife was off but spent the day washing and grooming the dogs, and doing laundry) and I still have a PC house call to make.
It is going to be a busy week.
Hey Gonzalo...how is Cuba?
IP - 169.158.80.130
ISP - Centro Nacional De Intercambio Automatizado
Browser - Firefox 2.0
Operating System - Windows XP
Resolution - 1024x768
Normal routine: Walk dog, have coffee, bible time, shower, dress, breakfast, head to work. I washed the breakfast dishes and took out the garbage since I am not on call this week (I had extra time) which made my wife happy and I still got to work early.
My TL came back from his vacation today and I filled him in on all the hilarity he missed (smirk). His eyes got big when I told him what all went on and that I was glad he was back. He told me about his weekend (he rented a cabin in the Oklahoma woods) but the rest of his week he just spent at home with his kids.
The phone kept us busy all day but we only had one issue we had to make a priority. The rest were just "can you tell me..." and "who do I call to..." and "El, can you send me the postmortem template...". Nothing unusual for us.
I got home after transferring the phones to my TL who is on call (nana nana boo-boo) and ate a sketchy dinner if mashed potatoes and a granola bar. I am starved but I need to cut back my calories...I eat like a horse sometimes.
After my sketchy meal, I went out to start mowing but I realized we were out of lawn bags, so I had to run get some. In the process of leaving, I hit the trash can but it is unscathed. Thank the Lord for heavy duty plastic roll away bins.
I went to Kroger (it was the closest place) to get my bags and started on the lawn once I got back. Much of the yard was very thick, not high as much as it was thick. I managed to get four full lawn bags cutting ours and our neighbors yard. It only took 2 hours, but it was dark when I finished. That is what I get for not keeping stock on hand to do my work.
After the lawn, I walked Little Man and then got cleaned up. I still have no cleaned the house yet (my wife was off but spent the day washing and grooming the dogs, and doing laundry) and I still have a PC house call to make.
It is going to be a busy week.
Hey Gonzalo...how is Cuba?
IP - 169.158.80.130
ISP - Centro Nacional De Intercambio Automatizado
Browser - Firefox 2.0
Operating System - Windows XP
Resolution - 1024x768
It's Good To Be The King
I slept like a log on Saturday...a good deep sleep. By the time Sunday morning rolled around, I was pretty refreshed. I walked Little Man, drank the last of my already ground coffee (I have some whole beans that a friend from Indonesia gave us but I have not tried yet) and got ready for church.
I had my last Sunday School class that morning (that I was teaching) and it went very well. The regular teacher will start the next semester and I she has already asked me to sub for her when she is out. I gladly accepted.
The service was good and I met some new people. One couple who joined told me that AT&T's UVerse service is now available in our area so I need to check that out...the price is right. We were invited to check out the service at the couples house when we get time. I plan on it.
After church we ate lunch at a low cost Mexican place in town. While there we ran into the couple we helped move. They invited us to join them and even paid for our lunch. That was rather nice of them. The repeatedly thanked us for helping them, but they did not have to thank us...we were glad to help.
We got home and ended up taking a 2-3 hour nap to recharge our batteries. The week had been long and hard for us.
After the nap we fed the dogs and watched a couple of episodes of MASH...the best comedy of all time in my opinion. Once the dogs food had settled, I walked Little Man and then chatted with the new neighbors for a while.
After my walk and chat, I returned a few phone calls (I have a PC to work on this week) and then called mom. We chatted for 90 minutes or so then my wife and I decided to just get some sleep. I slept well...like a king.
I had my last Sunday School class that morning (that I was teaching) and it went very well. The regular teacher will start the next semester and I she has already asked me to sub for her when she is out. I gladly accepted.
The service was good and I met some new people. One couple who joined told me that AT&T's UVerse service is now available in our area so I need to check that out...the price is right. We were invited to check out the service at the couples house when we get time. I plan on it.
After church we ate lunch at a low cost Mexican place in town. While there we ran into the couple we helped move. They invited us to join them and even paid for our lunch. That was rather nice of them. The repeatedly thanked us for helping them, but they did not have to thank us...we were glad to help.
We got home and ended up taking a 2-3 hour nap to recharge our batteries. The week had been long and hard for us.
After the nap we fed the dogs and watched a couple of episodes of MASH...the best comedy of all time in my opinion. Once the dogs food had settled, I walked Little Man and then chatted with the new neighbors for a while.
After my walk and chat, I returned a few phone calls (I have a PC to work on this week) and then called mom. We chatted for 90 minutes or so then my wife and I decided to just get some sleep. I slept well...like a king.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Rounding The Corner
By the time the end of my work day had arrived, one of the issues had been resolved and the other was in pending since the app was quasi-stable and no one would be able to test it until Monday. I felt a sense of relief with that and completed the postmortem report required on all high severity cases then I went home.
I had a quiet night (no calls for work) but it stormed. I did not stay up late, but I did read some before I went to bed.
I woke at 5:30 AM (an hour early because I had a men's breakfast to attend then we were going to help some church members move) and walked Little Man and actually enjoyed a cup of coffee before getting a shower, reading my daily bible verses, and going to the breakfast.
I got to the breakfast and was disappointed at the small numbers of men attending. The youth were having a garage sale after our breakfast so people wore flitting around prepping for that. After breakfast, fellowship and cleanup, I came home to get ready to go help on the move. However before I got home I got a call from our customer's NOC in Sweden. They could not get in touch with the on call so they (again) called me. I told them I was not on call and that I was not home to give them the number of the guy who was. I told them they could call a group in Sweden and ask for the cell number of the guy on call, but I did not have it. I guess they did. All I know is when I got home I called the TL and left him a message regarding the situation. I cannot do it all and my week was busy enough.
My wife and I helped load and unload one large uhaul, three minivans, and three pickup trucks. Once done we were very tired. I get called on a lot to help people move. I very much enjoy the process. It reminds me of the good times I had in my warehouse days.
I have participated on very few moves where I did not enjoy myself, but what surprises me is how people define "moving". For me, moving someone means loading up all their stuff into boxes, driving it to the new location, and unloading it. Usually it includes setting up beds, dresser/mirrors, hooking up washers and dryers, and any other big item that needs more than one person. However, about 1/2 of the moves we have helped with here in Texas have included packing the person up THE SAME DAY AS THE MOVE. Professionals can do that, but they take all day and have a plan/team. When 10 of your church buddies come and do it and the results are less than spectacular. I ended up packing up a lot of PC, audio, and video equipment and while I do not mind (and am honored that the geeks trust me to do it), I was a bit surprised the geek we moved did not have it already done. We unhooked and moved fice PC's, two TV's and one large audio system...not to mention countless UPS/Surge protection units MOUNTED on walls, break down tables, beds, and PACK personal stuff. It was a lot of work and we finally got done unloading at 4 PM. Mind you we were not 100% because there were a ton of little things that needed to be in boxes (which they ran out of...word to the wise, get twice as many boxes as you think you need. Trust me), but all the big stuff had been moved and about 85% of the small stuff.
We came home and drank even more water (I think I had a total of four liters today) and rested. I fed the dogs and watched a bit of TV before signing on to check mail and blog. I would like to mow grass but the ground is still soggy from the storm. Cleaning house sounds like a good idea, but I I would not have the energy to finish it if I started.
Oh well, there is always Monday!
I had a quiet night (no calls for work) but it stormed. I did not stay up late, but I did read some before I went to bed.
I woke at 5:30 AM (an hour early because I had a men's breakfast to attend then we were going to help some church members move) and walked Little Man and actually enjoyed a cup of coffee before getting a shower, reading my daily bible verses, and going to the breakfast.
I got to the breakfast and was disappointed at the small numbers of men attending. The youth were having a garage sale after our breakfast so people wore flitting around prepping for that. After breakfast, fellowship and cleanup, I came home to get ready to go help on the move. However before I got home I got a call from our customer's NOC in Sweden. They could not get in touch with the on call so they (again) called me. I told them I was not on call and that I was not home to give them the number of the guy who was. I told them they could call a group in Sweden and ask for the cell number of the guy on call, but I did not have it. I guess they did. All I know is when I got home I called the TL and left him a message regarding the situation. I cannot do it all and my week was busy enough.
My wife and I helped load and unload one large uhaul, three minivans, and three pickup trucks. Once done we were very tired. I get called on a lot to help people move. I very much enjoy the process. It reminds me of the good times I had in my warehouse days.
I have participated on very few moves where I did not enjoy myself, but what surprises me is how people define "moving". For me, moving someone means loading up all their stuff into boxes, driving it to the new location, and unloading it. Usually it includes setting up beds, dresser/mirrors, hooking up washers and dryers, and any other big item that needs more than one person. However, about 1/2 of the moves we have helped with here in Texas have included packing the person up THE SAME DAY AS THE MOVE. Professionals can do that, but they take all day and have a plan/team. When 10 of your church buddies come and do it and the results are less than spectacular. I ended up packing up a lot of PC, audio, and video equipment and while I do not mind (and am honored that the geeks trust me to do it), I was a bit surprised the geek we moved did not have it already done. We unhooked and moved fice PC's, two TV's and one large audio system...not to mention countless UPS/Surge protection units MOUNTED on walls, break down tables, beds, and PACK personal stuff. It was a lot of work and we finally got done unloading at 4 PM. Mind you we were not 100% because there were a ton of little things that needed to be in boxes (which they ran out of...word to the wise, get twice as many boxes as you think you need. Trust me), but all the big stuff had been moved and about 85% of the small stuff.
We came home and drank even more water (I think I had a total of four liters today) and rested. I fed the dogs and watched a bit of TV before signing on to check mail and blog. I would like to mow grass but the ground is still soggy from the storm. Cleaning house sounds like a good idea, but I I would not have the energy to finish it if I started.
Oh well, there is always Monday!
Friday, August 17, 2007
I Had To Laugh A Little.
I knew it would happen. I have told enough people about my little e-mail writing to the Russian romance scammer that I knew I would get some kind of "threat" sent to me (profanity altered to protect innocent eyes):
hey you stupid from texas i hope you stop to wirte about my russina girl o.k.
she is my wife and tou just need stay away from her a$$hole .
i fly to u.sa. the next week and i will try to find you to talk and see your ugly face take care motherf&@%er.
Notice the wonderful typing and spelling.My guess is that the scammer sent it from another account, trying to "get even" for me sending the bogus e-mails. That is okay, I was getting tired of the ruse anyway. It had been almost a month since this started!
hey you stupid from texas i hope you stop to wirte about my russina girl o.k.
she is my wife and tou just need stay away from her a$$hole .
i fly to u.sa. the next week and i will try to find you to talk and see your ugly face take care motherf&@%er.
Notice the wonderful typing and spelling.
Oddly Quiet, Then A Storm
The phone did not ring at all yesterday. It was an nice change of pace from the previous 3 days and I savored the time, knowing it could be very short lived.
I got home and set up my laptop to handle any issues that might come up during the evening, but I was pleasantly surprised that nothing did. I was able to read and surf the web a bit before I went to bed.
By the way, my headache subsided a great deal yesterday. I took two sinus headache pills and I felt much better. By the time I had gone to bed, I was pain free.
We got a small storm last night that gave us some much needed rain. It has been 2-3 weeks since our last precipitation and it is always nice when God provides the water instead of the city.
I was woken up one with a phone call, but it was an FYI call from Malaysia to inform me they were having network issues and were unable to work for a couple of hours. It did not affect me or my customers so it meant little.
I got up feeling groggy, but eventually I got my act together. I left home and got to work and noticed nothing was waiting for me, so I just went ahead and did my Sunday School lesson while it was slow. I caught up on e-mail and news and then went to lunch. While I was eating I got a call requesting me to handle a case so I put my food aside (I have to eat at my desk when I am running solo) and started working on it. I got a second call while I was still working on the first, but took it as well. While I was on that call, a third call came in. It was a manager (from the customer side) asking me to look into the issue that the first call was about. I told her that I was on it. The phone rang for a fourth time in 15 minutes. It was the same manager telling me about the second issue I had a call on. That call was appreciated because it had info that I needed.
After all that, I called the techs responsible for the apps and they started working on them. One of the cases may be resolved quickly, but the other is going to linger. This particular app never gets a quick resolution because it has so many failure points. I sent an e-mail to the Incident Manager who is on call this weekend, just in case the issues are not resolved by tomorrow morning at handover time.
Right now I play the waiting game and update the customer as we get updates from the tech. If I do not get updates from the techs, I get to call and harass them. I like that part of the job :) .
All things going well, I will go to the men's breakfast tomorrow morning, mow grass, and clean house. Of course all the rain predicted means mowing is not likely, even though I really need to.
Oh well.
I got home and set up my laptop to handle any issues that might come up during the evening, but I was pleasantly surprised that nothing did. I was able to read and surf the web a bit before I went to bed.
By the way, my headache subsided a great deal yesterday. I took two sinus headache pills and I felt much better. By the time I had gone to bed, I was pain free.
We got a small storm last night that gave us some much needed rain. It has been 2-3 weeks since our last precipitation and it is always nice when God provides the water instead of the city.
I was woken up one with a phone call, but it was an FYI call from Malaysia to inform me they were having network issues and were unable to work for a couple of hours. It did not affect me or my customers so it meant little.
I got up feeling groggy, but eventually I got my act together. I left home and got to work and noticed nothing was waiting for me, so I just went ahead and did my Sunday School lesson while it was slow. I caught up on e-mail and news and then went to lunch. While I was eating I got a call requesting me to handle a case so I put my food aside (I have to eat at my desk when I am running solo) and started working on it. I got a second call while I was still working on the first, but took it as well. While I was on that call, a third call came in. It was a manager (from the customer side) asking me to look into the issue that the first call was about. I told her that I was on it. The phone rang for a fourth time in 15 minutes. It was the same manager telling me about the second issue I had a call on. That call was appreciated because it had info that I needed.
After all that, I called the techs responsible for the apps and they started working on them. One of the cases may be resolved quickly, but the other is going to linger. This particular app never gets a quick resolution because it has so many failure points. I sent an e-mail to the Incident Manager who is on call this weekend, just in case the issues are not resolved by tomorrow morning at handover time.
Right now I play the waiting game and update the customer as we get updates from the tech. If I do not get updates from the techs, I get to call and harass them. I like that part of the job :) .
All things going well, I will go to the men's breakfast tomorrow morning, mow grass, and clean house. Of course all the rain predicted means mowing is not likely, even though I really need to.
Oh well.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Virus And A Migraine
Went to bed on Tuesday night with a migraine and woke up with it (albeit less severe). I got to work and was faced with a flurry of calls, e-mails, and IM's regarding a virus in the Virginia office. Of course our local help desk did not catch that...they said the network was down...yet they did no troubleshooting to verify it. By noon it was mostly under control, which was a good thing. By 1 PM the migraine had returned with a vengeance and I was not a jolly fellow. I had taken 100 mg of Tylenol but that was not working.
By 4 PM I was in too much pain to be in the office, so I went home. I set up the PC and layed down. From 5 PM on I was on call, so at least I could rest in between calls. I only got called once and that was an FYI call. After that, I did not wake up until my wife got back from aerobics.
I decided that I needed to eat something so I ate a sandwich and took some more Tylenol. I told my wife that I was not feeling well, so she pretty much left me along. She was pretty tired as well so we just crashed on the couch and the love seat watching TV until I got up to walk Little Man. Once I got back from walking him, I just went to bed. It was only 9:30, but I was in severe agony with the migraine.
I woke up tired, but at least the migraine has subsided some. It would be what I call a normal headache, which is noticeable. It is a dull, almost sinus type of headache, but sinus meds do no good. My wife is starting to get concerned since I get these every few weeks lately.
I did a little paperwork and caught up on a few little things that I can while I wait for two other pending cases to close. After that was finished I checked my e-mail and read the news, all the while keeping an ear open for the phone.
I did some research on romance scams and was lead to a great web site. Instead of blogging any more on this site, I think I will use that one. It seems to be a great resource.
By 4 PM I was in too much pain to be in the office, so I went home. I set up the PC and layed down. From 5 PM on I was on call, so at least I could rest in between calls. I only got called once and that was an FYI call. After that, I did not wake up until my wife got back from aerobics.
I decided that I needed to eat something so I ate a sandwich and took some more Tylenol. I told my wife that I was not feeling well, so she pretty much left me along. She was pretty tired as well so we just crashed on the couch and the love seat watching TV until I got up to walk Little Man. Once I got back from walking him, I just went to bed. It was only 9:30, but I was in severe agony with the migraine.
I woke up tired, but at least the migraine has subsided some. It would be what I call a normal headache, which is noticeable. It is a dull, almost sinus type of headache, but sinus meds do no good. My wife is starting to get concerned since I get these every few weeks lately.
I did a little paperwork and caught up on a few little things that I can while I wait for two other pending cases to close. After that was finished I checked my e-mail and read the news, all the while keeping an ear open for the phone.
I did some research on romance scams and was lead to a great web site. Instead of blogging any more on this site, I think I will use that one. It seems to be a great resource.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
No Nap, An Early Departure
I was unable to get a nap yesterday. It was just too hot outside and the virus issue was a constant nagging to me all day long. It had given me a migraine and by the time I left early, I was in real pain. Also, we were having WAN issues so working from the office was difficult. Going home made more sense.
I got home and things were quiet. I fed the dogs, ate a couple of hot dogs and some chips for dinner and watched a little TV. I was just dosing off when the phone rang. It was our help desk in China reporting a UNIX issue in NC. I called the end user but since he did not return my call, I left the case a medium severity. About an hour later, one of the UNIX techs calls me saying he cannot log on to the NIS server. I call our server support team and tell them we have a big problem.
Two hours later there still is no resolution, so I call the local UNIX hacker (I mean that in a good way) and told him. He seemed pretty concerned, but confident that he could walk the L2 people through fixing the problem. By Midnight the issue was fixed. Bed time.
Needless to say that 9 hours sleep in 2 days is not a lot, but I am functioning. My migraine is back, but not severe this time. I have been helping out with a virus outbreak in out Virginia office all morning, battling the red tape just to get a PC removed from the network.
It is going to be a long week.
I got home and things were quiet. I fed the dogs, ate a couple of hot dogs and some chips for dinner and watched a little TV. I was just dosing off when the phone rang. It was our help desk in China reporting a UNIX issue in NC. I called the end user but since he did not return my call, I left the case a medium severity. About an hour later, one of the UNIX techs calls me saying he cannot log on to the NIS server. I call our server support team and tell them we have a big problem.
Two hours later there still is no resolution, so I call the local UNIX hacker (I mean that in a good way) and told him. He seemed pretty concerned, but confident that he could walk the L2 people through fixing the problem. By Midnight the issue was fixed. Bed time.
Needless to say that 9 hours sleep in 2 days is not a lot, but I am functioning. My migraine is back, but not severe this time. I have been helping out with a virus outbreak in out Virginia office all morning, battling the red tape just to get a PC removed from the network.
It is going to be a long week.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Twilight Zone
It's 2 am (it's 2 am)
Fear is gone (fear is gone)
I'm sitting here waiting
The Gun still warm (the Gun still warm)
Maybe my connection
Is tired of taking chances
Golden Earring, "Twilight Zone"
Actually, it was 3 am, but I was sitting and waiting. I didn't have a gun, but the thought of shooting my 3 am caller had crossed my mind. Why? He never called back. I dozed off waiting for the call.
At about 3 am I got a call from a peer in Europe. There has been a nasty Windows virus making the rounds in Asia and Europe, and it appears that it had made its way to the North America. My peer was calling on the behalf of one of the big managers in Europe and he wanted all the account managers called and a plan put together to resolve this issue. That sounds just great...but it is not my job anymore.
I tell that to my peer and he says, "Oh...let me call you back in a few minutes". I sit in my chair in my home office and I doze off. My wife tells me to come back to bed and try toget some sleep. About 3:30 am, I get a call from another peer in Europe, asking me to call the customer's NOC because they have been trying to get in touch with me, but the call never completes. I call the NOC and they tell me to call yet someone else...a mid level mgr in Europe (this is terrible game to play at 3:30 am). I call this mgr.
He begins to tell me about the virus issue and asks me what my plan is to deal with it:
me - "What is the case number?"
him - "We don't have one"
me - "What is the customer name?"
him - "There is no customer yet"
me - "what is it you would like me to do?"
him- "We need a plan to deal with this threat. You need to call the account managers (we have three in the US and one in Canada who would be affected) and get them involved. We need people on site asap to stop this."
Okay...at 4 AM I begin calling managers (who don't pick up...surprise, surprise) until I get to the last one, who just happens to be traveling in India this week. We have a nice chat (I am almost coherent now) and he tells me that I just need to call the Escalation Manager and let him deal with it. That is all I wanted to hear.
I call the EM and wake him up...he has some great news for me. It seems that our boss has told him not to work the issue...that I should. Normally, I would not mind but two things work against me:
1) I am working solo this week and yesterday was a bear. I just knew today would be as well.
2) It ain't my friggin' job anymore. The EM does it, not me.
Well, I get awake, let the dogs out, get a shower and eat a bowl of organic raisin bran (not very tasty, mind you) and drive to work an hour early. Of course I have been working since 3 am or so..making international phone calls.
I get to work and find a guy in Canada who has found a machine infected with a variant of the slammer virus performing DoS attacks on the network. The tech removes the offending machine and things look normal. Several hundred e-mails later, we find more machines infected and the Account Manager in Canada wants ME to run the show. Sorry, but I have enough to do today.
Finally I get our boss to allow the EM to do his job and things are beginning to come together. One of the main reasons this was a mess was that the guy who normally would handle these global issues (in Europe) is on vacation and his boss is filling in for him...his boss does not know the process we use.
Well, if I can get by with it, I am taking a nap today at lunch time. I am sure I will not get much sleep, but any would be welcomed.
Oddly enough, there has not been as much to do outside all this virus mess as I had thought, but still, I cannot be everything to everyone.
Fear is gone (fear is gone)
I'm sitting here waiting
The Gun still warm (the Gun still warm)
Maybe my connection
Is tired of taking chances
Golden Earring, "Twilight Zone"
Actually, it was 3 am, but I was sitting and waiting. I didn't have a gun, but the thought of shooting my 3 am caller had crossed my mind. Why? He never called back. I dozed off waiting for the call.
At about 3 am I got a call from a peer in Europe. There has been a nasty Windows virus making the rounds in Asia and Europe, and it appears that it had made its way to the North America. My peer was calling on the behalf of one of the big managers in Europe and he wanted all the account managers called and a plan put together to resolve this issue. That sounds just great...but it is not my job anymore.
I tell that to my peer and he says, "Oh...let me call you back in a few minutes". I sit in my chair in my home office and I doze off. My wife tells me to come back to bed and try toget some sleep. About 3:30 am, I get a call from another peer in Europe, asking me to call the customer's NOC because they have been trying to get in touch with me, but the call never completes. I call the NOC and they tell me to call yet someone else...a mid level mgr in Europe (this is terrible game to play at 3:30 am). I call this mgr.
He begins to tell me about the virus issue and asks me what my plan is to deal with it:
me - "What is the case number?"
him - "We don't have one"
me - "What is the customer name?"
him - "There is no customer yet"
me - "what is it you would like me to do?"
him- "We need a plan to deal with this threat. You need to call the account managers (we have three in the US and one in Canada who would be affected) and get them involved. We need people on site asap to stop this."
Okay...at 4 AM I begin calling managers (who don't pick up...surprise, surprise) until I get to the last one, who just happens to be traveling in India this week. We have a nice chat (I am almost coherent now) and he tells me that I just need to call the Escalation Manager and let him deal with it. That is all I wanted to hear.
I call the EM and wake him up...he has some great news for me. It seems that our boss has told him not to work the issue...that I should. Normally, I would not mind but two things work against me:
1) I am working solo this week and yesterday was a bear. I just knew today would be as well.
2) It ain't my friggin' job anymore. The EM does it, not me.
Well, I get awake, let the dogs out, get a shower and eat a bowl of organic raisin bran (not very tasty, mind you) and drive to work an hour early. Of course I have been working since 3 am or so..making international phone calls.
I get to work and find a guy in Canada who has found a machine infected with a variant of the slammer virus performing DoS attacks on the network. The tech removes the offending machine and things look normal. Several hundred e-mails later, we find more machines infected and the Account Manager in Canada wants ME to run the show. Sorry, but I have enough to do today.
Finally I get our boss to allow the EM to do his job and things are beginning to come together. One of the main reasons this was a mess was that the guy who normally would handle these global issues (in Europe) is on vacation and his boss is filling in for him...his boss does not know the process we use.
Well, if I can get by with it, I am taking a nap today at lunch time. I am sure I will not get much sleep, but any would be welcomed.
Oddly enough, there has not been as much to do outside all this virus mess as I had thought, but still, I cannot be everything to everyone.
Monday, August 13, 2007
At The Church On Time
I made my trustee meeting this evening. Had you asked me at 1:30 if it were possible, I would have said no. It was BUSY today...the busiest day I have had yet in this new role and I was flying solo. Yeah, I made it. God is great!
The started with a request from the account manager to raise the severity on an EDI issue our customer was having with one of their vendors. That issue is still not solved only because the two possible fixes have as laundry list of pros and cons.
The I got a call about our customer's campus in Virginia. Over the weekend they had a power failure (the building is not governed by us) and bringing it back on line was tricky. I did not have to do anything on that one because 1) It was already being handled, 2) the ticket was a joke...no info. That did not mean I was off the hook. There was still research to be done before I could turn it away.
Next, our help desk had a problem with some fancy e-mail to trouble ticket script that was failing. Since this did not affect our customer, I was told to leave it alone. I called the tech anyway just so he knew about it.
Then around lunch time we had six customers call in swearing that an app on a US server was not allowing them to log in, but he same app in Europe worked just fine. So I called the on call tech for that and about an hour later he found the only problem was the accounts for these six poeple were locked out. I guess the help desk did not think to unlock them. Sigh. I guess I should have asked...
The next gem that I was called about really proved to me the help desk does not read the tickets at all. The HD person said a customer has been trying to call the hotline and cannot get through. 1) customers do not call my hotine...it is internal, and 2) I have been at my desk for 5 hours and have not moved. Had the HD tech read the ticket, they would have seen the "customer" was actually a tech and that they tried to call during the weekend and the oncall guy did not answer (this is a growing trend...) . I told the tech (after researching the ticket) that they needed to call the "customer" and check on the issue and to call me back if things were not up and running.
The last issue (about an hour before I went home) I took a bit of a risk on. A local tech had been called to a remote site to reboot a router, but the ticket was not set as high priority. Now if he got there today, no worries. But if he waits until tomorrow...someone is not going to be happy. I could have called it in as a high severity, but it was near the end of business and it was not a whole site issue...just a wing. I guess I will find out tomorrow if I am in trouble or not.
Well, I got home incident free, grilled chicken (running out of propane in the process), ate, got all my stuff together and still made my meeting...early. After the meeting (which was only two hours long this time), I came home and walked the dogs with my wife. It was hot an humid, but doable.
Well time for bed. I have a long week ahead of me.
The started with a request from the account manager to raise the severity on an EDI issue our customer was having with one of their vendors. That issue is still not solved only because the two possible fixes have as laundry list of pros and cons.
The I got a call about our customer's campus in Virginia. Over the weekend they had a power failure (the building is not governed by us) and bringing it back on line was tricky. I did not have to do anything on that one because 1) It was already being handled, 2) the ticket was a joke...no info. That did not mean I was off the hook. There was still research to be done before I could turn it away.
Next, our help desk had a problem with some fancy e-mail to trouble ticket script that was failing. Since this did not affect our customer, I was told to leave it alone. I called the tech anyway just so he knew about it.
Then around lunch time we had six customers call in swearing that an app on a US server was not allowing them to log in, but he same app in Europe worked just fine. So I called the on call tech for that and about an hour later he found the only problem was the accounts for these six poeple were locked out. I guess the help desk did not think to unlock them. Sigh. I guess I should have asked...
The next gem that I was called about really proved to me the help desk does not read the tickets at all. The HD person said a customer has been trying to call the hotline and cannot get through. 1) customers do not call my hotine...it is internal, and 2) I have been at my desk for 5 hours and have not moved. Had the HD tech read the ticket, they would have seen the "customer" was actually a tech and that they tried to call during the weekend and the oncall guy did not answer (this is a growing trend...) . I told the tech (after researching the ticket) that they needed to call the "customer" and check on the issue and to call me back if things were not up and running.
The last issue (about an hour before I went home) I took a bit of a risk on. A local tech had been called to a remote site to reboot a router, but the ticket was not set as high priority. Now if he got there today, no worries. But if he waits until tomorrow...someone is not going to be happy. I could have called it in as a high severity, but it was near the end of business and it was not a whole site issue...just a wing. I guess I will find out tomorrow if I am in trouble or not.
Well, I got home incident free, grilled chicken (running out of propane in the process), ate, got all my stuff together and still made my meeting...early. After the meeting (which was only two hours long this time), I came home and walked the dogs with my wife. It was hot an humid, but doable.
Well time for bed. I have a long week ahead of me.
Loving You Sunday Morning
Sunday turned out to be a good day. I got up and completed my normal morning ritual before heading off to church to teach my Sunday school class (Ruth 1 and 2...3 and 4 will close out the series). I had to go around the back because the opener (the person responsible for unlocking the church) failed to unlock the front doors...no big worry though.
My class went very well. Ruth was a breath of fresh air compared to the violence that we studied in the book of Judges. The class (a smaller one this week) had a lot of input and made the time go by very quickly. I can hardly wait until next week!
The class reminded me of a song performed by ApologetiX called, "Naomi Gonna Be With Ruth", which is a parody of the Hootie and the Blowfish song, "I Only Wanna Be With You". I was so tickled by it I sent the song and the lyrics to my class.
The service went well and I ended up speaking to a lot of people. My wife finally dragged me away so we could grab some lunch. My wife was in the mood for Italian, so Joe's Bistro was the place to go.
After lunch, my wife took my truck and filled the tank up (she had a Tom Thumb discount of 20 cents a gallon and for some reason it rang up as 25 cents off per gallon, making my total fill-up only 2.32 per gallon. Sweet.
While she was gone I did some web work (updating the Scamette log, e-mails, news, etc) and doing little else. I was kinda tired, but not sleepy, so I skipped my routine Sunday afternoon nap and read a little.
There was an evening service at church (we only have this once a month) so my wife and I got ready for that. It was a praise and prayer service and was only an hour long instead of the normal 1.5 hours that our morning service usually is.
Once home I called mom (dropping my mobile phone on the concrete in the process) while I walked Little Man. Mom is looking forward to me visiting next month and I am itchin' to get back on the road. I have a few places I want to see this time.
After my walk, my wife and I chatted, read, and watched a little TV. I think I was in bed by 11:00 PM.
I got up very refreshed and made it to work early. I did this on purpose because my TL is out this week, I am on call, and this week will most likely be a busy week. I have already had 1 high severity case and a call about another one. I cam waiting on more info before I react on that one.
I have my trustee meeting tonight but if things keep going as they are so far, I will not be able to make it. I will try, but right now work comes first...no choice in that.
My class went very well. Ruth was a breath of fresh air compared to the violence that we studied in the book of Judges. The class (a smaller one this week) had a lot of input and made the time go by very quickly. I can hardly wait until next week!
The class reminded me of a song performed by ApologetiX called, "Naomi Gonna Be With Ruth", which is a parody of the Hootie and the Blowfish song, "I Only Wanna Be With You". I was so tickled by it I sent the song and the lyrics to my class.
The service went well and I ended up speaking to a lot of people. My wife finally dragged me away so we could grab some lunch. My wife was in the mood for Italian, so Joe's Bistro was the place to go.
After lunch, my wife took my truck and filled the tank up (she had a Tom Thumb discount of 20 cents a gallon and for some reason it rang up as 25 cents off per gallon, making my total fill-up only 2.32 per gallon. Sweet.
While she was gone I did some web work (updating the Scamette log, e-mails, news, etc) and doing little else. I was kinda tired, but not sleepy, so I skipped my routine Sunday afternoon nap and read a little.
There was an evening service at church (we only have this once a month) so my wife and I got ready for that. It was a praise and prayer service and was only an hour long instead of the normal 1.5 hours that our morning service usually is.
Once home I called mom (dropping my mobile phone on the concrete in the process) while I walked Little Man. Mom is looking forward to me visiting next month and I am itchin' to get back on the road. I have a few places I want to see this time.
After my walk, my wife and I chatted, read, and watched a little TV. I think I was in bed by 11:00 PM.
I got up very refreshed and made it to work early. I did this on purpose because my TL is out this week, I am on call, and this week will most likely be a busy week. I have already had 1 high severity case and a call about another one. I cam waiting on more info before I react on that one.
I have my trustee meeting tonight but if things keep going as they are so far, I will not be able to make it. I will try, but right now work comes first...no choice in that.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Pretty Much What I Expected
Friday was pretty slow at work. I managed to get half of the Sunday school stuff done so at least I have a chunk of Saturday free.
In the late afternoon my wife forwarded me an e-mail from our son stationed in Kuwait. I responded to it (maybe not the wisest thing to do, but I had to clear the air) in a very heart-felt manner. I was very surprised to see him respond so quickly to the little missive I wrote. Needless to say it was not exactly what I was wanting to read. While I commend him for speaking his mind and thank him for telling me how he fells, he did write something that hurt.
I have only been a Christian for 10 or so years and I have only taken my faith seriously the past 3 or so. I was not a very good model of a Christian man for a long time and I have (and will) pay the price for my lack of obedience to God. My son never really got to see the "new me" and in his last e-mail he gives the impression that he does not quite believe I have made that change. That hurt. He told me a lot of things in the e-mail that would have hurt a lesser man, but while I will remember them (I happen to agree with his assessment on a large part of it), they did not hurt...it was only when my faith was questioned that I became hurt.
Our son has started communicating with his bio-mom and you can tell that by the way he writes his e-mails. While I have forgiven my ex-wife (our son's bio-mom), I still believe she has not changed her ways. The last time I had any communication with her, she was bitter and venomous. I can't say I blame her for being angry...we were not the best married couple on the planet (I think we both did everything possible to undermine the relationship), I have actively worked on my interpersonal skills with my family. I have grown in my relationship with God and that has helped a lot.
I have encouraged my son to start a relationship with his bio-mom (who he has not lived with in 16 years, nor has he spent more than a couple of hours with during that same time). Hopefully one of two things will happen. She will have changed in a good way and our son can report that back to me and we can "bury the hatchet" (and not in each other's thick head) OR she will have not changed and our son will see that and get away.
There is a third option...and that is our son will not be able to tell the difference and will defend her come hell or high water. Sigh.
Anyhow, I came home and had dinner with my wife, browsed a few web pages, answered some e-mail, posted a story or two on the Chronicles of George, and went to bed.
Saturday, I hit the snooze button for the first time in years before finally getting up at 6:30 AM. I walked Little Man and came back to have my coffee.
I took care of a multitude of chores (strip/make the bed, wash/dry/fold a load of clothes, wash dishes, vacuum the entire house and clean the vacuum when I was done) before lunch. I even went out in the 100 degree heat and placed fire ant bait to help get rid of the few mounds I and my neighbor have in our yards.
I spent the rest of my day on the PC, watching TV, eating, reading, or walking Little Man. yeah, I know...not much of a constructive day, but I did apply for a job online. While I will not say where, I will say that the application process was NINE pages long and not Firefox friendly.
In the late afternoon my wife forwarded me an e-mail from our son stationed in Kuwait. I responded to it (maybe not the wisest thing to do, but I had to clear the air) in a very heart-felt manner. I was very surprised to see him respond so quickly to the little missive I wrote. Needless to say it was not exactly what I was wanting to read. While I commend him for speaking his mind and thank him for telling me how he fells, he did write something that hurt.
I have only been a Christian for 10 or so years and I have only taken my faith seriously the past 3 or so. I was not a very good model of a Christian man for a long time and I have (and will) pay the price for my lack of obedience to God. My son never really got to see the "new me" and in his last e-mail he gives the impression that he does not quite believe I have made that change. That hurt. He told me a lot of things in the e-mail that would have hurt a lesser man, but while I will remember them (I happen to agree with his assessment on a large part of it), they did not hurt...it was only when my faith was questioned that I became hurt.
Our son has started communicating with his bio-mom and you can tell that by the way he writes his e-mails. While I have forgiven my ex-wife (our son's bio-mom), I still believe she has not changed her ways. The last time I had any communication with her, she was bitter and venomous. I can't say I blame her for being angry...we were not the best married couple on the planet (I think we both did everything possible to undermine the relationship), I have actively worked on my interpersonal skills with my family. I have grown in my relationship with God and that has helped a lot.
I have encouraged my son to start a relationship with his bio-mom (who he has not lived with in 16 years, nor has he spent more than a couple of hours with during that same time). Hopefully one of two things will happen. She will have changed in a good way and our son can report that back to me and we can "bury the hatchet" (and not in each other's thick head) OR she will have not changed and our son will see that and get away.
There is a third option...and that is our son will not be able to tell the difference and will defend her come hell or high water. Sigh.
Anyhow, I came home and had dinner with my wife, browsed a few web pages, answered some e-mail, posted a story or two on the Chronicles of George, and went to bed.
Saturday, I hit the snooze button for the first time in years before finally getting up at 6:30 AM. I walked Little Man and came back to have my coffee.
I took care of a multitude of chores (strip/make the bed, wash/dry/fold a load of clothes, wash dishes, vacuum the entire house and clean the vacuum when I was done) before lunch. I even went out in the 100 degree heat and placed fire ant bait to help get rid of the few mounds I and my neighbor have in our yards.
I spent the rest of my day on the PC, watching TV, eating, reading, or walking Little Man. yeah, I know...not much of a constructive day, but I did apply for a job online. While I will not say where, I will say that the application process was NINE pages long and not Firefox friendly.
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