Monday, March 29. 2010
North Group
I found out today that one of the two awful tasks I thought I'd have to do in April was postponed. We don't know when the new date will be. We don't know when the clock will start ticking. All we know is that we're holding off on it until we hear it's time to go - which means we then have one month until showtime. So at least it's not like they'll call us up and be like "Yeah, how's Friday for you? 'Cause we'll be there expecting to rock. See you then!" No, they are obligated to give us a month's warning. Of course, that means we'll be lucky to get two weeks. Anyway, that was nice.
Not much else of note happened today. I'm already planning that I'm going to have to get in a couple of arguments this week. One problem I had was "Missy" sent a meeting invite to an important meeting next week. The only problem is that at least half the people she invited, including me, have a conflict during that time for an equally important meeting that we have every week at that time. I called her up and said I wouldn't be able to make it because of the other meeting. Being as all our calendars are online and available to everyone, I just thought she was being a bitch. When I told her about the conflict she asked when would be a good time. I said she could just check our calendars and then said "OK, and how do I do that?" I started to explain how to hit the three necessary buttons but she blew me off saying she was busy with something else right then. Huh. So if you're meeting is that important but you can blow me off - well, OK. Don't expect my help any time soon.
Not much else of note happened today. I'm already planning that I'm going to have to get in a couple of arguments this week. One problem I had was "Missy" sent a meeting invite to an important meeting next week. The only problem is that at least half the people she invited, including me, have a conflict during that time for an equally important meeting that we have every week at that time. I called her up and said I wouldn't be able to make it because of the other meeting. Being as all our calendars are online and available to everyone, I just thought she was being a bitch. When I told her about the conflict she asked when would be a good time. I said she could just check our calendars and then said "OK, and how do I do that?" I started to explain how to hit the three necessary buttons but she blew me off saying she was busy with something else right then. Huh. So if you're meeting is that important but you can blow me off - well, OK. Don't expect my help any time soon.
Sunday, March 28. 2010
Sky Negotiated
There just isn't much to talk about this time. I mean, other than the fact that April is going to suck for me. It's seriously looking like I'll be doing two major tasks at the same time. Usually, when I do one or the other of those two tasks, I end up working 50 and 60 hour weeks for up to a month. But in April, because our customer is so groovy cool, there's a good chance I'll get to do them both. I told people at work that if this goes down just expect me to cuss a whole lot more in April. On the plus side, I've only got a couple more sessions of my class left. I'm not planning on taking another one until Fall for a couple of reasons. One, I didn't want to take classes in the summer when we do some traveling. Second, I only put in for one class's worth of reimbursement through September. Which means if I take a summer class, then I'll be paying for it out of my own pocket.
Wednesday, March 24. 2010
Din Nose
So to finish my story about how last week went down ...
Several varying groups of customers were in over the two days. Customer (C1) sort of reports to C2 who sort of, but doesn't really, report to C3 with C1 & C2 in on Thursday and all three of them there on Friday. We had something like fifteen to twenty people visiting. Add in the ten to fifteen people from our side in the meeting and we had a pretty good crowd.
Thursday we went around and around on a bunch of different topics. We told them how we thought they wanted us to do stuff. You know, saying what was in the signed written document and how we'd make that happen. Then they'd bitch and say that was totally not what they meant at all. "Yeah, we know it says you're supposed to test your code out but we didn't think you'd really try to do that." They even told us not to get too wound up with the written documents - that would be the document(s) we're legally obligated to obey until they give us another document saying we don't have to follow it. Contracts sure are funny that way.
The second day was so much better. We got our presentation going for C3 and about an hour or two in he sort of flipped the fuck out. He stopped the whole meeting and starts chewing out C1 about why things weren't going the way he wanted. No one blamed us and, in fact, we received several compliments. However, C3 stopped the meeting cold and went to have several side sessions - which ended up lasting three hours.
Much later in the day, after C2 & C3 had split, we talked about how things went with C1. Now, this guy saw the events completely differently from anyone else in the room. He said to keep on keepin' on. I was sitting there thinking "Look man, you got your ass chewed all day long. Now I may not know how to set things right but I damned sure know that doing the same things we have been doing is the wrong path. Goes back to that whole 'ass chewed all day long' thing I mentioned." But C1 thought everything was cool and he'd work out the details with C2 and C3 later.
The crazy part is that as I was listening to him talk I actually started to doubt myself about whether or not I actually witnessed an ass-chewing. It was like the crazy was contagious. But C1 kept saying it was cool. So, uh, OK then.
Several varying groups of customers were in over the two days. Customer (C1) sort of reports to C2 who sort of, but doesn't really, report to C3 with C1 & C2 in on Thursday and all three of them there on Friday. We had something like fifteen to twenty people visiting. Add in the ten to fifteen people from our side in the meeting and we had a pretty good crowd.
Thursday we went around and around on a bunch of different topics. We told them how we thought they wanted us to do stuff. You know, saying what was in the signed written document and how we'd make that happen. Then they'd bitch and say that was totally not what they meant at all. "Yeah, we know it says you're supposed to test your code out but we didn't think you'd really try to do that." They even told us not to get too wound up with the written documents - that would be the document(s) we're legally obligated to obey until they give us another document saying we don't have to follow it. Contracts sure are funny that way.
The second day was so much better. We got our presentation going for C3 and about an hour or two in he sort of flipped the fuck out. He stopped the whole meeting and starts chewing out C1 about why things weren't going the way he wanted. No one blamed us and, in fact, we received several compliments. However, C3 stopped the meeting cold and went to have several side sessions - which ended up lasting three hours.
Much later in the day, after C2 & C3 had split, we talked about how things went with C1. Now, this guy saw the events completely differently from anyone else in the room. He said to keep on keepin' on. I was sitting there thinking "Look man, you got your ass chewed all day long. Now I may not know how to set things right but I damned sure know that doing the same things we have been doing is the wrong path. Goes back to that whole 'ass chewed all day long' thing I mentioned." But C1 thought everything was cool and he'd work out the details with C2 and C3 later.
The crazy part is that as I was listening to him talk I actually started to doubt myself about whether or not I actually witnessed an ass-chewing. It was like the crazy was contagious. But C1 kept saying it was cool. So, uh, OK then.
Monday, March 22. 2010
Parametric Gravy
This morning I looked up the company that had their sticker on the inside of my garage door (you know, the door that busted last week?). Well, first I looked them up online and didn't see anything about how bad they sucked. Also, they open at 7:00. I called them up, said I had a busted spring on my garage door and wanted to know if they could fix it. The guy said "Oh yeah, I can be out there this morning." I said "Well, uh, that's great. But I'm at work. Could we schedule something for later?" I figured the garage door people would be like the cable company and start in on the "Oh, well, maybe we can be there Friday between 8:00 and noon-ish." Nope, these guys were ready to rock.
I ended up having the guys come out at 3:30 because Sue is usually home by then. I asked if it was one of those deals where they have to come out to take a look then schedule another appointment where they actually fix it. The guy said no, they usually have everything they need right on the truck. As a final follow-up question I asked for an estimate on price. The guy said $65 for labor plus $2.25 per inch for the spring. Okaaaaaaaaay. I have no idea how big those springs are. Three feet? Maybe? More than a foot, I know that. Anyway, I figured the whole thing would come in under $200 - which seemed reasonable. After I hung up, I had to call Sue and say "Uh, hope you were planning on leaving at 3:00 like usual."
Sue said she got home just a couple of minutes before 3:30 and they were sitting in the driveway - though they had only been there for a few minutes. I called her about 4:00 to see how things were going. She said they came in, took a look at it, and said "No problem." The guy also said that it would be better to replace both springs because the good one and the broke one were the same age so it's pretty likely that the other one was on its way out. I said that sounded reasonable and have the guy do it and she said she already had. Whole thing was still under two hundred bucks and (this is the best part) thhe garage door opened smoothly with a push of the button when I got home.
I was surprised just how happy that made me. Turns out, it really is the little things that can make or break a day. Tomorrow maybe I'll try something minor and see if getting it done makes me happy. Maybe I'll ... uh, mail a letter.
I ended up having the guys come out at 3:30 because Sue is usually home by then. I asked if it was one of those deals where they have to come out to take a look then schedule another appointment where they actually fix it. The guy said no, they usually have everything they need right on the truck. As a final follow-up question I asked for an estimate on price. The guy said $65 for labor plus $2.25 per inch for the spring. Okaaaaaaaaay. I have no idea how big those springs are. Three feet? Maybe? More than a foot, I know that. Anyway, I figured the whole thing would come in under $200 - which seemed reasonable. After I hung up, I had to call Sue and say "Uh, hope you were planning on leaving at 3:00 like usual."
Sue said she got home just a couple of minutes before 3:30 and they were sitting in the driveway - though they had only been there for a few minutes. I called her about 4:00 to see how things were going. She said they came in, took a look at it, and said "No problem." The guy also said that it would be better to replace both springs because the good one and the broke one were the same age so it's pretty likely that the other one was on its way out. I said that sounded reasonable and have the guy do it and she said she already had. Whole thing was still under two hundred bucks and (this is the best part) thhe garage door opened smoothly with a push of the button when I got home.
I was surprised just how happy that made me. Turns out, it really is the little things that can make or break a day. Tomorrow maybe I'll try something minor and see if getting it done makes me happy. Maybe I'll ... uh, mail a letter.
Sunday, March 21. 2010
Needed Star
OK, so last week fairly well sucked. We had a big-time customer meeting scheduled for the end of the week so we ended up spending a lot of time getting ready for that.
Wednesday night I came home and as I was pulling into the driveway I hit the garage door opener like usual - but the door didn't open. Well, that happens sometimes. So I hit it again to drop it and once more to open it. It lifted up about two inches and stopped. I kept hitting the button and the door would go up a couple of inches then back down. I called Sue, who was inside the house, from the driveway. I had her come out and see if should could see if there was anything blocking the light sensor, which happens now and then. Nothing. Clean as a whistle. Back and forth, back and forth. I had been at work for ten hours trying to get shit together for the big meeting on Thursday plus do all my regular work so I wasn't in any mood for this. We ended up just popping the emergency release and lifting it manually. Turns out that my garage door is heavy as hell. Anyway, one of the two main springs that actually lifts the door had busted.
I didn't have time to mess with it right then or the next few days. So my garage door is still busted. I'm going to call the, uh, sticker guy tomorrow (the inside of the door has a couple of different stickers on it and one of them is a local number which I'm guessing is the installer).
Sue went back to making dinner while I changed clothes. I was just going to have re-heated leftovers. After I came back into the kitchen, she was ... angry. Upset, at least. Turns out the microwave that came with the house and mounted above the stove broke. You put food in, hit the timer, and the food didn't get hot. Light came on, clock counted down, the turntable turned, the machine made the right noises. But the food was still refrigerator cold. After the garage door thing, she was not in a mood to put up with this. We do have a spare microwave so we used that but it was still a pain in the ass.
Later that evening, I took a shower since I wanted to get in early the next morning, I figured that would save me a half-hour. As I finished shaving, I turned on the cold water and it spit at me and the pressure dropped to a trickle. Given the other things that happened, I was just sure that the water heater had exploded and water was filling the basement. It didn't dawn on me for a bit that the water heater probably wouldn't have dropped only the cold water in the bathroom. I yelled at Sue to check the water heater (it was fine) while I checked the water in the other bathroom (hot and cold both fine in there). Sue checked the kitchen water and it was fine too. Must've just been a little air in the line or something.
And that was just Wednesday evening. Thursday and Friday were not that much better - but that's tomorrow's posting.
Wednesday night I came home and as I was pulling into the driveway I hit the garage door opener like usual - but the door didn't open. Well, that happens sometimes. So I hit it again to drop it and once more to open it. It lifted up about two inches and stopped. I kept hitting the button and the door would go up a couple of inches then back down. I called Sue, who was inside the house, from the driveway. I had her come out and see if should could see if there was anything blocking the light sensor, which happens now and then. Nothing. Clean as a whistle. Back and forth, back and forth. I had been at work for ten hours trying to get shit together for the big meeting on Thursday plus do all my regular work so I wasn't in any mood for this. We ended up just popping the emergency release and lifting it manually. Turns out that my garage door is heavy as hell. Anyway, one of the two main springs that actually lifts the door had busted.
I didn't have time to mess with it right then or the next few days. So my garage door is still busted. I'm going to call the, uh, sticker guy tomorrow (the inside of the door has a couple of different stickers on it and one of them is a local number which I'm guessing is the installer).
Sue went back to making dinner while I changed clothes. I was just going to have re-heated leftovers. After I came back into the kitchen, she was ... angry. Upset, at least. Turns out the microwave that came with the house and mounted above the stove broke. You put food in, hit the timer, and the food didn't get hot. Light came on, clock counted down, the turntable turned, the machine made the right noises. But the food was still refrigerator cold. After the garage door thing, she was not in a mood to put up with this. We do have a spare microwave so we used that but it was still a pain in the ass.
Later that evening, I took a shower since I wanted to get in early the next morning, I figured that would save me a half-hour. As I finished shaving, I turned on the cold water and it spit at me and the pressure dropped to a trickle. Given the other things that happened, I was just sure that the water heater had exploded and water was filling the basement. It didn't dawn on me for a bit that the water heater probably wouldn't have dropped only the cold water in the bathroom. I yelled at Sue to check the water heater (it was fine) while I checked the water in the other bathroom (hot and cold both fine in there). Sue checked the kitchen water and it was fine too. Must've just been a little air in the line or something.
And that was just Wednesday evening. Thursday and Friday were not that much better - but that's tomorrow's posting.
Needed Star
OK, so last week fairly well sucked. We had a big-time customer meeting scheduled for the end of the week so we ended up spending a lot of time getting ready for that.
Wednesday night I came home and as I was pulling into the driveway I hit the garage door opener like usual - but the door didn't open. Well, that happens sometimes. So I hit it again to drop it and once more to open it. It lifted up about two inches and stopped. I kept hitting the button and the door would go up a couple of inches then back down. I called Sue, who was inside the house, from the driveway. I had her come out and see if should could see if there was anything blocking the light sensor, which happens now and then. Nothing. Clean as a whistle. Back and forth, back and forth. I had been at work for ten hours trying to get shit together for the big meeting on Thursday plus do all my regular work so I wasn't in any mood for this. We ended up just popping the emergency release and lifting it manually. Turns out that my garage door is heavy as hell. Anyway, one of the two main springs that actually lifts the door had busted.
I didn't have time to mess with it right then or the next few days. So my garage door is still busted. I'm going to call the, uh, sticker guy tomorrow (the inside of the door has a couple of different stickers on it and one of them is a local number which I'm guessing is the installer).
Sue went back to making dinner while I changed clothes. I was just going to have re-heated leftovers. After I came back into the kitchen, she was ... angry. Upset, at least. Turns out the microwave that came with the house and mounted above the stove broke. You put food in, hit the timer, and the food didn't get hot. Light came on, clock counted down, the turntable turned, the machine made the right noises. But the food was still refrigerator cold. After the garage door thing, she was not in a mood to put up with this. We do have a spare microwave so we used that but it was still a pain in the ass.
Later that evening, I took a shower since I wanted to get in early the next morning, I figured that would save me a half-hour. As I finished shaving, I turned on the cold water and it spit at me and the pressure dropped to a trickle. Given the other things that happened, I was just sure that the water heater had exploded and water was filling the basement. It didn't dawn on me for a bit that the water heater probably wouldn't have dropped only the cold water in the bathroom. I yelled at Sue to check the water heater (it was fine) while I checked the water in the other bathroom (hot and cold both fine in there). Sue checked the kitchen water and it was fine too. Must've just been a little air in the line or something.
And that was just Wednesday evening. Thursday and Friday were not that much better - but that's tomorrow's posting.
Wednesday night I came home and as I was pulling into the driveway I hit the garage door opener like usual - but the door didn't open. Well, that happens sometimes. So I hit it again to drop it and once more to open it. It lifted up about two inches and stopped. I kept hitting the button and the door would go up a couple of inches then back down. I called Sue, who was inside the house, from the driveway. I had her come out and see if should could see if there was anything blocking the light sensor, which happens now and then. Nothing. Clean as a whistle. Back and forth, back and forth. I had been at work for ten hours trying to get shit together for the big meeting on Thursday plus do all my regular work so I wasn't in any mood for this. We ended up just popping the emergency release and lifting it manually. Turns out that my garage door is heavy as hell. Anyway, one of the two main springs that actually lifts the door had busted.
I didn't have time to mess with it right then or the next few days. So my garage door is still busted. I'm going to call the, uh, sticker guy tomorrow (the inside of the door has a couple of different stickers on it and one of them is a local number which I'm guessing is the installer).
Sue went back to making dinner while I changed clothes. I was just going to have re-heated leftovers. After I came back into the kitchen, she was ... angry. Upset, at least. Turns out the microwave that came with the house and mounted above the stove broke. You put food in, hit the timer, and the food didn't get hot. Light came on, clock counted down, the turntable turned, the machine made the right noises. But the food was still refrigerator cold. After the garage door thing, she was not in a mood to put up with this. We do have a spare microwave so we used that but it was still a pain in the ass.
Later that evening, I took a shower since I wanted to get in early the next morning, I figured that would save me a half-hour. As I finished shaving, I turned on the cold water and it spit at me and the pressure dropped to a trickle. Given the other things that happened, I was just sure that the water heater had exploded and water was filling the basement. It didn't dawn on me for a bit that the water heater probably wouldn't have dropped only the cold water in the bathroom. I yelled at Sue to check the water heater (it was fine) while I checked the water in the other bathroom (hot and cold both fine in there). Sue checked the kitchen water and it was fine too. Must've just been a little air in the line or something.
And that was just Wednesday evening. Thursday and Friday were not that much better - but that's tomorrow's posting.
Monday, March 15. 2010
Experts
I hate the "spring forward" day. Well, the day after technically. It's a lot more dark than usual when you drive in and you feel like you got up an hour earlier. Because you did. To make this day even more special, I was in meetings for all but maybe a couple of hours. We've got a big-time meeting at the end of the week, so we spent all afternoon going through slides. Somewhere around hour three, I just started loosing it. Not going crazy or yelling - falling asleep. I was doing to whole "head sloooooooowly rolls backwards, then jerks back forward" for ... uh, awhile. I had to step out for a bit around 4:00 to go to another short meeting and I remember having my head slide back, then jerk forward, then one eye crept open to check my watch, see that it wasn't time for the other meeting yet, glance at the screen, then my head started sliding back again. Repeat this over and over for a good twenty minutes. At least it didn't happen when we were going my stuff. Man, I gotta go to sleep.
