Every decade or so...

I had forgotten that I had this blog. And yet, here I am now, just posting to see if I still can. Good to be back... if only for a while.

Stupidity: Part III

I finished a project at work 3+ months ago: Convert an Access database that was always getting corrupted to a SQL database and write an updated user interface. The first difficulty was identifying who the users are; second what they didn't need trom the old app; third, what they did need that wasn't in the old app... just the standard "what is this program REALLY supposed to do?" kinds of questions. There was a LOT of project creep as we worked through their changing specifications and expanding user list. Did I mention that we've been in full scale production for over THREE months? As in this project is DONE? Yesterday, I got a call. There was an issue with the app... 3 months in, a few bugs are not unexpected... the issue was that the online users weren't getting updated data. My response was "what online users?" Someone (my boss, the lead business partner, any of the users...) had neglected to tell me about this "minor" piece of the project. I had written and deployed a desktop application for internal use. No internet based users... a couple that accesss the app using the corporate VPN, but NO EXTERNAL USERS. When I tracked down the involved parties I got responses of "Are they still using that?", "I haven't touched that code since 2006", and "I wasn't even working here when that was written". Specs defined; approved; guess what I'm doing Monday? The other question I've thrown out is "what else haven't you told me?"

Stupidity: Part II

I enrolled in a Genealogy blog class at RootsTech. You may remember my "trip" to England... the one where I sent pleas to all my email contacts to send money so I could get home (send money to Nigeria)... that trip. I implemented google security at that time: to log in on a foreign computer (like the one in this class) I need to enter a random number sent to my phone... which I forgot to bring today.

Stupidity- "Help" desk - 10 tickets

A LONG POST WITH A LOT OF JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS AND VENTING
We have two "new" copiers in our office: one that was supposed to have been delivered in early February, that wasn't delivered until the end of February (a machine previously located in a west coast sister office, which was shipped to the north Midwest (in error) then back to Dnever) and a brand new one that was supposed to be delivered in May, that was delivered in mid February.  Guess the salesman needed his commission.

Along with the new copier, was scanning / OCR software, which needed to be installed on a server.  Being a small branch of a large company there are procedures to be followed in accessing a server.  Following the procedures, I submitted ticket #1 to get access so that I could install the scanning software... which almost went without a hitch.  Turns out there was a service pack to install that had a prerequisite of an operating system patch which requires permission and a reboot.  Access to a server is one thing.  Rebooting a server is a holy privilege reserved for the elite in the network maintenance staff - and can only be done by submitting a request through the help desk. 

I submitted a trouble ticket to get permission to install the operating system patch (ticket #2).  That done, I had to submit another request (#3) to get back on the system to install the patch, then (ticket #4) to get the system rebooted.  Tickets #2 and #4 were done by a phone call to the help desk.   Several days later I got a response to the phoned in request for a reboot: request denied - a reboot request can't be submitted by phone.... it requires manager approval on a service request form.  I was not inclined to mess with the paperwork while Susie was in the hospital so complained (no response) and the install just sat for two weeks.

Last Thursday, I finally decided that I needed to complete the installation (helps to have the software installed before the appointment to configure it), so I submitted the request for the reboot (Ticket #5).  I hadn't gotten the approval from my boss (who is out of state), so close to the end of the day, I called him.  Turns out he was out of the office for a week.  I called another supervisor, who I caught 20 minutes before the end of his day in a different time zone and he authorized the reboot on a new ticket (#6).  (At which time my boss checked his email and suggested that I contact someone else.  I told him I already had and that he could safely ignore the request). 

I forgot to specify a suitable time for the reboot.  So 10 minutes after the request was approved, my phone started ringing - there were a number of users that couldn't access the server.  End of day in the Midwest = mid afternoon on the west coast.  Got everyone settled down and back online; and installed the service pack for the scanner software (access via ticket #7), which required a reboot.

Time to submit another ticket (#8) to get manager approval to have the server rebooted.  This time I was smart enough to specify the reboot time at the close of business in our office.  As I clicked "SEND" on that request, it dawned on me that the west coast closes an hour after we do.... which resulted in a call to the help desk, so that they could amend the time on my reboot request (which required another ticket be generated #9).  Reboot approved and completed per the revised schedule.

Today, I had a meeting with the software vendor to configure the scanner / OCR software (access via ticket #10).  We were having some issues with the installation options, when suddenly my connection to the server went away.  Before I could get back on to the server, my phone started ringing: users couldn't access the server.  I was wondering what I had clicked on in error that could take down the server.  Then I got one more call from the help desk.  They had just processed a request from me to reboot the server... yes, the original request that I had sent my boss (ticket #5) when he was out of the office, which I told him to ignore, had just been approved.

After that, the training and configuration went mostly without a hitch.

Smart Chess moves - part II

So, I've got one to top the "leaving the chess board on top of the car and driving off" escapade.   I taught the Chess merit badge to the scouts last night, and left the chess board on the passenger seat of the car.  Tonight, I offered to take Bridget out to dinner at Chipotle, and backed out my car so that she could close the garage door and noticed that the chess set was still in the car (The battery in my garage door opener has been dead for months, so I can't use it).  Not wanting to have chess pieces all over the car if the set spilled, I shoved it in the garage as the door was closing, thinking "this is a bad idea".

Well, I didn't lose any chess pieces in the car.  When we got back from Chipotle, I pulled the car in the garage... and ran over the chess set.  Strangely enough, it didn't break... it scattered all over the garage, but didn't break.  After searching diligently, I'm pleased to report that I am now only missing one black pawn... and maybe a white backgammon marker/checker.  I say "maybe" because I have 16 black "checkers" and 15 white.... 15 is the number needed for backgammon, 12  for checkers, so I'm not sure what game 16 is needed for.  I may also be missing a couple of dice, but don't know what I had to begin with.

In even better news,  I've fixed the garage door.  It's had issues going up all the way or down all the way during cold months... started at the end of last winter, but got better during the summer.  It's required a little manual assistance to complete the task.  Readjusting the springs helped a bit, but not quite enough.  Tightening the loose bolts helped a bit too, but again not quite enough.  Tonight, I figured out where the pressure sensor's are for the garage door and adjusted.  Up... no problem; down... no problem.

Disney - Chim Chim Cheroo, Good Luck Will Rub Off..

Being at Disney World with Susie was amazing. The only downside is that we're getting older and it takes us longer in the morning to get to the park (or is that afternoon...) and we're not always staying until the park closes down. We took five days to get through EPCOT, and we still didn't do it all (although we did do some things multiple times).

Susie seems to have amazing luck at restaurants. One night she wanted to eat at the new Mexico restaurant (the one overlooking the lagoon). They had no reservations available, and said to check back for standby seating about a half hour before we wanted to eat. We checked in about 8:20 pm and were told that it would be a 90 minute wait (which I found interesting, because my time guide said that the park closed at 9 pm). Evidently the resort guests had an extra magic hours opportunity and some of the park rides were open until 11 pm. Although we couldn't ride after 9, we could still spend our money. At about 8:50 our beeper went off and we were ushered to a table overlooking the lagoon. We ordered our appetizer and had an unobstructed view to the 9pm fireworks show - not to mention a great meal.

Another night, after the Mickey Dolenz concert, we wandered into Italy to try the new Italian Restaurant located at the far end of the Italy pavilion. There was a line running from a stand outside of the restaurant to a point where the staff came out and cut it off, as they couldn't accomodate all those waiting for a table. (As I look back, I think it might have been a line for an outdoor table). We went into the restaurant to see if, in light of the long line outside, there was any chance of a late reservation for two. We were told that they had an available table NOW. WONDERFUL pizza, great appetizer. The "individual size" pizza would definitely feed two, especially if an appetizer was ordered - and we each had an individual pizza (not knowing better); Susie the white cheese and artichoke; me the tomatoe and mushroom.

A dinner at Teppan Edo went from a lost reservation (we were not on their list, but I had the reservation number - the only time I think I've ever bothered to keep that number handy), to a great meal. When the hostess found the reservation by number, it was handled very smoothly, as if the reservation had never been lost in the first place.

And the last night we went back to the Magic Kingdom for a final look - as we're wandering out of the park the Electric Parade starts up and we end up with front row seats... the best view of the parade ever.

And yes, I was past due for a vacation. I ended up on two conference calls during the course of the 11 days, and was catching up on some security problems the first couple of nights. The thought even crossed my mind at the first Peter Noone concert that he looked an awful lot like my boss - only older.

I got back home worn out. My legs didn't want to move after three hours on the flight home, and I slept all afternoon (guess I'll be up half the night tonight).

Best Gyro in Colorado

There's a NY Deli and Gyro shop (strange combination) just west of the Wendy's by Papa John's on 120th Ave in Thornton. I've been wanting to try their Gyro out since they opened. Finally made it tonight. I'll be going back... probably have them leave the lettuce off. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but definitely the best gyro I've had in Colorado and a very close competitor for the all around Best Gyro.

Best Gyro title still goes to Greek Souvlaki in Salt Lake. I LOVE their red sauce.

Worst Chess Move EVER

So the rescue trip to get Susie's sewing machine to Carolyn started with a stop at a flea market that Susie likes to visit when we're driving through that town. I humor her, because 1)I'm kind of fond of her and 2)there really isn't a #2 - I'm really not that fond of flea markets. But to make the best of the situation, I wander around looking for SOMETHING - a butter dish or interesting LP or SOMETHING and try to give Susie enough time that she's not being rushed. So I ACTUALLY found SOMETHING. There was this chess set... not that I don't have a chess set, but this was one of those with a glass board with half the squares etched and the other half clear and half the pieces clear and the other half translucent. (I'm not sure which you'd call "white" - the clear pieces or the translucent pieces, but I'm sure that I could figure that out. Complete with the original box and at a really affordable price.

So what's the bad move? The car was filled with spare tire, two suitcases, sewing machine, snacks, crocheting... and just needed a little rearranging to get our purchases in (some old bottles that Susie found, yet another cast iron pan - which was well seasoned - and my chess set). So while rearranging, I set the chess set on the top of the car... where it remained. I checked back at the flea market on my way home. They confirmed that they saw it on the car as I was pulling out of the lot and tried to stop me from driving off, but weren't fast enough.

Dangerous... Don't do this... Call a professional...

That's what the warnings are when you look at the site for replacing the torsion springs on the garage door.  However, after doing the research, (see video on youtube.com for details), I determined that I was going to go for it.  All went well, until it was time to open the garage door.  Then I noticed that one of the wires that raises the garage door was not on track.  This became a "two man" job. Mom didn't want to be the "second man", so a few phone calls later, I found one of the neighborhood teenagers who could come over and help me.  I think he was here for all of two minutes.  After that, a few more adjustments to the tension... and the garage door opens once again.

  

Saved by Super Dog....

Yes, it's 1:30 in the morning.  And life is once again winding down after averting a potential disaster.  Maggie had the indecency to start barking at the front door, the result of which was I had to get out of bed to see what evil was lurking (or who was toilet papering the neighborhood) or other nefarious night life.  Sure enough, there was nobody at the door, and life was quiet on the street, so reassuring the dog, I went back to bed.

Then there was a sound, something like a toilet running, but not coming from the toilet.  It sounded like it was coming from the sink... only lower.  Heading downstairs to the main level, there was no sound of running water coming from the bathroom.  Strangely there WAS the sound of water running in the family room.  Strange, because the family room has no plumbing fixtures, and hence no need for running water.  To be precise, the water was running out of the ceiling onto the carpet - not good as the carpet does not have a drain and the ceiling is not equipped with a faucet.  Back upstairs and under the sink, there is water running.  Seems like the feed from the hot water line for the sink decided that it wanted to not play well with the rest of the bathroom plumbing and and taken the night off.  Hot water was coming out of the partially disconnected feed line to the sink.  Solution: turn off the water, mop up, and go back to bed.

Damage: there's a couple of spots on the ceiling that will need new popcorn sprayed and paint applied.  The stuff under the sink was mostly in sealed containers, so adrenaline rush aside, we got lucky.

And thanks to the dog for barking at "nothing" and waking me up.

Dear T-Mobile

It's been fun, this past decade, upgrading phones every couple of years, whether I needed it or not (usually not).  However the past year has not been as much fun.  My new phone crashed in December - I think it was due to a software bug that overwrote something vital as I was sent too many picture messages with too little memory.  Alas, your outlets couldn't fix that phone - reinstall the software, recover my phone numbers, ... but you could charge me $10 to replace my phone with the same model and make it all better again.

Today, I accidentally, while trying to speed dial (press #3 and hold it down), pressed the power button instead... and held it down.  When I realized what I'd done, out of reflex I pressed the power button to turn it back on.  The screen seems to know what model of Samsung phone it is, but all the buttons on the keypad flash on and off in unison... and even with removing the battery and SIM, ... and then reinstalling the same, it still doesn't boot up... just a pretty synchronized light display.  As it is, I never really liked that phone.  It couldn't hook up to the computer (no USB port), I couldn't store any music on it, and it wasn't much of a calendar.  It was a good alarm clock, however.  But since you have offered to replace the phone for another $10 ($20, if I want the replacement before I leave town for 1-1/2 weeks),  I think I'll decline.  Fool me once, shame on me... fool me twice???

As I'm hooked on T-Mobile until April, 2012, I'll just have to muddle through with one of the outcast phones that have been collecting dust in the garage.  Currently I've found one that seems durable enough to last awhile - I've used it before.  It's purple or some weird shade of pink, but I think I can make it for a year with an ugly (or cute, depending on your perspective) phone without excessive damage to my ego.... and on the plus side, I now have a target date for changing to some other service.

Sincerely,
A soon to be former customer.

For the love of ivy....

So after the blessing and the festivities, we went back home to Ray Ray.  It wasn't until he was let outside that the excitement that we'd missed out on became apparent.  Seems like the recent snow and wear and tear had caused the ivy arbor to collapse:

So we spent the morning turning the ivy into a pile of lumber and a giant ivy snowball:

And then my cell phone scrambled its memory (as near as I can tell, while sending this last picture), deleted all the photos, my sent box, phone book, and a number of other settings....

Things you don't want your GPS to be telling you

I-25 runs north and south.  Traveling West on I-25 is not an option... not a safe option, at any rate.

I wish I had a picture...

I just picked up a contractor pack of molding for the basement.  Picture in your mind a tootsie roll: candy on one end and a long stick coming out.   That's kind of what the 12 foot long molding looked like coming out of the back of a Smart car.

In the blink of an eye

Have you ever been tired to the point that you blink & your eyes are a bit slow in opening.... and you see things?

I've had two such experiences in the past week.  #1 was while I was sitting in a session in the Orlando Temple.  I blinked and before my eyes opened, I saw Jack-Jack climbing around the altar.  It was a bit disconcerting.

Not quite as startling as my flight out of Orlando.  I was sitting next to a total stranger.  During an eyeblink, I forgot that Susie wasn't sitting next to me.  As my eyes opened it took a moment or two to figure out what was wrong with my wife... why she was looking so strange.  Fortunately I figured it out before I said (or did) anything embarrassing.  I'm sure the guy sitting next to me appreciated it.

Day 3/4/5

Ok, so it's a bit of a blur... but we've spent more time with a real estate agent than with Mickey.  We've left town with offers on two different homes in FL (with right of refusal at the point where the offer is accepted, which may be 3 months away, as we're looking at a short sale).

We'll be looking for visitors at our Florida home as soon as we close... and it's about 15 minutes away from Disney.

Day 2

We started off our day in the park with a wardrobe malfunction.  I was just buying my ticket and I reached to put my wallet in my pocket and heard a rip.  The pocket ripped.  Not wanting to spend the day walking around the park with my underwear showing, I went to customer service to see if I could get some duct tape or a sewing kit.  Instead, they found a pair of sweat pants... looked a bit like pajama bottoms, but we were able to have a fun day in the park.

Day 1

It's been eventful.

A full flight, so we had to gate check our luggage, with a connection to the final destination.

We collected both our bags... except for one.  It wasn't on the flight.  I've never had the experience of lost baggage before. 

My impression is that the Baggage Service procedures are designed around stonewalling:

1. The notice on the lost baggage report form has a clause, which when translated to English says we're going to wait for several days to see if the bag shows up on its own before we do anything else.
2. Once the bag was found according the airline web site, we were given a 4 hour window during which we would be contacted to arrange delivery. We were finally contacted a half hour after that window, which was the first time we had a clue as to which state / country the bag was in. 
3. When we were contacted, we were given an hour and a half delivery window.
4. Two calls to the baggage service office, and just shy of two hours outside of the delivery window, there was a knock at the door.  The bag had arrived.

So what part of customer service does baggage service not understand?

1. Don't blow smoke. I'm not the center of the universe.  You're not going to do everything humanly possible to resolve my problem.  Give me a reasonable, thoughtful answer that provides reasonable expectations.
2. Don't quote unreasonable times (or times you can't meet). If I'd have been told that the bag would be delivered by 10:30 pm, I may not have been happy, but I wouldn't have wasted brain cells when it wasn't here.
3. Give me details. I've not been given a report as to what happened, but I can read the baggage tag: There's a rush tag with the rebooked flight and a TSA sticker on the luggage tag. The TSA sticker tells me that the bag needed to be rescreened, therefore someone at the hub airport missed the final destination and sent the bag with all the other gate checked bags to the luggage carousel.  Things like that happen.  Let me know what's happened and we can get on with life.

I know... my expectations are unreasonable.Next rant will be the motel room. Or maybe the car rental company...  Ranting aside, it's still good to be here.

So stupid that I couldn't make this up.

We had a baptism tonight.  Nothing unusual there, except for the time, to accommodate one of the parent's work schedule.  However, the font that we use was not available tonight, so we used one in a different building.  The stopper for the font has an O-ring washer around the stopper to seal the drain.  As the O-ring breaks on a frequent basis, we'd always kept a supply of spare O-rings at the font.

Now someone else has come up with an alternative solution:

That's right... wrap the stopper in a latex glove and stuff it in the drain... which accounts for why the font doesn't drain in a timely manner.  What's the remedy for pieces of latex gloves that are trapped in the drain?

It's NOT ABBA

A quite different take on the song Dancing Queen by ABBA:

http://svtplay.se/v/2161732/doobidoo/per_anderssons_och_annika_anderssons_folkmusik-abba?sb,k104108,1,f,-1

Oh... and if you hadn't guessed it, it's a spoof on Swedish folk music, not to be taken seriously.