Monday, November 07, 2005
Adventure 40: Friday 4th November 2005
“£50.00…that’s got to be the worlds most expensive pay and display ticket…..”
Well it’s been a little bit since my visit to Stun-The-Guards, and I can tell you with some assuredness that absolutely nothing has happened….we’ll begin the caper last Friday….
Friday 4th November 2005
08:30: I’m at work, it’s been possibly the most boring week of my life at work ever, Brenty was off with his toe…lucky him, so it’s all a bit dull…Basra Holohead was in and out so it was down to me to do the entertaining, and quiet Rob, had our visit to the Co Lo a facility that we pay for to host some of our servers, to plan. Not that he had much to do but we packed some servers up and they arrived ok. All he had to do was organise hiring a car, not much to ask now is it, but no, so the pocket rocket was made available for me to hurtle impressively down the M3.
09:45 Quiet Bob, is navigating since he’s punched in the post code to the place which is just behind kings cross station (apparentl), he’s obviously used the “Most complicated around the houses, taking in all the traffic jams you can find” option for his directions, since we’ve moved about 3 miles in the last 15 minutes….
10:50: We’ve made it…2 and a bit ours later..I’m summarily unimpressed. Why do these companies do this…Stun-The-Guards one week MFI (our new ISP) this week…not to be confused with the perm-sale furniture vendor (I’m allowed some artistic licence I think). They put a vital facility in the most inhospitable place you can find (I’ve seen the traffic wardens trust me).
Bob put’s a couple of quid in the machine and get’s a ticket which it then turns out is only for 1 hour. It’d be therefore £4 for 2 hours which is almost like daylight robbery…but the best on that is yet to come….So we’ve got to get a move on….We’ve got 3 servers to rack and run up to speed before we have to get going…this should be fun…
11:40: Ok 10 minutes to go and all is well…the servers are racked and powered up, we change addresses on the servers, but nothing…they won’t talk to each other on the network…. Rob phones Basra who suggests talking to MFI’s network guru the guy who set up our switch…Good thinking…we ask a passing geezer if he knows where he is…and his reply is that “john” is apparently working from home this week and next week…but he promises to phone him and get our servers sorted out….good we’ve got to rattle now….
11:45: 5 minutes to go and we’ve only got to hand our passes in…Quiet Rob then has an epiphany…he needs to go back to the rack and get the port numbers …doh!!!! I can see attilla the traffic warden wandering up the road towards my car, damn why did I move it nearer…no sign of Rob….My mind starts playing tricks on me, convincing me that she’s going to give us a few minutes…..
11:55: Five minutes over, well I think we’re ok…we walk over to the car…and damn it…the sticky packet is attached to my windscreen…parking ticket included…thanks Bob. What’s even better is that it’s £50 !!!!! If I pay it within the 14 days that is, but if not they make it a whopping £100. To make life even easier to bear we now have to submit ourselves to getting out of this god forsaken place and back to the relative quiet of the Hampshire countryside.
14:30: We make it back to Don’t Be Daft Inc and I make enquiries in to the forlorn hope of whether I can claim the cost of the ticket as expenses…Hey guess what not a chance…
Saturday 5th November
07:00: Yes there’s no rest for the wicket Ryan, has stage school at 8:30 this morning, mega rehearsals in progress for his part (the scarecrow) in his latest production of The Wizard of Oz….Jack is out on a sleep over this evening and then at a party on Sunday so the weekend is going to be a fairly quiet affair, which given the weather conditions (blowing a bloody gale and chucking it down) is just as well… Still Monday beckons…I can’t wait….
Sunday 6th November
Nothing of substance to report….though we do make a start on our new years invitations which are looking a bit swanky this year (even if I do say so myself).
Monday 7th November
08:30: Made it to work just about, I’m really not feeling like being here, but Brenty’s made it in even with his toe along with Quiet Rob and Basra, so we’re at full strength….
09:00: Nunob is in too, he had to help Basra on Sunday reboot all the servers after I deployed patches to them….so it’s not a great surprise that he’s found something to have a whinge about, namely a rubbish bin full of paper and plastic he’s retrieved from the data centres, which admittedly shouldn’t have been there, but saying in his loudest voice, “this isn’t good enough and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again” just makes him and us look like complete idiots…
10:00: All is not well with Basra, he’s looking decidedly unhappy, it must be his turn this week…
11:00: The fire alarm is sounding and this can mean only one thing….the dreaded fire drill. To a one, the IT department grab all their belongings (very naughty), and make for the nearest exits…like sheep we’re following everyone else since they seem to know where they’re going….luckily…
11:15: Back inside now…and we’re all waiting with baited breath to receive the email from Diana ‘The Hun’ (ex east german shot putter) telling us who will be sacrificed in front of the Fire Drill god, for their untimely exit and how well the rest of us have done in getting out of the building. The record I think stands at 6 minutes 36 seconds…so we could be in with a shout……
12:30: Lunch…
13:30: Back, and no sign of Nunob…I discover a little later that he’s now off until Thursday…excellent some peace at last.
14:30: I go to pay my parking ticket on line…but no sign of the bleeding thing, I must have left it at home…
15:00: Apart from one department who’s going to get a stern talking to the rest of us managed to get out of the building in 6 minutes and 31 seconds, a new DBD record and we’re all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves….
17:00: Off to football now, to run off some of my hatred for the job I do and the people I do it for….
Tuesday 8th November
08:30: Made it in to work and I hook up my laptop to it’s docking station and log in to check the backups…oh dear oh dear oh dear…it’s a complete mess something has locked the tape drives together in a deadly embrace, so I’m having to cancel jobs left right and centre…these could take a while to complete….
10:00: It’s all true you know, it is Basra’s turn…he’s mentioned an email he’s got from Nunob, and feels compelled to tell me that he’s feeling completely de-motivated…welcome to the team is what I’m thinking, but I listen and try and offer him words of encouragement. I’m afraid it’s the best I can do.
11:00: Doing my expenses, I’m including everything I can lay my hands on, since I have a parking fine to pay. Mary Tyrant and Quiet Rob, have agreed to pay a third of it since I can’t claim it back, so all I have to do now is to find enough in my expenses to cover the rest of the cost….
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Back again, no Nunob today and no Mary, so it’s all a bit on the quiet side. Singing is my great outlet, so I rustle up a few good tunes in my head and let the rest of the department hear them in my best club singer voice….they’ll all be singing them tonight I can guarantee you……
The rest of the day and the week in fact just melt in to a pool of despair…saved only slightly by the announcement that a. Basra Hollohead is now to be known as Harry Blowagay, Quiet Bob and Gazra (2nd line desky) have been spending a lot of time at hotels together…nudge nudge wink wink, say no bleedin more..oh yeah and Nunob isn’t going to be in for two whole weeks….think I’ll buy a lottery ticket at the weekend….
Well it’s been a little bit since my visit to Stun-The-Guards, and I can tell you with some assuredness that absolutely nothing has happened….we’ll begin the caper last Friday….
Friday 4th November 2005
08:30: I’m at work, it’s been possibly the most boring week of my life at work ever, Brenty was off with his toe…lucky him, so it’s all a bit dull…Basra Holohead was in and out so it was down to me to do the entertaining, and quiet Rob, had our visit to the Co Lo a facility that we pay for to host some of our servers, to plan. Not that he had much to do but we packed some servers up and they arrived ok. All he had to do was organise hiring a car, not much to ask now is it, but no, so the pocket rocket was made available for me to hurtle impressively down the M3.
09:45 Quiet Bob, is navigating since he’s punched in the post code to the place which is just behind kings cross station (apparentl), he’s obviously used the “Most complicated around the houses, taking in all the traffic jams you can find” option for his directions, since we’ve moved about 3 miles in the last 15 minutes….
10:50: We’ve made it…2 and a bit ours later..I’m summarily unimpressed. Why do these companies do this…Stun-The-Guards one week MFI (our new ISP) this week…not to be confused with the perm-sale furniture vendor (I’m allowed some artistic licence I think). They put a vital facility in the most inhospitable place you can find (I’ve seen the traffic wardens trust me).
Bob put’s a couple of quid in the machine and get’s a ticket which it then turns out is only for 1 hour. It’d be therefore £4 for 2 hours which is almost like daylight robbery…but the best on that is yet to come….So we’ve got to get a move on….We’ve got 3 servers to rack and run up to speed before we have to get going…this should be fun…
11:40: Ok 10 minutes to go and all is well…the servers are racked and powered up, we change addresses on the servers, but nothing…they won’t talk to each other on the network…. Rob phones Basra who suggests talking to MFI’s network guru the guy who set up our switch…Good thinking…we ask a passing geezer if he knows where he is…and his reply is that “john” is apparently working from home this week and next week…but he promises to phone him and get our servers sorted out….good we’ve got to rattle now….
11:45: 5 minutes to go and we’ve only got to hand our passes in…Quiet Rob then has an epiphany…he needs to go back to the rack and get the port numbers …doh!!!! I can see attilla the traffic warden wandering up the road towards my car, damn why did I move it nearer…no sign of Rob….My mind starts playing tricks on me, convincing me that she’s going to give us a few minutes…..
11:55: Five minutes over, well I think we’re ok…we walk over to the car…and damn it…the sticky packet is attached to my windscreen…parking ticket included…thanks Bob. What’s even better is that it’s £50 !!!!! If I pay it within the 14 days that is, but if not they make it a whopping £100. To make life even easier to bear we now have to submit ourselves to getting out of this god forsaken place and back to the relative quiet of the Hampshire countryside.
14:30: We make it back to Don’t Be Daft Inc and I make enquiries in to the forlorn hope of whether I can claim the cost of the ticket as expenses…Hey guess what not a chance…
Saturday 5th November
07:00: Yes there’s no rest for the wicket Ryan, has stage school at 8:30 this morning, mega rehearsals in progress for his part (the scarecrow) in his latest production of The Wizard of Oz….Jack is out on a sleep over this evening and then at a party on Sunday so the weekend is going to be a fairly quiet affair, which given the weather conditions (blowing a bloody gale and chucking it down) is just as well… Still Monday beckons…I can’t wait….
Sunday 6th November
Nothing of substance to report….though we do make a start on our new years invitations which are looking a bit swanky this year (even if I do say so myself).
Monday 7th November
08:30: Made it to work just about, I’m really not feeling like being here, but Brenty’s made it in even with his toe along with Quiet Rob and Basra, so we’re at full strength….
09:00: Nunob is in too, he had to help Basra on Sunday reboot all the servers after I deployed patches to them….so it’s not a great surprise that he’s found something to have a whinge about, namely a rubbish bin full of paper and plastic he’s retrieved from the data centres, which admittedly shouldn’t have been there, but saying in his loudest voice, “this isn’t good enough and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again” just makes him and us look like complete idiots…
10:00: All is not well with Basra, he’s looking decidedly unhappy, it must be his turn this week…
11:00: The fire alarm is sounding and this can mean only one thing….the dreaded fire drill. To a one, the IT department grab all their belongings (very naughty), and make for the nearest exits…like sheep we’re following everyone else since they seem to know where they’re going….luckily…
11:15: Back inside now…and we’re all waiting with baited breath to receive the email from Diana ‘The Hun’ (ex east german shot putter) telling us who will be sacrificed in front of the Fire Drill god, for their untimely exit and how well the rest of us have done in getting out of the building. The record I think stands at 6 minutes 36 seconds…so we could be in with a shout……
12:30: Lunch…
13:30: Back, and no sign of Nunob…I discover a little later that he’s now off until Thursday…excellent some peace at last.
14:30: I go to pay my parking ticket on line…but no sign of the bleeding thing, I must have left it at home…
15:00: Apart from one department who’s going to get a stern talking to the rest of us managed to get out of the building in 6 minutes and 31 seconds, a new DBD record and we’re all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves….
17:00: Off to football now, to run off some of my hatred for the job I do and the people I do it for….
Tuesday 8th November
08:30: Made it in to work and I hook up my laptop to it’s docking station and log in to check the backups…oh dear oh dear oh dear…it’s a complete mess something has locked the tape drives together in a deadly embrace, so I’m having to cancel jobs left right and centre…these could take a while to complete….
10:00: It’s all true you know, it is Basra’s turn…he’s mentioned an email he’s got from Nunob, and feels compelled to tell me that he’s feeling completely de-motivated…welcome to the team is what I’m thinking, but I listen and try and offer him words of encouragement. I’m afraid it’s the best I can do.
11:00: Doing my expenses, I’m including everything I can lay my hands on, since I have a parking fine to pay. Mary Tyrant and Quiet Rob, have agreed to pay a third of it since I can’t claim it back, so all I have to do now is to find enough in my expenses to cover the rest of the cost….
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Back again, no Nunob today and no Mary, so it’s all a bit on the quiet side. Singing is my great outlet, so I rustle up a few good tunes in my head and let the rest of the department hear them in my best club singer voice….they’ll all be singing them tonight I can guarantee you……
The rest of the day and the week in fact just melt in to a pool of despair…saved only slightly by the announcement that a. Basra Hollohead is now to be known as Harry Blowagay, Quiet Bob and Gazra (2nd line desky) have been spending a lot of time at hotels together…nudge nudge wink wink, say no bleedin more..oh yeah and Nunob isn’t going to be in for two whole weeks….think I’ll buy a lottery ticket at the weekend….
# posted by cre8 @ 4:09 PM 
