Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Adventure 42 - 21st November 2005
“I can sort of see if I squint..and don’t blink…how do you get these suckers out ?....”, Lo all yup me again, yer resident vision expert…I am now an expert on vision and lenses of all types…you’ve got to do something while your waiting for these people….
Monday 21st November 2005:
Monday, Monday, Monday so good they named it once….
08:30: Made it to work…gotta get these new servers configured and up to the MFI Co Lo before Nunob gets back.
That’s right the two weeks of bliss and actually getting something done at work are in to the last week. Brenty, like a fool has taken this week off...therefore breaking rule number 358, never take the same week off as your annoying portuguese boss.
09:00: Quiet Rob, is in and so is Basra, the name change was just to wind him up so I’m reverting it to the proper one from now on.
10:30: Getting slightly fed up with New Year’s Eve party we’re trying to organise again. It’s the same every year…Funny though that people who said things like “oh you’ve got to do this again” and “we really enjoyed ourselves are you booking the hall for next year”, are now the one’s who’re to say the least being a little bit cagey on the subject ….Ok I expect nothing more from people at work Brenty excluded.
11:00: Forgot to mention, POD is off school sick today…finally the “friendly bacteria” have caught up with him…he’s got a hacking cough and seems to spend most of the day in fact coughing, which can’t be fun. Still at least Drama King, Ryan’s next big production isn’t until NEXT SATURDAY, so he should be ok, gulp…
The production being The Wizard of Oz…and somehow he’s managed to land the part of the scarecrow…I don’t know what it is about him that makes people think that !!!
12:00: The backups have had another epi fit so, most of today I know will be spent sorting them out…
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Back now..nothing much more to report….
Tuesday 22nd November 2005:
Just checked my bank balance..and it’s not good, little too much month at the end of the money, so I fully intend on winning the lottery some time soon.
06:Bloody:30: Yup up with other nocturnal creatures…somehow I have to manage to get Ryan up, make his breakfast and get him out of the door by 7:20 when he’s being picked up for Basketball practice..I don’t know how I managed to achieve that but I do…just…
08:00: Alan, the cat is still with us…several phone calls to the RSPCA and a snotty email, (which is probably why they’ve not come round to pick him up), later, he’s still camped outside our back door. So much so that Mandy has now taken to buying cat food, since it was cheaper than the sandwich ham she had been feeding him…We’re also buying an extra pint of milk a week too..well he’s almost one of the family….I say one of the family..not a close relative I hasten to add, more a sort of long lost, distant cousin, who’s just finished doing a 20 year stretch and you can’t quite remember what they were put away for…
08:30: Well I’ve arrived…this week has been particularly cold and Ryan informs me that we’ll have snow by Friday..yeah right…like we ever get anything like that. It snows all day and all we end up with is some slushy puddles on the floor and damp car mats…I’ll believe it when I see it…
09:00: All a bit quiet and boring today..too much stuff to do, too many agent’s trying to touch my base and do their updates…One had even considered me for a job….in Lancashire…oh well done them…that’s all I can say..
10:00: Quiet Rob and Basra are off to Posthumouth today (so they say…Gasra is looking distinctly jealous)…they're now to be known as the dynamic duo, Basraman and Quiet Rob-in..I hasten to add that Brenty has decided this all on his own...still Basra is a little more happy with this than his last name....
11:00: All quiet on the western front so I decide to go and try my luck at restoring one of our SQL databases using our test server imaginatively named DR-TEST and our spare LTO-2 tape drive....fat chance....
11:30: Two restores later…and both have failed, I’m getting more and more riled up now..
12:00: In a fit of peak I decide…to email support at Vertebrate Systems the vendor of our much beloved backup software to ask them why…
12:10: That’s quick…and yes they’ve responded with their oh so typical “can you send us a binary log file” standard response email…to which they get a sarcastic response from me, mentioning the similarity between their binary logs and a urine sample that I might have to take to a hospital appointment.
12:25: Just before lunch (they really are cooking with gas now) I get another response, basically thanking me for the binary log which they’ll have a look at over the next couple of weeks !!! But importantly stressing that they had no use for a urine sample on this occasion…gotta love helpdesks haven’t you…
Wednesday 23rd November 2005
08:30: Made it in to work in record time today and it’s still cold…
09:00 Basraman and Quiet Rob-in are in so at least today I have someone to talk at.
09:30: I’m desperately trying to pin Basra down to a date to take the new servers to the Co Lo…no luck so far…He's far too in love with Quiet Rob...
10:00: Quiet Rob has had a tango and is being a bit lary..I might have to give him a slap if he doesn’t stop…In the mean time I’ve emailed Mary Tyrant with the suggestion that since the Verishagged No Backups software they’re using in the Overdone office is in need of replacement (and they’ve got a project manager for that…what I’d give to have a project manager), "why not ",I say "save the money it’ll cost to do the upgrade and use the NetVolox software we use here in Backofbeyond.., we can control all the backups from here”, I say..well let the heavens open and the sky fall in and there be much grinding and gnashing of teeth on the subject…why oh why would we want to use some software that actually does backups…how will we control our destiny if you’re controlling our backups and what will we do with the money that we’ve saved…all themes coming through in the response from Mary…
I thought about replying, but then I’d have to give a damn and since I don’t I won’t ;-))
11:00: Turns out that Quiet Rob got Basra to pull over on the way back from Posthumouth to “clean his headlights” ok…Gasra is now looking more jealous than ever….looking longingly over…I don’t know…young love….
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Back from lunch…The PM in charge of the Overdone storage project comes over to me fairly distraught to say that Net Vollox can’t be used there because…because the big scary man said we couldn’t (I thought he was in Portugal but never mind) ah well I can but try…
14:30: Just got off the phone from Richman, owner of a small supplier of ours namely Copper Nitrate Centre…I did have to explain to him that in order for them to make money, it was fairly important that they provide their prospective customers with quotes for the kit they wanted to buy…a small but I think you’ll agree beautifully formed argument, even if I do say so myself….
15:30: Quiet Rob has informed us that on Friday it’ll be 1 month until Christmas…I couldn’t resist a little wind up…
“Sorry bob, but you’re wrong mate…”, here I go…”No I’m not” he indignantly replies…”You said it’s one month to Christmas, but you haven’t specified which month it is… since we’re already in the middle of November, it can’t actually be any amount of months now can it..”, he’s looking confused now “err” yup that confirms it…” you can say it’s 4 weeks until Christmas…but you can’t say it’s a month…” great he’s completely lost…and just gets on with his work…I love it when a plan comes together….
Thursday 24th November 2005:
08:00 Up with a complete shock since we’re going out on Friday (shock horror, married couple go out, hold the back page)…I need to have a hair cut…not much off but just a tidy up…so I’ve booked up to go tonight..which means…..I have to wash my hair (or get a very wet flannel and wash it that way) this morning, which means, I have to go to work without gel in, which means I will have to suffer the derision of my colleagues and countless individuals like Mr Clever pants, Crispin Spider, likening me to one of the beatles..I will of course retort with things like “at least I’ve got hair” etc but somehow they’ve been done…
The good thing with this is that since I’m not wearing my glasses at the moment they may not recognise me, or they may do that pretending not to recognise me thing an all too familiar tactic of Adey Suarvey…
09:00: Yup I was right, three people asked me about my hair, Crispin Spider, mentioned the beatles and Mr Suarvey cleverly pretended to not know who I am…anyone would think I wrote this after it had happened !!!!
10:00: Ah the trials…Not much else happening apart from work so I try and get on with some of it…The Hiccups are In a bit of mess, unfortunately, so I’m going to have to spend some time again sorting these out….
I did mean to mention that the reason for Basra and Quiet Rob’s (the dynamic duo's) trip on Tuesday was to investigate how to get our backup system to backup theirs..the very thought of sending someone down their who, actually knew a thing or two about the backup system used here, didn't even cross their minds, I'm sure...I mean I know I'm going to be doing most of the work, getting prices etc...they could've saved Basra some time and trouble going down to the site, but when did they ever do the sensible thing ?
Monday 21st November 2005:
Monday, Monday, Monday so good they named it once….
08:30: Made it to work…gotta get these new servers configured and up to the MFI Co Lo before Nunob gets back.
That’s right the two weeks of bliss and actually getting something done at work are in to the last week. Brenty, like a fool has taken this week off...therefore breaking rule number 358, never take the same week off as your annoying portuguese boss.
09:00: Quiet Rob, is in and so is Basra, the name change was just to wind him up so I’m reverting it to the proper one from now on.
10:30: Getting slightly fed up with New Year’s Eve party we’re trying to organise again. It’s the same every year…Funny though that people who said things like “oh you’ve got to do this again” and “we really enjoyed ourselves are you booking the hall for next year”, are now the one’s who’re to say the least being a little bit cagey on the subject ….Ok I expect nothing more from people at work Brenty excluded.
11:00: Forgot to mention, POD is off school sick today…finally the “friendly bacteria” have caught up with him…he’s got a hacking cough and seems to spend most of the day in fact coughing, which can’t be fun. Still at least Drama King, Ryan’s next big production isn’t until NEXT SATURDAY, so he should be ok, gulp…
The production being The Wizard of Oz…and somehow he’s managed to land the part of the scarecrow…I don’t know what it is about him that makes people think that !!!
12:00: The backups have had another epi fit so, most of today I know will be spent sorting them out…
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Back now..nothing much more to report….
Tuesday 22nd November 2005:
Just checked my bank balance..and it’s not good, little too much month at the end of the money, so I fully intend on winning the lottery some time soon.
06:Bloody:30: Yup up with other nocturnal creatures…somehow I have to manage to get Ryan up, make his breakfast and get him out of the door by 7:20 when he’s being picked up for Basketball practice..I don’t know how I managed to achieve that but I do…just…
08:00: Alan, the cat is still with us…several phone calls to the RSPCA and a snotty email, (which is probably why they’ve not come round to pick him up), later, he’s still camped outside our back door. So much so that Mandy has now taken to buying cat food, since it was cheaper than the sandwich ham she had been feeding him…We’re also buying an extra pint of milk a week too..well he’s almost one of the family….I say one of the family..not a close relative I hasten to add, more a sort of long lost, distant cousin, who’s just finished doing a 20 year stretch and you can’t quite remember what they were put away for…
08:30: Well I’ve arrived…this week has been particularly cold and Ryan informs me that we’ll have snow by Friday..yeah right…like we ever get anything like that. It snows all day and all we end up with is some slushy puddles on the floor and damp car mats…I’ll believe it when I see it…
09:00: All a bit quiet and boring today..too much stuff to do, too many agent’s trying to touch my base and do their updates…One had even considered me for a job….in Lancashire…oh well done them…that’s all I can say..
10:00: Quiet Rob and Basra are off to Posthumouth today (so they say…Gasra is looking distinctly jealous)…they're now to be known as the dynamic duo, Basraman and Quiet Rob-in..I hasten to add that Brenty has decided this all on his own...still Basra is a little more happy with this than his last name....
11:00: All quiet on the western front so I decide to go and try my luck at restoring one of our SQL databases using our test server imaginatively named DR-TEST and our spare LTO-2 tape drive....fat chance....
11:30: Two restores later…and both have failed, I’m getting more and more riled up now..
12:00: In a fit of peak I decide…to email support at Vertebrate Systems the vendor of our much beloved backup software to ask them why…
12:10: That’s quick…and yes they’ve responded with their oh so typical “can you send us a binary log file” standard response email…to which they get a sarcastic response from me, mentioning the similarity between their binary logs and a urine sample that I might have to take to a hospital appointment.
12:25: Just before lunch (they really are cooking with gas now) I get another response, basically thanking me for the binary log which they’ll have a look at over the next couple of weeks !!! But importantly stressing that they had no use for a urine sample on this occasion…gotta love helpdesks haven’t you…
Wednesday 23rd November 2005
08:30: Made it in to work in record time today and it’s still cold…
09:00 Basraman and Quiet Rob-in are in so at least today I have someone to talk at.
09:30: I’m desperately trying to pin Basra down to a date to take the new servers to the Co Lo…no luck so far…He's far too in love with Quiet Rob...
10:00: Quiet Rob has had a tango and is being a bit lary..I might have to give him a slap if he doesn’t stop…In the mean time I’ve emailed Mary Tyrant with the suggestion that since the Verishagged No Backups software they’re using in the Overdone office is in need of replacement (and they’ve got a project manager for that…what I’d give to have a project manager), "why not ",I say "save the money it’ll cost to do the upgrade and use the NetVolox software we use here in Backofbeyond.., we can control all the backups from here”, I say..well let the heavens open and the sky fall in and there be much grinding and gnashing of teeth on the subject…why oh why would we want to use some software that actually does backups…how will we control our destiny if you’re controlling our backups and what will we do with the money that we’ve saved…all themes coming through in the response from Mary…
I thought about replying, but then I’d have to give a damn and since I don’t I won’t ;-))
11:00: Turns out that Quiet Rob got Basra to pull over on the way back from Posthumouth to “clean his headlights” ok…Gasra is now looking more jealous than ever….looking longingly over…I don’t know…young love….
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Back from lunch…The PM in charge of the Overdone storage project comes over to me fairly distraught to say that Net Vollox can’t be used there because…because the big scary man said we couldn’t (I thought he was in Portugal but never mind) ah well I can but try…
14:30: Just got off the phone from Richman, owner of a small supplier of ours namely Copper Nitrate Centre…I did have to explain to him that in order for them to make money, it was fairly important that they provide their prospective customers with quotes for the kit they wanted to buy…a small but I think you’ll agree beautifully formed argument, even if I do say so myself….
15:30: Quiet Rob has informed us that on Friday it’ll be 1 month until Christmas…I couldn’t resist a little wind up…
“Sorry bob, but you’re wrong mate…”, here I go…”No I’m not” he indignantly replies…”You said it’s one month to Christmas, but you haven’t specified which month it is… since we’re already in the middle of November, it can’t actually be any amount of months now can it..”, he’s looking confused now “err” yup that confirms it…” you can say it’s 4 weeks until Christmas…but you can’t say it’s a month…” great he’s completely lost…and just gets on with his work…I love it when a plan comes together….
Thursday 24th November 2005:
08:00 Up with a complete shock since we’re going out on Friday (shock horror, married couple go out, hold the back page)…I need to have a hair cut…not much off but just a tidy up…so I’ve booked up to go tonight..which means…..I have to wash my hair (or get a very wet flannel and wash it that way) this morning, which means, I have to go to work without gel in, which means I will have to suffer the derision of my colleagues and countless individuals like Mr Clever pants, Crispin Spider, likening me to one of the beatles..I will of course retort with things like “at least I’ve got hair” etc but somehow they’ve been done…
The good thing with this is that since I’m not wearing my glasses at the moment they may not recognise me, or they may do that pretending not to recognise me thing an all too familiar tactic of Adey Suarvey…
09:00: Yup I was right, three people asked me about my hair, Crispin Spider, mentioned the beatles and Mr Suarvey cleverly pretended to not know who I am…anyone would think I wrote this after it had happened !!!!
10:00: Ah the trials…Not much else happening apart from work so I try and get on with some of it…The Hiccups are In a bit of mess, unfortunately, so I’m going to have to spend some time again sorting these out….
I did mean to mention that the reason for Basra and Quiet Rob’s (the dynamic duo's) trip on Tuesday was to investigate how to get our backup system to backup theirs..the very thought of sending someone down their who, actually knew a thing or two about the backup system used here, didn't even cross their minds, I'm sure...I mean I know I'm going to be doing most of the work, getting prices etc...they could've saved Basra some time and trouble going down to the site, but when did they ever do the sensible thing ?
Saturday 26th November 2005
Sorry bit of a jump, but since I can't remember the none event that was Friday, I'm not going to make anything up...Basically just an entry to say that Ryan's Wizard of Oz was fantastic again. His scarecrow magnificent, even if I am biased....for the record I've no idea why the text has gone smaller, maybe it's your eyes...
We're having a bit of a time of it with Ryan...growing up..becomming a teenager with all the strops, back chat, arrogance etc etc that comes with it...couple of pep talks coming I think...I won't bore you with the detail...it'll soon be monday, oh joy....
# posted by cre8 @ 4:32 PM 
