Friday, June 03, 2005

Am I evil or just a little naughty?



I have only been with this company six months. Prior to working here, I worked for a couple years on a help desk, providing tech support to users of portable computers from a Texas manufacturer based near Austin. I worked for an outsource supplier and they moved all our jobs to India because they could make more profit using cheaper labor. But I learned an awful lot of geeky things by working around so many smart computer nerds. Me? I just dance in the shallow water of high tech. I know enough to appear as though I know more.
Anyway, so last Friday afternoon, I am working in our database program, receiving goods into inventory. As I am exiting the application, the error statement above pops up. Reasoning that it is always best to advise the IT powers that be of problems rather than let them find out later, I make the call.
The person that answers seems a little put out with being notified at 2:30 PM on Friday before a holiday weekend that the inventory/accounting/who-knows-what-else suite has a problem.
"What were you doing?" (that caused my problem) she asked.
"Exiting the application. I have not escaped out yet, the error message told me to back up a certain file. Would you like me to e-mail you a screen shot of the error statement?"
"You can't take a screen shot of that application."
"Well, I already e-mailed it to you, but okay."
"I'll just use Timbuktu to look at your desktop." (I KNEW they could do that, even if they hadn't told me they could!)
Let's just say the conversation ended soon after that and the IT person dismissed me so as to work on the problem. It appears to be fixed, as I have not encountered it again.

But, having a bad attitude about being dissed on what I can and can't do with screen shots, I have made the error statement the background for my windows desktop. I figure I can cause a little panic for MIS if they "peek in" on my system and see this error - "What? We've got a problem with INMass? Nobody told us!"

So am I evil, or just a little naughty?

Thursday, June 02, 2005

And you thought you were having a bad day?


"Slip sliding away..."

I really DO feel sorry for the folks that live in this neighborhood. It would really suck to watch your house disappear, more or less. Kind of like it feels to watch a house burn, I bet. Hurricanes and tornados, at least you don't have to watch.

It would especially suck if I had just signed a mortgage for one of these suckers ($3 ~ $4 million) and now it is a pile of kindling. I heard this morning insurance doesn't pay in this instance. Bummer.

But that leads to a question - what idiot would buy a house on the edge of a cliff in an area known for landslides? Or on Carolina Outer Banks? Isn't that just asking for problems?

Oh wait, I know who. The idiot that knows they can secure a below market rate loan from the Feds to rebuild better than before. Who funds the loan? Other idiots like me.

Did you ever want a "do-over"?

Haven't we all needed a do-over in life? You know, that one thing we wish we could take back and do over. Made the wrong comment (didn't know it was your boss's wife?), sent the e-mail to the wrong person, ate that last piece of fried chicken....

Do you think Kirk Reynolds wants a do-over?

A man with a dream job as PR director for the San Francisco 49ers, Mr. Reynolds confused his job with that of Steven Spielberg and is now unemployed. Maybe he just has a bad sense of humor. The Perils of Being a Pro Athlete is his attempt to combine humor with real training advice. Too bad he wasn't tackling sexual harassment...

Does everyone have music in them?


Van Cliburn, many moons ago

Fort Worth, Texas is the host to Van Cliburn Piano Competition , which is currently taking place. After living in this area for 26 years, I can tell you this is a serious event for pianists and a source of pride for the community. Although I am not a huge fan of classical music (Bach and Mozart are my favorites, typical lightweight stuff), I am a music fan that will listen to almost anything.
Is music something that is just in some people and needs to get out, or does music reside inside everyone? Veda Kaplinsky is an instructor who has taught many students in her 58 years. She currently has a student that is a finalist in the competition. She said in a KERA public radio interview that, "Music is not only necessary it is essential for survival, spiritually."
Does your heart sing to you?
Sometimes the blues or sometimes pop?
I would hate to contemplate life without music and I hear it everywhere, constantly. I only wish that I knew how to make it...