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I've Gotta Keep It On The Down-Low.

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  • #16
    Quoth Javarod View Post
    That first caller actually doesn't surprise me, because of its location and distance, Hawaii is practically a foreign country to most companies since many company's plan around just in time shipping, which is just not an option in Hawaii, this necessitates going back to the old system of warehousing product locally.
    Actually, JIT would be doable, but would take a bit more planning than most folks are capable of, and shipping costs would probably become prohibitive. Warehousing would be the better way to go.
    Everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end.

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    • #17
      Quoth BlackIronCrown View Post
      LL: Ummm...will turning it off clear the memory?
      ME: Yes.
      LL: We can't do that.
      ME: ...OK. Why not?
      LL: I typed something up on my computer and sent it to print and deleted it already.
      Always, always, ALWAYS save your work!!! Didn't your computer instructor teach you that?! You can always delete it after you print it. But until you have that perfectly printed page in your hot little hands, don't delete your damned work!

      Someone got hit with the Duh Stick a little too often. Or not often enough, I'm not sure which.
      I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
      My LiveJournal
      A page we can all agree with!

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      • #18
        Quoth Golden Phoenix View Post
        Is this guy totally brain-dead? What part of his mind told him that it would be ok to make a deal on the "down-low" unless he's skimming the till.
        Problem is, if he's skimming the till he's doing it with the connivance of some local techs AND local account reps who process the invoices. That would mean things are going way deeper than him if he's crooked. Even previous procedure prior to New Database, lax though it was, would not allow him the be the sole cover-up for that. So, you're talking 8-10 people skimming on the sly.

        But that brings us to our next comments...

        Quoth Juwl View Post
        Why aren't you looking forward to the fall out? He did it to himself. And, once your manager knows about the shady dealings, you'll get to start telling the people in Hawaii to go screw...
        IF he's crooked. That's a mighty big IF. Service Managers get a lot of leeway in their territories; the autonomy allows greater response on a local level. So this could easily be a legitimate set-up that he's made, even if he did it in a dumbass way. If it IS legitimate, he's telling me to keep it quiet because the documentation's not there and if I speak up about it, he gets a minor slap for that and I get the Ultimate Ream for how dare I insinuate that a service manager be doing something shady and how this is going to effect a relationship with a major client.

        Yup, you read that right. I could get the Whacky Stick and he gets a minor tut-tut. If it's legit.

        The reason for that is fairly simply - corporate politics. The techs and service managers are under an entirely different chain of command than I am and both chains are usually at odds with each other. Completely. So, this could get into a bitchfight. And, I could get fired.

        So, in consultation with OSB, my next course of action is not to go straight to Big Boss right now. I'm instead going sideways, contacting another person on my level in my department who just so happens to be close personal friends with a few of the Hawaii techs. Pose a few questions, get some answers, get some confirmation that HSM is not just being a lamebrain. If he's a lamebrain, than there are other ways to deal with this - mainly getting the system updated and telling him to STFU.

        Anyway, the whole reason I'm REALLY worried, if it is malfeasance, is this:

        Quoth bainsidhe View Post
        My guess is your company spent way to much time and money chasing after invoices. The new system is much more efficient, even if it's aggravating.
        BINGO. We stopped invoicing customers because last year's profits were under prediction by FORTY PERCENT. That's 40%. That also meant ALL RAISES ARE CURRENTLY FROZEN. Why did we come in under prediction? Because all these so-called good clients are stiffing us on the bills.

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        • #19
          I can understand why The Hawaiian manager might have done what he did, but that doesn't mean it's right and he's about to pay the price for that.

          Keeping your customers happy is good, but not when you are using shady tactics like that. That prepaid deal sounds like a brilliant idea to keep from getting stiffed on any bills.
          "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

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          • #20
            I would think the best policy for saving documents would be to save it somewhere until after the Big Meeting™ and only then deleting it. If it HAD to be deleted at all.
            What would happen if she was having her morning coffee and is going over her notes, and OOPS! Coffee everywhere! She'd be just as screwed if not more so since its even closer to meeting time.

            Who the hell deletes a document after hitting print?
            "If you find yourself fantasizing about throwing actual users into a blender, please get help... they're heavy." - Tom Dickson

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            • #21
              Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
              I can understand why The Hawaiian manager might have done what he did, but that doesn't mean it's right and he's about to pay the price for that.
              Very true. If done right, he might have gotten a promotion (ok, exaggerating there), but by being so shifty-eyed about it, he just draws suspicion to himself when eventually caught. Not to mention the hassle that inevitably comes, like now.
              "If you find yourself fantasizing about throwing actual users into a blender, please get help... they're heavy." - Tom Dickson

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              • #22
                Times are a touch tighter at the moment as everyone will be aware. Some defaulting customers of ours are now on pre-pay terms.

                Rapscallion

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                • #23
                  Yeah I can understand going to a prepay system. At my current job we have a web page called " Scumbags what don't pay us" Guess what we put there?
                  If it makes sense, it's not allowed™. -- BeckySunshine

                  I've heard of breaking wind but not breaking and entering wind. --- Sheldonrs

                  My gaming blog:Ghosts from the Black

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                  • #24
                    Quoth BlackIronCrown View Post
                    LL: I typed something up on my computer and sent it to print and deleted it already. Then it jammed and now it's only in the job list queue on the machine! I really need this document for tomorrow morning.
                    ME: *Crap. You've screwed yourself good.* It's not in the print queue on your computer?
                    LL: No, it's only here in the job list.

                    [...]

                    LL: *sounding teary* But I just spent three hours typing this document!
                    ME: I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have no other options to give you.
                    LL: *sounding real teary* Well, never mind. I'll just have to see what I can do.
                    Wow, this has got to be a relative of the saddest man on Earth, who I ran into in my college computer support days. In those days I worked in the open student labs in the basement, where anyone could pop in and type up a document, or use elm to check up on e-mail. We're talking the days when floppy disks roamed the earth, and the release of Doom was imminant.

                    Saddest man on Earth (SmoE from here on in) had come in during the wanning days of the semester, and worked feverishly to finish typing his doctorate thesis. I was working all day, as my finals were all computer programs finished earlier, or else not in need of massive study time, so I had taken the morning shift so my coworker could cram all weekend for Chemistry finals, in the dire hour of 8AM Monday. SmoE was there even as I unlocked the lab. The door was barely open, that he rushed to a favored computer and began to boot it and arrange all his notes. With a final rustle of paper, he began.

                    For eight hours, SmoE's fingers flew on the keyboard. Page after page were committed to screen. What his topic was, I know not. But the constant clacking of the yellowed keys was my companion throughout the day, paused only when nature called or food was required. A quick run to the toilet, or vending machine, and he was back, fingers clacking. No more devoted typist has been seen by these eyes!

                    Alas, as I sat in my office by the printers, there came the dulcet sounds of jackhammer--run by a crew repairing the building I would later find out. I barely had time to think, "I wonder what that's all about?" when the lights went out.

                    A moment of silence.

                    Then a cry so terrible arose, that men still shiver for hearing it. I cannot describe it. There are no words for that awful sound. I quavered at the implications of it, locked to my chair by failed knees paralyzed by the awful thought running through my head.

                    A guilty moment passed where I considered hiding in the supply closet. A moment I am not proud of. I finally rallied my courage and fumbled for the emergency flashlight. Found, I turned it on and went out to help guide the students out to the windowed foyer where some light might be found. When I turned that pale yellow light on SmoE's workstation, I found him unmoved, staring at an empty screen. Disbelief shone clearly on his face.

                    I cleared my throat and asked quietly if he were all right. His head turned toward me as if in rictus. His mouth opened and croaked, "I...I haven't saved my thesis..." I hoped he meant in the past few minutes. Perhaps even a half hour. Instead, my fears were confirmed when he told me that, no, he hadn't saved since he first started. He then begged me to rescue his work, but I could do nothing. The jackhammer, in an ill-placed strike, had severed the building's power.

                    Days passed before power was restored. None of the computers showed worse for wear. The same cannot be said for the students. One was never seen again, but his cry lives on in the dark of night, when I close my eyes. It echoes there in the stillness.
                    The Rich keep getting richer because they keep doing what it was that made them rich. Ditto the Poor.
                    "Hy kan tell dey is schmot qvestions, dey is makink my head hurt."
                    Hoc spatio locantur.

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                    • #25
                      Quoth BlackIronCrown View Post
                      =====
                      (Thursday night)

                      ME: Moi
                      LL: Law Lady

                      *phone ringy*
                      ME: Good evening, *greeting and name*, what may I do for you?
                      LL: Oh, this is Lawyer Lady with Attorney People and I've got a problem with my machine. It's coming up with an error code.
                      ME: And what error code is that, ma'am?
                      LL: *tells error code*
                      ME: OK. That indicates a problem with Tray 3. It may be a false sensor reading, and if so, we can fix that right now. The first thing we'll need to do is to open Tray 3, and with it open, turn off the machine using the red power switch on the left-hand side.
                      LL: Ummm...will turning it off clear the memory?
                      ME: Yes.
                      LL: We can't do that.
                      ME: ...OK. Why not?
                      LL: I typed something up on my computer and sent it to print and deleted it already. Then it jammed and now it's only in the job list queue on the machine! I really need this document for tomorrow morning.
                      ME: *Crap. You've screwed yourself good.* It's not in the print queue on your computer?
                      LL: No, it's only here in the job list.
                      ME: Well, ma'am, there's not going to really be a solution for that. There are two options here. This error code might be a false sensor reading, which is cleared by shutting the machine down and clearing the memory, which includes the job list. If it is an actual error, a technician will have to come out to repair the tray, which again will involve shutting down the machine and clearing the memory. So either way, the memory has to be cleared.
                      LL: There's no way to bypass the error?
                      ME: No, ma'am.
                      LL: *sounding teary* But I just spent three hours typing this document!
                      ME: I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have no other options to give you.
                      LL: *sounding real teary* Well, never mind. I'll just have to see what I can do.

                      I'm betting it was a brief or something similar that was needed tomorrow.
                      That is a Murphy's Law of law firms. One night I was creating stock certificates. It was a Sunday night, overtime, but we needed to get them out. The attorney's wife came in to help. I volunteered to set up a merge and run them all at once. Nope, attorney said type and print them one at a time. Spent about three hours then went home while attorney finished up. Next day, I find out that attorney and wife ended up staying all night because there was a mistake in the language in the certicate and they had to redo all of them. If he'd just let me set up the merge it could have been fixed in a couple of minutes.

                      This is why I do things my way. If an attorney told me something like this now, I'd tell him flat out why it was a poor choice and what we should do. If he refused, I'd tell him that he'd have to get someone else.

                      Happily, I've been doing this for so long and I have a reputation for the mad skillz, so they almost never question what I suggest.
                      Labor boards have info on local laws for free
                      HR believes the first person in the door
                      Learn how to go over whackamole bosses' heads safely
                      Document everything
                      CS proves Dunning-Kruger effect

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                      • #26
                        The mind it boggles!

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