The IT staff make IT work look harder than it is.

[Gerrinson]

IT work - it's so easy anyone can do it!

Up until now, all dining reservations have been on paper but we've now moved to a digital system. So, we have to set up a new router and workstation for the summer in the courtyard dining area.

To do this, we need the maintenance department to dig an 80' trench and install conduit and an outlet, at which point we'll string the cable and set up the router and workstation.

Having heard the breakdown of the work that needs to be done and the estimate of a 'few hours' of IT work (some padding yes, to account for the unexpected) the head chef got very...demanding.

According to him, we (the IT staff) make the job look harder than it is. He also said that IT and maintenance together should only need 30 - 45 minutes for the entire job.

I think digging an 80' trench alone will probably take longer than that. Especially since they have to clear the decorative stones out of the way and then put them back afterwards. And that doesn't even touch on the IT portion.

After arguing about it for a few minutes, my boss has now offered to give the chef the list of work that needs to be done and, since it is so easy, just tell him to do it and let us know when it's ready.

I'm hoping the chef takes him up on the offer.

I will remind you once again that we make IT stuff look harder than it is. Clearly, we don't want to just do our jobs and be done with it. It's really all about the showboating.

Upgrade Euphoria

So, we had two major upgrades scheduled yesterday on our property management software - for those not in the hospitality industry, the software is how we do stuff like checking guests in & out, making room reservations, etc. Clearly, very important to the business and we need it back up ASAP.

So, 15 minutes prior to the upgrades, I shut down the server portions of the software and remind everyone that they need to log out and not to log in until after I had confirmed the upgrade was complete. This is important.

Upgrade time arrives, and we're delayed at the start because there's a user still logged in. I go, find an unattended PC which I promptly shut down. Problem solved. We have two upgrades, each estimated for an hour, so two hours of down time.

Two and half hours later, I call back because I've received no update on the status of the upgrades and they were supposed to have been done by that point. I could tell that my call irritated the tech doing the upgrade, but that's just the way it goes. Turns out the first upgrade went slower than expected, both in pushing it out to our end, but also because several users kept trying to log in during the upgrade and killing it. They didn't get working software, so they logged out again, but . They were told not to log in until they heard from me, but they do it anyway.

So, just to be proactive and to make sure the second upgrade goes well, I send out mass email reminding everyone that it is not done and to NOT log in until they hear that it is done.

A few minutes later, I get a call from the tech saying that the second upgrade isn't going because one user keeps logging in, getting dumped because the software won't run yet, and then just logging in again, wash, rinse, repeat more than a dozen times in a row! Seriously? Did you not get the point? Well, tech gave me the user name so I could track this person down. Turns out it is the general f***ing manager! Again, . Not five minutes after my email that says do not log in, you do so. And you don't quit even though it clearly does not work.

After the upgrade is finished, I go to restart the interfaces with our other software only to discover that the 'upgrade' changed a few things. Like, adding a password to our non-passworded log ins that are simply for activating the interfaces. Of course, no one warned me of this or gave me the password. I mean, why would I need to know when I'm the guy responsible for restarting everything?

Then, the interface with our dining software - let's people charge dinner and drinks to their rooms - not only has a password, but they changed the look and took out the activation button for the interface. So, it's a whole new process for activating it, that I have to write up and communicate to the other staff before I can go home.

All in all, the upgrade that was supposed to end two hours before I went home kept me at work an hour extra, instead.

Hopefully, today goes better.

[Dips]

I will remind you once again that we make IT stuff look harder than it is. Clearly, we don't want to just do our jobs and be done with it. It's really all about the showboating.

Wait a minute. They guy who was saying that was...a chef?

That's rich.

[lordlundar]

[B]I will remind you once again that we make IT stuff look harder than it is.

Of course we do! It's called job security!

[Geek King]

Wait a minute. They guy who was saying that was...a chef?

Of course. Displaced feelings. Because he knows that he makes it look harder than it is, so everyone must do the same. Want to really infuriate him? Dismissively tell him to "go flip burgers, or something." Drives chefs nuts.

[Seshat]

According to him, we (the IT staff) make the job look harder than it is.

Cooking is easy: just chop some stuff up and throw it in a pot.

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What?

[Gerrinson]

Want to really infuriate him? Dismissively tell him to "go flip burgers, or something." Drives chefs nuts.

I would. I really really would. Except that he is one of the 'favorites' of the general manager and the owner.

And this is a business where being a favorite counts for everything.

I am not a favorite. Not that I want special treatment. I just want equal treatment.

Anyway, that's a rant for another time and place, and I don't want to be all PO'd on a Saturday night.

[protege]

Heh. This thread reminds me of the time I got called an "idiot" by one of the traders. Yep, J again

This time, he was going on about how I needed to clear a paper jam in the copier. I couldn't get to it quickly, since I was on the phone. J insisted that I was "fucking around," and that he'd fix it himself...since I was "an idiot." Never mind I was trying to get something *else* resolved.

Keep in mind that J was *not* well-versed in technology at all, and usually screamed about how "IT wasn't hard," or that I was "making it more difficult than it really was to waste his time." Soooo I let him do it, stood back, and watched the show.

And what a show it was! J simply couldn't figure out how to clear the jam. Mainly, because he couldn't figure out how to open the top of the copier--on a Canon, there's a release on the left. Pull that, the entire top slides left..revealing the hole where the toner cartridge goes. Pop that out, and it's easy to get the paper out.

I suppose I *could* have revealed that info, but being an "idiot," I chose to keep it to myself. Instead, I let J make a fool of himself for a good half-hour. Sure took the wind out of his sales to have been upstaged by an "idiot"

[MrSmiley]

Turns out the first upgrade went slower than expected, both in pushing it out to our end, but also because several users kept trying to log in during the upgrade and killing it. They didn't get working software, so they logged out again, but . They were told not to log in until they heard from me, but they do it anyway.

sigh. there should be a way to either disable any account that's non-admin or just turn the interface to the workstations off for the duration. Of course that's what SHOULD be there, what might actually be there could be different.

I've also had upgrades/downtime before where the best solution to deal with the users who wanted to use the system was to go find the router/switch and unplug all the workstations for the duration.

[protege]

sigh. there should be a way to either disable any account that's non-admin or just turn the interface to the workstations off for the duration. Of course that's what SHOULD be there, what might actually be there could be different.

There's always my approach. That is, to pull the main network cable from the server I started doing that after one too many idiots was trying to access the database...while I was trying to back up its data I got tired of the backup failing, and simply yanked the cable when I did it. Worked like a charm