IT advice fuelled by beer is the best IT advice of all, right?
- Reference: 1646037006
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/02/28/who_me/
- Source link:
Today's story comes from "Sam" and takes place in the final decade of the last century. He was working for a computer and office equipment supplier that was courting a Big Fish customer and getting nowhere.
Sam was enjoying a pub-based liquid reward at the end of another long week when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the grumpy-looking old fellow responsible for maintenance at the company Sam's employer was trying to sign up.
[2]
"You know about these bloody computers, don't you?" he said, and proceeded to complain about a terminal in the maintenance office that was forever glitching.
[3]
[4]
It wasn't Sam's problem (not yet anyway) but he listened to the tale of woe. "IT had swapped the hardware multiple times and even rerun the network cabling," he said, "which back in those days given the size of the site was neither a cheap nor easy job."
Ever helpful, Sam pondered the problem. "Given that level of equipment swap-out, it's hardly going to be hardware," recalled Sam. "I asked him if there was anything in that office that could be interfering with the equipment..." Perhaps an iffy fridge? One of those new-fangled cordless phones?
[5]
Nope, nothing like that. But it transpired that the maintenance office was next door to the welding shop. Keen to get back to his pint, Sam suggested that maybe the welding kit was causing RFI interference. Maybe, just maybe, all that was needed was a bit of extra cabling and a move of the terminal to the other side of the office.
[6]Beware the techie who takes things literally
[7]Beware the big bang in the network room
[8]To err is human. To really tmux things up requires an engineer
[9]When forgetting to set a password for root is the least of your woes
"It worked!" said Sam. "And I got a pint put in my hand a week later with a thanks."
Unfortunately, his glory was short-lived. "The following Monday I got called into the MD's office to explain the exact circumstances surrounding why we had just been formally blacklisted as a supplier to Company X following the dismissal of their head of IT."
It transpired that Sam's helpful advice had caused a bit of embarrassment and, shorn of its manager, the IT department had taken its revenge and slapped a Do Not Use on his employer.
"I expected the worst," said Sam, "but the big boss was actually OK about it saying that a customer that 'shoots the messenger' that badly would be nothing but trouble long term and we are best well clear.
[10]
"He also strongly suggested that I keep my tech advice in the office rather than the lounge bar at the Coach and Horses."
Ever been the messenger who was shot? Or handed out advice that seemed ace over a beer on a Friday night, but less so by Monday morning? Confess all with an email to [11]Who, Me? ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Who,%20Me?/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YhyrXYxn4giRntiIAZR8pQAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YhyrXYxn4giRntiIAZR8pQAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YhyrXYxn4giRntiIAZR8pQAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YhyrXYxn4giRntiIAZR8pQAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/21/who_me/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/14/who_me/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/07/who_me/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/who_me/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YhyrXYxn4giRntiIAZR8pQAAAIs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] mailto:whome@theregister.com
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Arc welder next door
Been bitten by that once or twice before.
Re: Arc welder next door
I guess you mean burned by that...
Full Story?
What kind of a company fires the head of I.T. only for the reason given in this story? So what if that department couldn't figure out what it was and someone from outside came up with the answer. There must be more to it that we are not being told because otherwise that entire organisation must be on drugs or something.
Re: Full Story?
what kind of company? one run by managers.
Enjoy the beer when you can
Just two support guys, enjoying a fine brew after an out of town sabbatical week working with our development guys. My pager goes off, uh ho! Then Bob's pager goes off as well, oh crap - that means it's VERY serious. Swiftly finish beers. Taxi back to Bob's parents who lived locally. Get coffee. Dig out 9600 baud modem. Get more coffee. Fix customer problem. The VP in charge of support congratulated us and used the "heck we can pull our top guys out of a bar in Portland at 1am to fix your problem" story for years afterwards. Different back then, not sure it would be such a proud boast in our more enlightened times.
Good will visit - lost good will
I was in Australia for a major project in several stages. Rather than come home, between trips, I got my employer to pay for me to pay for me to do some "good will visits" so I had a 3 week "vacation" with 6 customer visits paid for by my company!
I went to one customer and spent the day with them. I think it went well, in fact I got taken out to the local bar by the local systems programmer who asked me details how it worked internally. I explained in general terms (missing out all of the confidential information) and we covered many napkins.
Next day I got an urgent email from the head of support asking what the hell was going on.
The guy had gone back to the office raised a sev 1 problem and slagged of our product saying what a crappy way to design it, and had we thought about...
I had to write back and say "I explained in general terms. When I said the product searches for the item of interest, you assumed it was a linear search. In fact we have a hash table. Where you assumed we used the expensive xxx function to lock, we have a 8 instruction "check and lock"...
I got to meet up with the local team from my company who said "ahh - we should have warned you about the guy. He is very bright, and assume he is always right".
Re: He is very bright
Not really, no.
It's one thing to have an opinion on stuff you've been told, it's another thing entirely to go off on a revenge campaign about what you think you heard.
He should have confirmed his suspicions first by asking pointed questions. On top of the fact that he visibly offered the drink just to get something he could thrash after the fact. That behaviour is despicable.
In any case, if it had been me, that would have been the last time I ever had a drink with that guy.
Re: He is very bright
"He is very bright, and assume he is always right". --> So he's not actually very bright then?
That's a boss with deep insight in the human psyche
... some others would have shot the messenger. Again.
--->
IT advice starting with: uh, I've got this GREAT idea!