First came the word that twenty Compaqs were due, all loaded (down) with Windows XP. Then came the knowledge that our anti-virus system required an upgrade in order to support Windows XP.

And now… I have to engage in a comprehensive upgrade of the IBM Client Access software, both on the AS/400 itself and on the majority of our hundred-or-so desktop PCs.

According to IBM, one must run Client Access V5R1 with a service pack or (preferably) V5R2 in order to support Windows XP clients. We’re running V4R4. I now have a support request in to get the appropriate media to upgrade Client Access. Even if it shows up tomorrow, it’s still going to be the middle of next week before I can even start rolling out these Compaqs. And I don’t expect it to show up tomorrow, since Encoda Systems hasn’t bothered to respond to my support request yet.

Did I mention that nine more of the streaming servers will be arriving next week for me to prep? And that the top brass want those machines prepped and shipped off, oh, about yesterday-ish?

The XP rollout just went from annoying to infuriating, and there’s not a damned thing I can do about it today but wait for other people to give me what I need. (Like, say, a cot in the next room, all the cocoa I can drink, copious amounts of chinese food, big stacks of music, and new versions of Norton Anti-Virus and IBM Client Access.)

Smart money says I’m working right through Christmas. I’m still taking Wednesday off to see Two Towers, though. Especially the way things are going lately.

Don’t mind the maniacal laughter, folks. It’s just Karel, trying to gather up the shreds of his sanity. (“You can’na fool me, there ain’t no sanity clause!” – Chico Marx, from some Marx Brothers movie. Possibly ‘Night At The Opera,’ but I’m not sure about that right now.)